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A super-powered collision of extraordinary minds and vengeful intentions—#1 New York Times bestselling author V. E. Schwab returns with the thrilling follow-up to Vicious.Magneto and Professor X. Superman and Lex Luthor. Victor Vale and Eli Ever. Sydney and Serena Clarke. Great partnerships, now soured on the vine.
But Marcella Riggins needs no one. Flush from her brush with death, she's finally gained the control she's always sought—and will use her new-found power to bring the city of show more Merit to its knees. She'll do whatever it takes, collecting her own sidekicks, and leveraging the two most infamous EOs, Victor Vale and Eli Ever, against each other once more.
With Marcella's rise, new enmities create opportunity—and the stage of Merit City will once again be set for a final, terrible reckoning.
Entertainment Weekly's 27 Female Authors Who Rule Sci-Fi and Fantasy Right Now
Villians
#1 Vicious
#2 Vengeful
"Warm Up" (short story)
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Member Reviews
Good grief I'm finally done with this.
I'm disappointed. I'm underwhelmed. I'm frankly a little pissed off. I went into this book with the excitement of a giddy child and came out a crone hardened by sheer boredom and anger (the worst kind). I was happy with the story, so very happy, but once Marcella (a new addition AKA the lady on the cover) mutinied and became the star of the show, around the 50% mark, I found myself dreading reading this.
I don't want this to be a long review so I'm going to be more brief than I usually am, especially when I have so many feelings. Here are my general feelings about the characters, the plot, and the themes of the book:
I found that all the veteran characters were cardboard cutouts of their former show more selves. They weren't really there long enough, their feelings and thoughts weren't touched on enough, to really warrant any feelings on my part. Victor was reduced to a hand flicking, wall leaning, tired guy who did things Victor would never do; Sydney was just meh and Mitch didn't drink nearly enough chocolate milk, though I did appreciate the extra time spent on Eli (though in the present, he wasn't nearly as entrancing as he had been in the past and in Vicious). Stell was back, and I actually really liked him. He was the only person who acted like a person, and I really appreciated that.
The new additions were mostly wallpaper. June had no logical motives. Both her and Marcella got their revenges way too soon and too easily to really hold any tension. While the new powers were interesting, I was constantly confused about the state of clothing in regards to June's ability. Basically, she can shapeshift into anyone living that she touches (minusing EOs) and glimpse into their most basic fundamental character aspects. And she also takes...their outfit? What about clothing she puts on separately? Can she remove the clothing? If she wants a specific outfit, does she have to go looking for someone wearing it?
Jonathan, another new addition, started out as a real person and literally became a cardboard cutout (okay not literally but pretty darn close). He just stood there. He rarely spoke. He always wore sunglasses even though everyone knew where he was looking. I forgot that he even existed for a moment.
Dr Haverty was okay, but a little cliche and convenient, and I wish he'd stayed around longer instead of popping up right when I'd completely forgotten he was a character.
Marcella...😒 Marcella was just Aelin Galathynius if you took away the tragic backstory. She's evil for the sake of it, black and white with no trace of grey, and a straight up psychopath. She tries to use feminism to support her ridiculous and unethical behavior and somehow...people agree? Like real people? She makes little snide comments about how men are always underestimating women who are ambitious, how they always call them crazy. No, lady, you are actually crazy. It's not just men saying that. Sydney isn't crazy. Sydney has morals. No one calls Sydney crazy (except for maybe Eli, but he's even more crazy). She said and did a lot of things that undermine real misogyny. She wasn't been underestimated or abused when male characters got mad at her for not holding up her end of the deal. She was being treated reasonably under the circumstances. Yes, her power of ruination was cool, but she used it as proof she is to be worshipped when she doesn't deserved to even be liked. I didn't know if this was intentional or not because the book didn't give me any clear message.
And that brings me to the general theme of this book. Or rather, the lack of a theme. It had no direction, had no point to make. There was no greyness to anything. There were the people we're supposed to see as good guys and those who were obviously villains. There was no unique and interesting philosophy, no real conflict. It was character-driven but didn't have any character tension. Scenes that were obviously supposed to be hardhitting and important character moments lacked any kind of tension whatsoever. They felt stale and boring. The first half of this book was promising, but it didn't keep that promise.
