Never has the phrase “the past is catching up with you” been more appropriate.īetween the new characters causing havoc and the inevitable confrontation between Eli and Victor, this book is just so addictively good.

As the past races alongside the present, the tension increases until finally all the pieces come together. While less-skilled authors would probably give me whiplash with this, Schwab uses it really well. Vengeful's timeline jumps back and forth and all around, and frequently switches perspective. “Whatever you’ve heard,” said June, “it’s probably true.” June is another fantastic character and her snark made me smile with delight: Hell hath no fury like women seeking vengeance against the men who wronged them.

In fact, the female characters are far bigger stars in Vengeful than they are in Vicious. And also freaking awesome.īut glass is only brittle until it breaks. The addition of a new character - Marcella - is a real highlight of this book. All of the characters do despicable things and yet their motives make a certain kind of sense- even if I'm reluctant to admit it. Once again, we are forced to consider what it is to be good, to do right, and what it is to be evil. In this book, new characters emerge to make the fight even bigger than before. I love it when an author can take an exhausted topic and breathe new life into it.

She creates such interesting, well-rounded characters, and draws out the tension so perfectly that I need to know what happens next. And yet, for me, Schwab makes this book stand out from the pile.

I've read countless books about people with X-Men like powers. The bare bones of the story is not that original. These 'villains' are actually complex antiheroes - murderous and power-hungry, for sure, but also sympathetic and even likeable. While I've enjoyed a number of Schwab's books, I feel like her strongest writing and characters lie here with Victor and Eli. This duology (series?) is called 'Villains' and yet the characters are so much more interesting than that. Oh, how I loved this book! I've waited five long years for the sequel to Vicious and I was starting to think it would never happen. Run, thought Victor, and he could see the response in Eli’s coiled frame. His eyes met Victor’s, and for a second neither man moved.

Vengeful vicious