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Vengeful

(Villains #2)

V.E. Schwab

4.25 · Rating details · 27,229 ratings · 4,708 reviews

*NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*
*2018 GOOD READS CHOICE AWARD WINNER FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTION CATEGORY*

A super-powered collision of extraordinary minds and vengeful intentions—#1 New York Times bestselling author V. E. Schwab returns with the thrilling follow-up to Vicious.

Magneto and Professor X. Superman and Lex Luthor. Victor Vale and Eli Ever. Sydney and Serena Clarke. ...more

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Hardcover, 478 pages

Published September 25th 2018 by Tor Books

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Jan 13, 2018 Chaima ✨ شيماء rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, read-in-2018, lgbtqia-rep, fantasy, sci-fi, adult, fiction, disability-rep

Me, having absolutely no concept of liking things in moderation:I WOULD DIE A THOUSAND FIERY DEATHS FOR THIS BOOK.

I feel like I need to dress up for reviewing this book, to take it in gratitude for a night out in someplace fancy, to offer it drinks. I’m so full of an unnamed wanting that I can’t bear it—like whatever I will allow to crawl out of my heart and down my arm and out my fingers is not enough because I just [clenches fist] love this series SO MUCH.

I first read Vicious a couple years ...more

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Oct 19, 2015 Emily May rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, 2018

His eyes met Victor’s, and for a second neither man moved.
Run, thought Victor, and he could see the response in Eli’s coiled frame.
Chase me.

Oh, how I loved this book! I've waited five long years for the sequel to Vicious and I was starting to think it would never happen... but Vengeful was so so good. Definitely worth the wait.

This duology (series??) is called "Villains" and yet the characters are so much more interesting than that. While I've enjoyed a number of Schwab's books, I feel like her ...more

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Apr 16, 2017 Victoria Schwab added it · review of another edition

One day I will be finished writing/rewriting this book.

ETA: HAH. I DEFEATED YOU, BOOK MONSTER.

ETA: Holy shit, VENGEFUL is up for a Goodreads Choice Award!! If you follow me at all online, you know what this book took from me in terms of blood, sweat, tears, and sanity, and how proud I am of the finished product. I'd be honored to have your vote!

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Jan 07, 2019 Emily (Books with Emily Fox) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2018-releases, favorites

I could not put this book down!!

Probably my favorite book by V E Schwab. Loved the story, loved the superpowers, loved the strong messed up female characters, loved that the story was told backward, loved the flashbacks.

Book 2 was even better than the first one. Can't recommend this enough!

Only thing is... gold nail polish? Really?

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Feb 10, 2016 Kai rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, owned, finished-series, queer, 2018, feminist-as-fuck

“I don't want to survive. I want to thrive.”

Am I Victor Vale yet cause I can assure you that I died several times during the course of this book.

After wiping cold sweat off my forehead and 5 minutes of deep and thorough breathing exercises I am relieved and happy to tell you that I loved Vengeful. I had high hopes, but my fears were taller. Ever since Victoria had announced that she would write a sequel to Vicious, I wondered whether this was a good idea. Don't get me wrong, I loved the first “I don't want to survive. I want to thrive.”

Am I Victor Vale yet cause I can assure you that I died several times during the course of this book.

After wiping cold sweat off my forehead and 5 minutes of deep and thorough breathing exercises I am relieved and happy to tell you that I loved Vengeful. I had high hopes, but my fears were taller. Ever since Victoria had announced that she would write a sequel to Vicious, I wondered whether this was a good idea. Don't get me wrong, I loved the first book, but that was the exact reason why I wanted it to keep being a standalone novel. It was perfect. I loved it from start to finish, I could not find a single thing that bothered me, I was in awe with every single aspect of this book. Victoria is one of my favourite authors and I knew that she could write. Her writing, her characters, her stories are exceptional. And still, I had my doubts. I was not the biggest fan of and the finale to the Shades of Magic series was not as satisfying as I had wished.

But then I opened the book and read the first page and I knew it, I knew this was the shit. This was going to be exactly what I wanted even though I had not known that I wanted it in the first place.

