Book Review: Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Vicious by V.E. Schwab Published by Tor Books on 24th September 2013 Genres: Fantasy Page Count: 368   “No, Sydney,” he said. “I need you to stay here.” “Why?” she asked. “Because you don’t think I’m a bad person,” he said. “And I don’t want to prove you wrong.” I approached this book with expectations that varied considerably from the actual story I was presented with, yet it still managed to exceed my expectations! V.E. Schwab promised ‘a twisted tale of ambition, desire and superpowers’ and boy did she follow through with this promise (though admittedly I did not expect the tale to be quite so twisted). Though at first I wasn’t so certain that I would even like the book (mainly due to the university setting that didn’t quite feel right for me), I came to love the characters and the way in which Schwab presented two morally evil people, but managed to twist their actions and reasoning so that I found myself taking the side of Victor rather than that of Eli and Serena. I also found myself with a particular soft spot for Sydney, and loved the way in which she had changed and developed in terms of the people she chose she wanted to surround herself with, and her obvious change in terms of maturity and bravery. Similarly I loved Mitch and relating particularly to his love of chocolate milk. As for the plot itself, I felt as if the first half of the book wasn’t as good as the second half which is why I made the decision to give this book 4 stars rather than 5 (however, if I do decide to reread I may up my rating). So overall I would recommend this book because, despite my distaste for the setting, I thoroughly enjoyed the second half, and am keen to read the upcoming sequel.