Victorious

Villains #3

by V.E. Schwab

The ExtraOrdinary of Merit City, a secret group of individuals gifted with a power connected to their manner of near-death experience, have been keeping a low profile, avoiding the ever-watchful eye of EON in the wake of the showdown with Marcella, Eli, and Serena.

But when EON—and its relationship to the ExtraOrdinaries—begins to change under the leadership of a new director with a terrifying agenda, the time for hiding is over. The path to the truth of what happened to EON leads Victor, Sydney, Mitch and the rest into the enemy’s lair at EON headquarters, where they encounter unexpected allies, shocking new abilities, and the ultimate confrontation.

Against all the years, the betrayals, and the odds—the arch nemeses and their allies will meet for a final time, on a chess board laid out by a rival they didn’t expect.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Adult, Dark Academia, Urban Fantasy, Audiobook

544 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 2026

About the author

This author also writes under the name of Victoria Schwab.

VICTORIA “V. E.” SCHWAB is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, including the acclaimed Shades universe, the Villains series, the City of Ghosts series, Gallant, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and The Fragile Threads of Power. When not haunting Paris streets or trudging up English hillsides, she can usually be found in Edinburgh, Scotland, tucked in the corner of a coffee shop, dreaming up monsters.

Reviews

[Kai Spellmeier]

this is not a drill bitches

[Emily (Books with Emily Fox on Youtube) · Rating 4 out of 5]

THIS IS A TRILOGY?!

HOLY SHIT I THOUGHT IT WAS A DUOLOGY!!!

[eli.]

victor and eli kiss in this one

[shreya]

I am just here for Victor Vale.

[Victoria Schwab · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I wrote Vicious 15 years ago, I wrote it for myself and only myself. When I wrote Victorious, I wrote it for me AND for you. I hope I’ve done right by both of us.

[myo ⋆｡˚ ❀ *]

this shit better be gay, i’m not playing

[Ayesha]

bitches, by now I will read ANYTHING V.E Schwab writes in this universe. Even if it's Victor and Eli's thesis papers, Mitch's grocery list, or Sydney's math homework.
If it's Vicious, it's mine

[Youssra {very busy-review slumping} · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wdym I have no more books about Victor Vale?????😭😭😭😭

I legitimately read this book twice in a row and it slapped each time. A masterpiece. everything I wanted and more😭 Victoria SIMMERED AND COOKED for eight years and it shows!

Of all the moments in his life, this might be the one he'd choose to live inside. He and Eli, laughing beneath the starless unordinary sky.

Two wolves pretending to be sheep, but somehow they had found each other

These two urrrghhhhhh👹👹👹

Mitch😩😩💖💖💖

Will reread this trilogy at least once a year because I must experience this epicness for the rest of my life!

[✨ A ✨]

Hang on,, when did we get a title?!?!
_____
There was a five year gap between the release of the first and second book.

Will I wait five years for this one? Hmmmmmmm let me think....

I WOULD WAIT A THOUSAND YEARS FOR VICTOR VALE
________

My reviews for:
[Villains Series]
Book 0.5: Warm Up
Book 1: Vicious
Book 2: Vengeful

[mya sabramsky]

i have literally never wanted a book as bad as i want this.

[Jaime Fok · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

4.5

The conclusion I have been CRAVING for YEARS omg. Was over the moon to receive an early copy of this to read. And YES - VE SCHWAB DELIVERED!!!

I did re-read Vicious & Vengeful in preparation for this one, since it has been literal years - and I do think that was the correct decision to make. I had the best time diving back into our favourite villains' minds & then seeing how we took things a step even further in this finale.

And by further, I mean FURTHER. I had no idea how VE Schwab would expand on these ideas of what humans do when all of a sudden "gifted" with these extraordinary powers. We've seen them hide and break down, we've seen them go on power trips, we've seen them try to play god. So I was so happy to see how much we pushed those boundaries even further in Victorious.