Let's talk about the characters.
I don't like Eli. He was a reckless fanatic and I wanted him to die. I didn't care for Victor. He was equally violent but at least not as self-righteous as Eli. My heart was always with Sydney, Doll, and Mitch. I want them to stay safe forever.
Vengeful introduced me to Marcella, whom I loved from the very beginning. Her morals might have been even lower than those of Victor and Eli but I couldn't care less. June was another character I fell in love with. But she was not without issues either. However, I kind of like that her story was not explored in this book. We got hints, but her backstory is still draped in shadows...so if Victoria is actually going to write a third Villains book in five years - she said she might release a Villains book every five years - we might get to see more of June. (view spoiler)

The way this story was constructed was a work of art. Victoria managed to assemble an impressive amount of POVs, each with their own voice. Things could have easily become unrealistic or rushed, but Victoria managed to maintain the pacing and the result was a thrilling, breathtaking story about villains, power and death. I know that it took a lot of patience and willpower to write this book but it was worth it. 5 well-deserved stars.

Find more of my books on Instagram ...more

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Nov 20, 2017 Elise (TheBookishActress) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-star, gen-series-books, gen-mystery-suspense, that-lgbtq-rep-tho, this-fucking-plot-twist, favorite-friendships, no-romance-here, favorite-characters, elise-favorite-reviews, that-disability-representation

“Men look at anyone with power and see only a threat, an obstacle in their path. They never have the sense to see power for what it really is. Potential.”

Vengeful was my second most anticipated book of this year, and it did not disappoint at all. It was absolutely a wild ride and I read it in, literally, two sittings within the same day. S0 let’s scream!

G O D, T H A T ’ S G O O D

I think Schwab’s writing style for Vicious is the best of every talent she has in the writing department; she’ ...more

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May 19, 2018 Lia rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy, psy-thriller-crime

Okay. I'm gonna be a big brave girl and say it.
This wasn't that great.
There, I said it.

Phew. That was a hard one to admit.

I mean
-yes, I liked it.
-yes, Victoria Schwab could write assembly instructions and I'd still read every word like it was prose.
-yes, it was great to be back into the Villains universe.
-yes, it was entertaining and made me lose my mind.
-and yes, I still think Mitch should adopt us all.

But I can't say I loved Vengeful as much as I loved Vicious because it'd be a lie. ...more

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Mar 01, 2018 Warda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: i-fell-in-love

I'm currently debating between a 4 or 5 stars, but needless to say that I had the best time reading this book.

I didn't get bored once. It was thrilling, the character analysis was stunning and the pacing was beautifully set.
The world of EO's got bigger and better, more fascinating and ludicrous. More morally grey characters were introduced, Victor and Eli got more despicable and lovable with each page. Mitch, Doll and Sydney constantly turned my heart into mush.
And don't even get me started on ...more

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Oct 15, 2018 jessica rated it it was amazing

theres nothing quite like reading about a bunch of sociopaths to make you feel good about your life. additionally, theres nothing like enjoying a book about sociopaths to make you feel the need to re-evaluate your life. lol.

this had everything i loved about vicious, and so much more! i dont even know where to begin. how lucky we are to even get a sequel? how much more world building was present in this? the fact that mitch was still so wholesome? the brilliance of schwabs storytelling? how much ...more

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May 23, 2018 Korrina (OwlCrate) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Guys, get ready...

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Oct 07, 2018 Silvia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: will-read-again, rep-ace, release-2018

I know Victor Vale is real because this book made me feel all kinds of pain

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Mar 05, 2019 myra rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

You thought Vicious was good? Well jokes on you.

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Oct 02, 2018 Faith M ✨ rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy, science-fiction, dont-believe-the-hype, owned, get-thee-behind-me-satan, why-did-i-read-this-exactly, cover-porn, 2-stars, soulless, read-2018

Good grief I'm finally done with this.

I'm disappointed. I'm underwhelmed. I'm frankly a little pissed off. I went into this book with the excitement of a giddy child and came out a crone hardened by sheer boredom and anger (the worst kind). I was happy with the story, so very happy, but once Marcella (a new addition AKA the lady on the cover) mutinied and became the star of the show, around the 50% mark, I found myself dreading reading this.

I don't want this to be a long review so I'm going to Good grief I'm finally done with this.

I'm disappointed. I'm underwhelmed. I'm frankly a little pissed off. I went into this book with the excitement of a giddy child and came out a crone hardened by sheer boredom and anger (the worst kind). I was happy with the story, so very happy, but once Marcella (a new addition AKA the lady on the cover) mutinied and became the star of the show, around the 50% mark, I found myself dreading reading this.

