Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Amazon/Barnes & Noble

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?

I bought Vicious just for the simple fact that people were raving about it. Before I got it in the mail, I wanted to have a taste of Victoria’s writing, so I read her YA book The Archived, and I fell in love with her writing style. Victoria’s writing is borderline overwhelming, but it never gets to that point. It keeps you on your toes. It makes you think and feel. I expected to get lost at some point in Vicious, and it never happened. It was beautifully written. One word that comes to my mind when I think about Vicious is organized. The book jumps timelines, and I usually don’t do well with these kinds of books, but wow, I’m so impressed that she pulled it off. Like, I’m blown away. Seriously.

The characters in Vicious are so complicated and dark. Some of them are neither good nor bad, well, they are mostly bad with some good in them I guess. But with all their flaws you can’t help but to love them. My heart broke for them. I see where they went wrong, and because of those mistakes they are what they are in the present. Even though they are not real, Victoria gave them quirks that made them human like. Just little things here and there that made a difference. Little things that were big enough to make me feel a connection towards them.

Sometimes when I’m reading a book, I think about ways to make them, in a way, better. I know I’m not an author, but sometimes I can’t help but nitpick books (I know that's a bad habit and I'm not proud of it). But Vicious was meant to be written by Victoria just the way she wrote it. That’s it. I totally enjoyed this book. I lost sleep because I could not pry myself away from its pages. I know this review doesn't do Vicious any justice but trust me you need this book in your life.

And here's a little something for those who have read the book.

I bought Vicious just for the simple fact that people were raving about it. Before I got it in the mail, I wanted to have a taste of Victoria’s writing, so I read her YA book The Archived, and I fell in love with her writing style. Victoria’s writing is borderline overwhelming, but it never gets to that point. It keeps you on your toes. It makes you think and feel. I expected to get lost at some point in Vicious, and it never happened. It was beautifully written. One word that comes to my mind when I think about Vicious is organized. The book jumps timelines, and I usually don’t do well with these kinds of books, but wow, I’m so impressed that she pulled it off. Like, I’m blown away. Seriously.

The characters in Vicious are so complicated and dark. Some of them are neither good nor bad, well, they are mostly bad with some good in them I guess. But with all their flaws you can’t help but to love them. My heart broke for them. I see where they went wrong, and because of those mistakes they are what they are in the present. Even though they are not real, Victoria gave them quirks that made them human like. Just little things here and there that made a difference. Little things that were big enough to make me feel a connection towards them.

Sometimes when I’m reading a book, I think about ways to make them, in a way, better. I know I’m not an author, but sometimes I can’t help but nick pick books. But Vicious was meant to be written by Victoria just the way she wrote it. That’s it. I totally enjoyed this book. I lost sleep because I could not pry myself away from its pages. I know this review doesn't do Vicious any justice but trust me you need this book in your life.