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These Ruthless Deeds

(These Vicious Masks #2)

Tarun Shanker (Goodreads Author),

Kelly Zekas (Goodreads Author)

3.84 · Rating details · 1,447 ratings · 270 reviews

England, 1883. Still recovering from a devastating loss, Evelyn is determined to use her powers to save other gifted people from those who would harm them. But when her rescue of a young telekinetic girl goes terribly wrong, Evelyn finds herself indebted to a secret society devoted to recruiting and protecting people like Evelyn and her friends.

As she follows the Society’s ...more

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Paperback, 293 pages

Published March 14th 2017 by Swoon Reads

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Mar 06, 2017 Brittney ~ Reverie and Ink rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, recommended-fantasy, favorite-couples, absolute-favorites, steampunk-ish, arcs-i-ve-reviewed, favorite-heroines

"Mr. Kent never hid his worse qualities. He wore them like badges."

Holy crap. I did not expect to love this so much. I mean wow.. if you haven't tried this series... you're missing out.

Basically if you're a fan of any of the following, you need to pick this up:

1. Historical fiction with a magic twist
2. A touch of Steampunk
3. Hilarious and vibrant characters
4. Humor and wit woven into every page
5. A loveable and flawed MC (seriously, Evelyn has to be an all time favorite MC for me ...more

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Mar 16, 2017 Nastassja rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: 1st-pov, excellent-writing, swoon-worthy-hero, laughed-my-pants-off, mystery, emotional, i-want-to-marry-him, mind-blowing-cliffhanger, 2017, best-young-adult

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

This book was such a roller coaster of emotions! From cold to warm, from happy to bitter, from laughter to tears. The authors definitely know how to manipulate readers' emotions. Evil geniuses. Love them!

Before I start the actual review, here's recap of These Vicious Masks, book 1 in case you've forgotten something from the previous installment. Kelly Zekas has written it and it's such a fun to remember the book with her!

The plot. These Ruthless Deeds start right after book's 1 ending. After devastating events that took place previously Evelyn and her friends are looking for gifted people and consequently find themselves mixed up with the Society of Aberrations devoted to recruiting the said gifted people. Evelyn doesn't trust this organization, because it was the reason she lost someone close to her. But her friends are sure that what happened was a terrible mistake and Society is actually good. Plus they have means to help cure Mr. Sebastian Braddock from his terrible gift, so Ev says yes and starts working with them.

Well, to say the storyline was smooth or utterly original would be a lie. First 20% or so I was bored with explanations and introductions into the Society. It was rather disappointing, really, how quickly everyone else agreed to work for these mysterious people. Granted, Mr. Kent "interrogated" them with the help of his special gift, but it still felt like such omnipotent organization would surely take more pains to cover their sins if they had any? But after 20% the real action started. Mixed with humor and adorable banters between Evelyn, Mr. Kent and Mr. Braddock, and the cast of amazing secondary characters, I totally forgot about the plot holes. A couple of twists later (view spoiler) the pacing picked up even more and the book turned into one delightful roller coaster. Granted, this series is not the kind to take seriously. It can be preposterous at times; the way young women act in the book did not display real Victorian England era, but somehow all the light and silly things make this story very charming and I couldn't find it in me to admonish the authors for sloppiness regarding some things. Plus as I said this book is a mix of laughter and tears. And when you almost convinced this is a light read authors go and kick you in the butt, reminding you that things can be ruthless and sad and, well, you need to read the book to find out just how serious the contrast between light and dark is.

The characters. I believe characters are the soul of this series what really makes it alive and readers to twist in their sits in worry for them. Every one of the characters - main ones and secondary ones - feel complex and you cannot help yourself but sympathize with them. Evelyn was and stays one of my favorite heroines. There wasn't a time, not once, I felt irritated by her. In this installment I admired her even more, because we were shown her ruthless side she didn't have in book 1. Choices must be made, sacrifices must be delivered. What would you do to save the ones you love? Who would you become?

“I was tired of rewriting my opinion of the Society. I was tired of wondering what Rose would wish me to do. I was tired of constantly wondering if I had made the right choice, if I even had a choice, or if I was being manipulated at every turn.”

