Vicious by V. E. Schwab

Hello everyone, so this is my first ever review of a book and if I'm perfectly honest, I'm plodding a long as I go. I'm not really 100% sure what to do as of yet... BUT I imagine the more I do review the easier it will get and I'll discover my own flow and technique as I do it. Well here's hoping that happens anyway! So please be patient with me and constructive criticism is 100% welcome.

The first book that I've chosen is Vicious by V. E. Schwab it's the first book in the Villains series. It's also the first book I've read by this author so I can't really compare this one to her other works. This will be a spoiler free review, so don't worry if you're reading this to help you decide if this story is for you or not. Safe zone!

Synopsis.

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognised 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 arch nemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

My Thoughts.

Okay, so, oh my good golly bloody gosh! I've actually had this book for a while, just lying there waiting to be read and now that I've actually read it, I'm absolutely fuming with myself. How could I have not read this book yet? With this one I literally got hooked pretty quickly. I had read the synopsis before purchasing and that, a long with the killer cover art, enticed me to purchase. This story line has anti-hero (questionably villainous) goodness, magic powers and bad-ass characters, you couldn't ask for much more!

“The moments that define lives aren’t always obvious. They don’t always scream LEDGE, and nine times out of ten there’s no rope to duck under, no line to cross, no blood pact, no official letter on fancy paper. They aren’t always protracted, heavy with meaning. Between one sip and the next, Victor made the biggest mistake of his life, and it was made of nothing more than one line. Three small words. “I’ll go first.””

– V.E. Schwab, Vicious

Vicious is quite fast paced and deliciously addictive. Once I started I couldn't put it down for the life of me. Simply put, I just needed to know more. It only took me a couple of days to read and I once I'd finished, I ordered the second book in the series pretty much straight away. As I said, I just needed to know more, I need to know whats going to happen next!

V. E. Schwab created a world that I wouldn't say is actually much different to our own, the one main defining difference is that the characters have these extraordinary powers and the concept of just how they acquire a 'super power' was just so well thought out and intriguing to me (I wont say to much though, spoiler free remember?). There's also a running religious, kind of versus, scientific element/theme running throughout, which I found really quite fascinating. This book makes you wonder who the 'bad guys' really are.

Characters.

As for the character...  well I don't really have any characters I dislike, in the sense that I think they're all pretty necessary. If I had to say I wasn't keen on any, I'd say Serena Clarke was my least favourite, but she still plays a integral part to the plot. I absolutely loved little Sydney, she was so innocent and she literally gets that innocence ripped away from her. I wont lie, I love Victor Vale, I just do. He's the 'anti hero' in this tale and he's just bloody brilliant. Eli Ever is quite religious and self righteous, he believes that what he's doing is right and that it's pretty much Gods will. I personally think his actions make him more villainous than Victor, but that's just my opinion! Then there's Mitch, Mitch is so easy to like and I do like him! I just wish he was in it just a little bit more. More page time for Mitch! Perfect.

Rating.

I give this one 5 Stars for sure and I'm very excited to finish the next in the duo-logy, Vengeful. Have you read Vicious yet? If so what did you think?

If you keep an eye out I'll be sure to review Vengeful next!