Vicious by V. E. Schwab: Tl:DR I'll apparently read anything that V. E. Schwab writes, even psycho superheroes

Vicious 

by 

V. E. Schwab

Victor and Eli were roommates in college. At least, until they both died, gained superpowers, became involved in some murders, and one of them was sent to jail. Good times. Ten years later-- The Game is On! Eli and Victor both set out on a quest to take revenge on the other for lost years, lost humanity, and lost sanity. With EO’s (ExtraOrdiantry peoples) joining sides and the civilians caught in the middle Vicious is a much darker, much more realistic look at heroes and villains. Basically, it’s two sociopaths duking it out regardless of who gets hurt or dies. So, less heroes and villains, and more villains and slightly-less-villainous villains. 

Note from the Editor: Interesting premise... But, if everyone is evil, who does the reader support? Is this a juxtaposition between two evils? Or, does it raise the question of what is really good? Or, something else completely? I'm intrigued.

Characters

Victor: Wants to be Magneto. But then again, who doesn’t right? Anyway, he’s kind of the main character by default... because the book started out with his point of view? Still, he has this adorable habit of picking up strays so I guess he can’t be all bad. If he manages to not kill them. Y’all I’m going to be honest; this book is less about rooting for the good guys, and more like enjoying a charismatic and funny psychopath while hoping they don’t kill anybody you like. 

Note from the Editor: So, kind of like Sherlock? And, oh my goodness, Magneto is awesome!

Mitch: he’s this massive tattooed dude. And, I mean massive! Even further, he’s a genius hacker. I think he’s my favorite. He also likes chocolate milk, if you’re interested.

Sydney: I love this little girl. She’s a twelve year old who can raise the dead! How awesome is that?! Want to make it awesomer? (that’s a word don’t correct it Deina) She primarily uses her power to keep this massive monstrous dog alive. His name is Dol, I’m pretty sure he’s part bear. Can I keep him?

Note from the Editor: Awesomer is not a word, 

but I'll let it slide since you asked so nicely. Dude, I want a giant bear dog.

Eli: hello second sociopath. But honestly, I think he’s creepier because it’s highly implied that he’s manipulating Victor more than Victor is manipulating him. Even more freaky, Victor doesn’t seem to notice. Eli is an all around creepy antagonist. On the downside, he’s also a crappy religious antagonist with zero appeal. But I’ll complain about that later.

Serena: She’s terrifying. She’s Sydney’s sister, but she’s still terrifying. Her EO power is to make anyone do anything with just her words. If she tells you to believe her, you do. If she tells you to stay where you are you will. If she tells you to jump of a bridge, well...

Note from the Editor: That sounds incredibly overpowered. I do not like her EO power.

Likes

It’s basically superheroes: but terrible evil superheroes. So, Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson. As anyone who hangs out here knows, I actually love superheroes. Comics are intimidating; from what I can tell, you basically have to know everything before you’re considered even a casual fan. I prefer books anyway. But I never seem to find books about superheroes. And if I do, well... They’re usually tie in novels which are boring! So I’m just glad that there’s a good superhero book.

Note from the Editor: I had to ask what a Tie In novel was, so, I figured I'd put the definition here. A Tie In novel is a book that is related to a movie, where, most likely, the movie came first.  The idea is that people have to see the movie to read and enjoy the book. And, even worse, the plot of book can be tied down by the plot of the movie. Or it just breaks the rules altogether. It doesn't sound like an enjoyable read.

The two main characters are most likely sociopathic, Wonder where I've seen that before?

go away you two.

Or psychopathic. I’m not a psychologists. But, Victor and Eli both talk a lot about not being able to feel the same things other people feel. Of course that might be because, to get their powers, they died; or were at least flatlined for a few minutes. The whole dying thing would make me sympathetic, if they hadn’t instigated it themselves. They purposely killed themselves to test a theory about superpowers being connected to the adrenaline of dying. Well, it worked. Eli can regenerate and Victor can cause or take away pain. Lovely powers to give to two nutcases.

There’s a small necromancer who uses her power to raise a doggy from the dead: I don’t have that much to say about it, she’s just brilliant. Hands down my favorite necromance character.

Note from the Editor: She's my favorite too!!!

Dislikes

Oh look, another religious villain: it’s fine. It’s not insulting in anyway whatsoever. Can you tell I’m being sarcastic? Which is a bit of stretch because I’m actually hopping mad. However, I’ve already wrote an entire post on religious antagonists and how completely one-sided they are, so I’ll just sum it up.

If you saw gay people constantly portrayed as bad guys with no redeeming factors you’d be pissed. But because it’s somehow more socially acceptable to mindlessly hate religions, people give a pass to this kind of stuff. So, religious fanatics as villains with no redeeming factors is perfectly okay. Yep, that makes sense. Alright imma stop because I feel like I’ve made enough enemies as it is. 

Despite all that, I really enjoyed Vicious. V. E. Schwab is brilliant and, even though I’m insulted by the villain, I had a lot of fun with the book. The Superheroes being not heroes at all was great. The superpowers were great. The character dynamic, while on the short side, was great. I guess V. E. Schwab is so good that I’ll enjoy anything she writes. Still, I like A Darker Shade of Magic more.