Title: Vicious
Author: V.E. Schwab
Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Paranormal
First published: September 24th 2013
Publisher: Tor Books
Finished reading: August 22nd 2016
Pages: 340
“When no one understands, that’s usually a good sign that you’re wrong.”
Ever since I read both Shade Of Magic books earlier this year I’ve been an instant V.E. Schwab fan. I have debating which of her books to read next, and most people seem to think it would be best to pick up one of her earlier books Vicious first. And who am I to doubt that? I already knew I was probably going to like this book since I loved her writing style in the past, and I was right. While the Shades Of Magic books are still my absolute favorite, I thoroughly enjoyed Vicious. It wasn’t perfect and I would have liked to see some things differently, but in general the story more than made up for it. This book has a superfast pace and the prose is brilliant, just as I already expected. Vicious also has superpowers and a revenge plot… What’s not to like? I do admit it could have done without the romance, religious angle and some of the melodrama, but overall I can definitely recommend this book. Fingers crossed she will end up publishing a sequel some time soon! Vicious doesn’t end up with a cliffhanger and was originally ment as a stand-alone, but I wouldn’t say no to more superpowers, awesome prose and another great plot.
Victor and Eli started out as college roommates: two brilliant, arrogant and lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. During their senior year they want to research a similar theme for their thesis, and they decide to work together. What they are working on? Adrenaline, near-death experiences and the possibility that those can give you extraordinary abilities under the right conditions. But when their thesis strays from the academic path and turns into an experiment, things go horribly wrong. Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison and is determined to stop his old friend: Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person on the planet. Both sides have terrible powers and have set course for revenge, but who will survive?
Like I said before, Vicious is without doubt an excellent read even though I had minor problems with a few things like the romance, melodrama and religious angle. There is no doubt that the prose is brilliant and I loved the revenge plot and superpower angle. It just works perfectly together and any science fiction fan would probably love this book. More than recommended!
After Shades of Magic I instantly liked Schwab too!! I’m planning on reading Vicious later and I’m glad you enjoyed it. Nice review! 😀
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I hope you will end up enjoying Vicious as well! V.E. Schwab is such a talented writer…
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I haven’t read anything from Schwab, but your review made me want to grab Vicious instantly!
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If you haven’t read anything Schwab yet, definitely try out one of her novels! They’re brilliant so far. 😀
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I’ve read both Shades of Magic books earlier this year as well and I absolutely loved them. I’ve wanted to read more of Schwab’s work ever since then, but there’s just so little time in the days and I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Vicious is definitely the next book of hers that I’ll be reading and your review just makes me wanna go pick it up and start reading it like right this second!! Ahh I can’t wait to get ahold of it! Great review!!
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Vicious is definitely a great choice! Completely different from the Shades Of Magic books but it really shows in the quality of the prose that Schwab wrote it. I can’t wait to read This Savage Song now! 😀 I hope you will be able to get a copy of Vicious soon.
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I actually have This Savage Song on its way to me in the mail! I should be getting it any day now. So I’ll probably end up reading that one first. But I’ve heard great things about both.
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Lucky you! I hope you will enjoy This Savage Song. 🙂
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Thanks 😊
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Yay! I’m so glad you liked it 🙂 Now you can move onto This Savage Song 🙂
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I’m glad I decided to read this one first like you said! I’m looking forward to pick up This Savage Song soon; hopefully some time this month.
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I’m super keen to read Vicious! I keep reading great reviews. 🙂
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It’s without doubt a great read! I hope you will find time for it soon if you decide to read it. 🙂
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It’s on my Christmas holiday reading list!
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I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did! 🙂
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