The sequel to VICIOUS, V.E. Schwab's first adult novel.
Sydney once had Serena—beloved sister, betrayed enemy, powerful ally. But now she is 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.
"It doesn't matter if you're a human versus a human or a human versus an EO or an EO versus an EO. You do what you can. You fight, and you win until you don't."
Hohoho my heart just stopped and stayed dead until I came across the information that Villains MIGHT CONTINUE!
After finishing Vicious I didn't think this could get any better, but I was so, so wrong. If you thought the first book is packed with action and tension, this one is even more so. Victor and Eli's story continues; while Eli ended up in custody, Victor is free, living with Sydney and Mitch. But all is not so perfect. After his resurrection, Victor faces painful seizures, followed by death. While he tries to find someone to fix the malfunction that has occurred in his power, they become more frequent as the time passes and soon, he realizes his time's up. Meanwhile, in Merit, officer Stell establishes new movement – EON, a military organization with the purpose to catch and neutralize EOs. At the same time as Marcella Riggings, local mob's wife survives a fire accident which leaves her with destructive power and she starts making havoc all over Merit.
There are so many counterparties acting and plotting, making this story a tangled web of motives, schemes, power, and sacrifices. New characters are emerging and developing, old ones working further on their agendas until everything gets together in one eventful evening in Merit. It was full of surprises and unexpected plot twists and, I know I say this a lot recently, but I could hardly tear myself from this book.
I enjoyed immensely reading this book, because of its pacing and, again, amazing writing. Author dragged me in this world all over again, slowly and precisely, adding more details and taking EOs and their power on a whole different level. She continues to use non-chronological composition, setting the plot in the interval from 5 years ago to present, until everything falls into place. I was kind of annoyed with this jumping from 5 years ago to 2 years ago to last night etc., but I can say Schwab did this really good, with a reasonable amount of information given to the reader, enough to help us understand, but keeps us interested and hungry for more.
I really love characters Schwab created, but I feel like there isn't much more for me to say about them. I was thrilled to see she dedicated a solid part to Eli's backstory and further development of his character. While in Vicious I found him just annoying for his arrogance and never-fading god complex, but now, with lengthy and emotional backstory description, I found myself sympathizing and even liking his character. He makes a great anti-hero and yet another spectacular character in author's collection. I just kind of wished she would do the same thing for Victor because I feel like I know awfully little about his past.
There are also few new characters that make an appearance in Vengeful. Well, while Jonathan does close to nothing, Marcella and June are quite complex and interesting. Marcella is an ultimate batshit crazy, powerful, badass female character. She is so much more than other strong female characters I was used to reading about. She just knows what she wants, tired after a lifetime of being used and considered "mob's housewife". She knows exactly what she wants, knows how she can get it and has no intention of hiding herself or her power anymore. You go, girl!
"How many men would she have to turn to dust before one took her seriously?"
While they find themselves in the same company, June is a different story. I really disliked her through the books, because of her possessiveness of Sydney, but there is something really dark and appealing about her character so I hope to find out about what happened to her.
I can't say anything special about the ending, only that I enjoyed reading about these characters fighting together or against each other. *spoiler*
"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."
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