Category: Book Reviews

Book Review | Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Posted April 17, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Rae Seddon, nicknamed Sunshine, lived a quiet life working at her stepfather’s bakery. There are places in the world where darkness rules, where it’s unwise to walk. Sunshine knew that. One night, she went out to the lake for some peace and quiet. There hadn’t been any trouble out at the lake for years, and Sunshine just needed a spot where she could be alone with her thoughts.

Big mistake.

Vampires never entered her mind. Until they found her. And set upon her, and took her to an old abandoned mansion. They took her clothes and sneakers. They dressed her in a long red gown. And they shackled her to a wall-within easy reach of a figure stirring in the moonlight, who is also chained. She knows that it is a vampire. She knows that she’s to be his dinner, and that when he is finished with her, she will be dead. Yet, when light breaks, she finds that he has not attempted to harm her. And now it is the vampire, Constantin, who needs her to help him survive the day, to protect him from the sun with her magic…

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD)

The Reason

This is a reread. I’ve read this book twice before and it’s one of my favorite vampire stories. I also really love the author’s works.

The Quotes

“What we can do, we must do: we must use what we are given, and we must use it the best we can, however much or little help we have for the task. What you have been given is a hard thing–a very hard thing… But my darling, what if there were no one who could do the difficult things?”

“It is halfway true that if you are involved in a family coffeehouse you don’t have a life.”

“You can be a really nasty, selfish little jerk when you’re scared enough. I was scared enough.”

“He was a vampire. I was a human. We weren’t supposed to have any bonds between us, except straightforward generic ones of murderous antagonism and so on.”

The Narrator(s)

Laural Merlington. I had a really hard time with the low vampire voices. I could barely hear them and couldn’t make out what they were saying. I had to get a copy of the ebook and refer to it periodically.

My Thoughts

I love this book. I have loved this book, and I still love this book. Listening on audio was not the best experience, unfortunately, because I couldn’t make out what some of the low voices was saying, but I still love the story. I read it for the first time maybe 20 years ago and I thought it was one of the more interesting vampire stories, and 20 years later it’s still true for me.

The relationship between Rae and Constantin is a constant push/pull, and I love that vampires aren’t seen as dashing, romantic bad boys in this world but rather dangerous, animalistic creatures of prey. I mean, to an extent, Constantin is romanticized a little bit but to a reasonable degree in comparison to so many other vampire stories.

There are so many reasons why I love this book; the interesting world-building, the vampire lore, the rich character backgrounds. When the book first came out years ago, I hoped there might be more books set in this world, but unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any so far, and the author hasn’t published any new books in the last decade. Still, there are plenty of books in her catalog I haven’t read and I love rereading the ones I’ve read. I never get tired of them.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

Posted April 17, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

Emily Wilde has spent her life studying faeries. A renowned dryadologist, she has documented hundreds of species of Folk in her Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project studying the inner workings of a faerie realm-as its queen.

Along with her former academic rival-now fiancé-the dashing and mercurial Wendell Bambleby, Emily is immediately thrust into the deadly intrigues of Faerie as the two of them seize the throne of Wendell’s long-lost kingdom, which Emily finds a beautiful nightmare, filled with scholarly treasures.

Emily has been obsessed with faerie stories her entire life, but at first she feels as ill-suited to Faerie as she did to the mortal world-how could an unassuming scholar like herself pass for a queen? Yet there is little time to settle in-Wendell’s murderous stepmother has placed a deadly curse upon the land before vanishing without a trace. It will take all of Wendell’s magic-and Emily’s knowledge of stories-to unravel the mystery before they lose everything they hold dear.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD)

The Reason

I enjoyed the first two books and I love the characters.

The Quotes

“I have learned there is one thing a person never tires of, no matter how long they live. And that is being in love. All else is ash and ember.”

“Shadow’s world was one in which all and sundry either fawned over him or kept a respectful distance from his intimidating bulk. Each time Orga hissed at him, Shadow seemed to assume it a misunderstanding, which grew increasingly improbable as these incidents accumulated, but still less improbable, in his view, than being disliked.”

“Stories are the architecture of Faerie, more powerful than magic, more powerful than kings.”

“Such is the way with librarians, who are almost as unpredictable as the Folk, some minatory and persnickety, others overflowing with warmth towards humanity at large.”

