Vicious by V.E. Schwab
Villains #1
Science Fiction
Tor | September 24, 2013
About the book: 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?
What. the HELL. That book was… I don’t even know. I have never read a book quite like Vicious before! It was enthralling, and dreadful at the same time!
The first thing everyone should know about Vicious is there aren’t really any ‘good’ guys. This is the story of a sociopath and a narcissist who start out as best friends, and then become mortal enemies. Yet, somehow you wind up routing for one of these villains, even though you know it’s messed up. I can’t quite say I ‘cared’ about him, because he’s not that kind of character, but I definitely wanted him to come out on top.
Actually, what I really wanted was a happy ending, which would be the two of them coming out on top together. As I said, this is the story of ex-best friends, and we get that story too. The plot was one that jumps back and forth throughout time. One chapter will be present day, the next chapter would be 10 years ago, then the following chapter would be just the previous week. Normally the inconsistency would drive me insane, but I think it was actually the magic behind Vicious. It was because of the regular time jumps we got action right at the beginning, and we also had the opportunity to read Eli and Victor’s friendship for ourselves. I almost preferred reading them as friends more than I did reading them as enemies, and I knew that meant I wouldn’t get a happy ending. It’s the part of reading Vicious that felt dreadful. I didn’t want one friend to hurt the other.
Somehow, even though I didn’t want it, the ending we got was absolutely perfect. I should have known what Victoria Schwab had up her sleeve was far cleverer than anything I could think up. There was almost a symmetry to this book. The end balanced out the beginning perfectly, and set up for what I think is going to be a phenomenal sequel in Vengeful.
There was one small teeny tiny thing I’d change about the pacing of Vicious, not to be nitpicky. I wish as much attention had been paid to Victor and Eli as enemies as was given to them as friends. I felt the strength of their connection when they were best friends, and I would have loved to see more of the flipside of that connection as enemies. Basically I think their interactions were rushed through and glossed over, when things fell apart. I’ve never felt that way about any other Schwab story. I know she’s pretty darn good at writing relationships and connections, but somehow it felt weaker in the second half. Other than that, this was another excellent story by one friggin excellent author.
Birdie Bookworm 
For some reason I feel like this author just isn’t for me, but I do love this blurb.
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Somehow you were in my spam jail cell! I don’t understand why!
My guess would be that this author isn’t for you, and as good as the blurb is, I don’t think you’d be into this read either.
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I agree so much with your review! I was also late to the V.E. Schwab bandwagon, but once I read Vicious, I knew her stories were something special. I’m so excited for her new book, and also to get started with A Darker Shade of Magic 🙂
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Oh boy, I started with A Darker Shade of Magic, and so far that’s still my favorite world of hers.
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Yay! That makes me much more excited to read it!
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“What. the HELL.” HAHA what a great opening to a review!! I’ve yet to read this book, but I’ve got it on my shelf. This review is great, and it really makes me want to get to it soon!
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Oh man, let me know when you do! Tweet me or something. I’m really curious to see if you felt the same as me.
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