Olga Bought Me a Book (Week Two): Vicious (Novel)

Vicious was in fact, a gem. No joke. It is one of the most delightfully chilling and unique novels that I’ve gotten the pleasure of reading. I’m mostly going to focus on what I enjoyed throughout the novel, but suffice to say, it was the characters Eli and Victor (ie. the main ones) and the ways that the author, V.E. Schwab blurs the lines of black and white—or villain and protagonist, into a grey area that shows there are no good guys or bad guys. In this novel, it’s kill or be killed. Survive by any means necessary. 

Also if I forgot anything, Olga can fill in the gaps! She also read this book, and as the title suggests, bought me this book. 

The Story

The story of this novel follows the tale of an academic thesis gone wrong—or rather right. The story piggybacks two perspectives— past and present and the various array of characters, specifically focusing on Eli and Victor and their project to create and discover “ExtraOrdinaries”. Basically, these are like X-Men level people but made from the experiences of trauma (I.e. near-death experiences) (and they almost always lose something of themselves in the process). 

Now feeling that his work was a mistake Eli vows to right the wrongs he made—by using his work to exterminate all “ExtraOrdinaries” as he believes they are sinful and wrong, and that he is doing God’s work. Victor, now a sworn enemy of Eli, is trying to exact revenge and kill Eli. 

So yeah—that’s the story in a very brief nutshell. But goddamn is it a good one. It may not seem like much, but the amount of detail and layers the story presents, not to mention ethical and moral dilemmas, is amazing. 

My Thoughts

“Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human.”

One of the things that I mentioned before that I really loved is the main two characters, Eli and Victor. I went into this thinking that this would be a typical Y/A bad guy, good guy story, and boy was I proven wrong. 

Victor is as deliciously righteous as he morally skewed. Similarly, the same can be said for Eli—who thinks he’s doing God’s work by exterminating people like himself, who are “extraordinary”. It shows a conflict of interest, and ethical problem, but also the selfish qualities and darker sides of humanity. While it may seem Eli faces the fact he’s an abomination, he still feels the need to pass judgment on others, exempting himself from his own rules. 

Victor, who claims to want to destroy Eli, is simply, a psychopath with sadistic tendencies, and in no way a saint. I just love this grey area of these characters. I neither hated, nor overly liked any one of them, but felt sorry for them. They’re both horrible people in their own way, and innocent people who just want a better life must choose a side and get caught in the crossfire. 

You want realistic? Here you go. These two characters will drive the story and the seem to jump beyond the paperback pages of the book itself, which is a rare treat for me (who’s read so many books both good and bad) to experience. It’s a matter of words, and perspective. Neither side is good, neither is bad, but it all depends on how one looks at it, and semantics. 

“But these words people threw around - humans, monsters, heroes, villains - to Victor it was all just a matter of semantics. Someone could call themselves a hero and still walk around killing dozens. Someone else could be labeled a villain for trying to stop them.”

I talk about the good, but I also want to say a bit about the bad—or what I guess I must have not understood or missed throughout my initial reading. The world-building for me, was a little weird. I didn’t get how “magic” for better lack of a term, even if explained scientifically, exists in this one, which seems very ordinary and like our own. I also didn’t get, in terms of the school Eli and Victor attended, what the point was. What does this school do?

I feel like I missed this in the novel—which may not be the novel’s fault but it did confuse me. If someone could point it out that’d be great! If not, well, initially I was very confused and wanted to know a bit more about the world they inhabited, even if it was close to our own world. I felt there was no framework or base in this regard. 

My Rating

Regardless, get your hands on this book! It’s really good and definitely a good book to read and take your time with! 

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

4.5 stars 

~Meghan