My Thoughts

I loved the first book but I thought the second wasn’t as strong as the first. Many people have expressed that they thought this book might be the weakest of the three, and in terms of stories, I agree. The story felt weak and unnecessarily drawn out, especially towards the end, but I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt and assuming that it might be a possible set up for the next books. Still unnecessary though, and it could’ve been done better if so.

However, my expectations for this book was lower this time and I ended up enjoying it very much. I especially love the little bits of comedy and relationship scenes. I love the banter between Emily and Wendell, and I love the little things he did to show how much he loved and respected her. I also loved Orga and Shadow, and I loved how interesting the other characters are as well. I think the best thing about this book is the characters, and I always want to know more about them.

It’s funny because it feels like it’s the side stories and backstories of these characters that keep me coming back. I’m not sure I love the overarching stories at this point, but I would absolutely read the next book(s) just because I can’t get enough of the characters. To be fair, the main story of this book wasn’t bad, I just feel like it wasn’t enough. I hope the main stories in future books get better.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Posted April 16, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down.

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned – from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren – an enigmatic artist and single mother – who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother–daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past, and a disregard for the rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When old family friends attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town – and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at an unexpected and devastating cost . . .

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD)

The Reason

I watched the tv adaptation a few years ago and loved it and always meant to read the book eventually.

The Quotes

“Sometimes you need to scorch everything to the ground, and start over. After the burning the soil is richer, and new things can grow. People are like that, too. They start over. They find a way.”

“She had learned that when people were bent on doing something they believed was a good deed, it was usually impossible to dissuade them.”

“I’ll tell you a secret. A lot of times, parents are not the best at seeing their children clearly.”

“Where do we follow the rules, and where do we justify breaking them? Do our pasts determine what we deserve in the future? And is it ever possible to leave your past behind?”

The Narrator(s)

Jennifer Lim. It was absolutely perfect.

My Thoughts

I feel like a lot of my love for this book might have been carried over from my love for the tv adaptation. I remember a lot of key moments in the show and the vibrancy of the actors who play the characters and pictured some of the scenes as I was reading the book. This rarely happens with me but in this instance I think the show was just so good that it stayed with me, and dare I say, I think the show was better than the book. But not by much because the book was really good too.

Reading the book served to make the differences in class and privilege among the characters a lot more jarring to me. Their internal thought processes and justifications, their reasons for doing the things they did, made such a stark contrast when put into words in the book.

There have been some criticisms about the book trying to bias us towards certain characters that may or may not necessarily be right in their own actions, but I personally feel like that’s missing the point. It’s not about who’s right or wrong, all the characters did/have done questionable things, but rather, it’s about privilege. The ones who have money and privilege have more options, more connections, more ways to get themselves out of trouble, and more grace from public opinion. The poor don’t have the luxury of better options, nor grace from public opinion. They are maligned for “making bad choices” when “good choices” are just not available to them.

I love that this story highlights that, but I also think that people who have privilege may not recognize this aspect of the story because they don’t always recognize their own privilege. It’s written so subtly and masterfully, the characters are so complex and their thought processes feel so true to life, it’s just an amazing book and I loved it.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | The Terror by Dan Simmons

Posted April 16, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 2 Comments

The Terror by Dan Simmons

The men on board HMS Terror have every expectation of triumph. As part of the 1845 Franklin Expedition, the first steam-powered vessels ever to search for the legendary Northwest Passage, they are as scientifically supported an enterprise as has ever set forth. As they enter a second summer in the Arctic Circle without a thaw, though, they are stranded in a nightmarish landscape of encroaching ice and darkness. Endlessly cold, with diminishing rations, 126 men fight to survive with poisonous food, a dwindling supply of coal, and ships buckling in the grip of crushing ice. But their real enemy is far more terrifying. There is something out there in the frigid darkness: an unseen predator stalking their ship, a monstrous terror constantly clawing to get in.

When the expedition’s leader, Sir John Franklin, meets a terrible death, Captain Francis Crozier takes command and leads his surviving crewmen on a last, desperate attempt to flee south across the ice. With them travels an Inuit woman who cannot speak and who may be the key to survival, or the harbinger of their deaths. But as another winter approaches, as scurvy and starvation grow more terrible, and as the terror on the ice stalks them southward, Crozier and his men begin to fear that there is no escape.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD)

The Reason

I love big books, and I love horror, and I love historical fiction, and I love books about exploration. This book seemed like a culmination of many things I love.

