We may have received complimentary copies and/or review access to any books, products, and/or other visual or audio media mentioned below. Any opinions expressed here are our own.
Books: Victorious, The Nuremberg Women, & Sweet Pea
Me - I absolutely loved Vicious by V.E. Schwab, but found Vengeful to be highly disappointing, so I was pretty nervous going into Victorious. Unfortunately, this book turned out to be my least favorite of the trilogy and one of the most lackluster series finales I’ve read. That said, my reasons are entirely subjective, so I’m sure many others will completely disagree. It’s difficult to properly explain all my thoughts and feelings without entering spoiler territory, but I’ll do my best.
One of my biggest issues was that most of the characters didn’t even interact with each other until practically the end of the book. I’m a deeply character-driven reader, so relationships and their development significantly affect how much I enjoy a book. Two of the main draws of this series for me were the found-family dynamic between Victor, Mitch, and Sydney and the former best friends/current enemies dynamic between Victor and Eli. Again, I can’t say much without spoiling things, but neither of these aspects were prominently featured in this book. In fact, they were hardly present at all.
I also hoped for higher stakes and more tension throughout the story, which was an issue with Vengeful, as well. Typically, in a series, the stakes should increase with each new installment. However, the Villains trilogy opened with a huge bang in Vicious, fizzled in Vengeful, and never regained momentum. This was largely because after a certain number of times witnessing the death of characters only for them to be resurrected later on (often multiple times), death, or the threat of it, eventually starts to lose its impact.
I was disappointed in the book’s conclusion as well. I want to emphasize again that my opinion is extremely subjective and, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I have no choice but to keep this extremely vague, but I typically prefer happy endings in my fiction, and this was more on the bittersweet side of the spectrum. I’ve loved several of these characters for a long time, and I had hoped things would turn out differently for them.
Ultimately, I’ve come to realize that my biggest issue with both Victorious and Vengeful is that Vicious was simply a perfect, self-contained story. The pacing was perfect, the conflict and climax held just the right amount of drama and suspense, and the resolution felt satisfying and deserved. It felt like it achieved everything it set out to do. I read both sequels because I loved that first book and its characters so much, but I’ve realized now that reopening the story with additional books inherently had to undo the extremely satisfying ending of Vicious that was a significant part of why I loved it so much in the first place.
Obviously, this review has been largely on the negative side. However, I want to really stress that it is not a bad book. It was extremely well-written, as everything I’ve read from V.E. Schwab has been. I may not have been particularly invested in the story, but I had no trouble getting through it; I never felt confused or bored. I was also consistently curious as to where the plot was going and how everything would turn out. I may not have personally enjoyed it, but I’m sure many people will. Therefore, I wouldn’t discourage anyone who’s interested in it from giving it a try, especially those who enjoyed Vengeful and/or are a fan of endings that don’t fit squarely in the category of “happily ever after.”
Mom - Today, I am talking about The Nuremberg Women: The Untold Story of the Eight Women Who Brought the Nazi's to Justice by Natalie Livingstone. If you think about the people involved with the historic Nuremberg prosecutions, you probably think only about the men. Even if you aren't aware of any of the specific people who were involved with the trial, a courtroom full of men still comes to mind. However, some women were highly involved as well, and this book highlights several of them.
While giving these women their due is an important objective and makes this book worth both writing and reading, the subtitle is a bit of a misnomer. Most of these women were more indirectly involved than the title would lead you to believe. They were artists, reporters, and a women who ran a witness house, for example. There were a couple of women who were more directly involved, including a Russian translator and a lawyer, but most were not.
This does not mean that the contributions of these women are not important, but they were not as significant as the title would lead you to believe. Also, the book is really more about how these women were held back than about how they succeeded. Thus, it's overwhelmingly depressing, which doesn't help when you are reading about a subject that is already very heavy emotionally, like the Nuremberg trials.
Mom again -Today, I recommend Sweet Pea by Kit de Waal. Paulette didn't have it easy. Sent to England from St. Kitts on her own, although the book doesn't say exactly how old she was at the time, she had to make a life for herself. After the man she loved is tragically killed in an accident, her life takes a surprising turn, and she becomes involved in the lives of the man who killed him and his young, motherless grandson, Nellie, a boy who needs her desperately, perhaps even more so than her own son.
This is a moving story about both family and found family. It is also about acceptance and forgiveness. The relationships in the story are extremely complex, making them feel very real. The one that develops between Nellie and Paulette is particularly touching. It is sometimes heartwarming; sometimes heartbreaking, as is the rest of the story.
Movie: A Marble in the Jar
Today, we are recommending A Marble in the Jar, the inspirational story of Tatiana Weston-Webb and her rise to the top of the surfing world. The film features appearances from numerous luminaries of the sport, including coaches, competitors, and even Kelly Slater, widely considered the greatest athlete in the sport's history. A large portion of the film concentrates on how she maintains her healthy mental outlook, a feat made even harder as her rise is set against the decline of her coach, mentor, and close friend Greg Browning, a fellow surfer and maker of this film.
And that's our view. Victorious published on October 6. The Nuremberg Women and Sweet Pea published today. A Marble in the Jar is available digitally for purchase or rental starting today.
Tune in tomorrow for Where-To-Go Wednesday.
All film images used in this post were sent by publicists, artists, and/or PR firms and used with permission. All other pictures in this post are our own. Address concerns regarding picture usage here.
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