About the Author: V.E. Schwab
Also publishes under Goodreads Author, Victoria Schwab
Victoria has stated that books published under V.E. Schwab are adult releases and those under Victoria Schwab are YA.
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V.E. Schwab, Victoria Schwab
Goodreads rating: 
Paperback, Published in Jan 2014 by Titan Books
ISBN10: 1783290218 | ISBN13: 9781783290215
Page count: 340
A masterful tale of ambition, jealousy, desire, and superpowers. 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? In Vicious, V. E. Schwab brings to life a gritty comic-book-style world in vivid prose: a world where gaining superpowers doesn't automatically lead to heroism, and a time when allegiances are called into question.
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SocialBookCo User Reviews
Elena Crespo on 29 Sep 2016
“Vicious by V.E. Schwab is twisted, dark and highly addictive. But over all, it's the best well plotted book I have ever read. This book has definitely let my darker side out to play, and I have absolutely loved it for it. Because yes, I am a romantic and I breathe for my love stories, but sometimes one is in need of something that wakes up your inner villain.
This book is not about heroes. On the contrary, this is a tale about how in some cases there's no such thing as white and black, good or bad, yin or yan.
"We are all monsters, but so are you."
This is a story about villains. There are no good guys or heroes in this book. Vicious gives the protagonism to an antihero, and the antihero to the antihero. A villain to a villain. Victoria Schwab is known for playing with the reader's mind and this time she does it through the main characters: Victor and Eli. The story starts off with them being good friends in college, but it is soon obvious that what's behind their relationship it's not quite friendship. It's much more complex than that. There's a pull that connects Victor to Eli since the beginning, some times darker than others, but always twisted, going from need to jealousy and back to some sort of loyalty. And then, everything explodes.
"The paper called Eli a hero.
The word made Victor laugh. Not just because it was absurd, but because it posed a question. If Eli really was a hero, and Victor meant to stop him, did that make him a villain?"
Vicious starts off with Victor armed with a shovel, side by side with a very particular girl, in a cemetery at night. And after he has spent 10 years in jail. His mission? First, find Eli. Then, execute his plan: revenge. For that he only has 3 elements at his disposition: one, Sydney, a girl with a very powerful but dangerous power. Mitch, resourceful ex-con with a curse. And last, his own very unique and extraordinary abilities.
"And whoever Victor Vale was, whatever he was, and whatever he was up to, the only thing Mitch knew was that he did not want to be in his way."
That's all you need to know.
Or at least that's everything I'm telling you about the plot.
"He had never believed in fate, in destiny. Those things lurked too close to divinity for Victor's taste, higher powers and the dispensation of agency. No, he chose to see the world in terms of probability, acknowledging the role of chance while taking control wherever it was possible."
On to the execution, Vicious is written jumping in time; from the present day to 10 years or a few months in the past. In addition to that, it's written in 3rd person making the switching between points of view very easy, and in this case certainly necessary helping the reader to become the perfect spectator. Now and before we continue, I need to make a quick confession: I am not the biggest fan of the 3rd person. A lot of times my experience with the book is watered down because I am lacking the strong connection I build with a first person narration. So I have to be in awe with Schwab's writing, because I felt everything flowing and I stayed in the story the whole time. She didn't lose me once. I even felt that this book couldn't have been written any other way.
Vicious captured my mind from the beginning, its plot and secrets slowly and perfectly unraveling until all the pieces fall into place. Everything wrapped with a grim and twisted bow that made this tale of antiheroes the perfect gift for my darker side.”