I'm disappointed. I'm underwhelmed. I'm frankly a little pissed off. I went into this book with the excitement of a giddy child and came out a crone hardened by sheer boredom and anger (the worst kind). I was happy with the story, so very happy, but once Marcella (a new addition AKA the lady on the cover) mutinied and became the star of the show, around the 50% mark, I found myself dreading reading this.
I don't want this to be a long review so I'm going to be more brief than I usually am, especially when I have so many feelings. Here are my general feelings about the characters, the plot, and the themes of the book:
I found that all the veteran characters were cardboard cutouts of their former show more selves. They weren't really there long enough, their feelings and thoughts weren't touched on enough, to really warrant any feelings on my part. Victor was reduced to a hand flicking, wall leaning, tired guy who did things Victor would never do; Sydney was just meh and Mitch didn't drink nearly enough chocolate milk, though I did appreciate the extra time spent on Eli (though in the present, he wasn't nearly as entrancing as he had been in the past and in Vicious). Stell was back, and I actually really liked him. He was the only person who acted like a person, and I really appreciated that.
The new additions were mostly wallpaper. June had no logical motives. Both her and Marcella got their revenges way too soon and too easily to really hold any tension. While the new powers were interesting, I was constantly confused about the state of clothing in regards to June's ability. Basically, she can shapeshift into anyone living that she touches (minusing EOs) and glimpse into their most basic fundamental character aspects. And she also takes...their outfit? What about clothing she puts on separately? Can she remove the clothing? If she wants a specific outfit, does she have to go looking for someone wearing it?
Jonathan, another new addition, started out as a real person and literally became a cardboard cutout (okay not literally but pretty darn close). He just stood there. He rarely spoke. He always wore sunglasses even though everyone knew where he was looking. I forgot that he even existed for a moment.
Dr Haverty was okay, but a little cliche and convenient, and I wish he'd stayed around longer instead of popping up right when I'd completely forgotten he was a character.
Marcella...😒 Marcella was just Aelin Galathynius if you took away the tragic backstory. She's evil for the sake of it, black and white with no trace of grey, and a straight up psychopath. She tries to use feminism to support her ridiculous and unethical behavior and somehow...people agree? Like real people? She makes little snide comments about how men are always underestimating women who are ambitious, how they always call them crazy. No, lady, you are actually crazy. It's not just men saying that. Sydney isn't crazy. Sydney has morals. No one calls Sydney crazy (except for maybe Eli, but he's even more crazy). She said and did a lot of things that undermine real misogyny. She wasn't been underestimated or abused when male characters got mad at her for not holding up her end of the deal. She was being treated reasonably under the circumstances. Yes, her power of ruination was cool, but she used it as proof she is to be worshipped when she doesn't deserved to even be liked. I didn't know if this was intentional or not because the book didn't give me any clear message.
And that brings me to the general theme of this book. Or rather, the lack of a theme. It had no direction, had no point to make. There was no greyness to anything. There were the people we're supposed to see as good guys and those who were obviously villains. There was no unique and interesting philosophy, no real conflict. It was character-driven but didn't have any character tension. Scenes that were obviously supposed to be hardhitting and important character moments lacked any kind of tension whatsoever. They felt stale and boring. The first half of this book was promising, but it didn't keep that promise.
Every end may be a new beginning, but every beginning had to end.show less
If I had any qualms about the Vicious, this book laid them to rest. Magnificent!
The story expands on a whole new level. While the essence still deals with Victor and Eli, Sydney's, Marcella's, and June's stories make the book much more riveting.
Marcella is a powerful woman who knows exactly what she wants and is not afraid to take it. Power. Her extraordinary ability combined with her acuity in surrounding herself with just the right EOs makes her nigh on invincible. June, whom it seems nothing but time can defeat, is portrayed beautifully. Her hesitant relationship with Sydney is described just right.
But it is the fact that none of the characters are "good" in the characteristic sense of the word; that they are all out to save show more themselves and kill to save themselves; that they do this not without remorse and not with elation either that makes the book what it is.
A damn good read! show less
The story expands on a whole new level. While the essence still deals with Victor and Eli, Sydney's, Marcella's, and June's stories make the book much more riveting.
