Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - Vengeful. Mściwi

Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Vengeful. Mściwi by V.E. Schwab

110 reviews

hannah_so's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

4.25

The one flaw this book has is the non-linear storytelling. It creates suspense and everything, I get it, but it's just so confusing! Not only do we jump in the timeline but we also get thrown in with different characters. It took me half the book to really immerse myself into the story and really grasp the full scope of what is going on.

That being said... THIS BOOK IS AWESOME! I loved every single character in their own way and I was so happy that Victor, Syd and Mitch were such a huge part of this story again.
The slow building of suspense throughout the book was masterful and I was gripping the edge of my seat during the final showdown. Not only could I really not predict what was about to happen, I also didn't really know who I was rooting for! Both Victor and Eli grew on me even more during the book and while my loyalties were a bit clearer while reading "Vicious", this time both of them had solid reasons for their actions while also being morally more than grey. I kind of wanted them both to win... Or to lose... I really didn't know what I wanted except for the fact that I didn't want this book to end. As hard as it was to get into the story in the first place, as hard was it to leave Merit and its bloodthirsty EOs again.

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eve_reads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Overall Thoughts:

⁕ So much of Vicious focused on Victor's perspective, whereas Vengeful gives more focus to the origin stories of Eli and other characters. The addition of these details strengthened my understanding of character development and choices in the series overall.

⁕ I am SO HERE for the female super villian. I love the exploration of power and greed through her eyes. I love her glaring faults and ugly hopes. She is definitely one of my new favorite characters.

⁕ I complained in my review of Vicious that the book was not as violent or gory as people claimed. This book definitely rectifies that. The stakes are RAISED.

⁕ Somehow, V.E. Schwab manages to write about violence and gore like poetry. Her style never ceases to amaze me.

To read my full review, visit: https://evereads.online/
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alexiab's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book was almost on par with the first in terms of general storytelling method, except I found it lacked a fair bit of what made the first book so compelling.

The shift in focus away from Victor and Eli, and spending so much time on backstory for new characters that still didn’t feel important, threw a bit of a wrench in the story for me. Of all the new characters, I found June the most interesting and I think she got the least amount of development. I couldn’t find it in me to care about Marcella, and I wish more had gone into Sydney and Mitch, or even more time with Victor and Eli.

Overall I still enjoyed this book and I love what I did get for Victor and Eli, but a lot of the side stuff felt like filler that wasn’t necessary, especially since a lot of it clearly won’t be brought into the third book when it’s eventually released.

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alice_clay's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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jenna11's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

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rachelunabridged's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

i have been so excited + scared to read this book. i loved vicious so much and wanted to have more of that, but was worried it wouldn't be as good. unfortunately, that did happen, but not to so great an extent.

was vicious better than vengeful? imo, big yes.
was i disappointed in vengeful? tbh, not really. vicious wrapped up so well + felt like its own stand-alone story; i feel like vengeful is almost like a bonus story. like you don't have to read it to complete the story from vicious, but if you enjoyed vicious, here's some extra time with the characters we know and love.
would i recommend vengeful? if you loved vicious + want to see more of the characters, i would say go into this with lower expectations.

ultimately, what made me feel like this read was less compelling is how stretched it felt. there was just entirely too much going on at any given time with all of the new characters + there just seemed to be no clear focus. it really felt like the story was heavily centered around marcella, but then victor + the crew were kinda shoehorned in with no real purpose until the end.

for example, i really thought we were going somewhere with sydney exploring + trying to strengthen her powers, but not only did she decide not to resurrect her sister (good move), but she also didn't get to use them to help victor. so why did that even need to be such a huge plot point? it came off to me like it was just a reason to keep her in the story.

i definitely came away feeling like if it had been written with entirely new characters, this might've been a stronger story. or even if our main characters were given better reasons to be involved.

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thegoodyouth's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

“<i>Whatever's happened to you, however you're hurt, you've done it to yourself.</i>
That's what Campbell had said. And the EO was right. Victor had always been the master of his fate. He had climbed onto that steel table. He had coerced Angie into flipping the switch. He had goaded Eli into killing him five years before, knowing Sydney would bring him back.
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.”

“Victor stared at the wall as if it were still a window. "He doesn't know how patient
you are," he said. "Doesn't know you like I do.”
Eli cleaned the blood from his hand.
"No," he said softly. "No one ever has."

This is what storytelling is truly about: a group of unpredictable characters and a plot that never leads you down the most obvious path. I don’t really have the words to talk about about this book/series, but it is honestly one of the best things I’ve ever read. This is a story about obsession, about two people that were toxic for each other, but also the only one for one another. This is definitely not for the lighthearted, but it’s a fantastic read.

The ending of this book broke my heart. It was the exact thing I <i>didn’t</i> want to happen, but I still understand why it happened, and I’m satisfied with it. I love Victor. :(

I know I’m coming back for a reread soon, but for now, I’m off to read the new EO comics.

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