A review by spearly
Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

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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