Vicious by V. E. Schwab
The Blurb On The Back:
Victor and Eli started out as college roommates - brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognised the same ambition in each other. A shared interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals and 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 with 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 arch-nemeses have set a course for revenge - but who will be left alive at the end?
Victor Vale and Eli Cardale met as students at Lockland University. Both were gifted scientists whose intelligence was matched only by their ambitions for the future. When Eli decides to do a research project on whether ExtraOrdinaries (people rumoured to have special powers) could actually exist, Victor’s keen to help. Their research uncovers a link to near-death experience and extreme trauma but when they put their theory into practice, it has unforeseen and tragic consequences that result in Victor being sent to prison for murder.
10 years later, Victor breaks out of prison with his cellmate Mitchell Turner, determined to get revenge on Eli, who’s spent the last decade on a mission to kill other ExtraOrdinaries, aided by a beautiful woman called Serena who has ExtraOrdinary abilities of her own ...
V. E. Schwab’s first book for adults is a tightly plotted, original take on the superhero story that reads as X-MEN meets THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO. There are no heroes in this novel - Victor and Eli are each deeply flawed people who rely on warped logic and personal vengeance to justify their behaviour. I really liked the way Schwab gives them each an ability that reflects their personality and how they learn to use those abilities against others. The grudge that exists between them is nicely sketched out and well mirrored by the relationship between the ExtraOrdinary sisters Sydney and Serena. I was less sold on Eli’s reasons for eradicating other ExtraOrdinaries because the quasi-religious rationale didn’t have a huge amount of build-up in his backstory with Victor (although Schwab’s writing just about carried me) and this equally applied to Serena’s reasons for working with Eli, which wasn’t helped by her flip-flop attitude to Sydney. I also didn’t think that the love triangle between Victor, Eli and Angie really added anything to the book because Eli and Victor’s relationship was so well drawn that it was motivation enough for each character. However, I enjoyed the way Schwab handles the time-jumps to incorporate background information into the plot and there’s a great sense of pace and momentum as events draw to an inevitable and bloody conclusion while also finding time for some twists that I didn’t see coming. The book ends with the potential for a sequel, which I would definitely want to check out and in the meantime, I will catch up on Schwab’s YA back catalogue.
The Verdict:
V. E. Schwab’s first book for adults is a tightly plotted, original take on the superhero story that reads as X-MEN meets THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO. There are no heroes in this novel - Victor and Eli are each deeply flawed people who rely on warped logic and personal vengeance to justify their behaviour. I really liked the way Schwab gives them each an ability that reflects their personality and how they learn to use those abilities against others. The grudge that exists between them is nicely sketched out and well mirrored by the relationship between the ExtraOrdinary sisters Sydney and Serena. I was less sold on Eli’s reasons for eradicating other ExtraOrdinaries because the quasi-religious rationale didn’t have a huge amount of build-up in his backstory with Victor (although Schwab’s writing just about carried me) and this equally applied to Serena’s reasons for working with Eli, which wasn’t helped by her flip-flop attitude to Sydney. I also didn’t think that the love triangle between Victor, Eli and Angie really added anything to the book because Eli and Victor’s relationship was so well drawn that it was motivation enough for each character. However, I enjoyed the way Schwab handles the time-jumps to incorporate background information into the plot and there’s a great sense of pace and momentum as events draw to an inevitable and bloody conclusion while also finding time for some twists that I didn’t see coming. The book ends with the potential for a sequel, which I would definitely want to check out and in the meantime, I will catch up on Schwab’s YA back catalogue.
Victor and Eli started out as college roommates - brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognised the same ambition in each other. A shared interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals and 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 with 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 arch-nemeses have set a course for revenge - but who will be left alive at the end?
Victor Vale and Eli Cardale met as students at Lockland University. Both were gifted scientists whose intelligence was matched only by their ambitions for the future. When Eli decides to do a research project on whether ExtraOrdinaries (people rumoured to have special powers) could actually exist, Victor’s keen to help. Their research uncovers a link to near-death experience and extreme trauma but when they put their theory into practice, it has unforeseen and tragic consequences that result in Victor being sent to prison for murder.
10 years later, Victor breaks out of prison with his cellmate Mitchell Turner, determined to get revenge on Eli, who’s spent the last decade on a mission to kill other ExtraOrdinaries, aided by a beautiful woman called Serena who has ExtraOrdinary abilities of her own ...
V. E. Schwab’s first book for adults is a tightly plotted, original take on the superhero story that reads as X-MEN meets THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO. There are no heroes in this novel - Victor and Eli are each deeply flawed people who rely on warped logic and personal vengeance to justify their behaviour. I really liked the way Schwab gives them each an ability that reflects their personality and how they learn to use those abilities against others. The grudge that exists between them is nicely sketched out and well mirrored by the relationship between the ExtraOrdinary sisters Sydney and Serena. I was less sold on Eli’s reasons for eradicating other ExtraOrdinaries because the quasi-religious rationale didn’t have a huge amount of build-up in his backstory with Victor (although Schwab’s writing just about carried me) and this equally applied to Serena’s reasons for working with Eli, which wasn’t helped by her flip-flop attitude to Sydney. I also didn’t think that the love triangle between Victor, Eli and Angie really added anything to the book because Eli and Victor’s relationship was so well drawn that it was motivation enough for each character. However, I enjoyed the way Schwab handles the time-jumps to incorporate background information into the plot and there’s a great sense of pace and momentum as events draw to an inevitable and bloody conclusion while also finding time for some twists that I didn’t see coming. The book ends with the potential for a sequel, which I would definitely want to check out and in the meantime, I will catch up on Schwab’s YA back catalogue.
The Verdict:
V. E. Schwab’s first book for adults is a tightly plotted, original take on the superhero story that reads as X-MEN meets THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO. There are no heroes in this novel - Victor and Eli are each deeply flawed people who rely on warped logic and personal vengeance to justify their behaviour. I really liked the way Schwab gives them each an ability that reflects their personality and how they learn to use those abilities against others. The grudge that exists between them is nicely sketched out and well mirrored by the relationship between the ExtraOrdinary sisters Sydney and Serena. I was less sold on Eli’s reasons for eradicating other ExtraOrdinaries because the quasi-religious rationale didn’t have a huge amount of build-up in his backstory with Victor (although Schwab’s writing just about carried me) and this equally applied to Serena’s reasons for working with Eli, which wasn’t helped by her flip-flop attitude to Sydney. I also didn’t think that the love triangle between Victor, Eli and Angie really added anything to the book because Eli and Victor’s relationship was so well drawn that it was motivation enough for each character. However, I enjoyed the way Schwab handles the time-jumps to incorporate background information into the plot and there’s a great sense of pace and momentum as events draw to an inevitable and bloody conclusion while also finding time for some twists that I didn’t see coming. The book ends with the potential for a sequel, which I would definitely want to check out and in the meantime, I will catch up on Schwab’s YA back catalogue.