I don't want this to be a long review so I'm going to be more brief than I usually am, especially when I have so many feelings. Here are my general feelings about the characters, the plot, and the themes of the book:

I found that all the veteran characters were cardboard cutouts of their former selves. They weren't really there long enough, their feelings and thoughts weren't touched on enough, to really warrant any feelings on my part. Victor was reduced to a hand flicking, wall leaning, tired guy who did things Victor would never do; Sydney was just meh and Mitch didn't drink nearly enough chocolate milk, though I did appreciate the extra time spent on Eli (though in the present, he wasn't nearly as entrancing as he had been in the past and in Vicious). Stell was back, and I actually really liked him. He was the only person who acted like a person, and I really appreciated that.

The new additions were mostly wallpaper. June had no logical motives. Both her and Marcella got their revenges way too soon and too easily to really hold any tension. While the new powers were interesting, I was constantly confused about the state of clothing in regards to June's ability. Basically, she can shapeshift into anyone living that she touches (minusing EOs) and glimpse into their most basic fundamental character aspects. And she also takes...their outfit? What about clothing she puts on separately? Can she remove the clothing? If she wants a specific outfit, does she have to go looking for someone wearing it?

Jonathan, another new addition, started out as a real person and literally became a cardboard cutout (okay not literally but pretty darn close). He just stood there. He rarely spoke. He always wore sunglasses even though everyone knew where he was looking. I forgot that he even existed for a moment.

Dr Haverty was okay, but a little cliche and convenient, and I wish he'd stayed around longer instead of popping up right when I'd completely forgotten he was a character.

Marcella...😒 Marcella was just Aelin Galathynius if you took away the tragic backstory. She's evil for the sake of it, black and white with no trace of grey, and a straight up psychopath. She tries to use feminism to support her ridiculous and unethical behavior and somehow...people agree? Like real people? She makes little snide comments about how men are always underestimating women who are ambitious, how they always call them crazy. No, lady, you are actually crazy. It's not just men saying that. Sydney isn't crazy. Sydney has morals. No one calls Sydney crazy (except for maybe Eli, but he's even more crazy). She said and did a lot of things that undermine real misogyny. She wasn't been underestimated or abused when male characters got mad at her for not holding up her end of the deal. She was being treated reasonably under the circumstances. Yes, her power of ruination was cool, but she used it as proof she is to be worshipped when she doesn't deserved to even be liked. I didn't know if this was intentional or not because the book didn't give me any clear message.

And that brings me to the general theme of this book. Or rather, the lack of a theme. It had no direction, had no point to make. There was no greyness to anything. There were the people we're supposed to see as good guys and those who were obviously villains. There was no unique and interesting philosophy, no real conflict. It was character-driven but didn't have any character tension. Scenes that were obviously supposed to be hardhitting and important character moments lacked any kind of tension whatsoever. They felt stale and boring. The first half of this book was promising, but it didn't keep that promise.

Every end may be a new beginning, but every beginning had to end.

...more

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Dec 06, 2017 ❄️Nani❄️ rated it did not like it

Shelves: adult-fantasy-sci-fi

One of top 5 worst reads of 2018.

This was a fiasco. An absolute clusterfuck.
What a joke.

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Oct 17, 2018 C.G. Drews rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, thriller-crime, 4-star, adult, superheroes, read-2018

And that was entirely INTENSE. Also long so I feel like I was just flung down 57 flights of stairs and am now gasping at the end with my leGS brOKEn. Although I will admit I liked Vicious better and I'm a teeny bit disappointed because I expected a 5star read and (for me) it wasn't. But like it was still excellent.

I'm absolutely reeling with the cleverness of the timelines. I understand why Schwab was dying on twitter while writing this. I've written a teeny-tiny 2-timeline split book and that ...more

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Nov 11, 2015 Lexie marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Update: Verily, that the sequel to Vicious is titled Vengeful is a beautiful case of both alliteration and sinister phrasing. Then again, it is Victor Vale, so perhaps poetry and peril were par for the course.

Alliteration awesomeness

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May 24, 2016 emi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-stars, i-spent-my-money-on-this, favorites, cover-porn, book-husbands, girls-kicking-ass, male-protagonist, written-by-a-queen, please-read-this, anticipated-2018-releases

OH

MY

GOD

THIS F*CKING BOOK

Someone pls kill me as this book is making me suffer inside

And then bring me back to life bc I want superpowers

Anyways RTC.