But not even at the darkest hour Evelyn looses her spirit. Besides, I cannot not admire a girl who judges a person's character by their choice of food:
“And then I noticed the small cake that still sat uneaten next to him. And another in front of his mother. That was the last straw. I fully disliked them. How dare they leave perfectly good cake untouched?”

I agree wholeheartedly, only evil people would let a perfectly fine cake go to waste!

Mr. Kent is the star of this book. If my heart already wasn't given to Mr. Braddock, I'd definitely swoon over Kent. I mean I did swoon, and, to be honest, Kent's character resembles someone I would go for in real life, because brooding only works in books. And Mr. Kent was, as always, a first rate provider of humor and fun in this book. He is such a darling!
“Why are you here?” he asked, staring around me at Mr. Kent.
Mr. Kent laughed uncomfortably. “Why does anyone go to a gambling house?”
“To gamble,” Sebastian answered.
“To find information for our plan,” I muttered, Mr. Kent’s power inadvertently affecting me as well.
“What plan?” Sebastian asked.
I glared at Mr. Kent. “Nothing, nothing at all.”
“No one seems to understand what a rhetorical question is these days,” Mr. Kent said to the skies.”

Mr. 'brooding' Braddock, Byronic figure one cannot help but fall for. Sometimes it felt almost ridiculous how brooding Sebastian was, but then you remembered that his touch kind of kills people and you understand the whole brooding thing doesn't feel theatrical any longer, it feels tragic, the kind where you want to throw yourself at the world and protect the poor cinnamon roll from everything. Yes, I am quite a goner for damaged heroes, and it was inevitable for me to fall for Sebastian from the first moment he showed up in book 1. Plus. he's kind of Mr. Darcy's prototype, so who could blame me for favoritism?!
“It was a strange feeling, to want to throw something at him and protect him from dangerous flying objects at the same time.”

Now is the moment where I get really serious and say that, honestly, what Sebastian went through in his life is plain unfair. But no matter what he never turned into a hard callous person, he stayed a caring young man if only a tad bit more brooding, but we have already established that we are partial brooding.
“This awful power … it should have turned you bitter and angry and cruel. But despite everything it’s done to you, you’re still kind; you care about others more than yourself. You’re good, Sebastian. You do the right thing as instinctively as I say the wrong thing. You make me better—you make everyone better.”

The romance. Let's take a minute to applaud the authors for not turning this series into one angsty love-triangle. It's official now, there's no love-triangle in this series. From book 1 it is known whom the heroine preferred as her romantic interest and things stay that way in book 2. And who said that if there's two handsome men there's also should be a love-triangle? Yes, there's one side that still suffers, because he had feeling for the heroine, but I, once more, admired him for being decent and noble and not turning into a bitter villain because the girl said no.

As you know I was always team Braddock, and once again Evelyn and Sebastian's shared scenes proved to be swoon-worthy. Such chemistry!!
“Finally our eyes held each other.
Don’t kiss him.
“I was worried,” he said, slowly pulling himself off the bed frame, leaning forward. His face was so close to mine in the quiet morning. My heart faltered once before catching a new rhythm, faster than before. Sebastian’s dark hair had never looked so careless and my fingers itched to return to the inky strands. His eyes were the softest mossy green, and I was sure that all his usual awkward reserve had melted in this strange dawn. When I realized that his eyes were glued to my lips, I instinctively parted them, sucking in a fast breath.
Don’t you dare kiss him, Evelyn.
He was so close I could have counted the strands of gold that gleamed in the green of his eyes. I could have shifted forward one breath and his lips would be on mine. I was dizzy, lost in the world that existed here between us.”

“How did you get in?”
He glowered at me and blushed in the early light. “It’s—it’s unimportant.”
“Sebastian.”
“Hmm?”
“Please, please tell me you didn’t scale the walls and climb in through my window.”
He glared harder.
“If you don’t wish me to think of you as some kind of tragic Gothic figure, you really must stop acting like one.”

No, Ev, let him stay tragic Gothic figure. It's so much fun!

