Vicious

Today's post is on Vicious by V.E. Schwab. As far as I know and can tell this is a stand alone novel. It is 364 pages long and is published by TOR. The cover is red with the main character Victor over looking a the city of Merit. There is language, lots of violence but no sex on camera; just hinted at. The story is told from third person point of view moving from character to character. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- 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 hidden possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could actually gain extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis inevitable moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.
Ten years later, Victor is breaking 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. Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other superpowered person he can find- aside from his own sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, spurred onward by the memory of betrayal and desperate longings, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge- but who will be left alive at the end?
V. E. Schwab's Vicious is a riveting investigation on the nature of loyalty, the possibility of redemption, and an exploration of our darkest, most thrilling selves.

Review- I loved this book. It was so well written, with great characters, and it is a super hero story. This book could not be more for me if the author knew me personally and wrote it just for me (which she does not and sadly did not). One of the many things that I liked about this story was that there was no hero. There is an anti-Hero but Victor is gray at best like all good anti-Hero's. The villain is a real villain. He is killing people because he believes that he is doing God's work. The only thing I would liked to have is a stronger woman. The main female character is good but she is twelve. I liked her a lot but I do not think that most twelve-year-olds would read this and I think that is a good thing. There are some very adult issues and stuff in this book but it is not an adult story. By that I mean a twelve-year-old could read and be fine. I just do not think that most twelve-year-old kids would enjoy this book as much as an adult. This story is just amazing and if you like superhero stories then you need to read this one.

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review, I borrowed this book from my local library but I will be buying for my own collection. Edit I have now bought and it is proudly on my book shelf.