Marcella is a powerful woman who knows exactly what she wants and is not afraid to take it. Power. Her extraordinary ability combined with her acuity in surrounding herself with just the right EOs makes her nigh on invincible. June, whom it seems nothing but time can defeat, is portrayed beautifully. Her hesitant relationship with Sydney is described just right.
But it is the fact that none of the characters are "good" in the characteristic sense of the word; that they are all out to save show more themselves and kill to save themselves; that they do this not without remorse and not with elation either that makes the book what it is.
A damn good read! show less
[June] shook her head, baffled and amused. “Jesus, Marcella, anyone ever told you that you’re batshit crazy?”
Marcella pursed her lips. “Several times,” she said. “It’s an insult men love to aim at ambitious women.”
(Marcella proves repeatedly that a woman can be both ambitious AND batshit crazy.)
As much as I loved [b:Vicious|40874032|Vicious (Villains, #1)|V.E. Schwab|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1532011194s/40874032.jpg|19250870], I love Vengeful even more, because this time the ladies really come to play. Vicious had Serena, who while a very powerful EO, was not much of an actual badass (and a terrible sister), and Sydney, who is mostly sweet and too young to be more than a supporting player. This time around, show more Marcella and "June" drive much of the action. Marcella, a scorned mob wife, is prepared to ruin everyone who has ever wronged her, to get what she wants, which is to be the most powerful woman in Gotham Merit. The mysterious, shape-shifting "June" has more complicated goals (her backstory is a little foggy and I'd love to read a book focused on her), but is ninja-level badass.
Eli and Victor are back, along with Sydney and Mitch, and Mark Stell who now runs an entire organization to capture and study EOs. Eli is Stell's prize inmate, but he's a dangerous caged beast, ready to manipulate anyone to escape, especially after he realizes that Victor is still alive. Victor is dealing with his own problems -- like increasingly frequent episodes of mini-death, which leave him vulnerable.
All these characters and storylines come together in an epic showdown between semi-evil and really-evil and maniacally-evil, but seriously there are no good guys here. And I love it. show less
Marcella pursed her lips. “Several times,” she said. “It’s an insult men love to aim at ambitious women.”
(Marcella proves repeatedly that a woman can be both ambitious AND batshit crazy.)
As much as I loved [b:Vicious|40874032|Vicious (Villains, #1)|V.E. Schwab|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1532011194s/40874032.jpg|19250870], I love Vengeful even more, because this time the ladies really come to play. Vicious had Serena, who while a very powerful EO, was not much of an actual badass (and a terrible sister), and Sydney, who is mostly sweet and too young to be more than a supporting player. This time around, show more Marcella and "June" drive much of the action. Marcella, a scorned mob wife, is prepared to ruin everyone who has ever wronged her, to get what she wants, which is to be the most powerful woman in Gotham Merit. The mysterious, shape-shifting "June" has more complicated goals (her backstory is a little foggy and I'd love to read a book focused on her), but is ninja-level badass.
Eli and Victor are back, along with Sydney and Mitch, and Mark Stell who now runs an entire organization to capture and study EOs. Eli is Stell's prize inmate, but he's a dangerous caged beast, ready to manipulate anyone to escape, especially after he realizes that Victor is still alive. Victor is dealing with his own problems -- like increasingly frequent episodes of mini-death, which leave him vulnerable.
All these characters and storylines come together in an epic showdown between semi-evil and really-evil and maniacally-evil, but seriously there are no good guys here. And I love it. show less
Even better than Vicious which is saying a lot. I spent the whole of parts 3 and 4 nauseated with stress, on the edge of my seat muttered swear words. it was SO GOOD and now I have to WAIT?! I say, with zero reservation and zero exaggeration, that this book is literally my favourite. book. ever. this book, this SERIES, is something I had apparently been wishing for and hoping for without even realizing it until I was actually reading it. as a certified Problematic Fave hoarder, I have craved content that gives me these absolute monsters, makes them sympathetic and even relatable, gives them complexity, but never, ever plays at JUSTIFYING their cruelty. this series provides that. Vengeful especially. just *chefs kiss* amazing.
