Week 52 Review: Vicious

From Goodreads:
A masterful, twisted tale of ambition, jealousy, betrayal, and superpowers, set in a near-future world.

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?

In Vicious, V. E. Schwab brings to life a gritty comic-book-style world in vivid prose: a world where gaining superpowers doesn't automatically lead to heroism, and a time when allegiances are called into question.

My Review:
Oh, wow, was this a pretty creepy book! It was twisted beauty, words that came together to form a masterpiece of a story, words that delighted, and creeped out, and just wove a world where things are possible, good and bad, and what makes an action good or bad, and what makes a person good or bad.

Told in a back and forth narrative of University students Victor and Eli, best friends, out to find if EO's exist, and if they do, become them, themselves, and a Victor 10 years later, recently escaped from prison, and wanting revenge on Eli.

I really enjoyed the 2 parts, because the first part went back and forth between just before the present for Victor and crew, and the past for Victor. While the 2nd part went back and forth in the present between Eli and Victor, the past was Eli. So we really got to see everything! 

The whole idea that when you become an EO, you lose something, some part of your soul, is an interesting idea, and fuels Eli, who is convinced that he's on the side of good. So that ending was just amazing to read, he totally deserved that!

Yeah, this was a really great book, and I hope that V.E. Schwab writes more adult books!

Author: V.E. Schwab
Series: Vicious #1
Read: December 23rd, 2013
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: Sounded good! And it's a WoW Book!
Publisher: Tor
Published: September 24th 2013

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

4.5/5 Stars