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eloise_bradbooks 's review for:
Vengeful
by V.E. Schwab
*puts on my armour, gets ready to be slammed by most of y'all*
I was disappointed. Some of it is subjective, yes, but in an objective way, the book is messy.
[I don't spoil anything major but this is quite an in-depth review so it might be best not to read it if you don't want to know anything...]
I flew through the first 150 pages and the last 150 pages. The middle 200 pages though...? Nope. I struggled through them, started skim reading and realised this one thing:
- we were warned this wasn't a direct Vicious sequel, it would focus more on new characters
- but the first 150 pages were about our beloved messed up found family (which i love to bits) so obv that's what I started expecting to continue reading about
- but they were completely put aside for 217 pages (yes, i counted)
- and although some of the new characters were interesting (Marcella, mostly), others weren't (June, Jonathan, the peeps at EON, & basically everyone else)
- the ending was all about the Vicious characters anyway
- so what really was the plan for this book..? A Vicious sequel or another story set in the same universe? Because it felt like it couldn't decide between the two, so made it both, and it turned out messy.
Dont get me wrong, there are elements I loved.
Schwab's writing is great. Some phrases gave me chills. The characters are still well crafted but it all seemed... less good... than what we're used to from her.
The POV division really didn't work for me as we went long periods of time with (and without) some of the main characters... And some of those chapters had no use to this story imo.
And the characters just weren't as complicated as we're used to:
From our old characters:
I started disliking Victor, one of my fave characters ever.
Mitch: We didn't get ANYTHING from him. He's MY FAVE.
Sydney Her teen drama would have been interesting IF it weren't mixed with June (more on that later).
I do like Eli but what was the point of 100 pages of his backstory which had absolutely no relevance to the story..?
Dom: oh wel, no one cares anyway.
From the new ones:
Marcella: I've seen a lot of love and praise towards Marcella which I understood at first, but... there's a difference between an interesting (some would say 'strong') female character, and a bossy bitch who treats everyone like shit. Yes, she burns men, but if they're innocent I don't see why I should support her.
June: Her point was..? You can't state in one phrase that they spoke for 3 years and expect me to care about their relationship. This book could have been the same, maybe even better, without her. Her appearances were every convenient to some plot points...
Jonathan: I guess Marcella's power wasn't good enough to keep her alive for the whole book unless she has an object like Jon.
EON: don't even remember their names.
Also, the end broke me, which isn't necessarily bad, but it would have hit a lot harder if you'd given me more of Mitch, Vic and Syd (and Dol) as a family and how they feel for each other.
I was disappointed. Some of it is subjective, yes, but in an objective way, the book is messy.
[I don't spoil anything major but this is quite an in-depth review so it might be best not to read it if you don't want to know anything...]
I flew through the first 150 pages and the last 150 pages. The middle 200 pages though...? Nope. I struggled through them, started skim reading and realised this one thing:
- we were warned this wasn't a direct Vicious sequel, it would focus more on new characters
- but the first 150 pages were about our beloved messed up found family (which i love to bits) so obv that's what I started expecting to continue reading about
- but they were completely put aside for 217 pages (yes, i counted)
- and although some of the new characters were interesting (Marcella, mostly), others weren't (June, Jonathan, the peeps at EON, & basically everyone else)
- the ending was all about the Vicious characters anyway
- so what really was the plan for this book..? A Vicious sequel or another story set in the same universe? Because it felt like it couldn't decide between the two, so made it both, and it turned out messy.
Dont get me wrong, there are elements I loved.
Schwab's writing is great. Some phrases gave me chills. The characters are still well crafted but it all seemed... less good... than what we're used to from her.
The POV division really didn't work for me as we went long periods of time with (and without) some of the main characters... And some of those chapters had no use to this story imo.
And the characters just weren't as complicated as we're used to:
From our old characters:
I started disliking Victor, one of my fave characters ever.
Mitch: We didn't get ANYTHING from him. He's MY FAVE.
Sydney Her teen drama would have been interesting IF it weren't mixed with June (more on that later).
I do like Eli but what was the point of 100 pages of his backstory which had absolutely no relevance to the story..?
Dom: oh wel, no one cares anyway.
From the new ones:
Marcella: I've seen a lot of love and praise towards Marcella which I understood at first, but... there's a difference between an interesting (some would say 'strong') female character, and a bossy bitch who treats everyone like shit. Yes, she burns men, but if they're innocent I don't see why I should support her.
June: Her point was..? You can't state in one phrase that they spoke for 3 years and expect me to care about their relationship. This book could have been the same, maybe even better, without her. Her appearances were every convenient to some plot points...
Jonathan: I guess Marcella's power wasn't good enough to keep her alive for the whole book unless she has an object like Jon.
EON: don't even remember their names.
Also, the end broke me, which isn't necessarily bad, but it would have hit a lot harder if you'd given me more of Mitch, Vic and Syd (and Dol) as a family and how they feel for each other.