Sweet & Salty Reviews - Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

Beware of the spoilers!

The Dish

Vengeful is the second helping of the ‘Villians’ series. It was published in 2019 by Titan Books. Vicious was the fantastic first course.


A metahuman saga revolving around the lives of super-powered ‘ExtraOrdinaries’ (EOs), it eschews the ‘hero vs. villain’ recipe of the genre and instead serves up a ‘lesser of two evils’ concoction. Favourite ingredients from the first course return - Victor Vale, Eli Ever, Sydney Clarke and Mitch - with new flavours provided by ambitious lunatic Marcella Riggins and shape-shifting assassin June, as well as EON, a group hunting, capturing and recruiting EOs. At 562 pages, it is a filling portion.

The Sauce

ExtraOrdinaries gain power from near-death experiences. Strong survival instinct brings them back better than before (but they aren’t always nice people).

The Sweet

Vengeful has a powerful opening. Mob-wife and soon-to-be EO, Marcella Riggins, is left in a burning building by her cheating mobster husband, vowing to destroy him with her last breath. Victor Vale, a charming sociopath who looks like Draco Malfoy took fashion advice from Neo (also the unwitting protagonist of Vicious), is still trying to manage the consequences of his plan to stop Eli during the first book. Eli Ever, who has all the makings of a superhero (clean-cut good looks, regenerative powers, dead girlfriend), is actually a God-bothering serial murderer rotting in an EON blacksite, putting his considerable talents to use finding EOs for the mild-mannered head of EON, Stell.

All the ingredients are there for not only another showdown between Victor and Eli (always tasty), but for Marcella’s inevitable rise to power.

The real meat of this book is in Act 2. A comprehensive character study of Eli Ever as a high-functioning sociopath, which further improves his characterisation from Vicious. It also deepens his complicated relationship with Victor. V.E. Schwab’s decision to drill down on villainous character has resulted in a range of ‘evil’ characters, all with their own unique motives and perspectives on what they do. Eli is probably the strongest because he is also the most conflicted.

Very rarely does a second helping improve your opinion of the first, but this Act of Vengeful makes me reflect on Vicious more fondly.

The old cast are back and as good as before. The new characters have a lot of potential during the early parts of the book. Marcella’s growing ambition and June’s peculiar soft spot for Sydney keep the tension at a simmer and the book is spent waiting for the inevitable pressure release.

The Salty

EON proves to be largely toothless throughout the whole book. They don’t pose a credible threat to any of the characters. Eli outwits Stell several times, and Victor blows through their entire compound in minutes, defeating their pet EO in seconds.

Marcella’s rise to power is also far too quick. By the beginning of Act 2, she has killed her cheating husband. By the end of Act 2, her husband’s boss is dead and Marcella is in control of the city’s criminal underworld. This problem echoes across several characters - Dominic Rusher, Jonathan Royce, Director Stell - whose personal issues are either wrapped up far too quickly or simply have no bearing on the story.

Despite a strong start, the book falters at Act 4. There are several major gaps in logic that hurt the finale. Badass hitwoman, June, doesn’t notice that Sydney is carrying a gun that probably weighs as much as she does. Eli tells Stell that he has a plan to defeat Marcella, but we never learn what that was. June turns on Marcella for no real reason and eliminates herself from the finale, but presumably Eli didn’t know this was going to happen because his power is accelerated healing and not prophecy. In a fit of self-awareness, Marcella’s big speech during the finale is interrupted by Victor and Eli, two significantly more interesting characters.

The finale itself isn’t strong. In Vicious, Victor uses ruthless cunning to defeat Eli and Sydney’s sister, Serena. In Vengeful, there is no cunning. The final confrontation, with Victor and Eli on one side of the table and Marcella and Jonathan on the other, boils down to a test of strength, with both Victor and Eli winning out by simply overpowering their opponents rather than outthinking them.

Though they are all basically villains, Eli and Victor form the lesser of the two evils. They should be at a significant disadvantage, forced to use their wits rather than their strength. Because they don’t, it creates a weak taste that hurts the overall flavour of the book.

The epilogue is also watery. Eli and Victor’s showdown is spoiled by supporting characters and the arrival of a new, power-suppressing drug that is an unnecessary and unwelcome ingredient. It spoils the sauce.

The paperback contains an additional short story. Though I normally love additions like this, I felt this short was bland. I didn’t care about the character and it added nothing new to the mythos. A shame, because I would love to read more in the universe.

The Aftertaste

If you haven’t tried Vicious yet, do so. It was an excellent novel, worthy of the praise it received. Vengeful starts strong, but ultimately doesn’t compare. The new ingredients are overpowered by the old favourites and, while the middle of the book is compelling, it left me unsatisfied. That doesn’t mean I won’t come back for a third helping if it becomes available because I do love the universe and the characters.