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erebus53's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The backdrop is clearly superheroic. You have a fictional city called Merit, which is an unremarkable, American town. The main characters have alliterative names, or names or descriptions that have significance to their powers, but from the get-go all the Vs made me feel like this is a lot more like Alan Moore than Stan Lee. For starters the "heros" are sociopathic before they even get started. There is nothing quite normal about these two college room-mates.
The story is tropey enough that it's fairly easy to get a handle on, even though it's told non-chronologically. Entire sections are flashbacks to 10 years ago. There are short memories that are repeated in different chapters.. one of which was long enough that I thought I might have accidentally lost my place and be reading the wrong bit. That was mildly irritating; a phrase can anchor something poetically without an entire callback.. that might work better if it was a movie (montage it, pitch it a little lower, put some echo on or something?) or maybe a graphic novel.. (make it yellowed like old paper.. or throw the colours out like a faded photo with no blue in it..)
The middle part of the story begins to lag a bit. But it picks up a little more as the things start to culminate. I do wish the ending felt a little more planned but it starts to become a little unclear what is going to happen. I do like that the story feels out the edges or limitations of the powers that people have, and explores a little of the synergy you can get when more than one person with a gift is working together. I think it would be marvelous if there were more people with normal strengths rather than uncanny things, but that is still included in the story.
This is a very different story to something like Hench (which is about jobbing for the supervillains), and has some similarity in YA stories like Songbirds and Snakes in which the mindset of the main character is toxic and dangerous. There is some bloody violence and necromancy in this story, so if you don't like dark then this isn't your book.
Clock this one up if you want to do a reading challenge where the hero is a bad guy, and it's set in a City starting with M (yes that's a challenge prompt for the 52 BookClub Chanllenge 2024).
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Violence, Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Torture, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Addiction, Cursing, Stalking, and Drug use
yasmin96's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Animal death, and Murder
stardustvein's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, and Hate crime
Moderate: Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Religious bigotry, Torture, Child death, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Alcoholism and Medical content
leweylibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Some things in particular that I love:
The entire premise really lol I've been telling people it's giving X-Men but darker. It feels like a more realistic and plausible version of superheroes.
The characters, especially Victor and Eli. I am such a sucker for morally gray characters, and they are both that to a freaking T lol. Eli's religion and how it guides him is so interesting to me, and Victor's jealousy and his mutilating books (especially his parents' self-help books lol) is also interesting. And, of course, their powers
The pacing was perfect, idk how anyone could think it's slow (and I know someone who did).
The discussion around what makes a hero, sidekick, and villain is 🤌 Those might be the parts that I love the most.
Quotes:
- All Eli had to do was smile. All Victor had to do was lie. Both proved frighteningly effective. (18)
- The moments that define lives aren't always obvious. They don't always scream LEDGE, and nine times out of ten there's no rope to duck under, no line to cross, no blood pact, no official letter on fancy paper. They aren't always protracted, heavy with meaning. (58)
- It could work, and if it did work, he wanted the chance to hold the power, the evidence, the proof. He wanted to be the proof. Without it, this was Eli's monster, and he was merely the wall off which Eli bounced his ideas. With it, he was the monster, essential, inextricable from Eli's theories. (60)
- Eli, who showed up in the hallway sophomore year with a suitcase and a smile. Eli, who believed in God and had a monster inside him just like Victor, but knew how to hide it better. Eli, who got away with everything, who had slipped into his life and stolen the girl and the top rank and the stupid holiday research grant. Eli, who, despite it all, meant something to Victor. (78)
- The years had worn on Victor in more obvious ways, hardening him, but they hadn't left Eli untouched. He didn't appear a day older, but the arrogant smile he'd often flashed in college had given way to something crueler. Like that mask he'd worn for so long had finally fallen off, and this was what lurked behind it. (90)
- And Victor, who was so good at picking things apart, at understanding how they worked, how he worked, looked at the photo, and felt...conflicted. Hate was too simple a word. He and Eli were bonded, by blood and death and science. They were alike, more so now than ever. And he missed Eli. He wanted to see him. And he wanted to see him suffer. He wanted to see the look in Eli's eyes when he lit them up with pain. He wanted his attention.