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Apr 08, 2019 Samantha rated it liked it · review of another edition

3.75. I might bump this up to 4 because that’s what I thought I’d give it up until the very end. But this was very anti climactic for me and definitely did not compare to how perfect Vicious was for me.

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Mar 02, 2018 Hamad rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books, 2018-reads, good-covers

Full review and other non-spoilery reviews can be found @The Book Prescription

Actual Rating: 4.5 stars

Victoria Schwab liked my tweet
My life is complete!!

description

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Oct 15, 2018 may ❀ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, perfection, 400-pgs, kickass-heroine, i-am-trash, duology, buddy-read, sci-fi, ded, bye

i just have one question, what in the hell just happened?

that is all

Im simultaneously destroyed and yet so fulfilled and content at this ending

I cant believe this story is over ~~for the time being~~, I genuinely felt like I was living with them GOSH DAMMIT

- I cant even begin to describe what this book did to me
- Victor vale: a madman, book defiler, a soft dad, just wants to feel alive again and honestly relatable
- Mitch: a marshmallow that got stuck inside a rugby player’s body, the other soft dad, ...more

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Jul 15, 2018 ☆ Mira ✷ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 6-stars, 2018, mystery-thriller, my-idea-of-literary-merit, antiheroes, the-dead-and-undead, slightly-lgbtqia, beloved-authors, i-cried, superheroes

#hide yo kids hide yo wife schwab came for us all

^me meeting Victoria Schwab the day after I finished Vengeful and trying not to be freakishly starstruck. (she said she loved my "Victor Vale is my hero" shirt, which is peak fangirl try and top me. Also, I always thought that she must be the Devil & Co due to how her books screw me over, but she's so sweet and funny, she definitely has no Satanic origins.)

Anyway, after finishing Vengeful, I spent 10 mins searching GIF websites for variations ...more

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Sep 30, 2018 amy ☂︎ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favs, buddy-read, 2018

this.......................... was everything i wanted, truly.

i don't know how schwab does it but somehow she just manages to wrap her series up so perfectly. i loved every single word in this book, i lived and breathed victor, syd, mitch and even eli, i clutched my heart so many times i lost count. I LOVE THIS BOOK WITH EVERY PART OF MY SOUL I JUST WANT TO SCREAM IT INTO THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i'm so filled with love and pain, i don't even know how to put any of it into words.

i feel like ...more

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Oct 25, 2018 ✨ jamieson ✨ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, favorites, adult, series, completed-series, 2018-reads

Ms Victoria Schwab really sat down, opened her laptop, and wrote THIS? Knowing full well people like ME would have to read it and cry and suffer?? 911 I’d like to report an attempted murder.

Sometimes a family is: your angst emo super power dad who’s doing his best, your sweet hot chocolate making uncle whos job is to tell the family not to do bad things and you, the adopted child who loves undead dogs and thinks it’s kinda cool ur dad kills people

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Sep 30, 2018 ✨ A ✨ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: five-stars, read-in-2018, all-the-stars-in-the-sky, 2018-release, that-ending-tho, adult, the-sequel-was-better, faves-adult-fantasy

I finished this book over a week ago and have procrastinated this review because I AM STILL completely S H O O K.
description

It took a while to put my thoughts together. And I will now attempt to express my love for this book and all these kick-ass characters, who are all so dear to me.

SPOILERS BELOW

The five year time jump came as a surprise, though not an unwelcome one. Throughout the book there was plenty time jumping and changing of POV, but I managed to keep up and I didn't mind.

After the end of ...more

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Oct 03, 2015 Chantal (Every Word A Doorway) marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal, to-read-short-list

AM I DREAMING?? One of my all-time favourite books gets a sequel?!

This is too good to be true.

What I want to know is when? WHEN?

