Vicious

3.49999 stars out of 5 (sorry, I just couldn't round up to 4... not yet at least), again not really liking the Google descriptions for 3 stars (it's more than 'Just OK', c'mon folks!)! I started one of my reviews for VE.Schwab's work with a simply stated 'Wow'. Having said that, I think my rating for this book suffered by a few percentage points because I so very much loved the 'Monsters of Verity' books but didn't get the same level of 'Wow-ness' with this one. Please note though that it is a VERY good book: "Vicious" (not viscous as I keep writing) is another powerful tale that explores the very extremes of moral ambiquity and only proves again - to me - that VES is a writer to watch for years and years to come. However, unlike the aforementioned duology, Villains #1 isn't quite as quick-paced as I was hoping it would be. Let's put it this way: I managed to put it down and go to bed at a reasonable hour last night. OK, granted I skipped lunch today to finish it but still... With 'Vicious', VES has created another spell-binding tale and very tense environment that suffers not one iota in that so much of it is definitely pertinent to the world's current ails. You really don't know who to pull for as just about everyone is tinted with some kind of inner corruption. You don't have to be a newsaholic like me to see that the same kind of moral failings as so many of our supposed 'leaders' or heroes of today are in play. There is just no way to paint the world anymore in black and white, it's only shades of gray. In addition, Schwab more than adequately balances the chapter-to-chapter bounces in time and location with no flow to the story lost at all. Still, I felt 'Vicious' was a bit slow in getting the boulder rolling down the hill and somewhat more obvious in many ways to the previous stories. Having said that, I will be placing an order IMMEDIATELY for my copy of the next tome which is to come out later this year. Enjoy this book kiddos. This is the kind of review you give to someone that's efforts would be off the charts for lesser writers.

I am OBSESSED with dark and twisty characters that make you question your own morality/ principles and V. E. Schwab has written an ENTIRE BOOK filled with them. Vicious was a villain origin story that transitioned into a villain-against-villain story that was just pure, twisted madness. It was a rollercoaster of a book where I was frantically turning pages to find out what had happened between Eli and Victor ten years ago and what would happen between Eli and Victor in just a few hours. THINGS I LOVED: 1) THE STRUCTURE AND PLOTTING: One of the BIG reasons I enjoyed Vicious was the way it was plotted. It flipped from past to present and from Eli to Victor to Serena to Mitch to Sydney, each filling in the blanks of what happened ten years ago and then flashing forward to today. It was the kind of book that kept you on your toes and I REALLY enjoyed it. 2) I LOVE THE CONCEPT OF BLACK-OUT POETRY, and I love how Victor used it. It was stripping superfluous, long books down to their bare minimum and I loved the truth and pain those words held. 3) I definitely preferred Victor over Eli, but I wonder if I would think the same was if Vicious introduced me to Eli first. Reading about Eli through Victor’s eyes was probably the most biased opinion I could find but it was still interesting to read through Eli’s eyes later in the book. 4) I LOVED the Victor-Sydney bond. It oscillated between EO meets EO and a father-daughter/ brother-sister relationship and I WAS LIVING FOR IT. 5) If there was one think I would have liked, it’s MORE time before the villainy things began. I feel like I didn’t get to know Eli and Victor nearly enough as friends/ rivals/ pre-med students before I was thrown into a villain beat villain rivalry. Also, for all Angie was described as being brilliant, she had no real contribution to the story and I wish she had. Would I recommend this book? YES! It’s my favourite Schwab book so far and I can’t WAIT to dive into Vengeful.

A "superhero" tale without heroes or villains. Great characters, story, and twists. I'm new to reading novels, at first the frequent time jumps back and forth, past to present, chapter by chapter confused me, but later I get used to it. Kind of wish that this book explore more about Victor and Eli's past (the college years) so that the betrayal and revenge might be more hurtful and impactful. Still, the book is thrilling and entertaining all the way.