A Bibliophile's Book Reviews & Recommendations

Vicious

Title: Vicious
Author: V.E. Schwab
Genre(s): Paranormal fantasy // superhero fiction
Status: Published
Rating: 7000/5 🗡
"There are no good men in this game."

Synopsis:
Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

Cover: 50/5
I mean, look at it. It has knives. It has weapons. It has bones. It's just cool as fuck. And not just this edition, no, every edition ever looks Cool. As. Fuck. And the sequel? Even. Cooler.

My thoughts:
This book was brilliant. From the first page, you're pulled in, and you can't stop turning the pages. It moves fluidly from past to present and back again, and each character you meet is wonderfully intriguing. Don't like superheroes? Good, because neither do I, and you're not going to find any in Vicious - which certainly lives up to its title. The entire cast is brilliantly written then brought to life, and the complex and twisted relationship between Victor and Eli especially is one of the best I've ever read. Reading this book felt like getting stabbed and tased at the same time. Everything is character-driven and the plot just pulls you in. I lived for the moral greyness of these anti-heroes, the blurred lines between good and bad throughout the entire story. There's no point looking for the hero and the villain-  both Victor and Eli are wonderfully broken and murderous psychopaths, and you might just find yourself wondering if you should see a psychiatrist for loving them as much as you will. Of all the many, many books I've read in my life, Vicious is truly one of the closest to my heart.

Other reviews:

" Vicious is amazing, full of anti-heroes, questionable doings and magical powers, what more could you want? "
- JenniLy

" Epic and gripping. "
- Publishers weekly

" But these words people threw around - humans, monsters, heroes, villains - to Victor it was all just a matter of semantics. Someone could call themselves a hero and still walk around killing dozens. Someone else could be labeled a villain for trying to stop them. Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human. "