And there was this one scene on the bridge that totally broke my heart, because it was one of the most beautiful and saddest scenes ever. I'll put it under the spoiler tag in case you want to experience it for the first time in the book, trust me, it's worth waiting, don't mind me, seductress of unsuspecting readers *smiles slyly*(view spoiler)

And Mr. Kent is a charmer as always.
“I know I should not take such liberties with an unmarried woman.…”
“Especially when you’ve alluded to your indecent past.”
Mr. Kent nodded soberly. “I have. Before I met you, I went to brothels, gambling halls, scandalous music halls, all sorts of indecent places.”
“And let me guess, ever since you met me, you’ve changed?”
He shook his head. “No, I just want to do these indecent things with you.”

...and provider of funny awkward moments:
“Was anyone unclothed?” Mr. Kent said sarcastically, clearly not expecting an affirmative answer.
However.
“A bit,” my uncooperative mouth responded and I tried to cover it with a yelp. This was absurd. Both of them were absurd, tonight was absurd, and I was, assuredly, absurd.”

Hehe, give me more of such absurd moments, dear Mr. Kent.

The finale. Oh dear, what can I say... When you are relaxed and do not expect surprises they, of course, will nock on your door. Hello, dear reader, did you miss us? Now get your portion of heartbreak and tears and don't think of moving on for a week or two. This is why I called the authors evil geniuses. They know how to created a killer cliffhanger and leave you hanging like a dummy with your mouth opened and your heart on the asphalt crushed and stomped on by a herd of wild unicorns. Yeah, we all love these creatures. (view spoiler)

All in all, These Ruthless Deeds proved to be an amazing sequel to one of the best books of 2016. If you haven't started the series yet, what are you still doing here? Run, reader, run! If you haven't started this book yet, come closer I'll give you a gently kick in the direction of the book. And, please, someone read the book already and discuss it with me, because I am kind of dying here, drowning in my misery. I'll need a good talk and a dozen of pretty cakes to bring me back to life after this book *makes puppy eyes*.

...more

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Feb 02, 2017 Rebekah rated it really liked it

Shelves: regency-romance, paranormal, rip-my-heart-out, ya-addiction, 2017, clean, favorites

This is such an awesome series and I'm loving it! We pick up where we left off, which is so helpful and I love when authors do that. We start with Evelyn and her new found power, plus some friends with their own powers, trying to seek out other who may be struggling or hiding due to their own powers. Especially find and save them before the Society of Aberrations does. And the only way to take down the Society is to find out who is at it's head and chop it off.

Well when the Society finds THEM an

Well when the Society finds THEM and offers them a place among them Evelyn agrees...VERY hesitantly and with very good reason if you remember in These Vicious Masks...? Well if you haven't had a chance to read it then you should. Especially if you're reading this review and haven't read it yet. Go. NOW!

These Ruthless Deeds is fast-paced and more action-packed than These Vicious Masks was. It's intriguing as we meet many new characters; members of the Society and even new members of Evelyn's rich society, due to the fact that now Evelyn's parents are back in town and still very much intent on marrying her off! BOO! As Evelyn and a few of her friends try to determine who is at the head of the Society, while trying to keep themselves and their loved ones alive was brilliance. I found myself grasping my Ipad with tension waiting for someone to be severly injured. Or captured. Or, even killed. While wondering who to trust and who couldn't be trusted.

I really love the era chosen for this story, *sigh* I LOVE this time period of fashion, balls, mannerisms and marrying each other off.

I continued to really like Evelyn. She's strong and spirited and I like that in my female characters. She has backbone and she's pretty much independent which I love as well. She's smart, kind but wary and still wants to please and do what's best for her family. I enjoyed watching her character development and felt it was well paced with regards to everything going on around her.

I love the male characters in these books! Mr. Kent to Mr. Braddock. Now I've seen such a tie between which team people prefer to cheer for and I'm on the Mr. Braddock team. I like the dark broody trope. So sue me!

Overall I was very pleased and happy with how this story is continuing and I'm very happy and dying with that ending! doesn't make that much sense but it will! AH!

Sexual Content: mild
Violence: moderate
Language: mild
Drugs/Alcohol: mild

*A HUGE thank you to Swoon Reads and Netgalley for the ARC which I got in exchange for an honest review.*

...more

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Mar 01, 2017 Stacee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: netgalley, read-in-2017

I was a huge fan of the first book and I was stupid excited to get to this one.

