Madison

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Madison is Currently Reading

Madison is currently reading

Vengeful (Villains, #2)

by V.E. Schwab

bookshelves: mixed-feelings, wishlist, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in July 2021

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Madison said: " 3.5 stars

This was an interesting sequel that made some unexpected choices. Some paid off, some did not. Vengeful was definitely not even close to as good as Vicious, but it still did some things well. The best characters still continue to be Victor a 3.5 stars

This was an interesting sequel that made some unexpected choices. Some paid off, some did not. Vengeful was definitely not even close to as good as Vicious, but it still did some things well. The best characters still continue to be Victor and Eli. Their dynamic is so fascinating, and the few moments we got exploring them and their relationship were stellar. There was a scene towards the end that was especially fascinating and I hope to see more exploration in the following novel. The standout portion of the book for me was the time spent exploring Eli's background, interspersed with scenes featuring him in the present. It was easily my favorite thing this book did. This does a great job at explaining his psyche and the reasons he does the things he does/believes the things he does. At the current moment, he is the most interesting and complex character to me. Having all of this information will make for an insightful reread of Vicious. The last quarter of this book was so fantastic. It was not anti-climactic like Vicious was. This is the one aspect that Vengeful did BETTER than Vicious. Throughout most of the book (expect one portion that I'll get into later), I was thoroughly engaged in the story.

With all of that being said, this book frustrated me. My number one criticism is that the new characters completely overpowered and took over the story. At first, I liked their addition. I thought their powers were cool and I was intrigued to see how they would fit into Victor and Eli's story. The problem is that this book turned out to not be Victor and Eli's story, but more like Marcella and June's story, particularly in the middle. I ended up growing annoyed with both of them. June was too obsessed with Sydney and Marcella... don't even get me started on her weird ass mob takeover storyline. I just think there was way too much of a focus on their characters and not nearly enough on the only characters I care about, Victor and Eli. They took up a ton of the book and this really frustrated me because I came into this book wanting to read about the characters I already met in the first book, not these new characters. The new additions feel pointless and the book would've been so much better without them. Really, what did they add to the story??? My other criticism is that the plot was a bit all over the place for a majority of the book. It was not structured as well as Vicious. I found myself lost at the direction the story seemed to be taking. Overall, I find that I cannot rate this book any higher, but I also cannot rate it any lower. ...more "

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(21%)
— 21 hours, 22 min ago

Jul 25, 2021 08:11PM · see review