Eli was like a thorn beneath Victor's skin, and it hurt. He could turn off every nerve in his body, but Victor couldn't do a damned thing about the twinge he felt when he thought of Cardale. The worst part of going numb was that it took away everything but this, the smothering need to hurt, to break, to kill, pouring over him like a thick blanket of syrup until he panicked and brought the physical sensations back. (90-91) - If Eli really was a hero, and Victor meant to stop him, did that make him a villain?
He took a long sip of his drink, tipped his head back against the couch, and decided he could live with that. (91) - Victor Vale was not a fucking sidekick. (96)
- "You thought our powers were somehow a reflection of our nature. God playing with mirrors, but you're wrong. It's not about God. It's about us. The way we think. The thought that's strong enough to keep us alive. To bring us back. (133)
- There had been an excerpt, blown up large and pasted on the window, and in a passage studded with overwrought gems--his favorite being "out of the ruins of our self-made jails..."--he had seen the perfect opportunity to spell out a simple but effective" we...ruin... all...we touch." (168)
- There was a moment of such perfect quiet, the kind he used to feel in church, a sliver of peace that felt so... right. It was the first time he'd felt like himself, like more than himself, since he'd come back to life.
Eli crossed himself. (212) - Serena remembered sitting cross-legged on her bed and listening to the news, her friends huddled on the comforter around her-- but not touching; there seem to be a thin wall, separating them from her, fear, or maybe awe-- and it was then she realized that she wasn't a ghost, or a god.
She was a monster. (236) - "I hope Victor hurts him," she said cheerfully. "A lot."
"Jesus. Three days and you're already taking after him." Mitch sagged into a chair, ran his head over his shaved head. "Look, Sydney, there's something you need to understand about Victor--"
"He's not a bad man," she said.
"There are no good men in this game," said Mitch.
But Sydney didn't care about good. She wasn't sure she believed in it. "I'm not afraid of Victor."
" I know." He sounded sad when he said it. (276) - But these words people throw 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. Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human. (288-289)
- ...a decade in and out of prison had taught him this: there were some people you had to stay away from, people who poisoned everything within reach. Then there were people you wanted to stick with, the ones with silver tongues and golden touches. And then, there were people you stood beside, because it meant you weren't in their way. And whoever Victor Vale was, whatever he was, and whatever he was up to, the only thing Mitch knew was that he did not want to be in his way. (304)
- She readjusted the shovel on her shoulder, and wondered if Eli would live forever, and how much of forever someone could reasonably remember, especially when nothing left a mark. (361)
Graphic: Murder, Torture, Violence, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Child death, Body horror, Religious bigotry, Death, Self harm, Grief, and Addiction
Moderate: Animal death
starsandscarsbookclub's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Torture, Animal death, Self harm, Murder, Mental illness, Gore, Gun violence, Confinement, Death, Violence, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, and Blood
pelb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Toxic friendship and Cursing
sofiadanielle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
It’s safe to say that I don’t hold much love for the two main characters, though I was quite fond of Mitch and Sydney (and Dol, of course.) Despite my apathy for Victor and Eli, I found myself quite enamored with the storyline.
The way the story was told was interesting, with the switching POVs + time skips, and though I found it slightly disorienting at first, I was definitely intrigued and interested, motivated to keep reading on.
Dark and a bit violent, but so easy to get drawn into. Excited to start Vengeful soon!
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Gun violence, Death, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Self harm, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
ahpets's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, Torture, Animal death, Alcohol, Blood, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence
pjdotcom's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Medical content, Death, Murder, Confinement, Toxic friendship, Violence, Body horror, Religious bigotry, Child death, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Gun violence, and Mass/school shootings
ashlynregan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Blood, Animal cruelty, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Stalking, Car accident, Child death, Sexual assault, and Torture