Review: Vicious by V.E. Schwab

“Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human.”

Release Date: September 24th, 2013

Genre(s): Adult Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Publisher: Tor Books

Pages: 366

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

Content Warnings:

Child abuse, Death/Death of a child/Death of loved ones, drug abuse, emotional abuse, gun violence, physical abuse, medical procedures, murder, self-harm, suicide, violence/gore

Synopsis

Vicious follows Victor and Eli, two college roommates, whose research into the supernatural one day goes terribly wrong. Ten years later, Victor is out of prison, looking to catch up with his friend-turned-enemy. Meanwhile, Eli is set out to eradicate every person with a superpower, aside from him and his sidekick. With both Victor and Eli set on a course for revenge, who will come out on top?

Review

Vicious has been on my radar for a while but only read it recently from a buddy read. And between the writing, characterization, and presentation of the storyline, this book was hard to put down!

I’m starting to notice with Schwab’s books the way that she blends character perspectives between chapters to keep the story going, and this is evident in Vicious. This combined with the shorter chapters makes this book move fast, which makes sense for the amount of action that’s in it.

Additionally, I enjoyed the portrayal and discussion of morality and morally gray characters in Vicious. Nobody is in the right here, but following their storylines and character arc is interesting nonetheless. I particularly enjoy books where you’re not meant to pick a side, and it’s okay to just observe. I felt this here, and that contributed to my equal interest in each character’s perspective.

On the other hand, I did find myself wanting a little bit more in terms of detail. The narratives do present themselves in a way that they’re telling a story, and I don’t always click with that. I think this combined with the story’s pacing made it work this time, but I did pick up on this while reading.

I’m definitely looking forward to picking up Vengeful soon and getting the resolution to this duology. I’m the type that often delays reading the next book, but not here. I’m recommending this book to anyone that needs a fast-paced read, trying to get out of a reading slump, or is looking for a story with morally gray characters.

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