Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Michael Grant has a distinct and amazing way with words, making this follow up a perfect choice for any young kid in your life. The characters and action are both well developed.

I received an e-copy of ‘Villain’ from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Villain is the second book in the Monster trilogy (or eighth book in the Gone series) by Michael Grant. The first six books made up a large part of my teenage reading and Michael Grant is one of the three authors I credit for getting me back into reading after a massive slump after finishing Deathly Hallows. His writing here is great as always, the story is addictive and I loved getting lost in this world again.

The Monster trilogy follows a group of people who have developed abilities from a meteorite that has hit Earth. Some people use these powers for good, some for evil and that is the story torn to its bare bones.

The main antagonist in Villain was really interesting, Dillon Poe (The Charmer) has the ability to make people do whatever he wants and he makes some pretty horrible stuff happen - he seemed like a real threat. His motive was a little lost on me though, at some points it felt like he was just being evil for the sake of evil but this did lead to some interesting challenges for our protagonists to overcome. Cruz remained my favourite of the new characters in this series, there were some cameos from ‘Gone ‘characters which made me super happy (and they felt really natural, not added in just for fan service), however it was really the Dekka chapters that stood out for me once again. Shade Darby is arguably the main character of this new trilogy, however, she is by far my least favourite - I’m finding it really hard to warm to her and with one book left to go I’m guessing I probably won’t. This isn’t so much of a problem though given that the story jumps between different perspectives and the storylines are interesting.

Villain was a really good sequel, it doesn’t suffer from middle book syndrome and there were some twists here that I did not see coming and can’t wait to see the payoff in the final book.
There’s one book left and I don’t think I’m quite ready to say goodbye to this world again.

Thank you NetGalley and EMTeenFiction for giving me the chance to review ‘Villain’

A few years ago i read the Gone series and i couldn't wait to get stuck into Villain. So i started it and didn't have a clue what was going on, it was only then that i realised that this couldn't be read as a stand alone and i had to get my hands on its predecessor Monster. Once i had read that it all made perfect sense!

"It’s been four years since the events of GONE.

The Perdido Beach dome is down, but the horrors within have spread, and now all of humanity is in danger. The alien virus-infested rock that created the FAYZ is creating monsters–monsters that walk the cities and countryside, terrorizing all. There are tanks in the street and predator drones in the sky, doomed efforts to stop the disintegration of civilization. Into this chaos comes a villain with the power to control anyone with just the sound of his voice.

Dillon Poe wanted to be a comedian once… but everyone made fun of him. Dillon the loser. Dillon the freak. Now he’s sending thousands to their death. Who’s laughing now?

The only people who can stop a superpowered villain are superpowered heroes. Dekka, Shade, Cruz, Malik, Armo, and a new mutant with unmatched powers, are all that stand in Dillon’s way. But when the lines begin to blur between hero and villain—some begin to wonder who’s really the monster. The fight will be bloody. This isn’t another battle, this is the war to save the human race."

I read the book in two sittings, i honestly couldn't put it down! i have always loved Grant's style of writing and this time was no different. I enjoyed hearing about much loved characters from the Gone series and also about completely new ones that were as easy to love and as easy to hate! The ending was left on a bit of a cliffhanger, so here's me hoping that that there is another instalment!
I would definitely recommend this book to read, and the whole series before. definite 5 star!

Villain is dramatic and full of non-stop action. There is an awful lot happening and as it had been a year since I read Monster, it took me a little while to get back into it. It is on a much larger scale than the original FAYZ books which on the one hand makes everything dramatic and shocking, but on the other hand can make it overwhelming and hard to keep track of. The powers people are developing are becoming so much bigger and wilder. I honestly can't guess where this series is going, and that's exciting! Parts of this book hint at characters from the earlier books playing a larger role so I'm intrigued to see where that leads.

Overall a fun read for fans of this world. I, personally, found the scale of it all overpowered the smaller character plotlines that interest me most, but I still enjoyed it and will be reading on in the series.

I should stress that this isn't all going to be a comparison to Killer T. A lot of aspects of this book are far better than Muchamore's attempt to write teenagers who don't make me want to bang my head repeatedly on my bookshelf. For instance, I think Grant does a fairly good job of making his characters diverse and intersectional. Does it always work? No. But the attempt is there and that's important. I also think Grant's plot is a lot more high stakes, it certainly takes the Gone books and adds a whole lot more to them.

So, why will I not be reading any more of this series?

In part, this comes down to personal preference. I'm not a person who enjoys a lot of gore and violence in what I read. That's not to say I want everything to be sunshine and lollipops, but I don't need graphic depictions of dead bodies every other chapter. So, if you enjoy that - this may be the book for you. I can also see how this might be a good book for, say, a librarian to recommend to teenage boys, because it has a lot of great female characters in roles that ten years ago would have just been teenage boys. In the mission to get young adults who would rather be shooting each other in video games into reading, this isn't a bad example. But for me - I'm just not that into you.

So aside from the heaping violence, this book starts messing with one of my least favourite 'superpowers' which is mind control. I can't be dealing with anything that screws around with consent. Again, that's personal preference and, as far as I could tell, no-one is mind controlled into sleeping with anyone else, but there's always the worry that it could happen and that makes for quite a stressful read on my part.

Now onto the main reason I don't want to continue this series. And this is a spoiler alert for those who care about those.

Bringing back a character who 'died' in previous books who is just...horrible. Violent and damaged and rapey and...just no. There are enough terrible people in this book, there are enough awful perspectives you have to read, this was not necessary. What particularly bothered me was how every character, upon learning this, talked about how he was going to go after another character, and how powerless that character was at this point. I didn't need that. I didn't want that. This wasn't relevant to the plot that was happening, it was just danger and fear for danger and fear's sake.

So, if you want to read a book that is essentially awful people doing awful things interspersed with arguably good people making difficult and often terrible decisions then this is certainly the book for you. As I say, a lot of this is personal preference, and there will be people who will appreciate this story. I can also praise the attempts at diversifying the story. But I won't be reading more of these books.

My rating: 2/5 stars

I received a free digital advanced review copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.