To this day I think Evil Librarian is one of the most underrated books on the planet. It’s sassy, snarky, hilarious, and completely original from start to finish. I mean, how many books do you get to read that include musical-theater-obsessed demons trying to take over the world… but not until after they’ve seen a high school performance of Sweeny Todd?
It’s one of those quirky reads you only come across once in a lifetime, and I am a HUGE fan. So the second I saw that there was a sequel coming out this year I HAD to get my hands on it and requested an ARC immediately.
I want to say that this book is as good as the first, but I’m afraid I can’t. Is it still a fun read? Sure, for the most part. But it’s slow, the plot feel recycled, and the characters are all on drama-overload. Cyn is a lot less fun to follow here, and her relationship with Ryan has very little of that electric sizzle it had in book one.
Really, the inclusion of Peter was probably the best part – I thought he had ten times the personality of Ryan in this book – and I loved, as always, the constant homage to musical theater history. The Scarlett Pimpernel is such an obscure show to focus on, but I love it and I loved seeing it get some well-earned love here.
If you liked the first book, this might be worth picking up, so long as you keep your expectations measured. I still thought it was worth the read, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed to find it didn’t live up to my super high Evil Librarian expectations. Where Evil Librarian was like a speaker amped up to 11, Revenge stayed at a steady and respectable “it’s a school night” volume. I’d definitely recommend it (and the whole series) to younger YA and middle grade readers, but I think many older readers will feel let down by this sequel.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars