Vicious || V.E. Schwab

The name V.E. (Victoria) Schwab is one which I have heard since the moment that I found the realm of Booktube. Her name has crept up in a vast majority of videos that I have watched and mentioned by practically every Book-tuber that I have come across. She's practically a legend. With so many novels out there to choose from and with each one sounding just as amazing as the one before it, I was at a loss to which one to pick up first. Then I heard the plot of Vicious and I was sold. 

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?

It sent up vibes for Sanctuary and Deadpool. 

It rang the Deadpool bells because of the interest in adrenaline. If you've watched the Deadpool movie that was released a couple of years ago, you will know that Wade Wilson developed his abilities when Ajax subjected him to all number of experiments to test the limits of his body in an attempt to provoke a survival response from the body. It resulted in his infinite regeneration ability. That is exactly what Victor gains from his near-death experiment. Eli, likewise, gains an ability from a near-death experiment. His ability mirrors that of Deadpool's rival in the movie, Ajax (Francis). He is immune to pain, or rather, he can control pain in himself and also in others. It practically read as Deadpool in reverse; Ajax is the good-guy (with Deadpool's personality) and Deadpool is the baddie (with Ajax's personality). . . Sort of. 

With the premise of it being like Sanctuary, I instantly felt as if Eli and Victor were a smaller version of The Five; the group that Magnus helped form in which they experimented with what humans could become if given the chance, aka superpowers, aka, experiment with and injecting themselves with vampire blood. The typical college experience, right? It had a number of intersecting common threads with Sanctuary and that TV show was and still is an integral part of my life. That made it all the more enjoyable for me.

The characters in Vicious were unlike anything that I expected to encounter. I thought I knew who I was going to root for going into the book. Schwab basically patted me on the head and said, "Oh honey . . . no." Who I thought was good was more than likely a baddie and who was the baddie was probably a goodie. I loved that about this book. Even with secondary characters, Schwab only gives the reader tantalisingly small nibbles of information about them before ending the chapter and skipping time-frame or person.

Yes, time-frame. The chapters jump throughout time ranging from ten years in the past to the present, last year or four hours previously. Well, something along those lines. At first, it was confusing when trying to establish what was actually happening in the book. When I felt as if I was making sense of the time period that I was in, I would be taken to the present where I would have to establish myself and the characters again. It didn't take long before I adjusted to the time jumps but it was nevertheless disconcerting, especially when the chapter ended on a cliff-hanger and I wanted to find out what happened next and I would have to wait for several more chapters to find out. 

I loved Schwab's writing style. It was one of the few books that I've read recently that was set in the present day, on this planet and in an English speaking country. That's what happens when you're a fantasy junkie, folks. Schwab had a fascinating way of grounding her characters in the present in a relatable way. The characters often referenced something that I'm a fan of too and so I could relate to them and really appreciate them all the more. With books set in the present day (or within my lifetime), I find that cultural references make it all the more fascinating and all the more probable if that makes sense. The characters make reference to Marvel and here I am comparing it to Deadpool which is another Marvel creation. Sadly, Sanctuary wasn't referenced but I'm still making that connection. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I'm glad that I choose this as my first foray into V..E. Schwab's writing. Schwab uses the pseudonym of V.E. when writing adult novels and then 'Victoria Schwab' when writing for the Young Adult genre. Despite the aforementioned initial confusion and frustration with the time jumps with each chapter, I grew to love this book and could not put it down because I had such a need to find out what happened in the past and what was going to happen in the future. I absolutely loved it and would recommend it to anyone that loves Marvel, DC Comics, Sanctuary or similar shows like Warehouse 13.