The Quotes

“The beauty of being dead, he knows now, is that there is no pain and no sense of self.”

“Life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. It has no plan, no point, no hidden mysteries that make up for the oh-so-obvious miseries and banalities.”

“Every time I believe I know one of these men or officers, I find that I am wrong. A million years of Man’s Medicinal progress will never reveal the secret condition and sealed compartments of the Human soul.”

“Why does our species always have to take our full measure of God-given misery and terror and mortality and then make it worse?”

The Narrator(s)

Tom Sellwood. Loved his narration!

My Thoughts

Although this story is based on a real lost expedition that happened, I wasn’t sure how much of it would stay true to life and what would be embellished. I was also unfamiliar with the true events so I wouldn’t have realized where the story diverged, which maybe added to my enjoyment of the book as I was taking everything at face value. I loved a few of the characters, hated a couple of others, and found myself rooting for the ones I loved and wishing horrible things on the bad guys.

I loved the whole experience of reading this book. It started really slow-paced, but it kept building and building and building on the tension and in the end the slow burn was so worth it. I read it as a buddy read with my online bookclub and one of the things I said is that this is one of the best books I’ve read and I loved the writing, but I don’t think I’ll ever want to read it again because of how intense it is.

Give me enough time to forget the experience and I may read it again, but right now I’m still reeling from all the feelings.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

Posted April 16, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate.

I’m Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I’d killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it’s a little more complicated than that.

Have I killed someone? Yes. I have. Who was it? Let’s get started.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD)

The Reason

There’d been a lot of hype for this book and I’ve been hearing about this book for a while. I thought it sounded really interesting.

The Quotes

“Family is not whose blood runs in your veins, it’s who you’d spill it for.”

“You can tell a lot about someone from whether they can handle an uncomfortable silence. If they ride it out or snap it off.”

“Anger is as much an heirloom as any Rolex.”

“Every basic task starts to feel like a decision, and that becomes so draining that you end up unable to make any of them.”

The Narrator(s)

Barton Welch. He was very pleasant to listen to.

My Thoughts

I must admit I didn’t love this book. I had high expectations coming into it and had been anticipating reading it and the other books in the series, but I’m not sure that I’ll continue with it. It’s not horrible, but I didn’t enjoy the writing style. It felt gimmicky, and the constant breaking of the fourth wall annoyed me and took me out of the story.

The story itself wasn’t incredible either and I didn’t connect very much with the characters. In fact, I would say that the book as a whole was quite forgettable to me. Perhaps the most memorable thing about it for me is the title of the book. I just finished it and I couldn’t tell you anything about the characters or significant things that happened because nothing and no one really stood out to me.

However, it is well-written and -crafted despite my dislike of the writing style, and there are some great quotes I really liked in the book. I can understand why people would enjoy this book, but it just didn’t connect for me unfortunately.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | All The Living and the Dead by Hayley Campbell

Posted April 7, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

All The Living and the Dead by Hayley Campbell

A deeply compelling exploration of the death industry and the people—morticians, detectives, crime scene cleaners, embalmers, executioners—who work in it and what led them there.

We are surrounded by death. It is in our news, our nursery rhymes, our true-crime podcasts. Yet from a young age, we are told that death is something to be feared. How are we supposed to know what we’re so afraid of, when we are never given the chance to look?

Fueled by a childhood fascination with death, journalist Hayley Campbell searches for answers in the people who make a living by working with the dead. Along the way, she encounters mass fatality investigators, embalmers, and a former executioner who is responsible for ending sixty-two lives. She meets gravediggers who have already dug their own graves, visits a cryonics facility in Michigan, goes for late-night Chinese with a homicide detective, and questions a man whose job it is to make crime scenes disappear.

Through Campbell’s incisive and candid interviews with these people who see death every day, she Why would someone choose this kind of life? Does it change you as a person? And are we missing something vital by letting death remain hidden? A dazzling work of cultural criticism, All the Living and the Dead weaves together reportage with memoir, history, and philosophy, to offer readers a fascinating look into the psychology of Western death.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD)

The Reason

It was the BOTM for my in-person bookclub, member’s choice.

The Narrator(s)

Hayley Campbell, the author herself. I really enjoyed the narration and listening to the book through her voice. It’s technically scientific nonfiction but I also think it’s a little bit of a memoir about her own journey researching the book, and I loved that she shared her personal experiences through the journey.

