With the, at least for me, shocking end of book one, I just had to know how this story would continue. I am a huge Victor Vale fan and hoped that there would be some sort of good end for him. Well, apparently the author is no fan of that. Sure, the end of this second book is kind of good, in its very own way. But I was not happy with the role Victor Vale had in it. No doubt, Vengeful is reading pleasure in some way for its reader – but I wish it would have been a bit more in the style of the first book.
Vengeful-Die Rache Ist Mein*
by V. E. Schwab
Villains Series #2
Translation Petra Huber; Sara Riffel
Original Title Vengeful
Publisher Fischer TOR on April 29, 2020
Genre Fantasy
Pages 528
Format Softcover
Source Publisher
✶✶✶✶
What is better than being the wife of the most powerful man in the city? To be the most powerful woman in the city – without a husband. After Marcella is killed by, her own husband, the underworld boss Marcus Riggins, she comes back to life with a destructive superpower. And swears revenge. With the help of other extra ordinary people, Marcella sits down at the spit of the criminal empire and mercilessly exterminates her enemies. Everything runs like clockwork – until the deadly enemies Victor Vale and Eli Ever appear and make the city the scene of their confrontation. (personal translation by © Vi at Inkvotary).
Story
Victor Vale is leaving a bloody trail behind him while he´s trying to find a cure for his disease. After Sidney brought him back again, something is wrong with him and his condition is getting worse by the day. And while he and Sidney are looking for the perfect moment to get their life back, Marcella is learning that her new ability is one she can´t control. But that she now has a weapon that might help her gain what she desires: power.
Style
It took me a few chapters to get back into the story. After the shocking end of volume one, I had the impression that everything would be fine with Victor. Wrong. His search for a cure, his always desperate struggle for the return of his extraordinarily functioning body was interesting to observe on the one hand. On the other hand, I missed that certain something. Regardless, the writing style of V. E. Schwab has remained the same. Her language is expressive and powerful, her choice of words excellent and in this book, the author knows how to use words in such a way that a powerful and fascinating story is created when reading.
Characters
To see that her characters must fight their very own fight to go on every day and that all have their dreams and hopes was very entertaining to watch. I suffered together with Eli, although I am no fan of this figure but to see his upbringing was an explanation for a lot of things. With Victor, I wasn´t as happy in this second volume as I´ve been while reading the first volume. The state of his body has made him in some ways sloppy and I am sure he wouldn´t have done a lot of things the way he handled them in this book if he´d been still in the full ownership of his powers. But it is as it is. And with the new situation, he must cope the best way possible. Most of the time, the author shows his struggle and that of the other people in an entertaining way accompanied by some dark tones. But not as dark as in volume one.
Conclusion
I did need a few chapters to get back into the story and life of Victor Vale and his companions. But with the speeding up of the plot and story in the second half of this book, I had fun reading it. The end, a bit surprising and not what I had expected but all in all a wonderful conclusion of this dilogy.
Happy reading
*This book was kindly provided to me by Fischer TOR in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Thank you. Therefore, the cover of the German edition is shown first in this review.
Deutsche Rezension
Stil
Ich brauchte einige Kapitel, um wieder in die Geschichte hineinzukommen. Nach dem schockierenden Ende von Band eins hatte ich den Eindruck, dass mit Victor alles in Ordnung sein würde. Falsch. Seine Suche nach einem Heilmittel, sein verzweifelter Kampf um die Rückkehr seines außergewöhnlich funktionierenden Körpers war einerseits interessant zu beobachten. Auf der anderen Seite habe ich aber das gewisse Etwas vermisst. Ungeachtet dessen ist der Schreibstil von V. E. Schwab gleichgeblieben. Ihre Sprache ist ausdrucksstark und kraftvoll, ihre Wortwahl ausgezeichnet und auch in diesem Buch versteht es die Autorin hervorragend, Wörter so zu verwenden, dass beim Lesen eine kraftvolle und faszinierende Geschichte entsteht.
Charaktere
Zu sehen, dass ihre Charaktere jeden Tag ihren eigenen Kampf führen müssen und dass alle ihre Träume und Hoffnungen haben, war sehr unterhaltsam zu beobachten. Ich habe mit Eli gelitten, obwohl ich kein Fan dieser Figur bin, aber seine Erziehung zu sehen war eine Erklärung für viele Dinge. Mit Victor war ich in diesem zweiten Band nicht so glücklich wie beim Lesen des ersten Bandes. Der Zustand seines wiedererweckten Körpers hat ihn in gewisser Weise schlampig gemacht und ich bin sicher, er hätte nicht viele Dinge so getan, wie er sie in diesem Buch behandelt hatte, wenn er immer noch im vollen Besitz seiner Kräfte gewesen wäre. Aber es ist so, wie es ist. Und mit der neuen Situation muss er den bestmöglichen Weg gehen. Seinen Kampf und den der anderen Figuren, zeigt die Autorin, die meiste Zeit auf unterhaltsame Weise untermalt mit einigen dunklen Tönen. Aber lange nicht so dunkel wie noch in Band eins.
Resultat
Zwar habe ich einige Kapitel benötigt, um wieder in die Geschichte und das Leben von Victor Vale und seinen Gefährten einzusteigen. Aber mit der Beschleunigung der Handlung und der Geschichte in der zweiten Hälfte dieses Buches hatte ich tatsächlich Spaß daran, sie zu lesen. Das Ende, ein bisschen überraschend und nicht das, was ich erwartet hatte, aber alles in allem ein wunderbarer Abschluss dieser Dilogie.
V. E. Schwab
Victoria (V.E.) Schwab is the author of the »World Walker« trilogy and the New York Times bestseller series »Vicious & Vengeful«. Born in 1987 she is the product of a British mother, a Beverly Hills father, and a southern upbringing. Schwab has a penchant for tea and BBC shows and a serious and well-documented case of insatiable wanderlust. When she's not wandering the streets of Paris or climbing any hill in England, she's sitting in the back of a café, spinning on her stories.
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