***MAYBE VAGUE SPOILER in this next paragraph... but I don' think it's actually a spoiler because it's more of an ongoing theme throughout the entire series***

Something that is so interesting about these books to me is the idea of EOs' long-lived lives, and also the idea of being able to resurrect a life. There are definitely points in this series as a whole where we reach the point of deaths never feeling final because of the nature of our EOs and how they work - which might make the story as a whole feel a bit lower stakes, and deaths less meaningful. But I feel like it can actually be forgiven in this case because we actually dive deeper into how death & resurrection affects our characters' mental states, which I find so fascinating.

***POTENTIAL VAGUE THEME SPOILERS OVER***

It's honestly just also so much fun following our main villains and their OBSESSION with one another. Do they love each other, do they hate each other? How ugly can jealousy and insecurity be?

I honestly didn't expect to cry at the end of this... but I did...
so there's that.

Anyways. LOVED this one, can't wait for everyone to read it!!!

[Alexia · Rating 5 out of 5]

< After all, everyone was immortal until they weren’t. >

One of my favorite series, and that’s largely because of Victor and Eli and the complex chess game they played over the years.

It would be dishonest to say I wholeheartedly loved this book, so I won’t pretend otherwise. I loved the core of the story: Victor and Eli. They will always be the heart of this series and, for me, its greatest saving grace.

First, let's talk about what didn't work for me. The antagonist was insufferable, not because he was clever, but because he wasn’t. He was boring and loved the sound of his own voice. Seriously, he could not stop talking.

As for the side characters, I’m sorry, but I couldn't bring myself to care about them. They all fell flat for me, and the story never gave them enough depth to make me feel invested.

The plot itself was good, and I have no complaints about it. Even though the side characters didn't work for me, the story still held up on its own.

And then there are Victor and Eli. Eli and Victor. Two sides of the same coin, reflections of one another, and the reason I held my breath while waiting for this third book. They delivered.

Of course, I wish they’d had more page time. But I understand that after the first book, the story shifted toward Sydney and her journey; the ending makes that shift especially clear. Still, whenever Victor and Eli were on the page together, sparks flew.

I don’t want to discuss them separately, because I think that would do a disservice to what the book is trying to say about their relationship. They make the most sense to me when I consider them together.

They had my full attention from the start, and I never once looked away. The magnetism between them, combined with personalities that are so similar and yet not, makes them incredibly compelling. Their obsession, hatred, love (because there is love between them, whatever kind it is), and the way they become everything to one another are all fascinating to read about.

The author really stepped up in the way she portrayed their intertwined fates. No matter how small their interactions were, they always seemed to find their way back to each other. By the end, I realized that they had become each other’s comfort: the person who could offer a sense of refuge even while causing pain. That contradiction is what makes their relationship feel so beautiful and so toxic at the same time.

Their story becomes a legend because Victor and Eli are legends in their own right.

In conclusion, I love Victor, and I both love and hate Eli. I’m happy that, by the end, my feelings about them remained just as strong.

[annie ❦]

i'll be in a nursery home when this is released i fear

[Ana (Hiatus)]

If Victor Vale has a million fans, I am one of them. If Victor Vale has ten fans, I am one of them. If Victor Vale has no fans, that means I am no more on the earth. If the world is against Victor Vale, I am against the World. I love Victor Vale till my last breath.

When is this out? It's been so long since Vengeful. I just need more Victor Vale content. Is that too much to ask for?

Anyway, I hope Eli comes back to life and finally teams up with Victor. That would be awesome. Can you imagine how cool and unstoppable they will be together?

UPDATE- Oh my God!! Okay it’s happening. Everyone stay calm! STAY F***ING CALM.
ITS REAL OMG

[Virginia Ronan ♥ Herondale ♥]

It's official! I'm living under a rock or on an entirely different planet!
In another universe?
A parallel world?!
In a bubble in the Mariana Trench?!

BECAUSE

WTH??!!!

How could I miss that there's going to be a third book?!