I've loved Evelyn from the beginning. She's sassy and stubborn and it's so much fun to be in her head. There's huge cast of characters this time and while I did lose track of who was who {excluding the core group}, it was still enjoyable reading everyone's powers in action.

The plot is fast paced and there are lots of action scenes. The ending is exasperating and satisfying and absolutely maddening. I need book 3 RTF ...more

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Mar 02, 2017 Alyssa rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2017-releases

Okie I rounded down so it's 2 stars now. o_o Believe me when I say that I am just as disappointed as you are.

Ehhhhhhh. Boring, frustrating, and quite the unnecessarily brutal ending?

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***

These Ruthless Deeds by Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas
Book Two of the These Vicious Masks series
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Publication Date: March 14, 2017
Rating: 2 stars
Source: eARC from NetGalley

Summary (from Goodreads):

England, 1883. Still recovering from a devastating loss ...more

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May 16, 2017 Fafa's Book Corner rated it it was ok

Review posted on Fafa's Book Corner!

Beware spoilers ahead!

This book was such a disappointment. I really enjoyed the first book in this series. It was fun, exciting, and entertaining. I was looking forward to finding out more about this world and the characters. Unfortunately this book surfers middle book syndrome.

Evelyn and crew end up joining the society of aberrations. They discover more secrets and such. First of I honestly don't understand why Evelyn joined the society in the first place Review posted on Fafa's Book Corner!

Beware spoilers ahead!

This book was such a disappointment. I really enjoyed the first book in this series. It was fun, exciting, and entertaining. I was looking forward to finding out more about this world and the characters. Unfortunately this book surfers middle book syndrome.

Evelyn and crew end up joining the society of aberrations. They discover more secrets and such. First of I honestly don't understand why Evelyn joined the society in the first place?! I understood everybody else's reasoning but not Evelyn. It didn't even feel believable when she did end up joining them.

Evelyn felt completely different from the first book. She was extremely selfish throughout the entire book. She didn't stand up for herself around her parents. And she bossed everyone around like she actually knew what she was doing. I also did not like how she kept so many secrets under the guise of protecting everyone.

To a certain degree I understand why she acted the way she did. The authors just didn't make it believable or foreshadow it in the previous book. Yes she went through a lot in the previous book, but nobody becomes a whole other person just like that.

Just like the previous book this was very fast paced. But not a whole lot happened. You are introduced to new characters and some of the things we learned were quite interesting. There was a lot of finding out running around and getting caught.

The romance was very annoying in this book. Evelyn's parents are even more awful in this book then they were in the previous book. And it's just to move the plot along. The first thing Evelyn's parents do after not seeing her in months is get her into society and hopefully engaged. Like seriously?! How about a 'How have you been?' or a heart-to-heart! But no they care far too much about their reputation then their own children.

I skimmed most of this book. I just couldn't bring myself to read it and I also wanted to figure out when things would start actually happening. It wasn't until towards the end of this book that there was a plot. By that point I stopped caring.

The only thing I liked in this book was the banter. At least that didn't change. I did laugh out loud a few times as well. Unfortunately that was not enough to save the book.

Overall I did not enjoy this book. I will not be continuing the series. I don't recommend this series. ...more

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May 25, 2016 Katerina Kondrenko rated it liked it

Shelves: pages-301-400, characters-best-male-leads, imo-expected-smth-better, skimming-light, era-historical-and-retro, target-young-adult, era-victorian, plot-dat-twist, 06-out-of-10, genre-sci-fi

6 out of 10

A bit disappointed. I guess it's all because of super high expectetions. Maybe RTC.

These Vicious Masks (Эти порочные маски):

— These Vicious Masks (Эти порочные маски) #1/3
— These Ruthless Deeds (Эти безжалостные деяния) #2/3
— These Vengeful Souls (Эти мстительные души) #3/3

...more

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Jun 01, 2016 mith rated it liked it

Shelves: 2017-publication, arcs, in-betweeners, kindle-or-ebook, fantasy, historical, maaaagic, not-so-american

update: you can read my review here! i'll be posting here soon enough.
---
I actually... I actually didn't like this book, and oh, how I wanted to. I really liked the first one--it was close to being one of my favourite reads, or, in the least, an honourable mention, for last year--and I was over the moon when I'd gotten accepted for this. How could I not? Secret societies! More mystery! More danger! More funny antics and banter!

