Forever Obsession: Vicious

ISBN: 0765335344
Pages: 340
Source: Library

Appearance:

Summary:

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.

Hi everyone and welcome back to another review! I was originally going to post this review on Saturday and post Mortal Heart today, but VE Schwab's newest book: A Darker Shade of Magic came out today so I thought it was only fitting that I posted my review of her first adult book today. Anyway, let's get straight into the review!

Vicious follows two friends turned enemies who have discovered the secret to attaining supernatural powers. Eli, charming and handsome, believes that his supernatural power is one from heaven as he cannot do any harm to other people with it. Victor on the other hand, has the ability to create pain onto other people. After seeing Victor come into his power, Eli decides that all other supernaturals or EOs as he calls them must be eradicated because they are a danger to the world. He enlists the help of a young EO woman to help him destroy everyone. Victor has recently gotten out of jail, a place he went because of Eli and he wants his revenge. He also enlists the help of a powerful young EO girl and his friend from the prison to help him take down Eli and stop his madness.

Words cannot describe how freaking awesome this book is. I actually avoided this book like the PLAGUE for the longest time because everyone I mean EVERYONE was talking about it and I just didn't feel like I wanted in on all the hype. Now that it's been out for a while, I started getting curious and then everyone started talking about VE Schwab's new book which got me even more interested. So enough said, but I picked it up and absolutely devoured it. Vicious is a fantastically crafted story that weaves together so many different character traits that completely blow your expectations. Everything about this book is messed up, but you can't help but love every single page. Seriously, every single word is precious and important.

Now I sounds like a complete fangirl so let's turn it up a notch. Victor is literally amazing. He's so crazy messed up anyone who likes him should get their heads checked, myself included, but there is just something about his character that makes him redeemable despite that fact that he is actually quite delusional. The way that he has this carefree intensity about it draws people in and while he's definitely insane (have I made that point clear yet?), he is so dang amazing it actually hurts. I don't think I've ever sympathized so much with a "villain" type character before, but seriously guys, if nothing else interests you about this book, the fact alone that this book will make you love a villain should be enough.

While Victor was portrayed as the villain in the book, the hero aka Eli became the true villain in my eyes. I won't say specifically what it is, but I literally despised him. At first I didn't understand Victor's hatred towards his once best friend, but as the story progresses Eli begins to become this twisted maniac who wants to be the only reigning EO in the world. He essentially wants to get rid of all other competition and have the entire world kneeling at his feet. He thinks that he is unstoppable and basically immortal. Admittedly, Victor is definitely more twisted in terms of psychological events, but Eli is the one you blame for everything and the one you want to see fall.

Other memorable characters are Sydney, the girl Victor picks up from the streets after leaving jail and his jail friend Mitch. Both are quite lovable people despite not knowing a lot about them. Well, you do get to know Sydney and her past quite well, but Mitch is more of a bodyguard who everyone thinks is in a gang because he's huge. Instead though, you can tell from how he treats Sydney that he's definitely a really nice person.

The book itself is divided among several point of views as well as two different time lines. Half the book is present day where Victor and his gang are hunting Eli down for Victor's revenge and the other half occurs 10 years earlier when Victor and Eli were still in college. This really helped to move the present story along while allowing for a little story-time. Instead of Victor recounting the past in a conversation to Sydney, you can actually see it happen and see what caused the falling out between the two former best friends. As for POVs, the story is told through Victor, Eli, and Sydney's voices which really gives the story more dimension as you get to see it covered from all the angles. Overall, it really helped to make the book a more engaging experience.

Okay, I've talked long enough. Final thoughts are quite simple: If you haven't read the book already please do because this is definitely a book that lives up to all the hype that it's been getting. It's a fascinating read that just might have you wondering if you're actually a bit psychotic, but it's definitely fun and really enjoyable.