I don't know what it's going to be about.
I'm pretty certain it's going to kill me.
BUT I need this in my life!
This and Victor Vale! <333

[bookluvr (s-ia) · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

vickeeeeeeeeee, the power you wield armed with nothing but your lethal pen and that bob!!! this was delicious. a satisfying (albeit melancholic) conclusion for what turned out to be an epic series. this could only end in one way, and while i’m struggling to accept that this is the end and there’s nothing left 😭, i couldn’t come up with a better close to this story (except for…well, the kiss everyone’s been holding their breath for since book 1 lmao).

i’ve said it before in my reviews of the other books in the series, and i’ll say it again: there is something about the writing in these books that is utterly addicting. the quick pacing, the short chapters, the non-linearity of the storytelling and the way the endings build up with a nail-biting countdown the way that they always do — it enraptures me. i could not look away while reading this final installment, except to attend to life-sustaining activities and a job!

it’s impossible to review this in a lot of detail without giving away spoilers for the past books and repeating myself around things i’ve already said before, so imma try to keep it brief and just reflect on a few things…without giving too much away about the overall plot (overtly, anyways — i think some things are common knowledge based off knowing the premise of the entire story).

for me, vicious remains the best book in this series, but victorious is stronger than vengeful — which is why i went down the middle of the two with my rating here. in that first book, the story felt most about victor and eli, and their complex relationship. as new main characters got added to the series in the sequels, that focus on evervale did get diluted somewhat, but that doesn’t mean it’s completely erased. in some ways, it made the moments that do pop up more sporadically land even harder (starvation is one hell of a drug). the callbacks, the memories, the dreams, the symmetry between them…the persistent presence these two have in each other’s brains??? nothing short of poetry.

“did you ever think about the nature of our powers? not what they were, but what they were in conversation with each other. invulnerability, and vulnerability. strength, and suffering. two extremes, set in opposition, as if by some cosmic hand. a grand design.” victor rolled his eyes. eli and his higher powers. “which is it, then?” he asked. “were we part of god’s plan, or an affront to it?”

i NEVER thought about this while reading books 1-2, even though i did say in my review of book 1 that these two peas in a morally derelict pod were two sides of the same coin. imagine how my jaw was on the flooooooor when the writing framed their powers in relation to one another like this??? gagged.

”they were so different, and yet, sometimes when eli looked at victor, he swore he saw his own reflection. a shard of mirror, buried in those sharp blue eyes. i see the devil in you.”

“they were different, and they knew it, two wolves pretending to be sheep. but somehow, they had found each other.”

“it was supposed to be the two of them, against the world.” 🥹

reading about their friendship, their rivalry, their vengeance and their obsession with one another has been one of the most exhilarating bookish experiences i’ve ever had. it’s sad to think that it’s all over and that there’s no more coming 😭. i’ll miss my pookies 🤍 (yes i love eli too!!!) and if you see me re-reading, well…🤭.

”of all the moments in his life, this might be the one he’d choose to live inside. he and eli, laughing beneath a starless, ordinary sky. the scales, yet to tip, the lines, not yet crossed, the energy around them electric with potential.”

ok, let me stop wailing and talk about something else 😩🥹.

it’s been years since the beginning of vicious. the characters we’ve been with since the start are jaded. by time. by death. by constantly watching their six and having to hide. by old hurts and old scores that need to be settled and put to rest.

”…in a world where dead didn’t mean gone.”

“second resurrections always come with complications.”

you’d think in a story where people can come back from the dead that there’d be no stakes but that’s not the case here. it’s interesting to see the damage death does and has done to the characters. hell, it’s dawning on me it’s the whole foundation of this house in the first place, what with victor and eli’s origins as EOs — death fractured them as individuals but also as a friendly pair. to become an EO, one has to die first. death drives a lot of the development, and the way v.e. schwab uses it in every character’s arc in some way, shape or form is masterful.

