A review by slshules
Vicious by V.E. Schwab

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

As soon as I can get my grubby little hands on the second book I will be consuming it like a black hole consumes light: immediately and without remorse. Which, conveniently, is exactly how these characters live their lives in this book.

Let’s go through a few life lessons we learn from this cast. 

1. Make sure you have a hobby outside of your school thesis projects, otherwise you might become all consumed with jealousy and religious zeal and turn into a murderer.

2. If you’re in love with someone, stabbing them is likely not the best way to convey that. (Stabbing them again also doesn’t help.)

3. If you’re insanely jealous of someone’s existence and feel like you need to validate your own with their death, you should seek therapy.

4. Don’t have picnics on frozen lakes in March.

5. Don’t be Pre-Med.

6. If you’re going to be crazy, be crazy and hot. 

7. If you start to think “hey maybe I should check in with my morals eventually” then you’ve already gone off the deep end.

8. Make sure you burn your kills. Don’t do a sloppy job.

9. “Blood is thicker than water” so if your family consists of your friends, make sure to commit atrocities with them; it brings you closer together.

No one in this book is a good person but I love all of them. All of them. Which is unfortunate and probably a poor reflection on me personally, but I just couldn’t get past their silly-little-guy-ness.

Writing wise, this book was a breeze. It was clean, it was neat, and it was impactful. So many times I paused and thought “woah that was such an amazing way to convey that.” 

Otherwise, wow. That was a wild ride.