Vicious is one of THE book surprises I´ve had the pleasure of reading during 2019. Watching the entire book community being thrilled about the author´s books, I wasn´t quite sure what to expect after reading the summary for this one. But after I´ve read another of her work, I was sure that this one had to be either an entertaining success or a bad failure. Well, guess what – it was the first. 


Vicious-Das Böse In Uns*
by V. E. Schwab
Villains Series #1
Translation Petra Huber; Sara Riffel
Original Title Vicious
Publisher Fischer TOR on November 27, 2019
Genre Fantasy
Pages 381
Format Softcover
Source Publisher 
✶✶✶✶½  

Life – real life – is not a struggle between good and evil. It´s a struggle between evil and something worse. Victor Vale and Eli Ever want to die. Not, however, to remain dead, but to rise again with extraordinary abilities. As young, brilliant medical students, they know exactly what they are doing. They plan the experiment meticulously – and they are successful: both come back to life transformed. Eli develops an astonishing regenerative power and becomes practically immortal Victor can inflict or take away pain. What they have no control over is the tragedy triggered by their experiment. Because superpowers alone don´t make heroes … (personal translation by ©Vi at Inkvotary).
Story
Victor and Eli want to figure out how they can become extraordinary and what that would mean for them. Their curiosity and the way how they try to become EO´s is the start of a dramatic journey where Victor realizes at some point that he is always the one who pays the price and Eli the one who gets away with whatever he has in mind. Until one day when Victor sees a chance to change things and have his revenge.

Style
The style is magical, morbid, bloody, and cruel, and yet one of the best books I´ve had the pleasure of reading during the past twelve months. I don´t know HOW the author did it or does it, but there is no ordinary thing in this novel. You are haunted by the plot and story from the very first line to the last and thrown into a world of magic, blood, and human failure without seeing the figures using a wand or spell to get what they want. 

Yes, there are scenes in which you could easily say this is more a thriller than a fantasy novel with some magical parts in it but, to be honest, the combination of thriller, fantasy, and magic was it, what made me want to know how Victor would end things. My eyes were literally glued to the pages and after I had started reading it, I couldn´t put it aside. So this one belongs to the very few books I´ve read overnight in one single swoop.

Characters
I LOVE Victor Vale. He is one of my most favorite characters since I know V. E. Schwab´s books. The balance between evil and good in him is shown in such an entertaining way, holy moly! He was, among the fantastic plot, one of the big surprises I saw while reading Vicious. A cool guy.


Conclusion
A novel filled with some unexpected twists and turns, a fantastic main figure, and a story that goes beyond every magic you can expect from a well-written book. I absolutely enjoyed this book, the darkness in it but also the light that was shown through Sydney and how she sees the world. For me, one of the best books I´ve read in 2019 and for sure not the last I will read by the author. Highly recommended. 



Happy reading







*This book was kindly provided to me by Fischer TOR in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Thank you. Therefore, the cover of the German edition is shown first in this review.

Victoria Schwab
Victoria Schwab ©Jenna Maurice




Victoria (V.E.) Schwab is the author of the »World Walker« trilogy and the New York Times bestseller series »Vicious & Vengeful«. Born in 1987 she is the product of a British mother, a Beverly Hills father, and a southern upbringing. Schwab has a penchant for tea and BBC shows, and a serious and well-documented case of insatiable wanderlust. When she's not wandering the streets of Paris or climbing any hill in England, she's sitting in the back of a café, spinning on her stories. 

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