Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - Vengeful. Mściwi

While not as good as Vicious, Vengeful holds up as a decent sequel! This installment toes the line even more with our morally grey characters (Victor, Eli, and even Sydney) and gives a little more insight into the world of EOs and expands upon the idea of tracking EOs down for personal and possible governmental gain. We explore EON, where our old friend Stell captures, analyzes, and possibly neutralizes EOs as a way to both understand them and ensure they are not a threat to society. This part of the book takes on a dystopian quality and has A Brave New World vibes. I absolutely adore this series and was overjoyed when V.E. Scwab announced there would be a third installment in the next few years (along with the upcoming graphic novels!!)

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davidjuarez's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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nikki_singh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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lilymouse's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Wow, just wow! The ending felt satisfying yet unsatisfactory at the same time, like it was a fitting ending but I want so much more from these characters as well! Loved it!

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s_macdonald's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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spearly's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Every action had been his own design, every step his own making.
If there was a way out of this, he would find it.
If there wasn’t, he would make one himself.

Vengeful follows our ragtag trio - Victor, Mitch, and Sydney (and Dol) - in the events following Victor's temporary death in Vicious. Sydney brought him back, and now he's... not quote whole. His episodes are getting worse, his deaths are getting longer, and he needs to find a way to stop it.

Meanwhile, Eli Ever is in a heavily guarded cell at the newly minted EON (ExtraOrdinary Observation and Neutralization) facility.

And there's a new Villain in Merit.

This was a really fun read! I enjoyed it even more than I enjoyed Vicious, which is saying something! The new characters were exciting, evil, powerful, and some real adversaries for our anti-heroes.

I've struggled with something about this series, and I think I just have to come around and accept it. I've never loved a character as much as I've hated them, but that's Victor. He's evil, man. Like, I'll murder you when you can't give me what I want, evil. But he's also so damn likeable sometimes. The way he is with Sydney and Mitch, the way he truly seems to care about their wellbeing, about keeping them safe... *chef's kiss*. Sure, they're safety comes at the expense of some perfectly innocent lives but... no-one perfect.

In book one I struggled with the blatant hypocrisy. Eli is some self-proclaimed messiah, murdering all the other EOs because they go against God's plan. Victor has a long-awaited vendetta against Eli, made worse by Eli's self-righteousness. The two come to a head, and out favourite villain is raised form the dead.

And then here, we have... Victor doing the exact same thing, albeit for different reasons. And it's suddenly okay because he's not

killing EOs

for God, he's doing it to protect his crew. (Only

killing all the witnesses to Victor's non-dead state hardly makes a difference, since EON finds them anyway!

)

I think I will just have to be okay with the hypocrisy. In fact, that's the point. There are no good men in this game (okay, except for Mitch, though I'm sure he has blood on his hands, too). Honestly, Sydney might by the only good-to-her-core character. But what did I expect, reading a series called Villains?

Overall, an excellent duology. In fact, I could even go for a third book, if V.E. Schwab were so inclined. What happens to June? The formula? Victor and Mitch and Sydney?

GO BACK FOR DOM, GIRL!! YOU CAN RAISE THE DEAD!!

. Maybe the excitement is in the not knowing. Schwab certainly knows how to leave readers wanting more.

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