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Book: “Vicious” by V.E. Schwab
Publishing Info: Tor, September 2013
Where Did I Get this Book: copy provided by the publisher!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: 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: Somehow, even though I’ve loved V.E. Schwab’s work for years, I’ve never gotten around to this book. In this case, however, this has worked out for me since what was once a stand-alone novel has now turned into a soon-to-be-completed trilogy! So I thought now was the time to jump in so that I’d be all ready to pick up the final book when it drops this fall.
Right from the start, this is one of those compulsively readable books. The writing jumps off the page, and I was immediately drawn into the story and quickly invested in the characters. This is all the more unique as neither Eli nor Victor are particularly good people. But man, are they, especially Victor, the sort that you quickly grow to love in spite of (or because of??) these very same flaws.
The story alternates between two timelines. One is set when Eli and Victor are both students, sharing a room and dreaming of the limits of their world. The other is set years later, with Victor finally freed from the prison in which he’s languished for years, dreaming of his revenge against his former friend. Sometimes I struggle with dual timelines like this, but in this case it works really well. We get to see very different versions of both characters and slowly piece together how they go from that version to the ones we see in the current day.
Naturally, given the subject matter, there was a detailed exploration of what it means to be both a hero and a villain. Victor is very much an anti-hero, and Eli, the more “villainous” of the two, is the one the world looks to as a hero and who sees his own mission as the more virtuous. Through both characters, there’s much reflection on what makes one a hero or a villain: actions, intentions, or some nebulous combination of the two.
I will say that the ending left a bit to be desired. It’s an interesting thing, as when it first came out, it very much felt like a stand-alone affair, and this ending would have been even more frustrating. As it stands, I’m glad there are two more books to delve more fully into both of these characters and to get a better resolution to the entire storyline. If you enjoy fantasy novels with a strong focus on morally gray characters, I definitely recommend this one!
Rating 8: Compulsively readable, I really enjoyed this book and its greater exploration of what makes a hero…or a villain.
Reader’s Advisory:
“Vicious” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Super Hero Books [Not Graphic Novels] and Superhero Fiction.
The Library Ladies 