Vengeful (The Villains, #2)

by V.E. Schwab

A super-powered battle of genius, cruelty, and the lengths one will go for vengeance-V. E. Schwab returns with the end to the Villains duology.


Magneto and Professor X. Superman and Lex Luthor. Victor Vale and Eli Ever.

Sydney Clarke once had Serena-beloved sister, betrayed enemy, powerful ally. But now she's alone, except for her thrice-dead dog, Dol. And then there's Victor, who thinks Sydney doesn't know about his most recent act of vengeance.

Victor himself is under the radar these days-being buried and re-animated can strike concern even if one has superhuman powers. But despite his own worries, his anger remains. And Eli Ever still has yet to pay for the evil he has done.

• ISBN10: 0765387530
• ISBN13: 9780765387530
• Publish Date: 7 January 2020 (first published 25 September 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Tor Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 480
• Language: English

Reviews

[writehollydavis]

Awesome sequel! I expected nothing less from the queen. :)

[maggiefan]

It was very good. But I'm kinda disappointed that it wasn't as good as the first one.

[Nessa Luna]

4,5 stars.

I liked this book so much more than Vicious. I had not expected to like it this much, especially because I did not care that much for the first book. I would have given this book a five-star rating, had the main characters come together a bit sooner such that the story tied in together. Now, we were just following separate main characters that somehow ended up in the same place by luck. No real reason whatsoever. I would have liked their storylines to intertwine a bit more.

In this book, I still hated Victor Vale, sorry buddy. I really liked Eli, June, Marcella, Mitch, Sydney, and even Dominic, who we did not get to know that well. Don't get me wrong, I did not think that they were nice people, but their personalities were complex and interesting. To be fair, June, Mitch, and Dominic were not that complex, but still interesting. Sydney will always be my favorite character, possibly also because she is the only good character in this series. She is just so innocent, that's the only way I can describe it. June had an interesting premise, but I never understood her obsession with Sydney. Again, it felt like something that was an easy connection to the story instead of something with a real reason. I really loved Mitch, but he was just a bystander in this book that did not have anything to do with the story at all. He existed and cared for Sydney, that's all. Eli took again a very interesting turn, with his cooperation with Stell and his manipulation. Oh, I also really liked the plot twist with the woman that was an EO working with EON. I wonder if I reread the book, I will find clues that she was an EO before the plot twist is explained because I never even questioned it.

To be honest, it is difficult to describe what is exactly so good about this book. It is definitely not the storyline, because I am sure you have seen most of it before. The characters are very complex, very morally questionable, and very dark at times. You really start to question if the characters that you are reading about and rooting for, are actually the bad guys. I think I switched sides more than 50 times. I just couldn't decide if I even agreed with anyone anymore.

This series is definitely a must read if you like villain stories. But, if you don't care about characters that much and more about the story, I would personally go for another book. This story is good, but the complex characters make it remarkable.

[adamfortuna]

After seeing Vengeful win Goodreads best of list for 2018, and I wanted to check out V.E's latest series - and after a strong first book I continued to #2. I have mixed thoughts on this one though. I love the world, I love the two main characters and I love their rivalry. Unfortunately, those parts of the story were minor details in a larger battle between the cast. I could've used more exploration into the world as a whole.

[reveriesociety_]

I expected more from this one. Need more Victor and his gang. Needed more Eli.

[Joséphine]

My full book review is now up on Word Revel — on the same day I finished reading this book because I'm so excited about it, so yay! :D

_________

Initial thoughts: This book is everything! I love that the ending gives a possibility of a sequel but also is satisfying on its own to leave Vengeful as part of a duology rather than an extended series. The characters were so on point, the plot so intense, the resolution so spectacular, I don't know what to do with myself now that I'm done reading.

[alindstadtcorbeax]

Star Rating : FIVEFIVEFIVEFIVEFIVE (just 5 , I mean, officially) STARS

I’m... blown away. Please, Schwab, never close the window to the villains universe.
Fantastic. But so much more than that.
RTC... kind of in a happy, amazing, wonderous, trance right at this moment.

Does what’s dead ever stay dead? I’m hoping I know the answer to that question... ;-)

[Mercy]

4.5/5

[emruth13]

I really hope there's going to be a third book because OH MY GOD I NEED MORE! This book was AMAZING and I loved every minute of it!