Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

145 reviews

idroplungs's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The majority of the book is not as good as the first. Too many characters being followed and too many moving pieces making it too easy to put down. Stick with it though as the ending is surely worth it since the last 80pages flew by without being able to stop it. Schwab's EOs are an amazing twist on super heroes or super villains, keeping the line blurry is what keeps it interesting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Self harm and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death and Cursing

frankieclc's review against another edition

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: Animal death, Self harm, Torture, Violence, and Murder

blubonby's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Child abuse

jkneebone's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.0

I loved the first book in this universe, Vicious, but for some reason Vengeful did not quite live up to my expectations. Picking up five years after the events of Vicious, in Vengeful we find Victor, Mitch, and Sydney still on the move, traveling from place to place as they try to figure out what's wrong with Victor (after his reanimation by Sydney, his power is on the fritz). Meanwhile Eli, after being arrested, was given over to a new program called EON which is dedicated to hunting down and capturing EOs. This book also introduces us to several new characters: Marcella, a mob wife-turned-EO after her cheating husband tried to murder her; and June, an EO with the power to assume the form of any human she has touched, who has been keeping up a secret long-distance friendship with Sydney.

There is a lot happening in this book, and though parts of it were really interesting to me - we finally get some Eli POV and find out more about his history! - there was, for me, a bit too much going on, to the point that I found it a bit hard to know what to focus on. Eli and Victor's obsession with each other continues - Eli has visions of Victor's ghost and suspicions that he isn't dead, and once they're confirmed he wants to rectify that himself; Victor is determined to keep Eli from getting out of EON - but we also have Marcella's quest for vengeance against her husband/subsequent desire to take over the entire Merit mob, and the addition of EON as a source of conflict/potential fear for most of the characters. There's just a lot going on! I didn't find Marcella particularly compelling when contrasted with the other characters, and the sort-of role-reversal of Victor and Eli

-not only is Eli imprisoned while Victor roams free, Victor starts trying to find EOs who might be able to help him, and then killing them when they can't help - he's literally using the system Eli perfected to kill EOs, albeit for a different reason -

didn't make a ton of sense to me; it felt like a re-hashing of the first book in some ways.

It was still a quick and engaging read - although definitely not for those with a sensitivity to violence or graphic images, as there was even more gross and gory stuff happening in this book - but for me, lacked the delicious darkness of the first book. The characters were nasty, but the motivations felt muddied - and maybe that was the point, but whatever it was, it just didn't work for me as much as the first book did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Self harm, and Medical content

marinasjd's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, and Alcohol

paper_bound's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

I did not expect to like this. In fact, when I first read Vicious 4 years ago, I decided NOT to read this one and thought I never would. I love the first book and thought it was great as a stand-alone. But here I am loving this one.

It’s different in a lot of ways from the first book, which I think is why some people don’t like it as much. The best way I can explain the difference is to say Vengeful is much more comic book. I felt like I was reading a novelization of a beloved comic book. And that’s what made it so great.

I loved all of the characters. They are so evil and yet I feel so warmly toward them and want them (well most of them) to succeed in all of their endeavors.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death and Suicide

donatio's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This was just as intriguing as Vicious. 
The multiple POVs, the new characters, the writing, the plot... just brilliant. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

readingqueerly's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Again, I feel like I was not in the right mindset for most of this book. Because I enjoyed it a lot, but didn't have the energy to get sucked in by the story until today when I took a day to rest and I read the last 150 pages or so.
But this book was really good! I mean reading it right after the first one just really highlights what a big role reversal we suddenly have between Eli and Victor. Each character, even the background ones, is so complex and interesting. There is a clear understanding of what everyone's motives are making them easy to appreciate as a character even when you don't agree with them or they flat out do terrible things. The plot was a great continuation of the first book. I think the time gap was a big help here to have a lot of things get set up off page that really moved the story along so that this sequel was similar enough but not repetitive despite its parallels. 
If I'm not mistaken, a third book is coming. I for one will definitely pick it up. And reread these then when I am in a better mindset for them and can enjoy them a lot more than I already did. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

rae_kjise's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Murder

audrey5's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I just absolutely love this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use and Blood

Minor: Fire/Fire injury