i really enjoyed the introduction of gabriel, a doctor / therapist who serves as one of the main antagonists in this book. in ways, he reminded me of eli — driven by a higher power or calling, morality warped to the point that the character truly believes that they are doing good deeds and i believe that they believe that too. gabriel’s divine purpose is science and knowledge rather than religious faith like eli’s is, but he made for an interesting counterpoint to eli’s character. the biblical parallels were genius. the way she wrote his perspective came across just as mild-mannered, methodical and clinical, but oh so quietly hungry just like the man himself. victoria, let me kiss you on yo fo’head 🙂‍↕️. i love to read a book that feels like a living thing. a lot of the first half is spent bringing his character on, and would i have loved to have seen more of my faves in that time? sure. still, his arc was really well-executed and i was still very engaged in the first half of this read.

the second half, though? magic. magic magic magic. this is where the story becomes most electric in this here book and the emphasis is placed on the characters i’m obsessed with to begin with. having those full circle callback-y (look at me making words up) moments that brought in threads and plot lines from installments past? how we climaxed into the most explosive mind-dizzying O a book is going to give you? how we wrapped up with an ending that managed to be painful and cathartic simultaneously?! yeah, i was very, very sated, fed and full with this read and its closing moments. i really loved how this book made mitch and sydney its heart and moral compass, especially since i didn’t love sydney’s character arc in vengeful and mitch was relegated to the background in that one, when he was more prominent in vicious. making these two as important as they were, from start to end, was exactly what i hoped for going into this last book 🤍. so gratifying. also, i don’t know if this is objectively true or not (going off actual page count / scene count etc) but i felt victor’s presence more in this book than i did in the second one, which is another thing i was really happy about while reading victorious. he will always be one of the best anti-heroes of our time, and no one can tell me otherwise 🙂‍↔️. if i spend an age writing a veritable love letter to him, i’d never get this review out of my notes app. he’s gotta be experienced at least once. that’s all imma say.

”victor vale had never been ordinary. even before his near-death experience, he was the smartest in the room, the top of his class, three steps ahead in every game he played. and after, he was uncatchable. not because of his power, but because of his mind.”

“victor, who wasn’t—had never been, would never be—a hero. and had still managed to be hers.”

[Grace Quan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly couldn't have asked for a better ending.

While nothing could ever top the first book, Victorious was definitely a close second. I loved how in each book, we get introduced to a whole new cast of layered and morally complicated characters. Victorious was no different. I thought the addition of the Therapist character was brilliant and his character was so ethically questionable and fun. This book also brings back the characters we know and love (and hate too).

My main problem with the narrative style of this series is how difficult it is to follow at times. I felt this especially in the second book. But I'm pretty happy to say that this book was definitely the easiest to follow and flowed the best. The story didn't go back in time as much and that made the story move so much faster. Speaking of the writing in general, V.E. Schwab delivered! She delivered the emotional punch at the end and she delivered the gory and vivid details throughout. This book was so immersive and I am very sad to leave the Villains universe.

I listened to the audio version for all three books and Jeremy Arther brought all the characters to life in the most wonderful way. I'm also wary of male narrators because sometimes their voice is genuinely too deep for me to understand clearly. For Jeremy Arther that was not the case and I will definitely check out more of his work.

Book: ★★★★★
Narration: ★★★★★

Thanks NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

📆 Publication Date: October 6, 2026

[Giulia]

Am I still bitter about Vengeful? Absolutely.
Am I still going to read this? Absolutely.
Logic™️

[manas · Rating 5 out of 5]

gay sex is less gay than whatever these two have between them.

i’m gonna miss my favorite boyfriends. 😩

[Nilufer Ozmekik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eight years. Eight unbelievably long years.

That's how long I've been waiting for the conclusion to one of my favorite fantasy series of all time, and after finishing Victorious, I can honestly say V.E. Schwab delivered a finale worthy of the journey. The wait felt endless, but some stories earn the right to take their time, and this nearly 550-page conclusion proves that the Villains trilogy deserved nothing less than a grand, explosive ending.