HOW DO I EVEN REVIEW THIS MASTERPIECE??? I do not know. This book left me a mess of feelings and ahgfddsfghjhghfdsghfdfdghggfdghgjghgfdffgh how do I coherently talk about it?? (Fair warning - This review is going to be a spoiler filled mess. Don't read it if you don't want to be spoiled. Although I did try to tag the worst of it.) Just... WOW. This book. THIS BOOK!! Vengeful absolutely blew me away!
First of all can we discuss the CHARACTERS?? Perfection. Pure perfection. All of them.
I DO wish we could have seen more of the old characters. I missed them. As amazing as the new characters were, they couldn't quite compare to my precious Victor and show more Mitch and Sydney. Still though. The new characters were amazing.
- MARCELLA. I have a lot of feelings towards Marcella. Mostly positive, but not entirely. I don't even know how to describe it. Marcella is AMAZING. She's a badass feminist supervillain. What's not to love? And I do love her. Sort of. I spent the entire book trying to decide whether or not I was rooting for her. On the hand I WAS. But at the same time... I sort of wasn't?? She was just a tiny bit *too* evil for me to actually want her to succeed.And I can't say I was all that sad when she died. A tiny bit maybe, but... It felt right. I knew from early on that it HAD to happen, and I truly think she would have stopped at nothing to get what she wanted, which... wouldn't have been good. She needed to be stopped, and she would never ever have given up while she was still alive. Which is exactly what I loved so much about her, but also what made her death feel inevitable to me.
But still, Marcella was badass and amazing and I love Schwab for writing this FANTASTIC character.
- JUNE. June was such an intriguing character! We never learn as much about her as I'd like, and I NEED a whole other book just about June. (And Sydney.) June is stabby and amazing. And very villainous. But did you expect anything else from this series? Also can we talk about how INCREDIBLY COOL June's power is???? She's a living breathing voodoo doll and if that isn't the COOLEST POWER EVER I don't know what is. And I just love June. A lot. Also she's really terrifying.
- SYDNEY. I love this girl so much! She's snarky and wonderful and has so so SO much development!When she came so close to bring Serena back, and she realized she was afraid. That she knew deep down it wasn't a good idea. And she stopped herself. It was SO powerful, and just such amazing development! And her grief for her sister is so raw and real.
She's also an eighteen year old stuck in the body of a twelve year old, which of course causes her endless frustration, but she pushes through it, and it's such a well explored aspect of the plot!
She's just so so so amazing.
- ELI. OH MY GOSH ELI! SCHWAB HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!?!?!? I'd seen people saying Vengeful made you feel sorry for Eli, but I didn't *really* believe it. I mean, I figured I'd maybe understand him a bit more, maybe feel a teeny tiny bit of sympathy for him even, but not like this!! Vengeful takes all the things you think you feel towards Eli and turns them upside down. I NEVER EXPECTED TO FEEL THIS BAD FOR HIM. And my god his backstory BROKE MY HEART! And thenSCHWAB WENT AND KILLED HIM AND BROKE MY HEART EVEN MORE!!!
Of course I also have my usual undying love for Mitch and Victor and Dol, but that didn't change a bit in this book, so I'm not going to spend much time on them. (Shut up I know my love for Sydney didn't really change either but she felt like I bigger character in this book than she did in Vicious and I love her so I can talk about her if I want to.)
I will however talk about THEIR DYNAMIC! I love the found family dynamic in any book always, and this one is especially perfect! Victor and Mitch are honestly both great parents to Sydney, and I LOVE IT. Mitch is soft and sweet and Victor is a terrible person but he cares SO MUCH about Sydney and it WARMS MY HEART!AND THE ENDING BROKE MY HEART HOW COULD HE JUST LEAVE LIKE THAT?????????
Overall? WOW THIS BOOK WAS GOOD! Go read it! It's fantastic and amazing and WOW. Schwab is truly a BRILLIANT writer and WOW WOW WOW. THIS BOOK.
***Initial Reaction, October 12, 2018***
AFGHGFDFGHGFDGFHRJSFDGHGFGHFDGSHDGJHHGJFFDHDSHDGJHGJHFGHHDFSSDDGFRDGFHTGHGGFHGJHHFHGFHJHHJFGJ I CAN'T FUNCTION RIGHT NOW THIS BOOK WAS TOO GOOD AND MY HEART AND AHHHHH I LOVED IT AND I MISSED THESE CHARACTERS, AND OH MY GOSH HOW DOES SCHWAB WRITE SUCH AMAZING BOOKS?!?!?!?!
