A review by whpltab
Vicious by V.E. Schwab

dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Vicious is a sci-fi book that takes place in a world in which people can gain special powers through certain circumstances,
those circumstances being near death situations.
The main characters of the books are Victor and Eli, who were both medical students, and best friends. Ten years later they’re both EO’s (ExtraOrdinary), and each other’s worst enemies.
Eli’s thesis project was to try and figure out how EO’s were made, but Victor wanted to go a step further. They managed to make themselves EO’s by placing themselves in near death situations. It worked, but as they turned themselves into EO’s, they realized that something essential was missing. Eli was immortal, and Victor could control his and other people’s emotional and physical pain.
What I enjoyed about this book is the subtle sugestion that rather than EO’s losing some vital piece of themselves that made them human, all being an EO did was bring out the piece of them that wasn’t fully human.
Eli’s decision that EO’s were an affront to God, and needed to be put back in the ground had brought out the joy he found in watching other people die.
His immortality was a gift from god, but the gifts of all other EO’s were from the devil. 
Characters like Eli and Victor already had some darkness hidden inside of them, and  it was brought out
by their near deaths and their attempted murders of each other.
However, there were other characters in the book that proved Eli was wrong. EO’s came back exactly the same if they didn’t have a hidden darkness inside of them like Victor and Eli did. Sydney, Victor’s protege
came back with the ability to bring back the dead.
Sydney proves that being and EO doesn’t make them unhuman, it’s what they choose to do with their powers. Most EO’s choose to go about their lives like nothing ever happened, some used their powers to help others, and some became criminals. It had nothing to do with being an EO. 
Another thing that I loved about this book is how there is no protagonist or antagonist. The book is as far from black and white as you can get. Both Victor and Eli are bad people, the only difference between them was that Eli was justifying his actions using God, and Victor knew he was a bad person. He knew that in their story, there was no hero. Just two former friends trying to kill each other.