Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

22 reviews

cleot's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Religious bigotry, Chronic illness, Murder, Medical trauma, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Violence, Medical content, and Child abuse

Moderate: Xenophobia, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death

enchantedgeek's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Addiction, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Cursing, Torture, Body horror, Drug use, Confinement, and Death

Moderate: Suicide, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Gun violence, and Violence

modernathos's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I. NEED. THE. NEXT. BOOK.

Schwab never fails to pull me into a book and not let me go before I've finished it. Her pacing is gripping and well-balanced and her writing adds to the tension. You'd expect that a long book consisting of short chapters, perspective changes and time jumps would be very confusing, but to me, it was very easy to follow. The fact that the reader gets left on a character cliffhanger for roughly fifty pages every once in a while and then gets thrown back into their story after another character cliffhanger adds amazingly to the tension. By the end of longer chapters, I sometimes forgot where in the timeline I was, but they're always stated in the chapter title, so all you have to do is just flip back and your memory is refreshed.

I was so happy that we finally got full insight into Eli's backstory. The mystery worked well in the first book, but knowing his history gave the character a whole new dimension and made him ten times more scary/unhinged than he already was.

I have to be honest and admit that June's character arc disappointed me a little. She's not a flat character; we get hinted at her backstory a lot. However, we never really know what happened to her and her exact motivations for doing what she did.

It's been a few years since this book came out, but I hope Storygraph's information is true and there is a new book coming, because this story feels anything but complete to me; there's a difference between an open ending and an incomplete one, and this was the latter. I want to know more about Victor's history and motivations, what happens to him after the book, where Sydney and Mitch are going, June's backstory, and so many more things.

January 2nd, 2024 - January 5th, 2024.

 “Gods [were] crucified before they were worshipped.” 

 “While seeking revenge, dig two graves—one for yourself.” 

 “Run, thought Victor, and he could see the response in Eli's coiled frame.
Chase me.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Torture, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Animal death, Sexual assault, and Suicide

verpissdich's review against another edition

Step down in quality from the first book, which already was not particularly high. Relies excessively on violence, sexuality, and abuse to "hold" reader interest. Lacks nuance: many portions which would be better unwritten are instead very explicitly spelled out for the reader, destroying intrigue.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Drug abuse, Suicide, and Child abuse

cowardlyteaman's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Animal death, Medical trauma, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Police brutality, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Confinement, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, and Cursing

Minor: Stalking

gravedetails's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.75

Very slow for this writer almost did not finish halfway through because of the constant flashbacks to years prior good book but I personally needed more of a straight forward timeline to keep my interest. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Death

paper_bound's review

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: Murder, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death and Suicide

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

psliz's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

underdeveloped. would've been better if the two main storylines were split into their own books

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Blood, Gun violence, Death, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Child abuse, and Infidelity

Minor: Animal death

alexandrabelze's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

i have so many issues with this book idek where to start. i actually enjoyed the first one and got so excited for this one (especially after reading marcella’s intro chapters), but this was just disappointing. victoria tried to fit WAY too many storylines and new characters into this book. and it doesn’t help her case that her storytelling was, at times, extremely messy. on top of that, the structure of these books did not help that issue at all. i also could not vibe with june’s character. which is disappointing bc her power is cool. anyways i’m about to go off in the spoiler <3

first of all, i expected that when sydney found out that victor was the one who killed serena it would be more dramatic? maybe a little tense? but instead i was let down and we moved on almost immediately. like hello??? next, and i hate to say this, i think dol should have stayed dead this time. i’m glad victoria kept him for a majority of the story, but it would’ve felt more complete to add him to the final deaths. and it would’ve built up sydney’s character. speaking of building her character, WHY did we go through ALL of that with the dead birds just for sydney to decide in ONE PARAGRAPH that she did not want to revive serena?? i honestly would’ve preferred she tried it and failed. finally, eli’s death was boring. i was expecting an insane emotional battle between him and victor that ended in something so dramatic and lowkey sensual, but instead he just…died. like that was next level disappointing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Medical content, Medical trauma, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

Moderate: Animal death and Stalking