Holy moly this book is good. The way the author spoke about science and made extra ordinary people actually seem like they could be real is crazy. I genuinely couldn’t put this book down. The ending is a nice touch as well. All around it was a very interesting and well written book to read. Will definitely be rereading this.

I absolutely love VE Schwab’s books. She has a talent to weave a gripping story with amazing writing and complex characters. I had the honour to interview her for our event in our store and it has been one of my highlights. Out of all her novels, I can say Vicious is my favourite. We switch between two timelines, focusing on our two main characters. Victor and Eli were best friends, with ambition and dreams. And then they were not — Victor has escaped from prison and now he wants Eli dead. Only it won’t be easy. Eli and Victor are EOs, people with superpowers. But they’re not the only ones out there... What really shines is the characters. There are no clear good guys and bad guys. Everyone is morally grey and capable of anything when it comes to their own goals. Victor is my favourite because he was the most complex, but if we were following Eli from the beginning then it might have been the other way round, which is an impressive task since he is the main antagonist, but you can easily say the same for Victor. No one is good in this, but damn you can’t help but love them. All the other characters are amazing too. With all the powers and colourful people introduced, it was like X-Men at times, with more adventure and sinister intentions. I can’t recommend this enough. Love it.

V.E. Schwab is such an incredibly gifted writer, this trilogy is absolutely awesome. So tense, fast paced, great character building. I love how tense and dark her writing is and this book just does not disappoint. The story leap frogs time lines and culminates to a point in time without being in the least bit confusing. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read it yet but read the synopsis and if you’re still interested read the first chapter because you will be hooked!

This is the first works i've read by Schwab and I officially need to read and consume everything Victoria has ever, and will ever create (see: I'm currently binging First Kill on Netflix) It's been a month since I read Vicious, and I haven't known where to start with this review - but it's been living rent free in my head ever since I picked it up, and it has continued to ever since I finished the last page... Written in the third person POV style, it gives us the feel that we are witnessing everything as it happens, and from all angles. It took some time for me to get into the time jumps within each chapter, however I quickly got into the rhythm of it, and become engrossed very quickly. The character development was excellent and I look forward to seeing our ExtraOrdinary bunch in the Villains duology. Truthfully, I feel I cannot review this in full without Spoilers - so please accept this ramble as my review - you need to read this book. It's a must read, and immediately turned V.E. Schwab into an auto-buy author for me.

I feel as if I am savouring Schwab's novels, reading one every few months rather than binging them all in one go and being left with nothing to read next. Her writing never fails to delight; she is a superb storyteller and I have loved every novel and series I have read by her. Three things I particularly enjoyed about Vicious are: 1) Schwab's ability to switch between different timelines - weaving her story together seamlessly in a way that keeps you constantly on the edge of your seat and reveals information at just the right moment - is incredibly impressive. 2) I love the way this story took a lot of tropes and turned them on their heads. A few stories recently have focused on villainous or morally grey characters, but what I liked about Vicious was the way the characters saw themselves, in contrast to how they came across to readers. Vicious didn't follow a clear-cut villain as he went against a stereotypical hero - Eli subverts the idea of what a hero is just as much as Victor challenges the concept of a villain. 3) One of the things I enjoyed most about Our Dark Duet was the way Schwab intertwined poetry with her prose narrative. She does this again to great effect in Vicious with the use of blackout poetry.