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Sep 29, 2018 Raeleen Lemay rated it liked it

Shelves: adult-fiction

Not quite as good as Vicious, sadly. I figure the easiest way to sum up my thoughts is with a couple of handy dandy lists:

What I Liked

-BACKSTORY. This book gave us tons of backstory on Eli, back to his childhood and his early days at Lockland with Victor. LOVE LOVE LOVED THIS.
-New characters. I grew tired of Marcella after a while, but I am head over heels obsessed with June. Her power is so insanely cool, and I would have gladly read a whole book about her. I have a couple of theories about ...more

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Jul 22, 2019 Ashley Nuckles rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

All I can say is there better be a Villains #3 after this because I just want to know who the hell June is. C’monnnnnnnn

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Nov 01, 2018 Chelsea Humphrey rated it really liked it

Recommended to Chelsea by: Victoria Schwab

Shelves: audiobooks

*Sigh* This was great. Such a satisfying end to a wholly enjoyable duology. ~~Or is it?~~ JK, but I'm always hopeful that authors will return to my favorite worlds to continue stories on, even if it be through supporting character's stories. Marcella and June were exciting additions to the cast, and my mind is blown by how intricately the timelines were weaved together to keep our attention grasped. Highly recommend these books to folks who enjoy deep character studies of characters that are beyond ...more

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Sep 06, 2019 Hafsah (on hiatus) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: absolute-faves

(The idea is to read the crossings out too)

Oh my goshhhhhh!!
Vicious was amazing, but THIS BOOK ~~? This book~~ DESERVES ~~a standing ovation from the whole Goodreads community because it was was even better. It's~~ MORE intense(the last 100 pages were nail-biting). More everything. There was more backstory (Eli's childhood simultaneously creeps me out and breaks my heart), more action, more fantaaastic characters, more twists. And that's why im giving it more STARS.

~~Although the different storylines and~~ (The idea is to read the crossings out too😉)

Oh my goshhhhhh!!
Vicious was amazing, but THIS BOOK ~~? This book~~ DESERVES ~~a standing ovation from the whole Goodreads community because it was was even better. It's~~ MORE intense(the last 100 pages were nail-biting). More everything. There was more backstory (Eli's childhood simultaneously creeps me out and breaks my heart), more action, more fantaaastic characters, more twists. And that's why im giving it more STARS.

Although the different storylines and time periods are a little confusing to begin with, you get used to it very quickly. And the way they all interlace and come together at the end is just pure genius! And there are more THAN 3 different time periods this time (yay!)

Also, I'm pretty sure V.E. Schwab is an EO because no normal human could've written something this mind-blowingly good. THERE is no one else like her. I mean, who else could somehow manage to make me sympathise with power/revenge hungry and blood-thirsty sociopaths who would probably give me nightmares if they existed in real life??! All these character ARE essentially murders and the fact that I love every single one of them is beyond extraordinary.

And the different superpowers- just WOW! The concepts are so imaginative and it's clever how it links with their last thoughtsEvery one of the main characters has an amaaaaazing power, that is unique and explained IN ~~detail. Honestly, Disney should forget Sony and partner with Schwab instead because I need these villains in~~ THE ~~Marvel~~ UNIVERSE June, Victor, Eli, Marcella, Dominic, Jonathan, Sydney.....they were all just on form. Seriously I was perpetually wowed by them! And Mitch is actually such a sweetie; I love him and his relationship with Sydney. Also speaking of Sydney, her friendship with June was just goals and she is so freakin awesome!

I think these characters are what mades this book such an easy favourite and 5 ⭐ , and the fact that nothing was black or white. I kept flipping between the sides I rooted for (although obviously most of the time I was rooting for Victor's OG squad) and changing my mind about which villain I agreed more with.

Honestly I can't recommend this book enough!!

BR with the one and onlyy TABI!!!
---
RED ALERT
THIS IS NOT A DRILL
I HAVE THE BOOK
I repeat:
I. HAVE. THE. BOOK.
---
I literally cannot get enough of V.E. Schwab!!

After that ending in Vicious, 'desperate' doesn't even begin to describe how much I need this. ...more

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Jan 03, 2019 Bibi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Mind-blown.

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Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Fox Book Club: Best Sci-Fi	13	566	Nov 10, 2019 06:55AM
YA Buddy Readers'...: Vengeful (Villains #2) by V. E. Schwab - Restarting September 17th 2019	50	118	Oct 04, 2019 08:58PM
The Procrastinato...: Vengeful (August 2019) - Althea, Hannah, and Bree	14	25	Aug 17, 2019 09:47PM
Goodreads Librari...: Please combine	3	14	Jun 25, 2019 12:27AM
Expressive Champs : Vengeful: Reviews	1	1	Jun 08, 2019 12:14AM

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About V.E. Schwab

V.E. Schwab

23,570 followers

V.E. Schwab is a pseudonym of Victoria Schwab.

Victoria has stated that books published under V.E. Schwab are adult releases and those under Victoria Schwab are YA.