My Thoughts

Our in-person bookclub had a very deep and meaningful discussion about this book, our own thoughts on death and dying, and how we felt about the book and death. Personally, this book blew me away, I’ve always been morbidly curious about death and the business of death, but I didn’t expect the author to also delve into the emotional aspects of those who work in the business.

There are so many things we don’t think about until it affects us, but at the same time, this is one of those things that when it does affect us, we’re not necessarily in the right frame of mind to think about them. I love that Campbell have so much compassion and empathy for those who work with death and the dying, and I love that she puts a spotlight on the topics that we typically avoid.

One of the criticisms that came up as our bookclub was discussing the book was that Campbell inserted her own emotions and judgement a little to much while interviewing some of her subjects. I agree in that particular instance, but I also think that it was her way of trying to understand it. That doesn’t excuse it at all, because I personally feel that she did push a little too hard and I didn’t like that she did that. I did like that she got emotionally invested and personal in the book, but I think there should be a balance between being professional and letting her interviewees tell their story, and inserting her own emotions and judgement into their stories.

It is still a very good book and I learned so much. I loved it so much, I bought my own copy so that I can reread it over again. There really is a lot to be gained from reading this book, morbid as it is, and I would highly recommend it to anyone!

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center

Posted April 6, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center

A year after getting divorced, Helen Carpenter, thirty-two, lets her annoying, ten years younger brother talk her into signing up for a wilderness survival course. It’s supposed to be a chance for her to pull herself together again, but when she discovers that her brother’s even-more-annoying best friend is also coming on the trip, she can’t imagine how it will be anything other than a disaster. Thus begins the strangest adventure of Helen’s well-behaved life: three weeks in the remotest wilderness of a mountain range in Wyoming where she will survive mosquito infestations, a surprise summer blizzard, and a group of sorority girls.

Yet, despite everything, the vast wilderness has a way of making Helen’s own little life seem bigger, too. And, somehow the people who annoy her the most start teaching her the very things she needs to learn. Like how to stand up for herself. And how being scared can make you brave. And how sometimes you just have to get really, really lost before you can even have a hope of being found.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD)

The Reason

I have enjoyed Katherine Center’s other books, and this one in particular had been talked up so much by Rissi from RissiWrites.com that I just had to read it.

The Narrator(s)

Marguerite Gavin. I enjoyed the narration very much.

My Thoughts

Okay, there is quite a bit of cheesiness and some cringy parts in this book, but overall I loved it and thought it was such a cute read. It’s also what I needed because I have been reading so many heavy books in recent months and very few romances. I have read several of Katherine Center’s books and really enjoyed them, so I thought I would take a chance on this one too. I’m glad I did because even though it was a little cheesy/cringy, there was also some really great scenes and heartwarming stuff that made me happy.

I also realized that there was a movie adaptation and I ended up watching it immediately after reading the book!

I love Ellie Kemper so I was really looking forward to the movie and seeing what they did with it. They took out some of the cringiest bits, which I’m glad of(!), but it also felt a little less charming. I felt like the MC wasn’t as charming as in the book, and there wasn’t enough chemistry between the two leads. But I still enjoyed it and it was such a nice book and movie combo to take me away from the other solemnities in life. I would still recommend both.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | The Making of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman

Posted April 6, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

The Making of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman

Now in paperback, the eye-opening book that was nominated for a 1998 James Beard Foundation award in the Writing on Food category.

In the winter of 1996, Michael Ruhlman donned hounds-tooth-check pants and a chef’s jacket and entered the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, to learn the art of cooking. His vivid and energetic record of that experience, The Making of a Chef, takes us to the heart of this food-knowledge mecca. Here we meet a coterie of talented chefs, an astonishing and driven breed. Ruhlman learns fundamental skills and information about the behavior of food that make cooking anything possible. Ultimately, he propels himself and his readers through a score of kitchens and classrooms, from Asian and American regional cuisines to lunch cookery and even table waiting, in search of the elusive, unnameable elements of great cooking.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD)

The Reason

I am a foodie and I have a weird fascination for food writing. I also have a couple of books by Michael Ruhlman that I haven’t read yet. This book happened to be available from my library so I dove in!

The Narrator(s)

Jeff Riggenbach. It was great!

