Reviews with content warning for Chronic illness - Vicious

Overall this was a fun read with some great characters and a tense plot. I have a few complaints, but I had a really good time reading this.

Our main cast of characters were entertaining and fun, and I really found myself rooting for them even as they did some deplorable things. This should be a case study for how to write likeable villain protagonists. The world was also well fleshed out and the lore made sense. I liked the very simple and limited power sets most characters had, as it made everything feel more like a tense struggle. The writing and tone were also consistently great.

However, my main problem was with the villain. While Eli and Victor's relationship was well defined in the flashbacks, they barely interacted in the present. Perhaps they'll get more time in the sequel, but as it is, this was not the "Superman and Lex Luthor" or "Professor X and Magneto" style rivalry promised. While Victor constantly thought about Eli and craved vengeance, Eli did not have the same level of hatred for Victor. I even felt like Victor's reason to want revenge in the first place was a little anti-climactic.

He was so ready to kill his friend for calling the police even though he had just killed their mutual friend/Eli's girlfriend. Also, I would have appreciated seeing more of Eli's religious zeal back in the collage days. It seemed like he prayed twice and the rest was just Victor saying "he believed in God" like twenty times.

Overall this didn't affect my enjoyment as much as it could have, but did keep this book from a 5 star rating.

I actually thought the secondary antagonist, Serena, was more interesting than Eli. Her struggle with her powers and her relationship with her sister were all extremely interesting and paid off in satisfying ways for the most part.

I almost wish she got what she wanted in the end, and that they found a way to disobey her, and that caused her death, but oh well. I still really liked her as an antagonist.

Also, as an Asexual myself, I appreciate that Victor is a canon biromantic asexual, and I just want to say how happy I was to realize that he was ace. Overall I personally approved of the representation.

I definitely recommend this for fans of darker superhero content, like Joker. While it falls a little short of its true potential, the story is still a satisfying ride with characters you hate to love.

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chronicacademia's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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cviii's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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anthasplans's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

It fascinates me every time I read it.

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helliepad's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Fellas is it gay to want your college best friend dead after you both let a science experiment and a girl come between the two of you and you hunted each other for years and your literal life's purpose is to only stab each other to death but neither of you can actually die but you have to die in each other's hands and you are Jekyll and Hyde and he's Frankenstein

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pasavedra's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Took a quarter off bc of the future dumb angsty conflict that

Victor killed Serena

with Sydney blah blah blah and the pacing which was too off for me at times but other than that this was legitimately fun and absorbing to read. I had a nice time reading really felt like watching a thriller/superhero movie that distacts from the troubles of every day life. It's amusing but grounded too. I enjoyed it a lot after the bumpy start. I'm still kinda lost about the world building tho like I'm not clear on the whole setting situation like the penitentiary and the university and everything is in Merit or where Lockland was maybe it WAS explained but I drifted off. I also didn't get how EO's were already part of this universe's psyche and how the legends about them came to be or whatever but maybe it's explained on the second book idk. But yeah this was cool. VE doesn't wow me with her writing, but she does a hell of a job designing a hard to break away from story.

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