Book Review: Vicious by V.E Schwab

Title: Vicious
Author: V.E Schwab
Publisher: Titan Books
Release Date: 10 January 2014

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? 

Review: THISSSSSSSSS BOOK!

Let me just repeat, THISSSSS BOOOOOOK. I read and wrote this review ages ago and quite frankly still feel the same way!

At the time of reading I'd had this book for a while, I knew whispers of what it about, faint themes and character names. I knew there was a hype and I knew that Vengeful was coming out SOON. I knew I liked V's work and so all these things combines I was fairly sure I was going to like this book (always a dangerous assumption I know). So as part of me wanted to pick more books off my shelf that I've said 'I will read this book eventually' I began...and then couldn't let go and was in need (read NEEEEEED) of Vengeful.

What I'm finding is the more of V's work that I read, everything is about balance. No one is inheritantly good and no one is inheritantly evil, we're both sides of the same coin. A combination of the two and this was something that was apparent from the start.

Victor and Eli were very enigmatic characters and you could feel their bond almost vibrating off the page. There was this tension there that only grew and moulded and became this ugly thing over time. I think we all have a friend like Eli, or have been in that situation where we idolise and place someone on a pillar. This dramatically affects our relationship with them, from the way we see them to the way we interact with them, prodding and pushing to get their attention...playing games. Life is one big game and friendships can be difficult enough without this element thrown in. More often than not it doesn't have a good ending. Over time this energy creates a life force of its own and becomes this negative shadow which pulls you in a certain destructive direction. Only here it was more extreme! It was a ride that i would strap myself in for again and again.

As main characters both driving the narrative there was this intensity and attraction to each others mind that creates this deep friendship that is more than just a friendship, its a bond. It might not be physically and verbally shown, and nor does it need to be, but we as readers get to experience and feel it all.

And as we see here, once you start on a path that leads down a negative road there's no going back, not even if your an EO (Extra Ordinary).

What a fantastic concept EO's were. If you found yourself at the edge of life and your will was strong enough you might be given this second chance. Could you then push yourself to the edge, take the risk, put your life literally in the hands of fate and reap the rewards. There are alllllll kids of philosophical and moral questions brought up by this, and it is from this that we get this divide between our two protagonists. Because not only do you get that second change, but it comes with consequence. You loose a part of yourself. You feel that part missing. You also gain certain abilities based off the need of your feeling at the moment you're supposed to die.

This then poses all kinds of questions. What do you do with this power. Should you have this power. Should you be allowed to have this power. Eli who initially came off as this suarve intellectual interesting character has morphed into this man of righteousness, a twisted form of himself, dishing out death sentences and passing moral judgement. He became a hard character, an unlikeable character, and whilst Victor was far from perfect himself, hellbent on revenge, he had a level of fear about him, a level of something I could connect to and I felt far more drawn to him and his passion. Eli is there as a balance, as a challenge, as a purpose to pose both sides of the argument and let you decide. It makes Eli a very interesting character.

Who is the Hero and who is the Villain? 

Ooh I still get tingles thinking about it!

At the time when I first read this I was worried for Vengeful and the s*** that you know was going to go down...and well, you can read all about that in my review of Venguful! 

The short and sweet of this is if you haven't read Vicious... READ IT NOW!