My Thoughts

I loved the writing and the storytelling. I got so immersed in the whole book as I was reading that it just transported me away from real life and into a culinary dream world. It made me think about food and cooking so much more deeply; my relationship with food, the way I approached cooking for myself and my family, the appreciation I have for food and food culture. I loved the way the author talks about food and cooking and his own appreciation for food and his experience of working in the kitchen.

It almost made me want to sign up for culinary classes but I know myself well enough to know that I wouldn’t do well as a professional cook. I love food, and I love cooking, but as Ruhlman’s teacher talks about in the book, I don’t think I have that drive to cook for others professionally and to always show up no matter the weather and the occasion (and unlike Ruhlman, I’m totally fine with that!).

I love Ruhlman’s candidness and the way he talks about his experience with such transparency. I love the way he is so passionate about food and cooking, and I love the way he really makes me feel like I’m right there. I want more of this and I hope to come back to this book again in the future.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

Posted April 5, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.

When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.​

To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia​. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD)

The Reason

I thought the premise was brilliant. This book has been on my TBR for ages and it’s a buddy-read on my online bookclub so I decided to join in.

The Quotes

“The entitled assholes of the world are sustained by girls who forgive too easily.”

“That’s not a matter of losing control. Every guy who does something like that knows exactly what he’s doing. There is always a moment where he consciously decides that he will ruin someone’s life to feel better about his own. Always.”

“Shame and humiliation are self-imposed emotions, and from here on out, I choose not to feel them.”

“This body of mine is not big enough to contain the scale of emotion coursing through me. How could I feel a rage like this, and not be able to tear the sky open and scorch the earth?”

My Thoughts

Overall, I didn’t like the book very much. I liked the idea and the worldbuilding based upon Chinese culture; it’s new and different and I thought the story itself was very interesting. The execution was very poor though. The MC, Zetian, was an incredibly Mary Sue character; her powers kept increasing to ridiculous levels, within days, with no training and no explanation, against people who were supposed to have higher Qi points than her. The fight scenes were almost always conveniently not shown on page, taking us into things that happens in the mental realm instead. I get that the battles fought in the mental realm are important, but there should be enough physical fight scenes to balance it out as well.

The intimate and vulnerable scenes between the MCs felt very shallow; there wasn’t any chemistry and I didn’t feel their connection at all. We are mostly told and not shown a lot of the feelings they feel; the anger at the oppression and being lied to, the love and attraction between the MCs. I just didn’t feel it. I don’t know if I’ll read the next book. I really like the story idea, but I’m character-driven and I need to like the characters and feel like they make sense. We’ll see.

My Rating

⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

Posted April 5, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

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. Great partnerships, now soured on the vine.

But Marcella Riggins needs no one. Flush from her brush with death, she’s finally gained the control she’s always sought—and will use her new-found power to bring the city of Merit to its knees. She’ll do whatever it takes, collecting her own sidekicks, and leveraging the two most infamous EOs, Victor Vale and Eli Ever, against each other.

With Marcella’s rise, new enmities create opportunity–and the stage of Merit City will once again be set for a final, terrible reckoning.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #TBD)

The Reason

I read Vicious, the first book in the series, and loved it. I wanted more of the story.

The Quotes

“How many men would she have to turn to dust before one took her seriously?”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a human versus a human or a human versus an EO or an EO versus an EO. You do what you can. You fight, and you win, until you don’t.”

“The next time you point a gun at someone, make sure you’re ready to pull the trigger.”

“The life I had is gone. There’s no getting it back. I’d rather make a new one. A better one. One where I don’t have to pretend to be weak to survive.”

My Thoughts

I didn’t like this book as much as the first one. I loved the characters, and still do, but there were so many plot holes and issues with the story this time around that were really convenient and annoying. The storytelling style with the jumping timelines was also an issue; it was very confusing and tedious to get through.

The catalyst of the story was stupid, in my opinion, because Victor justified doing many bad things by saying that he was trying to cover their tracks, but that doesn’t make sense at all because anyone with any common sense would realize that it’s exactly what would bring attention to them. I also didn’t like how conveniently things were resolved in the end during the boss battles. I still love Sydney and Mitch, and I think June is a very interesting new character. I want to know what happens to them in the next book, but I’m not looking forward to slogging through the jumping timelines storytelling style, and if the plot is going to have issues like in this book, I don’t know if it’s going to be worth it. I truly hope it gets better.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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