Vicious - V. E. Schwab Book Review

Book - Vicious

Author - V.E. Schwab

My Rating - ☆☆☆☆

A masterful tale of ambition, jealousy, desire, and superpowers.

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?

In Vicious, V. E. Schwab brings to life a gritty comic-book-style world in vivid prose: a world where gaining superpowers doesn't automatically lead to heroism, and a time when allegiances are called into question.

There were so many aspects of this book that I loved, one of them being the rivalry between Victor and Eli. Their relationship was interesting to read about, seeing their friendship gradually morph to hatred was amazing. 

I adored Victor. He is an intruiging character. He's morally grey but there's a touch of humanity to him which we see through his relationship with Sydney. He's ruthless and isn't afraid to hurt people, but we see his caring side when he takes Sydney under his wing. He takes her in when she has no one, and cares and protects her.

I also LOVED Mitch. Mitch is definitely an underrated character. He plays the reliable, sidekick role which I really enjoyed reading. His raw humour was perfect for the dark atmosphere of this book.

Eli and Serena are the villains of Vicious (technically almost everyone in this book is a villain due to their moral corruption and challenged morality but Eli and Serena are exceptionally evil). Eli's character development is HUGE. With each chapter he grew more and more evil and conniving and obnoxious which makes an interesting villain. But I just hated him, and Serena. 

The writing was phenomenal, V.E.Schwab is phenomenal at building tension and her skill in writing is unchallenged. 

Also, I must add, this book got me into Blackout Poetry and for that reason alone, I wholeheartedly recommend. 

"Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human."

"When no one understands, that's usually a good sign that you're wrong."

"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."

"He wanted to care, he wanted to care so badly, but there was this gap between what he felt and what he wanted to feel, a space where something important had been carved out."

"All Eli had to do was smile. All Victor had to do was lie. Both proved frighteningly effective."

"If Eli really was a hero, and Victor meant to stop him, did that make him a villain?

He took a long sip of his drink, tipped his head back against the couch, and decided he could live with that."

"There are no good men in this game."

That's all from me. Keep your head in a book and your heart with the stars!

Thank you! ♡