Monday 17 March 2014

Vicious

18180495

Book Title: Vicious
Author: V.E. Schwab
Date Started: March 14th 2014
Date Completed: March 16th 2014
Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Action
Rating: Five stars
Review:

Vicious might be my new favourite book. There's so much going on throughout the whole thing, and right from the beginning I was in love with the story, the writing and the characters. And then, at the end, you basically have a completely changed set of characters, a ridiculously tense atmosphere and heart-stopping writing. And I was still completely sold.

Victor and Eli were roommates. They discovered something amazing. Now, they're enemies, each desperate to end the other's life. And now, with Victor out of prison and on the run with a fellow convict, it seems now is the perfect time for Eli to end everything. But then a little girl who can wake the dead turns up, and the tables turn. But in the end, who will end up dead?

I loved the writing so much in so many different ways and it was just amazing. I particularly fell in love with the way Schwab portrayed the relationships in the book. There's a lot of very complicated and broken relationships between all the characters, but she still managed to make them seem beautiful and sad and tragic and adorable and so many other things.
Another interesting thing about the book is that it jumps in time. At first, I was a little unsure if this would work, or get confusing, but actually it allowed the story to unfold even more gradually, letting the reader get to know the characters more and understand them. It also mades things extremely tense throughout the whole book, because you know you don't know the full story.

The concept for this book was awesome, and the way it was backed up with scientific evidence was great in making the story feel real. I'm not a huge fan of sci-fi because I feel it can get over-the-top with too little fictional evidence. But Vicious perfectly captured what I like to see in this genre.
This book literally had my heart racing for most of it. It was so intense, and in the last 100 pages I was speaking out loud when things happened - mostly about how unfair it was that the writer would put me through such mean things. Vicious did actually pull out my heart, tear it up, throw it to the ground and stamp on it repeatedly: just the bit near the end, how much they did actually care and how they knew it was going to be bad and they were sorry for that but they still did it and they were really concerned and affectionate and they cared and I just broke down.
And then that's all followed by the best ending ever. Everything was tied up cleverly with just enough left to make you wonder what would actually then happen and how would they continue in their lives. Just enough so that you curse Schwab because it's a stand-alone novel.

The characters from this book have a very special place in my heart, and they always will. I became so emotionally invested in them that at the end, my heart was actually pounding when something dangerous looked like it was about to happen.
Victor was a perfect narrator for such a twisted story. I can't get enough of the dark characters that actually are bad people (unlike a lot of books these days, where they're just 'misunderstood'). Victor was real and dangerous and actually quite scary at some points. But the fact that you learn so much about him so slowly throughout the book and then how he treats the people around him, I just fell in love with him.
Eli I was always wary of. I knew from the beginning he was going to be trouble, but I understand why he did all he did. I also understand why he broke and can (in part) imagine what it was like for him. So, yes, I am happy with his ending, but I do emphasise with him, also.
I love Sydney so, so much. She seems so much older than her years, but still had that vulnerable innocence at the same time. I also loved the way she affected the people around her and she was just great. Written amazingly, and genuinely real in my mind.
Mitch is my favourite big teddy bear character ever. I always like those types of characters, but Mitch was just lovely. I liked learning first-hand about his past and how he came to know Vic, and then Sydney too. I just loved him. (And his chocolate milk.)
Serena stood out to me as very, very clever. But also very scared. I think she was a really great character actually, though she didn't get as much of a climax as I was expecting.

When I read a book, I note down little things that I might want to mention in my review, and within three pages I was already reaching for my notebook to write down how much I loved it (actual note: 'first three pages + in love' - award-winning note-taking skills there).
And even after the intrigue of the opening prologue finished and the complicated science and plot started to emerge, I just couldn't put it down. Not all of this book is action and moving around, there's a lot of explaining and thinking and thoughtful narratives. But I loved every single second of it, which is why I'm upset this is only a stand-alone novel.

The hype around this book definitely deserves to be there. Vicious was one of the most thrilling, mysterious, fun and amazing books I've ever read and I think everyone should read it. Some of the technical stuff might confuse some people, but there's still plenty of other things to grab the reader's attention instead. I just can't explain enough how good this book was.

Image Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18180495-vicious

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