Vicious by V.E. Schwab (w/ Spoilers)

Adult, Science Fiction, Supervillains

V.E. Schwab sweeps us into a world rife with extraordinary people, high-stakes and a confrontation ten years in the making. Vicious is villains story filled with morally grey characters, intersecting paths and a non-linear timeline that will keep you turning the page until the end. 

Non-Spoiler Review

(Villains #1)

Ten years ago, Eli and Victor were brought together and bounded by their brilliance, ambition and some would say fate. Through their shared research project, they uncover a life-changing opportunity: a chance to develop supernatural, extraordinary powers. However, with these powers come a terrible cost and a string of unfortunate incidences. Now, Victor has escaped prison and is bent on revenge, and Eli is on a path of destruction. When their paths eventually cross, one will not survive but who will come out alive in the end?

"Plenty of humans were monstrous and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human."

First things first, I just love it when a book lives up to the hype and my expectations. I’ve probably procrastinated on picking this book up for quite a while knowing all the hype surrounding it, but I'm so so happy that I loved it so I should have picked it up sooner. I love how Vicious doesn't draw a line between right or wrong, good versus evil, because of the grey morality of the characters. I will say that some of the characters were written in ways where you would not (and should not) side with them in real life, however, in fiction, I could not help but pick a side between the rivalry.

Characters:

Victor Vale, in the beginning, had quite the abundance of jealousy issues as he always remarked on what Eli "took from him." This part of his character made me initially dislike him. However, throughout the story, he grew on me particularly because he was not only well suited to the villain role (and I just love the alliteration of his name) but he embraced it fully. I know that this may not sound all that appealing but in a villain story, I will always prefer the less delusional character. And that happened to be Victor. The natural alliteration of his name and role also helped because who doesn't love a satisfying superhero/supervillain alias? Moreover, in the end, he didn’t feel like a villain but more so an anti-hero because he was capable of "good" deeds in his own nefarious manner, but my opinion could dramatically change in the sequel.

Eli Cardale, on the other hand, really needed some sort of therapist as the story progressed because is self-righteous perspective became disturbing, especially towards those who were ExtraOrdinary (EO’s). I just hate that kind of psychopathic behaviour and the disturbing correlation of his deplorable action to religion. I just can’t stand that self-righteous crap and it was kinda sad seeing the downward slope of his character arc because I actually liked him in the beginning. 

I also loved some of the side characters, particularly Sydney and Mitch, Victor’s sidekicks. I really admired their loyalty to Victor and the fact that they’re the least villainous of the main cast, and I would consider them to be part of the "good guys." Not to mention, Sydney has an animal companion in the form of a large dog named Dol, and who doesn't love animal sidekicks? What I loved most about her is the growth in her character over the course of the story. She went from a timid girl to someone more confident in herself and her abilities. I'm invested in the direction her character is going because, granted she was only 12 in this book, there is the potential for further growth of her powers and her overall characterisation. She could be such a badass the older she gets. On the other hand, Mitch has the physique of a stereotypical “big, dumb, criminal” figure, but he wasn't anything like that stereotype. I really enjoyed how he was the complete opposite of that and was what I would consider (lightly) a "gentle soul" with some awesome hacking skills. And of course, given his stature, he made an excellent bodyguard. Moreover, I just loved their dynamic with Victor's intellect, Sydney's incredible ability and Mitch's hacking skill, they are a team to be reckoned with. 

Although, the power that I would probably want for myself is Serena’s, Eli’s partner-in-crime and Sydney’s estranged sister. Her powers were incredibly useful to wield and downright terrifying to be on the receiving end. Meanwhile, Eli's ability while life-saving and astounding didn't really add much to the actual drama and action of the story since it was internal. This in itself made him unique and delusional as he believed himself to be different and "superior" to the other EO's because of his gift. It was interesting reading from his perspective, specifically for this reason as he believed himself to be a force of good because his powers were not projected onto others, despite his deplorable actions pointing at the messed up end of the morality spectrum. And yes, I’m being purposefully vague with their abilities because part of the enjoyment is figuring out their abilities but I'll go into them in the spoilers below. 

Plot/Story: 

In term of the storytelling, I loved the overall structure of the story with its interchanging timelines between the present and the past as it kept me turning the pages. I hooked on Victor's and Eli's backstory and how their friendly rivalry turned into a full-scale revenge plot. The dual timeline did a fantastic job in immersing you into the present storyline while also keeping you intrigued to learn their backstory which was fundamental in truly understanding the characters. Moreover, the short chapters also added to the overall fast-paced nature of the story. The beauty of short chapters is the satisfaction you get after finishing the chapter, and the achievement motivates you to keep on reading. Which was exactly what happened. Schwab definitely had me turning the pages to know what happened next. The high-stakes, fast-pace and interesting concept name this a great recommendation if you’re finding yourself in a reading slump. For the plot of the story, all you need to know is that it’s a revenge story with a few killings sprinkled throughout.

Overall Thoughts:

Overall, I loved the story with its fascinating concept, captivating storytelling and questionable characters, and I’m so excited to dive into the sequel. I truly loved the reading experience and you couldn't imagine how thrilled I am that this lived up to the hype, I would 100% highly recommend Vicious if you’ve been procrastinating it like I was. 

