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?
I have a small confession to make when it comes to Vicious. I was very early in my bookblogging career when I was kindly sent an advance copy which sat on my TBR shelf for a long time, to the point where I forgot I had it, and subsequently bought myself a copy on Kindle, where it sat for another age…
Until recently, when I was idly flicking through the depths of my kindle library and I discovered it again and dived in.
Oh, dear reader. What a *fool* I had been. Vicious is, quite simply, splendid.
The format can be challenging to start off with as the timeline jumps between ‘last night’ and ‘ten years ago’, ‘a week ago’, ‘two days ago’ and so on. Keeping track of who’s doing what to who and when threw me a little, but soon you fall into the rhythm of the story and start to appreciate the craft on display. V.E. Schwab shows a deft hand at weaving the various narratives across the intertwining timelines, always leaving you wanting a little (or in some cases a *lot*) more.
The characters are great – deeply flawed and utterly fascinating. Victor and Eli, Sydney and Serena, and dear old Mitch, constantly underestimated. The setup and worldbuilding are also top-notch. Victor and Eli in particular – college friends turned arch enemies, each with their own agenda, each with their own ExtraOrdinary abilities, each heading for a phenomenal showdown. The dynamics of their relationship shape the core of this book and it’s fascinating watching it change across the timelines as the book progresses
The characters all have their flaws, and, in the most part aren’t particularly nice people. This attests to Schwab’s skill as a writer as despite this, you can’t help rooting for our merry band. Maybe not so much Eli and his almost evangelical self-imposed mission to rid the world of the EOs, but I found myself torn by the end, both wanting Victor and the scooby gang to prevail, but not at the expense of Eli.
I loved this book, and was thrilled to discover that book 2, Vengeful was imminent. So whilst Vicious had languished on my shelves virtual and physical for entirely too long, it did mean that I didn’t have too long to wait, and having just finished Vengeful, a review will be along shortly!
Highly recommended.
espresso coco 
I’ve just added this to my list. It sounds great!
It is! And you don’t have to wait five years for book 2! 🙂