Vicious

4/5 stars

Victor and Eli started out with the same goal, to determine if they could create EOs (ExtraOrdinary people). What began as a thesis project soon turned into a dangerous experiment. The two friends face supernatural events and near-death experiences that not only test their friendship but force them to examine their own values too. 

I had heard a lot about Vicious and can say this book lives up to the hype. There might need to be a trigger/content warning or two… (death, violence, suicide). Vicious was much darker than other books by Schwab that I’ve read, but it was exactly what I was looking for. Victor and Eli were ambitious college students trying to explore the world of the supernatural and heroes. Their ambitions got the best of them and soon, their relationship was fracturing. This was more of a plot-driven book and I didn’t see much character development, but I didn’t feel like anything was lacking. 

The jumps back and forth in the timeline kept me intrigued and helped piece together the story. These jumps may also be why I didn’t need much character analysis and development. There was a clear development of protagonist and antagonist, but once they were established, the book was plot-driven. The pacing was quick and the chapters were short, making it a great book to pick up whenever I had a few minutes to spare. 

The book was very adventurous, but I found the resolution to be pretty quick. While it was tied up nicely, I felt like it was missing a few pages of coming down from the climax. That being said, as soon as I finished Vicious, I picked up Vengeful because I could not wait to continue following the characters (thank god I bought the box set).