I thoroughly enjoyed Vicious by V.E. Schwab ©2013. It was nasty, vindictive, and full of misguided motives — all reasons it should have been disturbing to read — but it was a real page turner for me. If Vicious were made into a movie, I doubt I would want to watch it; but, as a book, it was great and I award it five stars.
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?
The characters, although truly fictional in light of their super powers, were fascinating and three dimensional. Their motives were thought-provoking. An interesting quote that caught my attention was, "When no one understands, that's usually a good sign that you're wrong." The way the book jumped around between time periods was a bit confusing and distracting; however, this writing technique made me read all the more avidly to see how each cameo of time unfolded. Each time period was of equal interest to draw me on and into the depths of the novel. The ending was very satisfying and I liked the final resolution.
★★★★★ Great! Read it!
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