Vicious
by V.E. Schwab
Tor Books Sept 2013
5/5 Stars
A Summary…”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.”Amazon.com
I loved Vicious from practically the first two chapters. It reminded me a lot of the movie Flatliners, but a WHOLE LOT BETTER! As the book goes on however, it blends elements from movies like Chronicle to more comic book inspired fair. I was also very much impressed by the way the author handled the great amount of backstory for each character to really show how their motivations drove them to the point they were at in the story. While the story isn’t some kind of crazy original thing, it is incredible by making a super hero story so much more believable than anything out there right now. I have to admit this book made me gush. It was so compelling from beginning to end that I read the entire thing quite quickly every time I picked the book and finished it in only two sittings. Every time I thought about putting the book down, I thought I would read just more chapter. Then another, and so on. Until I was done. Not that it would be necessary or even a good idea but I would love another story with some of these same characters in this world. Everything about Vicious is addicting and you would do well to pick up a copy today. This is definitely one of my favorite books of the year.
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