Vicious
Books | Fiction / Superheroes
4.1
(6.1K)
V. E. Schwab
V. E. Schwab's New York Times bestseller Vicious is a masterful tale of ambition, jealousy, desire, and superpowers.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 ZeroOne of Publishers Weekly's Best Fantasy Books of 2013At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Fantasy
Mystery
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Author
V. E. Schwab
Pages
368
Publisher
Tor Publishing Group
Published Date
2013-09-24
ISBN
1466822171 9781466822177
Community ReviewsSee all
"So so so good. I have loved everything by VE Schwab. Her writing just makes you keep turning the page. I love the way she pieces stories together. A lot of authors that do this just make it unnecessarily confusing and complicated but with her books it flows exactly right. As I've said before about her books, this one was nothing like her others. It has a superhero/supervillain vibe with "ExtraOrdinaries" but it's not as clean cut good vs evil."
"The book was really well written but the plot just didn't go far enough for me. Eli is supposed to be really smart and good at getting his own way, and there were plenty of ways he could have regained control of his situation but didn't. I needed them to put their genius brains to use more often! And why is the bad guy always a religious fanatic these days?
Also, a warning about foul language: there are some unexpected f-words"
O
Olivia
"This book was nice and easy to read. I definitely was not as into the storyline as I thought I would be but the story was definitely interesting. The motives of the characters were somewhat unclear to me and I honestly wish it was more in detail about that sort of thing. It had a good plot and the ending definitely redeemed the book though. 3.5/5 ⭐️"
"Was a pretty good read, not what I thought it was going to be about! Pleasantly surprised and will read the sequel in this duology. "
A C
Amanda C
"I very much want to love V. E. Schwab's books. She has amazing insight and each story is unique in it's on way. There is just a disconnect between me and reading Vicious. It just seemed like something missing and I'm unsure of what that is. I enjoyed to two main characters, their differences, their struggles with how they perceive the world. But I couldn't get invested in anyone. I didn't understand how Eli barely religous turned into a fanatic over night. Atleast Victor was cruel to start with it just amplified after his change.<br/><br/>Swapping past and present was interesting but if you really think about it the plot didn't go very far. It was just cover up by the multiple time lines. This was a great concept I wished they would have gone into more detail about what people were missing when they returned but it's not enough to get me interested in the next installment. Now the ending was by far the best part but I can't really say it was a twist because I saw it coming a mile away. Victor was my favorite character so cheeky haha.<br/><br/>I know mostly all I did was complain I didn't hate the book it was just ok."
"I made it about 2 hours/20% in before I decided it really wasn't my jam, at least not right at this moment. That's not to say the writing isn't extremely compelling and it will draw you in, and the characters are intricately complex and all sorts of shades of gray, nor is it any criticism of the story itself because it is quite brilliant. My main "Meh" was just the premise of the aforementioned story - the thin line between hero and villian, the decades long revenge plan, the blaming someone else for your own horrible choices even as they played a huge role in what happened and what followed... It’s all just not really something I have ever had much interest in giving hours of my life to.
If you like complicated backstories and monstrous things hiding beneath a charming human facade; if you like Friends Turned Enemies Turned Its Complicated But I Still Will Kill You Even If It Hurts; if you like getting into the twisted dark depths of the criminal mind and human psyche - this is the book for you. If, like me, that just isn't the kind of jam you want on your mental crumpet, give this one a pass."
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