Vengeful

Unfortunately, I didn't find this as captivating as the first one. Schwab decided to focus on new characters (in an effort to bring a more female presence, I guess?) when I just wanted a continuation of Victor and Eli's saga. Mitch was also pushed aside as a character (except when someone needs IT) and even Sydney had little to no development (beyond development of her power). June, the most interesting new character, was mostly auxiliary, a means to move the plot forward, but because of her power, we also don't really get a feel for who she is, her main motives (her weird obsession with Sydney is seemingly out of nowhere), or any development outside of the epilogue and even that is a bit of a cliffhanger. I was a little disappointed. I would probably have preferred the version of the book her editor told her to rewrite because, as Schwab put it, “it was just a continuation of Vicious”. That's what I wanted as a reader. Marcella and June's stories should have been saved for a Tor novella or as more secondary characters instead of having the focus shifted to them.