Returning to this world felt like reuniting with old friends—and enemies. Victor Vale, Sydney, Mitch, Eli, and the rest of this unforgettable cast are back for one final battle, but the real surprise is the arrival of Dr. Gabriel Gray. His storyline quickly became one of the most fascinating parts of the novel. What starts as a seemingly ordinary psychiatrist-patient relationship spirals into something disturbing, unpredictable, and terrifying. Gabriel's transformation adds a completely new dimension to the story and creates a threat unlike anything the characters have faced before. Every chapter involving him left me eager to discover what terrible thing would happen next.

Victor's journey was equally compelling. Stripped of the powers that once made him so formidable, he's forced to confront challenges from a completely different angle. Watching him desperately search for a solution while trying to stay one step ahead of disaster made for some of the book's most gripping moments. Meanwhile, Sydney has grown tremendously since we first met her. She may still look like a child, but she's no longer the frightened girl from the beginning of the series. Her anger, hurt, and determination feel completely earned, especially when it comes to Victor's absence. Their complicated relationship remains one of the emotional pillars of the story.

And then there's Mitch—still the loyal protector, still the heart of this strange little family. His devotion to Sydney and his quiet efforts to keep everyone together continue to make him one of the most lovable characters in the series.
One thing Schwab does exceptionally well is rewarding longtime readers. Small details, past events, forgotten connections, old rivalries, and unfinished storylines all resurface in meaningful ways. Nothing feels accidental. Watching the pieces gradually come together was like seeing an intricate puzzle finally reveal its full picture. Every revelation pushed the story forward, and every twist raised the stakes even higher.

The pacing is masterfully handled. The opening sections carefully build tension before unleashing a relentless series of confrontations, surprises, and emotional punches. Once the story gained momentum, I couldn't stop reading. There were multiple moments where I had to put the book down simply to process what had just happened. Other moments had me frantically turning pages because I needed to know who would survive, who would fall, and how this decades-long conflict would finally end.

What has always made this series special is its refusal to draw clear lines between heroes and villains. Nobody is entirely innocent. Nobody is entirely evil. Every character exists somewhere in the gray space between, and that's what makes them so compelling. Even after three books, Schwab continues to challenge readers' loyalties and expectations.
Most importantly, Victorious succeeds where many finales struggle: it delivers an ending that feels earned. The emotional payoffs land. The character arcs reach satisfying conclusions. The action is thrilling. The stakes feel enormous. And when I reached the final pages, I felt both devastated that it was over and grateful that I got to experience it.

I loved this book so much that I immediately found myself revisiting favorite scenes after finishing. It's my favorite fantasy read of the year, one of my favorite books by V.E. Schwab, and without question one of the strongest trilogy conclusions I've ever read. If I could climb to the nearest rooftop and recommend this series to every fantasy reader within earshot, I absolutely would.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This was everything I hoped for, everything I wanted, and the perfect conclusion to an extraordinary trilogy.

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[emi · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 stars, obviously

Vicious has been my favorite book for 11 years now. I read it for the first time as a newly 17-year old girl and thought I stumbled on something extraordinary. I was right.

It truly feels like a chapter of my life has now closed. I’m a completely different person now, 11 years later, but also in a way, I’m like Sydney Clark: a girl who has changed slowly through time. 11 years of reading nonstop, but never finding a book I love more than a silly little supervillain book I only read because I bought it for $2.99 in 2015.

And for the first time in years, I actually cried reading something. Real tears. The book ended the only way I assumed it could end, and yet even 11 years couldn’t save me from the pain.

2021 Pre-Review

Screw my future marriage

Screw my future children

Screw my own birth

The day this book comes out will be the greatest day of my life, by far.

[Booksblabbering || Cait❣️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a VICTORIOUSLY satisfying finale. 

If you haven’t read Vicious or Vengeful, it’s basically about two guys who love each other but want to kill each other. I’m joking, but that’s how I see some people sell it - I don’t buy it. 

It’s about ExtraOrdinaries - people who come back from death with a superpower. We follow morally grey (black) characters as they try and flee, kill, hide from each other. 

