SYNOPSIS: 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?
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My Thoughts
With Vicious, V.E. Schwab makes you question what defines a hero and a villain, their intend and morality, and if there is even one to begin with. Victor and Eli start out as two pre-med students, ambitious and vain, with darker thoughts and desires than they let on. When they come upon the evidence of the existence of ExtraOrdinaries (EOs), people with superhuman abilities, and the possibility to become one, they decide to test it on themselves. Ten years later the two have become sworn enemies with a different cause; Eli to exterminate all the EOs out there and Victor to exterminate Eli.
‘But these words people threw around- humans, monsters, heroes, villains- to Victor it was all just a matter of semantics. Someone could call themselves a hero and still walk around killing dozens. Someone else could be labeled a villain for trying to stop them. Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human.’
There is a theme of obsession surrounding the main characters. Imagine two individuals disguised as social, popular students but with a lot of anger, jealousy and ambition underneath. Now imagine them rid of the mortal feeling of pain and fear. The result is a compelling story about two very disturbed and complex anti-heroes. Yet, however twisted their thinking and ways, Schwab’s intricate storytelling helps understand them and their reasoning so much so that the line between the definition of good and evil in this book blurred completely in mu head.
ELI, after the events 10 years prior, became obsessed with the idea of eliminating every EO out there believing that this is the quest assigned to him by God. It was intriguing to see how, in his mind every life taken, however horrifying in the eyes of others, to him was for the good of humanity; he was a savior and a hero. He believed it with such conviction that at one point I actually believed him too. His character made me question who we perceive to be a hero, the different meaning it has for each individual and the morality of the word. What someone perceives as good could be considered a great villainy or injustice for someone else, the distinction can be a very subjective matter and a very interesting one to explore.
VICTOR, on the other hand, simply sought revenge; a self-proclaimed villain. Enclosed behind bars for a decade, his thoughts are poisoned by the need for revenge. Even from the beginning of the story we see him stirred by jealousy, ego, loneliness even. But, despite his supposed role in the story, and his own twisted mind and ways, sometimes he appears more human than Eli. His relationship with the two secondary characters, Mitch, a big, tattooed hacker, and Sydney, a girl he takes under his wing, unveil a lighter side in him, even if it’s still considerably dim lit. And in some cases he showed common sense, patience and resistance which I think maybe can be contributed to the power of human contact; he had people around him that cared about him while Eli worked alone.
That aside, Victor Vale is one of my favorite anti-heroes since Kaz Brekker. Despite loving exploring the complex nature of these characters, I must admit I also reveled in their evilness. I am a sucker for a good anti-hero, and Victor was just as cruel as he was calculative. He cared about Sydney and Mitch but he always found away to continue to pave his path towards revenge and nothing could stop him. When you spend the better part of a decade doing nothing else but plotting your revenge, it’s pretty impossible to think anything but that when you get out. *spoiler* It’s why I’m eager to see what his purpose will be in Vengeful, when there is no longer the need for revenge driving him. Although I think there will be plenty in his plate, considering he came back from the dead. *spoiler*
Plot-wise, I loved how the timelines are woven in together, going back and forth between ten years ago and present time helps understand the characters and connect with them. The story slowly unveils for us, and by the end we have a full understanding of what has happened to bring them to their current situation and state of mind. Although I find going back and forth with timeline a bit tricky in books, it’s really easy to make it tiresome or make one story less desirable, in Vicious it was a vital part of the storytelling. Without it the characters would have felt flat and just plain villainous, but the backstory added layers and complexity to them; it was the seasoning that makes the meal delicious. (Did I really just type that?)
Overall, this book is full of questions. Who is the hero? Who is really the villain? Is there really a good side? Is one better than the other or are they both equally bad? And this was why I’m in awe of V.E Schwab. Her incredible writing and her ability to create such morally ambiguous and complex characters in an action driven plot full of uncertainty and sometimes disturbing scenes gave me chills. But, mostly, the way she invites you to decide who is really the villain of the story, the serial killer with good intentions or the revenge-focused criminal, is what made the story special to me. This is an edgy, dark, villainous and, of course, vicious book that you should definitely pick up if you haven’t.
Marking Da Page 