Review: Vengeful (Villains #2)

4 stars. I DON'T KNOW, OKAY? I just couldn't focus on this one - it took me weeks - WEEKS - to read! I was even considering 3 stars but the truth is I'm not sure I can actually identify what's wrong with it... I really try to be critical in a fair way, but sometimes my rating is just all about my personal, instinctive, gut-check reaction. So, 4 stars it is.

Vengeful picks up where Vicious left off. Victor Vale, resurrected by Sydney at the end of book 1, is back and ready to resume his mission to kill his nemesis, Eli Ever. Except he's sick. And he can't get to Eli until he gets better. So he starts hunting down EO's, trying to find one who can fix him. Meanwhile, Eli is locked up in EON's super freaky monster jail, and oh yeah, there's a new, scary EO taking over the city with her deliciously destructive powers. Heroes fall, villains rise, yada yada yada.

It's so awesome. I absolutely adored Schwab's expansion of this universe, even if I didn't connect to the plot that much. It was fun getting a peek into some other POVs, and learning more about EO origins. Marcella is a tremendous character, and it was particularly enjoyable to watch her, ahem, burn it all down.

“How many men would she have to turn to dust before one took her seriously?”

I would also say that, like the first book, this series is a must-read for comic book and graphic novel fans. The twists and turns, the level of insanity, the character names, the settings, the campy villains, the attention to visual details - the architecture of a building, the color of nail polish - elevate this story to a steady level of fun I experience reading about superheroes.

I loved the narrow focus of the first book - it felt like such a prequel - and I could just feel the tremors of possibility. Schwab opened all those doors and then some. Despite not getting that super orgasmic 5 star feeling, I really enjoyed it. I'm officially joining the chorus: I WANT MORE!!! THIS IS SOME CRAZY GOOD SHIT!!!!

Vengeful on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads