Den of Geek Book Club discussion

It's been five years since Vicious was first published, introducing readers to the scary, wonderful, morally-complex work of Eli Ever and Victor Vale, two friends-turned-enemies who discover the secret to supernatural ability lies in near death experiences.

Maybe you read VICIOUS back in the day, maybe you read it more recently, maybe you're reading it right now. Whatever the case may be, feel free to post your spoiler-filled reviews in the thread below. Who is your favorite character? (I love Mitch and Serena.) Do you think Victor is evil? What do you think your EO ability would be? All forms of reviews and discussions are welcome!

x Kayti

I'm here thanks to the wonderful giveaway V.E. retweeted. I've just started reading Vicous. I'm maybe 25% of the way through and I don't think Victor is evil, not in the sense that he's being painted by Eli and others.

I don't know what my EO ability would be. Eli's theory about its development is very interesting and, I think, accurate. I wish there were a quiz!

Victor's my personal favorite and has been from the beginning though Syd, Mitch, and Serena fall close in at second. Eli creeps me out so much, but I think that's only because he's so well written. But you can't have a good book without a good "villain," right? I love the fact that this book makes you question who the villain is in the story. It's all based on who's perspective you are looking through. At some points, you think it's Victor and others, you think it's Eli. In some cases, it's Serena. They all do bad things, but for their own "good" reasons, based on their perspectives (even if the reasons aren't necessarily good to the outside observer.)

Vicious is one of my favorite books and I'm so excited for Vengeful to come out!! (I came here from the Giveaway but I already put my entry on a different thread.)

Here for the giveaway. I was surprised at how much I loved this book and how quickly I read it. I think Sydney is my favorite character and Eli is so creepy that I just have to love him. I’m not sure if there is a villain in this book or maybe they’re all villains. It’s so interesting think about all the moral questions that go along with what’s happening.

I'm new to the group and am excited to binge-read both! (I've read Schwab before, and know from experience that I want to have BOTH in hand before starting the first...because her ADSOM cliffhanger about destroyed me!)

The giveaway is what brought me here!

Here for the giveaway. I'm rereading Vicious now in preparation for Vengeful next week. I forgot how much I like Mitch and the role he plays in Victor's mission(s). I also really enjoy the dynamic between Serena and Eli. Can't wait to start Vengeful in a few days!

(sent here by the lovely giveaway from Schwabs' twitter)
I read Vicious a few years ago and could not get enough of it. I absolutely fell in love with the story and I'm so glad I found it when I did, since I was in a bit of a reading 'dry spell' at the time. I was absolutely ecstatic when I found out about the second book, and I fell in love with the story all over again.

I'm currently reading Vicious again (after reading City of Ghosts to hold me over) and will probably finish it just in time for Vengeful. I'm so excited!!!

I have no idea what my EO ability would be but I find Victor's and Syd's to be super cool (also Dol is my favorite character).

I was invited by a fabulous giveaway.
I read Vicous a during a sudden super hero hype (fueled by My Hero Acedemia and the circulating Spider-Man love) and proceeded to tell pretty much anyone how badass it is. I describe Vicious as a cross between Death Note and X-men, with a healthy dose of science fiction. I adore the cruel dynamic between Victor and Eli -hero/villain? Anti-hero/villain? Villain/villain?- as well as the correlation between personality and power. The tendency of power corrupting the darker aspects of these characters is fascinating, if not terrifying.
Altough my twitter feed seems to suggest Eli is the golden child, I actually prefer Victor. Perhaps it’s all that time I spent studiying sociopaths, but he seems to know how charming and clever he is and how to use it.
I’m almost certain my EO power is invisibility. At work, I sit in the first desk when one walks in and clients have literally walked right by me without noticing I was there. Also, I have a tendency to walk on my toes, very quietly, and I’ve accidentally scared my parents, friends, brother, and even a co-worker.
I’m incredibly curious to discover how death effected Victor’s ability.

I'm here for the giveaway. I'm still reading Vicious but I'm loving it! I'm loving Victor so much! I think he has to be in my top three favorite characters by V.E. Schwab. She has an amazing way of making her characters and their actions seem real. I love it!

I was invited by the giveaway featured on your website, however I am going give a concise review of the book and some of my thoughts.

Vicious is an interesting book. I read it before getting into anything else of Schwab's, and what drew me in was the cover. I took the book with me to read during college classes, and I was hooked from the beginning.

Victoria Schwab has a way of connecting her sentences through action with prose so potent you don't realize that's what it is the first time reading through. I was enthralled in the first miniature chapter and while the time skip was confusing at first, I quickly realized that she was setting two contrasting stages. As the world built from every chapter, I couldn't wait to see these old friends reunite and I loved every second of their interactions. The book is just long enough for complete satisfaction while keeping you on your toes.

I've seen people compare this to Death Note and X-Men. I'd call that a misguided if not well-meaning comparison. This book is a character study, with each character playing a part in how they interact with the main character, Victor Vale. Schwab's love shines through for them, and it has some fascinating points.

