Becoming ExtraOrdinary

 


"Killing something was easy. Bring it back to live took more than measurement and medicine. It was like cooking, not baking. Baking took a sense of order. Cooking took a flare, a little art, a little luck. This kind of cooking took a lot of luck."

Title: Vicious
Author: V. E. Schwab
Publication Date: September 24th, 2013 
Publisher:  Tor Books
Source: Bought it
Where to find: Goodreads / Amazon






This book was fantastic. The writing and the storytelling were extremely well done. The only other Victoria Schwab book I have read so far is The Archived and while I enjoyed it, I absolutely loved Vicious. There was just something about reading about these “evil” characters that pulled me right in.

Victor and Eli are not your typical main characters. These two have made some very questionable choices in their lives that have led them from being friends in College working on their theses to being nemeses striving to kill each other. The way this story is told from both of the their perspectives, both 10 years in the past during their college years and the present as they hunt for each other is really well done. I do not typically enjoy books that flip timelines like this because it can be confusing, but Schwab did an amazing job.

From the first page, I was hooked on this book. There is so much mystery and intrigue between the ExtraOrdinaries, Victor and Eli’s past, and their thirst for vengeance. I loved how Schwab wove their stories together into this epic showdown at the end. So many aspects of this book were so complex between the story being told and the characters themselves, there was always something to be thinking about. This book made you question the lengths people would go to gain these powers and become ExtraOrdinary. It also made you think about the consequences of this thirst for knowledge and power.

On top of the fantastic main characters, Schwab also created lovable side characters including Sydney, Mitch, Dol, and even Serena. Each character had a role to play in this battle between Victor and Eli. I really felt for Sydney throughout this entire book. She is basically left to die at age 13 and finds Victor who takes her under his wing. Sydney also does a good job of adding more complexity to Victor since he seems to really care for Sydney.

Overall, this book was beyond fantastic and I cannot wait to read more of Victoria Schwab’s books. This is a must read for anyone looking for an exciting and truly remarkable book that blurs what it means to be good. This book makes you love the villain and I loved that about it.

♛ ♛ ♛ ♛ ♛

Let me know in the comments if you have read the book and what your thoughts are.