Vicious

Vicious
By V.E. Schwab
Tor, 2013. 364 pages. Fiction 

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?

This book is an absolute masterpiece! Schwab creates an anti-hero who is definitely a bad person doing things, that are just barely for the greater good, and yet by the end of it you are rooting for him completely. The use of flashbacks creates a deliciously suspenseful atmosphere of inevitability that keeps you hooked through multiple perspectives and plotlines. And the characters are all just as complex and intriguing as the rest. I loved the atmosphere and the way the story came together like a puzzle leaving you in awe at how it all worked out.

 

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