I do have to mention some issues I had, however. For one, a character is introduced directly at the end to give the Villains an upper hand, and while sorely needed, he didn't get nearly the amount of development as everyone else.
Eli Cardale, or Eli Ever never shuts up about God, Heaven, and Hell. I understand what Schwab was going for but it came back way too much. As a deeply religious person myself, this feels close to the real thing but just off the mark to feel distinctly wrong, like walking into a house and everyone's moved your furniture an inch.
Some lines feel like they were written to show up on posters and merch, which they do.
The treatment of female characters in the book is odd too -- Angie Knight is thrown out at the very beginning and I expected her to come back through Sydney somehow. A female antagonist dies in a horrifying way that felt too abrupt and strange. I know the book was written by a woman, but that's what makes this all so awkward. I'm aware its a parody and subversion of superhero tropes but this one was difficult to stomach.
Finally, EOs? Really? ExtraOrdinaries sounds so strange and clunky to say. I expected it to be a filler name and replaced with something more scientific, perhaps what the boys' research would lead up to, and was sorely disappointed.

Let me make myself clear: I heavily scrutinize any book I read. Every item listed here has twenty brilliances I could bring up to flourish this review. This book is so close to perfect that a four star rating would be a disservice. It's the best book I've read by a recent author and reinvigorated my love of writing and literature. Check it out.

I'm here because of the giveaway, so II can't quite give a proper review yet, but I'm 100 pages into This book and I am absolutely hooked! I can't wait to learn more about Sydney. I will edit this once I have finished the book with a more concise review.

Annie Jolynn wrote: "I was invited by a fabulous giveaway.
I read Vicous a during a sudden super hero hype (fueled by My Hero Acedemia and the circulating Spider-Man love) and proceeded to tell pretty much anyone how b..."

I haven't finished it yet, so I don't know if it'll be discussed further, but I think the scene in which his powers are obtained goes over it pretty well. The circumstances in which you get your EO abilities, what happens at the moment of "transference", seems to directly relate to what changes your biological makeup to allow for powers.

I was actually quite surprised by how much I ended up loving this book. It had me captivated from beginning to end! I found it very hard to put down while I was reading it.
I love all of the characters and how cunning they are. Initially, I was worried that the alternating timelines format would be confusing, but it actually flowed really well. I cannot wait for Vengeful!

Also, the Den of Geek giveaway brought me here!

I found this group through the giveaway retweeted by V.E. Schwab. I actually just finished rereading Vicious a few days ago in preparation for the Vengeful release and I fell in love all over again. I loved it the first time around and is one of my favorite books of all time, but the second time around was even better. I intentionally slowed my reading pace so I could annotate and really enjoy the detail that V.E. puts into all of her books because her writing is so beautiful. And upon the second reading I realized that I want to be Mitch's best friend. There are just so many random quirks with him that are wonderful. His love of chocolate milk, how he is really good at spot-the-difference puzzles, and how well he takes care of Sydney. He is just a wonderful character and I hope we get more of him in Vengeful! I also really enjoyed marking all of the thought-provoking lines throughout the book, because there are so many; the plot of this book takes us on that journey of morally grey (kind of a dark grey) actions and characteristics, and the path that people take to fulfill what they believe to be "for the greater good" and through that idea, we get to really understand the characters on a deeper level. Overall though, it is a phenomenal book and I cannot say enough good things about it!!!

First off, here for the giveaway!
Second of all, VE Schwab is one of my favorite authors and I cannot wait another minute for Vengeful!

Brought here by the giveaway. Vicious is one of my absolute favorites— incredible characters, original storytelling, and just a subversion of all the tropes you always see in fantasy and superhero stories. I also love Schwab’s writing style— it’s addictive and makes it so you absolutely can’t stop reading. Can’t recommend more.

I found this group through the giveaway. My review of vicious is below:

This was a very good book! The characters were all very troubled in their own ways. Some had very grey moral compasses and yet it was hard not to want them to succeed. You could say that both Victor and Eli saw themselves as the hero of the story but neither was a particularly good person. This is one of those instances when you can tell the author intended for their character to be somewhat unlikable but in the way that makes you like them; if that makes sense. This was my first time reading this authors work but I am definitely looking forward to the sequel and reading her other stories. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes characters with "ExtraOrdinary" powers and unlikable characters.

I'm here from the giveaway. I'd owned Vicious for awhile but finally read it and I really loved it! I don't think Victor is evil though he definitely does bad things. He's a fascinating character. Mitch is great too! I'm curious about his so called curse. Can't wait to read Vengeful!!

Wow, I totally loved this book! Aside from the moral ambiguity of Victor and Eli, I really enjoyed it's structure. The way the time shifts broke up the story and at the same time built it all into one was awesome. VE Schwab is an amazing writer, no doubt!

I wouldn't characterize Victor as good or evil, he's gray just like an actual person. His actions completely make sense to him. I got a sociopath vibe from him at the beginning - like how he had to imitate the feelings of people around him and because of his watching knew what actions were supposed to be deemed "wrong" - But by the end I didn't think so anymore. Not when it came to his relationships with Mitch and Sydney.

MItch and Victor are my fav cause they're just so damn interesting!