Vicious by V.E. Schwab is the first book in the Villians Duology. Victor Vale and Eliot (Eli) Cardale were both intelligent, arrogant college students bound together by an intriguing and almost sinister ambition that they both sensed in each other. It is their final year of college meaning that the dreaded senior thesis is upon them. With almost guaranteed admission into medical school, neither is particularly concerned about the assignment and both opt to choose something that interests them: Victor choosing to research near-death experiences and Eli choosing to research supernatural events. The two eventually decide to merge their topics, theorizing ways to evoke supernatural abilities in average people. However, when they decide to test the theories on themselves, the result creates an everlasting rift in their friendship. Ten years later, Victor Vale breaks out of prison with only one goal in mind: make Eli suffer.
This morally grey book presents two characters that act as beautiful foils to one another. While the book chooses a protagonist and antagonist, it would be inaccurate lump either under the labels of “good guy” or “bad guy.”
The story’s protagonist is the black-wearing, emotionally distant character Victor Vale. Victor is intelligent, methodical and stoic. He always took a logical approach to situations and often preferred to observe before getting involved. While we don’t see him truly change over time, we do see a slightly different Victor after the ten year time skip. A decade after college, he is colder and apathetic of almost anything that doesn’t relate to his goal. His logical and methodical side have been enhanced while is concern over the emotions of others has diminished significantly. He is willing to kill and torture others without a drop of remorse as long as it will benefit him in some way. Although the change is noticeable, it is unclear if ten years in prison, betrayal, or his acquisition of abilities caused this shift.
Acting as a foil to Victor, Eli Ever is our second main character and main antagonist. While both characters are intelligent and ambitious, Eli is also charismatic and passionate where Victor is apathetic and distant. Although he can easily charm people with a smile, his charisma hides a dark drive and ambitious side of him that borders on insanity. While in college, he kept his dark side in check, however, his passionate drive soon overtakes him causing him to commit deplorable actions in the name righteousness and religion. Everything he does is motivated by a believed moral obligation and God-given duty, however, his unforgivable actions can make it hard to empathize with this character. Like Victor, the direct cause of his loss of sanity is unknown.
Vicious is a beautifully written novel. Although the book is not action packed, its character-driven plot creates and extremely compelling story. The book starts slow and mysterious, but with each chapter and each revelation, the intensity increases until the story reaches a fantastic and exciting finale. The story toggles between the past and present, watching the actions of characters unfold while also revisiting the events that brought them to this point. The entire plot is self-contained and nicely tied together as the book was meant to be a standalone.
While the sequel is entirely unnecessary, it will be nice to see all of these wonderful characters in action again. Vicious only has five main characters of import in the primary timeline and each one is expertly crafted. Each character is given a great backstory, and while few of them develop or change over the course of the book, each one exemplifies the story’s themes of moral ambiguity.
Vicious is a story with no clear villains nor heroes, a fact emphasized by the two leads. One lead is inspired by religious fervor. He is a paragon, following his morals and doing what he believes is right. The other seeks nothing but the destruction of his former friend. With this simplified description, an obvious hero emerges. However, when these two views a juxtaposed together along with the resulting consequences it can become hard to pick a definitive hero. Instead, you are forced to pick the lesser of two evil. This moral ambiguity is what makes this book truly shine.
I give this 364 page book 5 stars.
Villains
In a world much like our own, people with supernatural abilities began to emerge. These ExtraOrdinary people known as EOs. Two young college students decide to attempt to obtain such powers themselves and their actions leave a trail of bodies in their wake.