Vicious - V.E. Schwab
Publish Date: 24th September 2013 
Publisher: Titan Books
Genres:  Paranormal, Superpowers, Adult Fiction, Sci-fi.
Pages: 340
Format: Paperback

Goodreads // BookDepository
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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?



WARNING: Spoilers!                                                                                

“Victor Vale was not a fucking sidekick.”

Vicious by V.E. Schwab was a book that I had seen recommended EVERYWHERE, it was dubbed the ‘best’ of Schwab’s works and when I saw I could get it for a nice price and free shipping, I decided it would be my self-given b-day gift. I was happy that I did.

Now, Vicious is an Adult novel, which I did not know until I actually read it. I was expecting a dark YA novel vibe ft. A jail break and gore, and whilst I did technically get both, I didn’t get them in the way I wanted to. I felt like it lacked the oomph I was looking for, regardless of the otherworldly abilities and twisted views on what makes a hero a hero and a villain a villain. I did, however, thoroughly enjoy the exploration of the anti-hero/anti-villain trope, the underlying motivation and justification of the character’s actions, and Schwab’s take on the superhero story of good vs evil (or, more interestingly, the grey area in between). 
The reason why I didn’t give Vicious all five stars is because I;
A. Was expecting more, especially in the adventure aspect of the novel 
B. Felt reluctant to read it due to the ‘real world’ setting (I’m not a fan of the contemporary vibe.)
C. Disliked the constant switching between time-lines, which I’ll admit I did get used to, but bothered me a lot throughout the first 50% of the book. 

The beginning of the book was intriguing - a ghostly little girl and a man digging up a grave in the middle of a night to send a message of some sort? It was a great start to the novel. I loved the third person narrative and the way the writing flowed, however i was not a fan of the time-line switching as i have pointed out. There was little romance and no damsel in distress characters, thank the gods, and the protagonists were real. The idea for the EOs had a scientific base which i particularly enjoyed, and Schwab's build up of suspense was fantastic, keeping it interesting the whole way through - especially during the creation of the EOs.

I love love loved the savage nature of the two protagonists, especially before their EO abilities. Victor, I felt, was in love with his friend, yet the jealousy that he felt towards him was overpowering and it destroyed their relationship altogether. I envied his intelligence and loved his ambitious nature, especially how ruthless he was yet at the same time still caring (picking up 'strays' like Sydney and Dol). He constantly referred to the monster within Eli, and that monster being the reason he was drawn to him, almost as if seeing a part of himself in Eli which I particularly like and made both the characters unique and well-rounded:

“Eli seemed perfectly normal, but now and then Victor would catch a crack, a sideways glance, a moment when his roommate’s face and his words, his look and his meaning, would not line up.”
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“It’s why I let you stay,” said Victor. “Why I liked you. All that charm outside, all that evil inside. There was a monster under there, long before you died.”

The motivation behind Eli’s ‘removal’ of the EOs was intriguing because of how true it was to the nature of man. I liked how easily his beliefs of God and the ‘unnatural’ nature of the EOs twisted into religious extremism and justified his actions. It was eerily believable, more so by the evidence that it is mirrored in the world today, and made the lines between good and evil blur, which made him almost frightening.

"Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human."
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The side characters were relatable, enjoyable and fierce in their own ways. Schwab deliberately broke the norms by exploring the bad traits of power, when normally one wouldn’t be able to look past the good, as well as demonstrating that power can be misused, not inherently evil. Also, I liked that the EOs were not completely themselves anymore, as if they lost something human inside them to make room for their power.

In summary, I really liked this book, its characters and its concept, but I felt like it was missing something, and the lack of adventure and a contemporary setting made me feel underwhelmed and lost Vicious a full-star rating.  


★★★★☆ - 4 Stars


Love Natalia

xx