RTC. show less
“Perhaps she was glass. But glass is only brittle until it breaks. Then it’s sharp.”
First of all can we discuss the CHARACTERS?? Perfection. Pure perfection. All of them.
I DO wish we could have seen more of the old characters. I missed them. As amazing as the new characters were, they couldn't quite compare to my precious Victor and show more Mitch and Sydney. Still though. The new characters were amazing.
- MARCELLA. I have a lot of feelings towards Marcella. Mostly positive, but not entirely. I don't even know how to describe it. Marcella is AMAZING. She's a badass feminist supervillain. What's not to love? And I do love her. Sort of. I spent the entire book trying to decide whether or not I was rooting for her. On the hand I WAS. But at the same time... I sort of wasn't?? She was just a tiny bit *too* evil for me to actually want her to succeed.
But still, Marcella was badass and amazing and I love Schwab for writing this FANTASTIC character.
“How many men would she have to turn to dust before one took her seriously?”
- JUNE. June was such an intriguing character! We never learn as much about her as I'd like, and I NEED a whole other book just about June. (And Sydney.) June is stabby and amazing. And very villainous. But did you expect anything else from this series? Also can we talk about how INCREDIBLY COOL June's power is???? She's a living breathing voodoo doll and if that isn't the COOLEST POWER EVER I don't know what is. And I just love June. A lot. Also she's really terrifying.
“Since you have a knack for finding people—”
“I have a knack for killing people,” corrected June. “Finding them is simply a prerequisite.”
- SYDNEY. I love this girl so much! She's snarky and wonderful and has so so SO much development!
She's also an eighteen year old stuck in the body of a twelve year old, which of course causes her endless frustration, but she pushes through it, and it's such a well explored aspect of the plot!
She's just so so so amazing.
"Sometimes, if she squinted a little, she could almost, almost see someone else in the mirror.
Someone with sharper cheekbones, fuller lips, a mouth tugged into a sly grin. The ghost of her sister. An echo. But then the illusion would falter, and Sydney's eyes would come back into focus, and all she would see was a little girl playing dress-up"
- ELI. OH MY GOSH ELI! SCHWAB HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!?!?!? I'd seen people saying Vengeful made you feel sorry for Eli, but I didn't *really* believe it. I mean, I figured I'd maybe understand him a bit more, maybe feel a teeny tiny bit of sympathy for him even, but not like this!! Vengeful takes all the things you think you feel towards Eli and turns them upside down. I NEVER EXPECTED TO FEEL THIS BAD FOR HIM. And my god his backstory BROKE MY HEART! And then
“Turned toward Eli like a face toward a mirror. Like to like. It frightened and thrilled Eli, to be seen, and to see himself reflected. Not all of himself—they were still so different—but there was something vital, a core of the same precious metal glinting through the rock.”
Of course I also have my usual undying love for Mitch and Victor and Dol, but that didn't change a bit in this book, so I'm not going to spend much time on them. (Shut up I know my love for Sydney didn't really change either but she felt like I bigger character in this book than she did in Vicious and I love her so I can talk about her if I want to.)
I will however talk about THEIR DYNAMIC! I love the found family dynamic in any book always, and this one is especially perfect! Victor and Mitch are honestly both great parents to Sydney, and I LOVE IT. Mitch is soft and sweet and Victor is a terrible person but he cares SO MUCH about Sydney and it WARMS MY HEART!
“Maybe we are broken. But we put ourselves back together. We survived. That’s what makes us so powerful. And as for family—well, blood is always family, but family doesn’t always have to be blood.”
Overall? WOW THIS BOOK WAS GOOD! Go read it! It's fantastic and amazing and WOW. Schwab is truly a BRILLIANT writer and WOW WOW WOW. THIS BOOK.
***Initial Reaction, October 12, 2018***
AFGHGFDFGHGFDGFHRJSFDGHGFGHFDGSHDGJHHGJFFDHDSHDGJHGJHFGHHDFSSDDGFRDGFHTGHGGFHGJHHFHGFHJHHJFGJ I CAN'T FUNCTION RIGHT NOW THIS BOOK WAS TOO GOOD AND MY HEART AND AHHHHH I LOVED IT AND I MISSED THESE CHARACTERS, AND OH MY GOSH HOW DOES SCHWAB WRITE SUCH AMAZING BOOKS?!?!?!?!
