Vicious (Villains, 1)
A trade paperback repackage of New York Times bestseller V.E. Schwab's Vicious, a masterful tale of ambition, jealousy, and superpowers which will include:
*A new cover by Wil Staehle, cover artist of the iconic Shades of Magic trilogy covers*Schwab's Tor.com short story set within the Vicious universe, Warm Up
*A teaser for the upcoming sequel, Vengeful 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. A dynamic and original twist on what it means to be a hero and a villain. A killer from page one...highly recommended! --Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of Marvel Universe vs The Avengers and Patient Zero
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Community Reviews
This is my first VE Schwab book and overall I thought it was an interesting ride. I enjoyed the book, though not super hooked, and I loved some of the themes and thought provoking prose in it. I enjoyed several of the characters and loved to hate some of the others. There were many questions and quotes that stuck with me.
While I can effectively summarize this book as “two arrogant, privileged white dudes engage in decade long and increasingly violent dick measuring contest”, I did enjoy many of the ideas and themes still. Victor as a character I enjoyed. And all the subtle ways that Victor and Eli - which, btw, makes V.E. Just saying - are truly two sides of the same coin. I think there is a lot of overt and a lot of nuanced points. I also greatly enjoyed tracking all the Cognitive Dissonance defense mechanisms Eli had over the book. He was so lost in his own sauce.
But really the book gets down to 1) what makes people human? What gives us humanity? And 2) who gets to decide which way is the right way? Who gets to choose who is worthy of living versus dying? I greatly enjoyed this idea and how the characters grapple with this in the world. I did buy and will read the second book!
I love her writing and can't wait to read some more of her titles. About the book, it was nice to have the perspective of all main characters, and the ending... gold
Cool Concept, Poor Execution
This was a really cool concept, but I wasn't a fan of the execution. You never truly get to know any of the characters what with the writer withholding bits of information from other characters and therefore the reader, which made a large portion of the story feel unimpactful and I didn't grow attached to any of the characters.
Time skips
Honestly, I don't think the non-linear fashion in which this story was told added anything to the story, but rather was a requirement because if the story had been told in a linear fashion, it would have been too slow. And yet even with the back and forth, the story still felt slow and only grew worse as you closed in on the end.
Pacing
From my perspective, the last 75 pages could have easily been condensed down because the time skips that occurred in this section of the story added nothing to the overall story. It felt like a gimmick to make the reader think the ending was excellent, when in reality it wasn't.
Perfect End
I know Victor's supposed to be a genius and all, but that ending was perfect. Literally perfect. Each of the people he just happened upon during the course of the book were exactly what he needed to create a fool-proof plan. And I know they tried to make it seem like it wasn't perfect because Sydney showed up at the final showdown, but even that ended up not actually creating that much tension or issues with Victor's plan. It was just quite the letdown after trudging through the last 100 pages.
This was a really cool concept, but I wasn't a fan of the execution. You never truly get to know any of the characters what with the writer withholding bits of information from other characters and therefore the reader, which made a large portion of the story feel unimpactful and I didn't grow attached to any of the characters.
Time skips
Honestly, I don't think the non-linear fashion in which this story was told added anything to the story, but rather was a requirement because if the story had been told in a linear fashion, it would have been too slow. And yet even with the back and forth, the story still felt slow and only grew worse as you closed in on the end.
Pacing
From my perspective, the last 75 pages could have easily been condensed down because the time skips that occurred in this section of the story added nothing to the overall story. It felt like a gimmick to make the reader think the ending was excellent, when in reality it wasn't.
Perfect End
I know Victor's supposed to be a genius and all, but that ending was perfect. Literally perfect. Each of the people he just happened upon during the course of the book were exactly what he needed to create a fool-proof plan. And I know they tried to make it seem like it wasn't perfect because Sydney showed up at the final showdown, but even that ended up not actually creating that much tension or issues with Victor's plan. It was just quite the letdown after trudging through the last 100 pages.
was cool but expected more based on tik tok hype. unique plot but not as thrilling as i expected. will see the vibes of the second book
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