But it just... It fell so flat.

One of the more annoying things was ...more

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Sep 09, 2017 Suzanne rated it liked it

I found These Ruthless Deeds is good but not great like These Vicious Masks was. The first book of the trilogy was a five star review for me. However, this was intriguing and had the humor from the first book that I absolutely loved. I am excited for the final book of the trilogy to come!

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Mar 12, 2017 Kris Mauna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, fantasy, arc-reading, strong-friendships, strong-main-characters, swoon-worthy-romances, favorite-series

"Please allow us to welcome you to the Society of Aberrations."

I loved These Vicious Masks, but I FRICKEN LOVED These Ruthless Deeds.
So, I actually wrote a somewhat well-written review on Bookstacked already.. If you don't want to read all my fangirl thoughts right now then check that out instead!
Now let's get to the fun - no spoilers! ;)

I highly recommend re-reading These Vicious Masks beforehand or checking out Kelly's recap because the story begins right where the last book left off. Evel ...more

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Dec 14, 2016 Lauren Stoolfire rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, historical-fiction, young-adult, romance

These Ruthless Deeds is a fantastic sequel to 2016's excellent debut, These Vicious Masks. It's, dare I say, even better than the first book of the series! I loved getting to see everyone and their powers in action, plus that witty banter amongst the main cast. Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas really take it up to eleven and after that ending I'm pretty sure I'm dying (for book three, These Vengeful Souls)! At least, I won't have to wait too long since it's due out February 20th, 2018. If you like ...more

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Jan 21, 2017 Kerri rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I stayed up into the early morning hours just to stuff my brain full of this magnificent world and (silk) layered characters. THESE RUTHLESS DEEDS is an incredible sophomore novel filled with intrigue, action, soaring magic and plenty of swoons. I am eagerly awaiting the next installment!

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Jan 13, 2017 Allison rated it it was amazing

Soooooooooooo.......this is even better than These Vicious Masks....?

More action, more superpowers, a more diverse cast (very nice to see), lots of blood (I felt like there was so SO much blood and also a ton of broken bones :D), and more kissing, kind of? Shirtsleeves! More shirtsleeves! And tempting swathes of Victorian man-skin!

Longer review over the weekend!

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Mar 25, 2017 Christina (A Reader of Fictions) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: netgalley, favorites-fantasy, on-my-shelves, right-in-the-feels, owned-ebook-other, owned-print-copy, i-will-go-down-with-this-ship, favorites-historical, favorites-humor, bloody-awesome

4.5

As I’ve been doing with most books lately, I reread These Vicious Masks before embarking on the sequel. I was again impressed with the humor, the characterization, and the fast-paced sheer fun of the plot. All of those wonderful elements appear in spades in These Ruthless Deeds too, only, you know, turned up to ELEVEN, with an even more intense and shocking conclusion that left me in shock.

One of my other favorite current series, Lady Helen, has a similar-ish set up; both are historical fanta ...more

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May 25, 2016 Nouf *LostinFantasy* rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017-release, fantasy-sci-fi, favorites, favorite-characters, i-ship-it, historical-fiction, super-heroes-villains, march-2017-release

Actual rating: 4.5/5 stars. (Rounded down to 4 Goodreads stars - which means I still love it a lot! ;) )

“I would do terrible things for the ones I love, Miss Wyndham.”

I think I wrote my first Goodreads review for the first book in this trilogy, These Vicious Masks (yay for me completing a year of writing reviews!). That book got me out of a reading slump, and was just all around a fun ride with its charm, humor, surprises, and wonderful characters.