Spoilers!

Now, I can finally gush in full about this book! You have been warned so read this part if you have read the book or (if you're like me) read it if you don't care about spoilers. 

The least spoilery part of this book would probably be everyone's powers:

• Victor could control a person's or any living thing's perception of pain. He could take away all feelings of pain or he could increase it to a level that could kill a person. Victor was also able to make himself invisible with this ability which was a useful skill to have given his current status.
• Sydney's gift was one of the most powerful and literally life-changing powers in the whole book. She could freaking resurrect people from the dead. If that ain't the most powerful, then I don't know what it. She has power over life itself!
• Eli basically had the power of immortality in a way. His power was regeneration which makes him the perfect human shield since he theoretically couldn't die because his body will just knit itself back together. Also, his new last name "Ever" compliments his ability since it undeniably refers to forever. It made his decision from being cliché to something smart as Victor later plays with it with "For Ever."
• Serena, like her sister had another incredible powerful and frightening ability. She could control people's minds and no one was immune to her powers. I mean... she can get away with anything because she's always right in every situation. 
• Dominic was a character that was introduced near the end of the story, however his powers deserves to be mentioned. His ability was the amazing convenience of teleportation. I don't know about you but I always dreamed of that ability because imagine all the places you could go without spending all that travel time. Dominic's and Selina's abilities are right up there on my wishlist of superpowers.

The next part should obviously be how ExtraOrdinaries were created. The method quite frankly wasn't anything extraordinary, but more so on the suicidal side. An EO was created by surviving a near-death experience. So this is definitely not something to try at home. What was interesting was that Eli based his research on information he found on different forums of people's testimonies and being the bright medical student he was, didn't really suit the validity of his research paper. However, this process does make for an entertaining story. As you can imagine, Eli and Victor put themselves through some traumatic and highly dangerous experimentations that, luckily worked in the end. Eli contracted hypothermia while Victor electrocuted himself to near death, which are two ways you wouldn't want to die. 

I was invested in the manner in which one developed their particular powers and it was intriguing witnessing the correlation of a person's final thoughts and their succeeding abilities. In Victor's case, all he felt and thought near his death was pain and how much pain he was in, so it was no surprise that his powers revolved around that feeling. Sydney felt the desire of a second chance, and we saw that her "last words" were "come back" to Serena as she sank down the frozen lake. Therefore, again, it's not surprising that her abilities centred on the notion of a second chance. The others have the same connection to their powers. This was probably one of the most satisfying aspects of the world-building/superpowers. I just love a good correlation.

Art by @radiomomo

Speaking of Victor and Sydney, I loved their father/daughter or big brother/little sister relationship. Obviously, they're not related, but it felt like that. Especially at the end, when Serena told her little sister to go somewhere safe and safe for Sydney was being at Victor's side, and I just loved that. Especially how protective Victor and Mitch were towards Sydney, and it just showed that they were the better team. Also, Mitch was a trooper for sticking with Victor to the end. I felt bad that Mitch has undeniably the worst luck in the world and for other people's treatment of him because of his stature. It was quite ridiculous how he usually wound up in the wrong situation at the wrong time and the police force were too close-minded to consider other possibilities. Mitch deserved all the luck in the world and a happy ending, given how much he cared and the skills he brings to the team despite being one of the few non-EO's featured in the story.

Art by @eklixio

I enjoyed the snippets of Victor's blackout poetry, even though a lot (or all) were quite depressing. I quite liked how the distance between the words added meaning to the poetry. It was definitely useful in conveying Victor's feelings towards Eli when he did "For Ever" with the two words greatly spaced out from each other. It conveyed Victor's patience in his revenge in a more artistic way. And who doesn't love a villain with style?

The build-up to the climax utilised one of those tropes that I hate but also am highly entertained by, and that was two characters oblivious to each other's proximity. And what I mean by this is that Victor and Eli were in the same freaking hotel. This was a few days after Victor and Mitch broke out of prison so Victor was out-of-touch with Eli's whereabouts. However, fate decided to play its part and put them under the same roof without either of them realising it. There were so many close calls that I'm surprised that neither guessed the other's whereabouts (I mean it is fiction so objectively it's not surprising). Eventually, it was Serena who discovered that they were in the same hotel and even she had an earlier opportunity to spy Victor. This trope led to some frustrations, a lot of engagement and quick-paced page-turning from me to get to the conclusion. 

In terms of the confrontations between Victor and Eli, they were my favourite moments from the story. They were messy, bloody and honestly iconic at parts I'm not gonna lie with the lines they say to each other and especially shooting each other with the three bullets and the knife to the guts. Like they utilised the "an eye for an eye" phrase to the next level. What I will criticise is that these scenes weren't as explicit as I would want them to be to fully get that immersive fight scene. Especially since their confrontation at the end has been built-up to from the start. All-in-all, I'm happy with the ending with how Victor outsmarted Eli and revealed the true villain underneath the hero facade despite costing his life. Well... he did have Sydney to resurrect him so it was a win-win situation for him in the end. A happy ending with the promise of more maniacal schemes in the future.