Mythikos is a city divided; seelie vs. unseelie, hero vs. villain. When longtime hero (and full-time werewolf) Jericho apprehends a villain who turns out to be their long lost friend (and banshee) Soliel, the line dividing what is right and wrong becomes blurred forever.

Villainous builds an interesting world of class division and fae creatures, which are unfortunately only explored at face value. With the opportunity to not only build off classic folklore but expand upon the author's own creativity, the vibrant world feels disappointingly dull. This is a living world full of leprechauns, kitsune, and griffins - and it feels surprisingly empty.

While it doesn't make up for the lack of lore, one aspect Villainous excels in is its representation; main characters are gender fluid, trans, and suffer disabilities such as being hard of hearing. Initially, I felt as if the LGBTQ+ elements existed solely for conflict - there is abundant misgendering and reactions to misgendering within the first 50 or so pages. However, the characters afterwards feel truly representative rather than inserted into the story to fit a "quota".

Although it occasionally misses its marks, Villainous attempts to tackle big, real world issues. Though some are more veiled than others, hints of class welfare, political corruption, police brutality, and social justice are evident throughout the pages of this book.

There were a handful of things I did not particularly care for about this book. Most characters are one-dimension and rude, and the main character Jericho is widely unlikeable for a majority of the story. Approximately 2/3 of the way through the book, a romance subplot takes over and derails and completely changes the tone and pace of the book. While these flaws aren't critical, they are distracting.

Villainous, at its worst, feels like a fanfiction of Disney's Zootopia; while not a bad thing (Zootopia was great!), it struggles to find its own consistent identity throughout.