A year later now, and I can say ...more

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Mar 28, 2017 rin (￣ヘ￣) read/watch mo dao zu shi rated it liked it

Shelves: amazing-friendship, eng, 2017, favourite-male-character, worse-than-expected

the ending though :-)

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Apr 25, 2017 Shelley rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017-release, arc-netgalley, young-adult-historical, received-for-review

*Source* Publisher
*Genre* Young Adult, Fantasy
*Rating* 4.0

*My Thoughts*

These Ruthless Deeds is the second installment in the These Vicious Masks series by the dynamic duo Tarun Shanker & Kelly Zekas. The story picks up shortly after the end of These Vicious Masks. Protagonist Evelyn Wyndham has thrown herself into trying to help others after a heart breaking loss. Others who have the power of telekinesis, and a variety of other powers that would make the X-Men sit up and take notice.

*Full Revie ...more

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Mar 02, 2017 Hailee (haibooklovers) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: blog-reviews, ya

Actual Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Full review up on the blog!

Let me tell you how much I loved this book: SO MUCH. Like its predecessor, These Ruthless Deeds is more plot-driven than character-driven. Not usually my jam, but these books make it work! The series had been pitched to me as a sort of cross between X-Men and Jane Austen, and it’s wildly accurate. Except I've never seen an X-Men movie or read any of the comic books...so, I'm not an expert. No judging me.

Superpowers, academies for said superp ...more

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Apr 03, 2017 Tricia Levenseller rated it it was amazing

Shelves: high-fantasy

These books are so fantastic. The dialogue is so enjoyable, and I love the X-Men feeling this whole series possesses. Historical fantasy is my favorite genre, and Shanker and Zekas do it so well!

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Mar 11, 2017 Sophie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2017-releases, own-read, 5-stars, arcs-read, read-in-2017, 2017-flights-of-fantasy-challenge, 2017-rockmytbr-challenge

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

These Vicious Masks was one of my favourite debuts from 2016, and I was overjoyed when I both won a copy of the sequel, and was approved for an advance copy via NetGalley. In These Ruthless Deeds, Evelyn is coming to terms with the death of her sister Rose, and also her new tangled powers of healing people. She has joined forces with The Society, a group of other gifted people, and she now has I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

These Vicious Masks was one of my favourite debuts from 2016, and I was overjoyed when I both won a copy of the sequel, and was approved for an advance copy via NetGalley. In These Ruthless Deeds, Evelyn is coming to terms with the death of her sister Rose, and also her new tangled powers of healing people. She has joined forces with The Society, a group of other gifted people, and she now has people to turn to when she is struggling with her abilities. Her old friends Mr Kent and Mr Braddock are still around, and she's instrumental in finding, and helping, other people just like her. However, she's also struggling to balance her life in The Society, and life in Society, for the Season, when she starts to consider that just what she's doing, might not be the best thing for everyone, and she might be being used to helps others gain.

I love anything to do with the Regency era, and adding fantasy elements to that time is always a good thing. This book was so well researched, and well written, that it felt as if it was reality, and I was more watching a film, than reading a book. Evelyn is such a good narrator, and her growth as a person, growing into her abilities, is awe inspiring. Understandable, she's apprehensive around The Society, but she does warm to them, and begins to develop friendships, and a kind of new family, with them. Her own family isn't the best, especially as her mother is pushing her into an engagement and marriage with the most boring person ever, just because he's titled, and his mother is influential in the Ton, and her father has nothing about him, other than gambling away their fortune and reputation.

The plot is ridiculously good. It's fast paced, and exciting, and there was never a moment that I felt like something was unnecessary or boring. Everything was just right, and I'm beside myself with excitement for the next book in the series, because with each one, the story is getting better and better.

There's romance in this book - obviously, when it's published by Swoon Reads - and I much prefer Mr Kent to Mr Braddock, but that's not to say that I don't like Braddock, just that Kent has something more about him. These two characters, and the other characters were all interesting, even the ones that you hate, or grow to dislike throughout the course of the book. I think all lovers of historical YA or fantasy need to have this series on their radar, and I look forward to the next instalment because I love Evelyn and this series so much! ...more

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Jun 25, 2016 Cindy ✩☽♔ rated it really liked it

Shelves: otps-feels, love-triangle, fantasy

Alright I did not see that ending coming...one of the many reasons I adore this series =D

*Detailed Review to Come*

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Mar 15, 2017 Rê rated it really liked it

Shelves: made-me-feel, shipping-so-hard, young-adult, bff-to-lovers, we-should-be-friends, made-me-laugh, arc-netgalley, 2017, historical-fantasy, outside-the-usa

3.5 “I’ll take a Mr. Kent, please” Stars

ARC via NetGalley.

