Today is just a quick update / review today, as all my boxes and stuff have finally come in. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m not climbing over boxes all day, and everything is starting to look normal. But I did read two (or three? subway rides are blending!!) books this past week, so here’s the first review.

Vicious
By V.E. Schwab
Published: 2013

Rated: 4.5/5

I stumbled across this book at the store Books of Wonder. This was an odd thing as Vicious is not a Young Adult novel, but that’s okay. This is my second book by V.E. Schwab this year. She’s definitely an author I’ll be paying attention to and looking forward to read her books! Seriously, A Darker Shade of Magic is probably the best book of 2015, and if you haven’t read it yet, add it to your list (even for simply the cover!) Anyways, Vicious is almost as good as ADSoM, though maybe not as riveting.

Side note: I follow Victoria Schwab on social media, and she seems awesome. And she’s a few months older than me, which strangely makes her more of an idol than other authors.

Summary

Victor and Eli are college roommates. Both seem to have a darker side underneath their masks of brilliance, arrogance and snarky sides. For Eli’s senior thesis, he decides to explore EOs— ExtraOrdinary people, or people who have, essentially, super powers. Their research leads to a possible formula: is there a way to make EOs?

Fast forward ten years later, Victor has broken out of prison, with only one thought: find Eli for revenge. He’s surrounded by a team of odd characters — his jail mate and a young girl he picked up on the side of the road. On the other hand, Eli has been on a mission to rid the world of EOs, aside from his own personal sidekick.

Thoughts Thoughts Thoughts

Who is the villain, and who is the hero, especially when both guys are sociopaths?? Even the characters ask them of themselves in the book:

“If Eli really was a hero, and Victor meant to stop him, did that make him a villain?

He took a long sip of his drink, tipped his head back against the couch, and decided he could live with that.”

Whoa.

I mean, Victor and Eli in my head:

(Not as much Sherlock, but I couldn’t think of a closer sociopath. The master is too…too. But imagine both of them with SUPERPOWERS.)

This book is written in a manner similar to how ABC seems to be doing all their shows these days: modern day moments with flashbacks to the past (or future). I think if this wasn’t SO POPULAR, I wouldn’t have been tired of it by Part 2 of the book. That being said, how else would this story be told? (I blame ABC more than anything, honestly.)

The concept of this story is amazing. The second part drags a little, though it was definitely interesting to see the story from Eli’s POV as well. And the side characters — Sydney and Mitch especially — are just as interesting to learn about.

So how does one become a superhero? Well, you have to have some kind of gene (never really explored or explained) and you have to come back from death. Not have a NDE, but literally flatline and come back. And for early 20 year old guys, this means WE HAVE TO TRY IT IN OUR APARTMENT. While drunk. Cause you know, it’s just death. You’ll totally come back from it.

What I didn’t care for so much was the ending. Something about it felt lacking a bit. I’m not sure what, but it wasn’t the epic battle I was expecting between the two. And I think I’m in the minority on this opinion. And I think it’s more of a “me” thing, because I really suck at epic battles I think.

But that’s okay though, because apparently a sequel is on the way!

Who would I recommend this for?

Superhero/Antihero fans, even if they aren’t big fans, and especially if they root for the villains on occasion. If you need the name Serena to mean something to you other than the UES It Girl. This isn’t a YA book, but I wouldn’t say teens shouldn’t read it. Actually, everyone read it. You should just support this rising star of an author.