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A review by queer_bookwyrm
Vengeful by V.E. Schwab
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
5 ⭐ CW: violence, gun violence, domestic abuse, child abuse, suicide, murder, sexual content, prescription drug misuse, torture, medical horror, descriptions of blood and gore
Vengeful by V.E. Schwab is book 2 in the Villains duology. I loved this book just as much as the first one! Everyone is so delightfully awful, evil, and morally gray.
This book doesn't focus as much on Victor Vale's pov, but we do still get to see what he's up to, but we get a lot of other pov chapters from some of the other characters, including some randos every now and then. Mostly we get POVs from Victor, Eli, Stell, Sydney, June, and Marcella.
Since last book, Stell has created an organization called EON, ExtraOrdinary Neutralization, designed to hunt and contain EOs. Which brings us to the new EO introduced in this book, Marcella, a wife of a mob boss who has the ability to Ruin anything (metals rusts, wood decays, people shrivel into dust, etc.). She is deliciously wicked, gives no shits, and will not hide. Marcella wants power, and even though she is scary and a little bit (a lot a bit) of a sociopath, you can almost understand where she is coming from as a woman who has been only seen as a beautiful object with no say in anything.
We get a lot more of Eli's backstory in this one, and it becomes quite clear that even before his forced near death experience, he was a psychopath. We also get more Sydney chapters this book, so we see how her ability has affected her in terms of aging (or lack of aging). This book kept me wanting more, and was difficult to put down. I flew through the end, because it was so fast paced.
I loved these books! This definitely satisfies my TBR card prompt for Antagonist: a book your favorite villain would read. Since Victor is my favorite villain right now, I'd have to say he'd enjoy reading this, especially about Eli. I may have to look into borrowing the EO graphic novels now, since I'm not ready to let this world go.
Vengeful by V.E. Schwab is book 2 in the Villains duology. I loved this book just as much as the first one! Everyone is so delightfully awful, evil, and morally gray.
This book doesn't focus as much on Victor Vale's pov, but we do still get to see what he's up to, but we get a lot of other pov chapters from some of the other characters, including some randos every now and then. Mostly we get POVs from Victor, Eli, Stell, Sydney, June, and Marcella.
Since last book, Stell has created an organization called EON, ExtraOrdinary Neutralization, designed to hunt and contain EOs. Which brings us to the new EO introduced in this book, Marcella, a wife of a mob boss who has the ability to Ruin anything (metals rusts, wood decays, people shrivel into dust, etc.). She is deliciously wicked, gives no shits, and will not hide. Marcella wants power, and even though she is scary and a little bit (a lot a bit) of a sociopath, you can almost understand where she is coming from as a woman who has been only seen as a beautiful object with no say in anything.
We get a lot more of Eli's backstory in this one, and it becomes quite clear that even before his forced near death experience, he was a psychopath. We also get more Sydney chapters this book, so we see how her ability has affected her in terms of aging (or lack of aging). This book kept me wanting more, and was difficult to put down. I flew through the end, because it was so fast paced.
I loved these books! This definitely satisfies my TBR card prompt for Antagonist: a book your favorite villain would read. Since Victor is my favorite villain right now, I'd have to say he'd enjoy reading this, especially about Eli. I may have to look into borrowing the EO graphic novels now, since I'm not ready to let this world go.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Child abuse, Suicide, Murder, Drug abuse, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content