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.

• ISBN13: 9781789090079
• Publish Date: 25 September 2018
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 4 April 2022
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Titan Books Ltd
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[luddite]

A quick, fun read. Liked it marginally better than Vicious because it moves beyond Eli and Victor, but the development of the new characters gets a little muddy. And the climax could've been much more.

I still like the series and the universe Schwab has built.

[leahrosereads]

How often do sequels actually improve upon a story anymore? This one not only did Vicious justice, it bettered it! The villains are still super villain-y without many redeeming qualities (just how I like them to be), and we were introduced to a couple more really intricately created characters that expanded this world.

I hope in another 5 years, we'll get to see how they're all doing - of course, namely Victor, who's still one of my favorite characters ever!

Obviously, I could keep gushing about this book, but there are plenty of 5 star reviews that you can read instead to get a more eloquent critique.

But, should you read this duology? Yes, you fucking should!

[Stephanie]

I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine.

[nightingalereads]

3.75 stars

I read Vicious back in 2013 and loved it. In fact, Vicious was my first (and favorite) book by V.E. Schwab.

Thinking it a standalone, I was thrilled and slightly anxious when I heard she was writing a sequel. (Hence why I put off reading this until now). Turns out, I had no reason to fear. Vengeful reminded me why I loved the first book so much. Schwab's writing is crisp and punchy, and utterly engaging. I'd honestly forgotten some of the events and side characters from Vicious, but Vengeful did such a good job of recapturing the atmosphere of the first one that everything soon came rushing back. I forgot how much I missed them all. Especially the family bond between Victor and Sydney. As in Vicious, these two were my favorite to read about. Eli continued to be as complicated as my feelings are for him, if that makes any sense, and the new characters introduced also proved a welcome addition. Although I wasn't as invested in Marcella's storyline, she was a compelling character and a refreshing perspective to read from.

If, like me, you have been hesitating to pick this up, Vengeful is definitely a worthy successor to Vicious. I was completely sucked in, and the final showdown near the end had me clasping my hand over my mouth the entire time.

Overall: I missed my damaged found-family of villains.