Vicious & Vengeful by V.E. Schwab Series Review

 

These are the first two novels in the Villains series. (These pictures are the UK hardcover ED.)

I am a huge fan of V.E. Schwab's adult work, I have not picked up the Songs of Verity duet, I loved the A Darker Shade of Magic Trilogy and so when I picked up these one's I was expecting great things, and I was not disappointed. 

For those who do not know, this story begins about Eli and Victor who are friends in university and decide to write a project about EO's (Extra Ordinaries) who they believe can be created by near death experiences. For example people getting strength as they were crushed by a car and moving it away by themselves. And so the story takes place on two timelines, the first as they are testing their theories on themselves and the second in the future years after the events when Victor escapes from prison for a crime we do not know. 

Personally I prefer the first book, Vicious, Victor and Eli are definitely two of my favourite characters ever. I loved to see how they went from friends to mortal enemies, the anti-heroes vibes and the way the story was told. I loved seeing them as friend and then reading about them in the future where we weren't exactly sure of what had happened between them. I love it when books have characters that are not just the good guy or the bad guy, I love the grey areas in characters and how the author manages to make sense and show the reasoning behind their actions. I love how this book felt like a puzzle. While the second installment was really entertaining it was missing that little something that made me addicted to the first one. 

Victor is definitely my favourite if I had to choose between him and Eli, he is cunning, not good but also doing good things that seem like bad things from an outside perspective. He feels like a reluctant hero, not a hero because of how he acts, but rather despite of it because his revenge will bring peace to the fake universe Eli has created this persona he shows people that makes them believe he is good when he is not. 

All in all, Vengeful was a good sequel to Vicious, not exactly as good as Vicious, but still an amazing work of art. These two novels are so beautifully written and complex. 

I cannot wait for the third book to come out, even though we have no idea when that will happen. 

Overall  from what is currently published in this series :  4.5/5 stars.

Vicious; 5/5 stars

Vengeful: 4.5/5 stars

Bookarina.