Thank you, Swoon Reads.

After enjoying These Vicious Masks, I jumped right into These Ruthless Deeds to follow Evelyn, Mr. Kent and Mr. Braddock to their next adventure. At first, I had to keep myself entertained with only Evelyn—not that this was a problem because Evelyn is strong and funny enough to keep the story interesting—but as soon as Mr. Kent came back into scene I remembered why I liked this story so much.

Sure, the whole X-Men a ...more

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Apr 03, 2017 Monique V rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2017, sequels-i-need-to-read

What is this pain inside my chest!??? WELL THAT IS WHAT IS LEFT OF MY HEART AFTER THIS BOOK

I liked the first book but I LOVED This one. We get all our favorite characters from the first book back for new adventures, plus a lot of new characters. Some you will hate others you will love, but they all add to the plot and they made this world feel so large.

So many things happen in this book! After this book I feel like the authors can write a lot of books in this series. They set up a lot plot lin

...more

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Feb 21, 2017 Jen (The Starry-Eyed Revue) rated it really liked it

Shelves: girl-power, 2017, netgalley, historical-fiction, superheroes-superpowers

An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts are my own. This review can also be found at The Starry-Eyed Revue.

I absolutely adored the first book in this series, so I was beyond excited to start reading These Ruthless Deeds. And it was a pretty great sequel, if not but a little predictable.

Here's the thing: the prologue made things so obvious to me. I like when a prologue teases things to come, but I still want to be relatively surpri ...more

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Mar 26, 2017 Cassie-la rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-reads

ORIGINALLY POSTED: https://bibliomantics.com/2017/04/09/...

The follow up to last year’s X-Men/Jane Austen novel These Vicious Masks suffers slightly from second book syndrome, with totally expected twists, obnoxious new characters and the heroine choosing the wrong boy in her love triangle. Despite these problems however, These Ruthless Deeds more than makes up for them with that shocking ending. ...more

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Apr 24, 2017 Wanderlust_Wanz rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult-dystopia-fantasy-scifi

For the record, I would choose Mr Kent over Sebastian any minute;)

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Jan 25, 2017 Erin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya-read, arc, netgalley

I love these books!! While still a lot of fun, this one was also much darker, loved that. I also hope it's safe to assume we can expect a third book ... ...more

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Apr 24, 2017 loise✨ rated it liked it

Shelves: badass-heroine, ebooks, historical-fiction, romance, young-adult, loled, paranormal, sassy-pants

I absolutely enjoyed These Vicious Masks and it baffles me that I wasn't as emotionally invested in this one as I was in the first book. I mean, the plot is actually good, predictable but still good. (view spoiler) And there's Mr. Kent, which I ADORED in this book. He's my sunshine, I love him. Although, I'm officially Team Braddock, I really appreciate the authors doing Mr. Kent the right kind of justice his role deserves. See, you ...more

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Aug 12, 2019 Dawnie rated it really liked it

Shelves: paperbacks

This is such a fasted paced and fun series.
I love the mixture of supernatural and victorian setting and how each character is so very clearly their own person.
I love how the authors thought out which character should get which powers because at least to me it does seem to fit the characteristics of the person quiet well and that makes it even more fun to read about.

Also it always surprises me how well the mystery aspects are woven into the story and while some things are quiet clear others ar ...more

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Feb 02, 2017 Kelli Spear rated it really liked it

Shelves: best-of-2017

I have to admit that I'm truly becoming obsessed with this series. The writing is humorous and brilliant. The characters are all perfection. And this installment was a step above book one. I loved it.

We pick up where we left off. Evelyn and company are searching for new gifted people to accrue. Her plan to help save the world to honor her sister's wishes is in action. But a wrench is thrown into their plans when they run into the previously mentioned (and thought to be evil) Society of Aberrati I have to admit that I'm truly becoming obsessed with this series. The writing is humorous and brilliant. The characters are all perfection. And this installment was a step above book one. I loved it.