The finale took my two favourite characters: Syd and Mitch, and made them the stars of the show. Arguably, the two weakest but who truly carry the heart of this series. 

I don’t want to spoil anything else, especially considering the end of Vengeful, but I promise you will see other favourite characters. 

"Did somebody stab you?" He ran a disinfectant pad over the weeping wound. 
"It’s a graze." 
"Jesus Christ, you were gone for an hour and a half."

We also get introduced to a new Doctor with a superiority complex. There’s various character perspectives which, despite their short page count, Schwab manages to nail their psyche. 

The chapters are short and switch between timelines as well as POVs. Each one ends on something that makes you tear through the pages. 
The writing style is blunt compared to Schwab’s other books, but it suits the style of the series.  

The ending was melancholic, but I was very satisfied with it. This was what we have been waiting for all these years. 

Physical arc gifted by Titan. 

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[persephone ☾]

BITCHES USED TO PRAY FOR TIMES LIKE THIS (IT'S ME, I'M BITCHES)

[Samantha (ladybug.books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

VE Schwab, I am sending you my next therapy bill for that second to last chapter.

I’m honestly speechless. Five stars to the whole trilogy, to each and every single installment. VE Schwab is a master of her craft, and I cannot believe that this is over. This was everything that I wanted it to be, everything I could’ve hoped for from a conclusion to a trilogy that I’ve had such a long-running experience with. I can’t believe I have actually completed the Villains trilogy.

Victorious begins at the end, on the brink of a major confrontation between heroes, villains, and everyone in between—a climax that has been building over the course of an epic trilogy. And then it walks the reader back through the three years that it took to reach that moment.

As always, the structure of this book is one of my favorite things. I love the way that VE Schwab plays with timeline and structure in each book in the Villains trilogy. I think it is really incredible at ratcheting up the tension as we play with what perspectives we see in different timelines and when information is revealed. In Victorious, it is particularly clever the way that VE Schwab plays a little bit with “out of sight, out of mind,” using the absence of certain perspectives to really create a sense of wonder and suspense as we wait to find out what has been going on. It plays off of your assumptions in a way that makes certain reveals even more satisfying.

The evolution of these characters has just been incredibly interesting to follow. Victor Vale is always going to be one of my favorite characters. Never entirely hero or villain at any point in the series, his moral complexity makes him an incredibly interesting character to follow. We see shades of both in each moment of this trilogy, and I loved his journey so much.

Something that really strikes me at the end of this series is the way that the Villains trilogy has very much been Sydney’s story, as much if not more than it is a story about Victor and Eli and their dynamic. Sydney starts as such an unassuming character but, looking back, she is one of the most important and powerful characters in the entire trilogy. She is so central to everything that happens—to the way that we perceive these characters, to the question of hero and villain, and who fits those roles. The evolution of her character as she learns to grow into her power and carve out a life for herself is so compelling and important to the series, and it really just hit me at the end—with certain lines that hurt my feelings—and I really, really loved it.

I love how VE Schwab is constantly expanding our understanding of ExtraOrdinaries—their powers, their limits, whether they are villains or heroes, human or not, natural or unnatural. She is constantly playing with this concept—adding new layers of complexity with each new perspective, installment, and power that we discover. It is a constantly evolving question that is so fun to explore over the course of the series. I particularly love how she introduces characters that serve as foils to our main characters and their abilities.

Now that the trilogy is officially complete, you have no excuse not to pick up one of my favorite series of all time.

My eternal thanks to Tor for sending me an early copy in exchange for my honest review

Links to my TikTok | Instagram | YouTube | Bindery Books

[S {Semi-Hiatus}]

Wait a damn minute... There's a title???? Was this newly confirmed or am I living under a rock, again? It's THE PERFECT title (miss sneaky Schwab is also using a double-entendre) and now I'm crying. Because of fear? Because of angst? Honestly, I don't even know.


*****************************
Just 2 more years till this book comes out.

It's fine, I'm totally fine. It's not even that long, easy peasy. I can do this!