RTC. show less
Good grief I'm finally done with this.
I'm disappointed. I'm underwhelmed. I'm frankly a little pissed off. I went into this book with the excitement of a giddy child and came out a crone hardened by sheer boredom and anger (the worst kind). I was happy with the story, so very happy, but once Marcella (a new addition AKA the lady on the cover) mutinied and became the star of the show, around the 50% mark, I found myself dreading reading this.
I don't want this to be a long review so I'm going to be more brief than I usually am, especially when I have so many feelings. Here are my general feelings about the characters, the plot, and the themes of the book:
I found that all the veteran characters were cardboard cutouts of their former show more selves. They weren't really there long enough, their feelings and thoughts weren't touched on enough, to really warrant any feelings on my part. Victor was reduced to a hand flicking, wall leaning, tired guy who did things Victor would never do; Sydney was just meh and Mitch didn't drink nearly enough chocolate milk, though I did appreciate the extra time spent on Eli (though in the present, he wasn't nearly as entrancing as he had been in the past and in Vicious). Stell was back, and I actually really liked him. He was the only person who acted like a person, and I really appreciated that.
The new additions were mostly wallpaper. June had no logical motives. Both her and Marcella got their revenges way too soon and too easily to really hold any tension. While the new powers were interesting, I was constantly confused about the state of clothing in regards to June's ability. Basically, she can shapeshift into anyone living that she touches (minusing EOs) and glimpse into their most basic fundamental character aspects. And she also takes...their outfit? What about clothing she puts on separately? Can she remove the clothing? If she wants a specific outfit, does she have to go looking for someone wearing it?
Jonathan, another new addition, started out as a real person and literally became a cardboard cutout (okay not literally but pretty darn close). He just stood there. He rarely spoke. He always wore sunglasses even though everyone knew where he was looking. I forgot that he even existed for a moment.
Dr Haverty was okay, but a little cliche and convenient, and I wish he'd stayed around longer instead of popping up right when I'd completely forgotten he was a character.
Marcella...😒 Marcella was just Aelin Galathynius if you took away the tragic backstory. She's evil for the sake of it, black and white with no trace of grey, and a straight up psychopath. She tries to use feminism to support her ridiculous and unethical behavior and somehow...people agree? Like real people? She makes little snide comments about how men are always underestimating women who are ambitious, how they always call them crazy. No, lady, you are actually crazy. It's not just men saying that. Sydney isn't crazy. Sydney has morals. No one calls Sydney crazy (except for maybe Eli, but he's even more crazy). She said and did a lot of things that undermine real misogyny. She wasn't been underestimated or abused when male characters got mad at her for not holding up her end of the deal. She was being treated reasonably under the circumstances. Yes, her power of ruination was cool, but she used it as proof she is to be worshipped when she doesn't deserved to even be liked. I didn't know if this was intentional or not because the book didn't give me any clear message.
And that brings me to the general theme of this book. Or rather, the lack of a theme. It had no direction, had no point to make. There was no greyness to anything. There were the people we're supposed to see as good guys and those who were obviously villains. There was no unique and interesting philosophy, no real conflict. It was character-driven but didn't have any character tension. Scenes that were obviously supposed to be hardhitting and important character moments lacked any kind of tension whatsoever. They felt stale and boring. The first half of this book was promising, but it didn't keep that promise.
I'm disappointed. I'm underwhelmed. I'm frankly a little pissed off. I went into this book with the excitement of a giddy child and came out a crone hardened by sheer boredom and anger (the worst kind). I was happy with the story, so very happy, but once Marcella (a new addition AKA the lady on the cover) mutinied and became the star of the show, around the 50% mark, I found myself dreading reading this.