We pick up where we left off. Evelyn and company are searching for new gifted people to accrue. Her plan to help save the world to honor her sister's wishes is in action. But a wrench is thrown into their plans when they run into the previously mentioned (and thought to be evil) Society of Aberrations.

These Ruthless Deeds is fast-paced. Far quicker and more action-packed than These Vicious Masks was. And, it was also ten tons more intriguing this time around. We meet many new characters; members of the Society and even new members of Evelyn's rich society. Her parents are now back in the picture having moved to London. Their intent is to marry off Evelyn.

I still love Evelyn. Shes even more bad ass this time around. She's learning more about herself and her powers. And in many ways, she's extremely independent. However, I absolutely LOATHE her feelings for Sebastian. I know I'm going to be the minority, but I cannot help it. I'm so tired of that dark, brooding hero trope. And it's in full effect in this book. I mean, why is the only man worthy of loving these days always the guy who's broken or damaged, or so "good" because he'll sacrifice his happiness to help others? Especially when he's acting like a baby. I'm sorry, but I just can't always fall for that. It's way overdone. Not to mention that he's rarely in the story. Even in book one! I don't feel there's been enough interaction between the two to develop any realistic loving feelings. But that's probably because I prefer Mr. Kent. His humorous antics are quite possibly the best thing about this series. I look forward to every scene that contains him. And he has known and interacted with Evelyn long enough to hold feelings. And, yes, I know that you can't help who you love. I'm just blah about it being the typical hero constantly portrayed in the genre. Sometimes, I just want it to be the average, nice guy.

Anyhow.

Setting all of that aside, this story is utter brilliance. As the gang tried to determine who is at the head of the Society, I thought I had a pretty good idea. (I was right!) But their plans are fun, even when completely spoiled. So many scenes are filled with tension; I was constantly waiting for someone to be gravely injured. Or captured. Or, killed. And then there's the wondering who to trust... it can be maddening! Several new incredible powers are introduced—ones that make all the characters we love look boring in comparison. And once we find out the truth about the Society... things start to unravel.

The ending is pure insanity. The action scene was so well-written I could envision it as though I were watching a movie. (Side note: this series would make wonderful movies.) I was both excited and upset to be reaching the end. It's clear the story isn't finished, but now I'll have to wait months before getting my hands on the next one. I still don't know the fate of a few of my favorite characters!

This series has quickly made its way onto my favorites list. Thanks to the humorous Nicholas Kent, I find myself laughing at what should be serious moments. There's nothing quite like a good tension killer. So many elements go into these books, and all are woven in seemingly effortlessly. I highly recommend this for anyone who loves X-Men or Vicious by VE Schwab. ...more

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About Tarun Shanker

Tarun Shanker

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Tarun Shanker is a mild-mannered assistant by day and a milder-mannered writer by night, currently living in Boston. His idea of paradise is a place where kung-fu movies are projected on clouds, soul music fills the air and chai flows freely from the fountains. He is the co-author of the These Vicious Masks trilogy with Kelly Zekas.

Other books in the series

These Vicious Masks (3 books)

Books by Tarun Shanker

These Vicious Masks (These Vicious Masks, #1)

These Vengeful Souls (These Vicious Masks, #3)

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Quotes from These Ruthless Deeds

“Is your power still working?” I asked Mr. Kent.
“I don’t know. Do you find me handsome?” Mr. Kent returned.
“Yes,” I replied, following it with a growl.
“Everything is clearly in order here,” Mr. Kent said.” — 6 likes

“What are you—” I paused and it hit me. “Oh heavens, what did you do?”
He shrugged innocently. “Let’s just say … that I’ve been … in a sense … blackmailing key members of London society and editors of the scandal sheets into preserving your reputation.”
I gaped at him. “And by ‘in a sense,’ I mean that’s exactly what happened.” He smiled broadly at the room.
“You—you’re serious?” I found myself half gasping the words but also not finding it terribly hard to believe. Mr. Kent never hid his worse qualities.
He wore them like badges.” — 4 likes

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