Meanwhile me:

[veerali · Rating 5 out of 5]

may i lose all my memories and read this trilogy again 🙏🏽

full review when or if i ever pick myself up from the floor.

[Christine Garrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Victorious, death is less an ending than a door these characters keep trying to force open. The trouble is, none of them can control what comes through.

In this third and final installment of the Villains series, the principal character, Victor Vale, is running out of time and down to one vial of the serum keeping him alive. His history with death has left him with powers that are now killing him, and the doctor who made the serum is dead. For Victor, survival has become a countdown.

Meanwhile, Paul’s sessions with his therapist, Dr. Gabriel Gray, take a supernatural turn. Gabriel discovers that Paul’s dreams are coming to life while he sleeps, and that his patient is an EO. A series of mistakes leads Gabriel to become one himself. He gains the superpower I’ve always said I’d want: the ability to heal the physical injuries of death. I still believe healing others to be a supreme power, but this book makes a strong case for reading the fine print first. Bringing someone back involves more than reanimating a corpse, and Gabriel’s power reaches beyond returning an individual to the same plane of existence. Since a person’s power is shaped by their psyche at the time of their near-death, a psychologist wielding it is especially distressing.

Control and perception connect these storylines. Gabriel’s power blurs the line between a person’s inner world and the world around them. Victor has learned not to trust his body; now he has reason to question his mind, too. And EON has spent years deciding who gets to live, die, suffer, or receive mercy. Across the book, characters act on what they believe to be true about themselves, their purpose, and their right to decide another person’s fate. Their certainty is often as dangerous as their powers.

Never has the god complex been more on display than in this final book of the series. That’s saying a lot, considering Eli once believed himself to be on a mission from God; Victor has left a wake of death behind him; and EON has claimed the authority to decide who deserves to live. The familiar superhero lesson that “with great power comes great responsibility,” introduced in Spider-Man’s origin story in Amazing Fantasy #15, feels almost entirely absent here. These characters aren’t built around the self-sacrifice or personal restraint we often expect from superheroes. They invent their own versions of righteousness or grow apathetic about the harm they cause. Their powers don’t make them better people. More often, they amplify the characters’ moral defects already present and give them the means to act on them.

The EOs’ abilities begin with brushes with death, and this book keeps returning to what can, and cannot, come back. As one character puts it, “Not everything comes back from death.” Crossing that boundary hasn’t made these people wiser or more virtuous. Some of the atrocities they commit are accidental; others are deliberate. To cheat death repeatedly only multiplies the wrongness.

I did feel the book reversed deaths that don’t stick—and mentioned it—one or two times more than necessary, especially alongside Victor’s ongoing cycle of expiration and revival. After a while, I wanted the story to stop reminding me that death had become negotiable and show me what that meant for the people involved. Still, the repetition feeds into the book’s central unease: no one can fully control death, their own power, or the consequences of bringing someone back.

These characters remain what they have always been: extremely human and flawed. They leave death, pain, and betrayal in their wake. Each chapter is framed in relation to the time before “The End.” We aren’t told what that means at first, but I was ready for the reveal and finality it promised. The EOs’ unnatural beginning seems to call for an ending that brings justice or correction. Yet the revivals leave us wondering what remains of the people who first defied their demise. The truth is that, unlike the deaths they were meant to have, all that was done cannot be undone.

Jeremy Arthur, who has narrated all three Villains books, once again brings a large, varied cast to life on his own. This is a conclusion for readers who have followed the series and enjoy dark, super-powered stories where the line between hero and villain is anything but clear or comfortable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an advanced listener copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

[maggie (taylor’s version) · Rating 5 out of 5]

so so excited!! i have been waiting forever for this book

[a]

ready for evervale joint death trope

[.]

I'm tempted to bring myself to the brink of death, and my last thoughts would be how I wish I had more time...

...In the hope that I might return as an EO, with the ability to warp time.

And the first thing I'd do is speed up the release of this book because waiting for it is going to be one of the hardest things I'll ever (*sob*-anyone else sad he died?) have to do.