I don't want this to be a long review so I'm going to be more brief than I usually am, especially when I have so many feelings. Here are my general feelings about the characters, the plot, and the themes of the book:
I found that all the veteran characters were cardboard cutouts of their former show more selves. They weren't really there long enough, their feelings and thoughts weren't touched on enough, to really warrant any feelings on my part. Victor was reduced to a hand flicking, wall leaning, tired guy who did things Victor would never do; Sydney was just meh and Mitch didn't drink nearly enough chocolate milk, though I did appreciate the extra time spent on Eli (though in the present, he wasn't nearly as entrancing as he had been in the past and in Vicious). Stell was back, and I actually really liked him. He was the only person who acted like a person, and I really appreciated that.
The new additions were mostly wallpaper. June had no logical motives. Both her and Marcella got their revenges way too soon and too easily to really hold any tension. While the new powers were interesting, I was constantly confused about the state of clothing in regards to June's ability. Basically, she can shapeshift into anyone living that she touches (minusing EOs) and glimpse into their most basic fundamental character aspects. And she also takes...their outfit? What about clothing she puts on separately? Can she remove the clothing? If she wants a specific outfit, does she have to go looking for someone wearing it?
Jonathan, another new addition, started out as a real person and literally became a cardboard cutout (okay not literally but pretty darn close). He just stood there. He rarely spoke. He always wore sunglasses even though everyone knew where he was looking. I forgot that he even existed for a moment.
Dr Haverty was okay, but a little cliche and convenient, and I wish he'd stayed around longer instead of popping up right when I'd completely forgotten he was a character.
Marcella...😒 Marcella was just Aelin Galathynius if you took away the tragic backstory. She's evil for the sake of it, black and white with no trace of grey, and a straight up psychopath. She tries to use feminism to support her ridiculous and unethical behavior and somehow...people agree? Like real people? She makes little snide comments about how men are always underestimating women who are ambitious, how they always call them crazy. No, lady, you are actually crazy. It's not just men saying that. Sydney isn't crazy. Sydney has morals. No one calls Sydney crazy (except for maybe Eli, but he's even more crazy). She said and did a lot of things that undermine real misogyny. She wasn't been underestimated or abused when male characters got mad at her for not holding up her end of the deal. She was being treated reasonably under the circumstances. Yes, her power of ruination was cool, but she used it as proof she is to be worshipped when she doesn't deserved to even be liked. I didn't know if this was intentional or not because the book didn't give me any clear message.
And that brings me to the general theme of this book. Or rather, the lack of a theme. It had no direction, had no point to make. There was no greyness to anything. There were the people we're supposed to see as good guys and those who were obviously villains. There was no unique and interesting philosophy, no real conflict. It was character-driven but didn't have any character tension. Scenes that were obviously supposed to be hardhitting and important character moments lacked any kind of tension whatsoever. They felt stale and boring. The first half of this book was promising, but it didn't keep that promise.
Every end may be a new beginning, but every beginning had to end.show less
I often find it harder to enjoy the second book in the series as much as the first. The first is where I fell in love with the characters, where I was pulled into the plot, and where I made my judgments. The second usually falls flat compared to it; the second book in most series I find a bit of a task to get through. However, Vengeful broke that pattern for me. I fell just as much in love with this as I had Vicious. The characters lost none of their charms and the new obstacles thrown their way expanded them exactly how I hoped them to be expanded. VE Schwab’s writing is enticing and steady, with beautiful metaphors and thorough character building that made me feel connected to each and every character. It’s rare for me to find a show more book where a 12-year-old main character (I guess Syd is 18 by the end, but still) is both realistic and incredibly strong and likable. On the same note, I loved seeing the characters change with age. Even with multiple characters being unable to physically age, I could feel the thought that went behind how the 13 years that spanned these two books changed each and every character. This was one of the few books that I felt had nearly mastered the art of multiple main characters and therefore multiple POVs. Schwab has a way with words that I’ve always wished I could possess. show less
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Author Information
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Awards and Honors
Awards
Distinctions
Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Vengeful
- Original title
- Vengeful
- Original publication date
- 2018
- Epigraph
- While seeking revenge, dig two graves—one for yourself.
(Douglas Horton) - First words
- The night Marcella died, she made her husband's favorite dinner.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)June glanced in the rearview mirror, checked her new face, and drove away.
- Original language
- English
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 2,593
- Popularity
- 7,317
- Reviews
- 50
- Rating
- (4.02)
- Languages
- 7 — English, French, German, Hungarian, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese (Portugal)
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 24
- ASINs
- 4