Review: Vengeful by V.E. Schwab (Spoiler Alert)

"Last call for second thoughts," murmured June. "Or second call for last ones." Sighhhhh. Why didn’t I love this?? I’m so disappointed. 2.5 stars. I was so excited about this sequel. I loved Vicious, and my opinions on it have not changed at all, don't worry. This book had so much potential, and the writing and some of the scenes were amazing, but the main issue I had with it was the... plot? Was there one? Not only was I constantly bored, but some of the plot seemed there solely to be convenient. For example, the fact that Dr. Haverty solely existed to create a scenario in which Schwab could kill off Eli really bothered me. He had no larger purpose in the book, or at least any significant one that I could find, and he basically disappeared for the whole thing until he was needed again. Other than the plot, other things that bothered me were the flat characters who, in the end, served no purpose. Like what was the point of June, Marcella, and Jonathan? Sure, they committed horrible crimes and made for some exciting scenes, but in the end... Marcella and Jonathan just died and June just drove away? Like why did they exist and then just not matter? Overall, I'm just confused. How did any of this story add on to the end of Vicious? The answer is that it didn't. The way that this book ends is exactly the same as Vicious except for the fact that Schwab finally found a way to get Eli to die. That's it. Don't get me wrong, I will never stop reading Victoria (V.E.) Schwab's books because I usually love them, but I'm so sad and angry that I didn't like this one. I really wanted to. Anyway, after focusing on the negative for so long, I would like to leave you with my favorite scene from the whole book: "If you were planning to rob me, you could have at least brought a gun." "Oh, I did," said Victor, holding out his hand. Slowly, as if performing a trick, he curled three of his fingers in, leaving his thumb up and his index extended. "See?" he said, pointing the finger at Jones. Jones no longer seemed amused. "You some kind of--?" "Bang."

Song I was reminded of while reading: She's Kerosene