Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Vicious by V.E. Schwab

87 reviews

ellenwm's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

 Interesting concept, good pacing, some lovable characters, lots of moral ambiguity. Starts a little dark academia.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Addiction, Suicide, and Abandonment

cchaney876's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Wow! This is a dark book. Definitely a thriller, but there is a lot to watch out for when it comes to trigger warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder

tamzy6's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

What a ride! This book read like a graphic novel without it actually being a graphic novel, and that's a testament to Schwab's writing skills. It's fast paced with sociopathic characters and everyone operates in a very morally grey area - just my kind of thing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Toxic friendship

enchanteddroppings's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

(2nd read: may 31 2024 - June 1st 2024)
The first time I read this book was in 2016, a couple years after it was released. I don’t remember how I came across it, but I remember thinking that the plot seemed interesting. As I read it, I remember thinking how different it was to all the other books I’ve ever read. Most books had clear morally black or white characters. This book was purely about morally gray characters. Maybe even dark gray. It felt like the origin story of how a villain came to be. Sure enough, a couple years later, the sequel of the book was released and the series was named “Villains”.

This was the first book by V.E. Schwab I ever read and it’s why I jumped to read her next book, A Darker Shade of Magic, when it was released. That book did not hit the same way Vicious did and it is probably why even though the sequel to “Vicious”, Vengeful, was released in 2018, I didn’t jump to read it.

It took me 5 years to finish reading A Darker Shade of Magic. I initially DNF’d it, but somehow thought I finished it, but I couldn’t remember the story. I then got the audiobook to finish it and the voice narrator didn’t do a good job in my opinion.

The experience with A Darker Shade of Magic left me wondering how could an author be so polarizing? I wondered if I should read Vengeful since I finally bought the book. Most of the reviews on Booktube for A Darker Shade of Magic were on the positive side. I read the graphic novels for A Darker Shade of Magic series and liked them. So I decided to reread A Darker Shade of Magic. This time since I had a better sense of the world and what was going on, it wasn’t as bad as I remembered. I do think I might have rated it higher the second time, if I read it and not listened to the audiobook. The voice actor didn’t do female character voices, attitudes, and dispositions well. The words on the page did not match the emotions and personality the voice actor was giving to the characters.

I decided to finally read the sequel Vengeful, but because it has been so long since I read “Vicious”, I decided to re-read it. I still think it is a great book. However, I remember having a clear side I was on the last time I read the book. This time, I noticed so much more, and I kept changing sides. By the end of the book, I was on no one’s side, lol. If anything, I was on the little girl’s side.

While reading this book, I kept noticing similarities to Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein: The 1818 Text. I was convinced that this was a modern remake or take on the same theme as Frankenstein. Between finishing this book and writing this review, I have since reread Frankenstein: The 1818 Text and still see similarities but in different ways.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Child abuse, Gun violence, and Physical abuse

laurasauras's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.5

I liked the examination of humanity and morality from both a logical and feelings-based angle. Eli did what he felt was right

(reader, it was Not Right)

without examining it too much, whereas Victor examined everything and still sometimes chose a murky path. I thought the power dynamics throughout were fascinating, and in particular what it was that gave people power over each other and what made them weak to other kinds of power.

I'm not exactly sure why I didn't love it, and to be clear I did like it. I think I found the characters to be a little flat. They were interesting, but I couldn't find any hooks in them to see them as people. I know they weren't supposed to be very relatable, but I don't think lacking empathy means that a person can't be empathised with. Thinking back to other books I've enjoyed with characters who are selfish/disregard the importance of others, I think there's just something missing that makes those characters more fun to watch.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

peggyluwho's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

devinjai6655's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

3.5

This story is about two pre-Med students who decide to simulate near death experiences to get super powers. 10 years later, one is on a killing spree and the other is hunting him down with a ragtag group. That group includes our main character, Victor, who can control pain tolerance, his former cell mate (gigantic, and extremely good with computers), a tween girl they found on the side of the road with a bullet wound, and a stray dog. The found family trope is strong in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, and Alcohol

One character uses God to justify killing people that are similar to him.

There is a dog that dies twice but he is brought back to life both times.

aggrano's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Self harm, Torture, Stalking, Car accident, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

imskylow's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

It’s honestly just not my taste in books. I don’t really have any criticism besides the constant flash back making it drag for me. Also there were some pretty convenient characters placed in this book. But I know other people love it. So don’t let my star count sway you from reading it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

madmadmaddymad's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I opened the book, and for the majority of the first chapter, thought I was reading a Frankenstein retelling. I’ll just say that it was actually kind of a fun ride to go into this book, fully blind. 

Really liked Victor, despite his sinister-ness. But boy am I’m sick of villains like Eli using “God” as their motivations. He’s my least favorite aspect of this book. 

The pace of the story was intense, high stakes, and also non-linear, (which I loved.) I’m definitely invested in picking up the second one! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gore, and Gun violence

Minor: Confinement, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail