Vicious by V. E. Schwab REVIEW!

Vicious by V. E. Schwab

Pages:  364

Format: Paperback

Publisher: Tor

My Rating: 4/5

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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?

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“I think we went to prove things, in life, more than we want to disprove them. We want to believe.”

Review:

How do I even begin to review a V. E. Schwab? This is my second Schwab book and most certainly NOT my last! After reading and loving The Archived I knew I had to get this one and read it…ALSO, I MEAN, WHO DOESN’T LOVE SUPERPOWERS??? Because I do, hence why I needed this book.

Ms. V. E. Schwab has this spectacular talent of writing some pretty ah-mazing characters, and both Eli and Victor do not fall short of that description. This book is so much more than a college experiment gone wrong with two best friends…there’s so much more angst and feeling in this book and IT IS FELT. THE FEELINGS IN THIS BOOK DEMAND TO BE FELT. So, personally, as a science geek, while reading this book there was medical talk and I fell in love with Eli (and Victor, and all the characters really) but V. E. Schwab really knows how to craft characters to fit the story and by the end of the book I had completely different alliances than what I had originally started with. Since this book is filled with a bunch of psychopaths, you never know who to like or root for, but to have an author completely change my mind on who I like from the beginning is a very strong thing to do! Every main character and secondary character though was flawlessly written and I enjoyed reading about everyone. So, I’m pretty sure you can tell I enjoyed reading about the characters, even if they are a batch of absolutely weird and psycho people…

WHAT ABOUT THE PLOT??? HUH??? Let’s talk about it! College experiment gone wrong pretty much sums it up and even 10 years down the road still hurts some people! Something is always happening in this book and since this book is told in alternating POV’s and time periods. You will always be curious and worried about the characters. I can assure you that you will become emotionally invested in these characters and love them. Honestly, this book will also make you think about the value of a life and how precious it is.

Basically, just read this book. It is fantastic! Great characters and amazing plot. Only reason it’s a 4 stars for me is because it took me over three weeks to read it and that hindered my enjoyment of the book just a tad bit!

For those who HAVE read Vicious, who’s the villain in YOUR eyes?