Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Vicious by V.E. Schwab

145 reviews

capsandclauses's review

dark mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

 “Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human.”

Wow. I think anti-heroes might just be my jam. If you haven't read Vicious already (which you probably have because it was released over a decade ago and is really popular), Vicious is the vigilante origin story of Victor Vale, a prison escapee with the power to stop pain. Years ago in college, Victor and his sociopathic best friend Eli Cardale (now Ever), experimented on themselves to turn themselves into superpowers, until one night where it all went wrong. Victor ended up in jail and Eli ended up a superhero (but really not at all).

Now, Victor has broken out of jail and along with a young girl and his soft-hearted giant of a fellow escapee, is out for revenge.

I loved the reluctant found family vibes. The powers were cool. And the characters were absolutely ruthless.

“But these words people threw around - humans, monsters, heroes, villains - to Victor it was all just a matter of semantics. Someone could call themselves a hero and still walk around killing dozens. Someone else could be labeled a villain for trying to stop them. Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Torture

lyndle's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

Pretty dark and bloody but very cool plot structure. The first half walks you through multiple timelines to explain where the characters are and how they got there; then we watch each character progress and make decisions from there. Very character driven and introspective, but good characters and cool story beats. Somehow missed that this was basically a dark superhero book when I picked it up. Lots of trigger warnings below but none of them felt super triggering or were intended to be. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Grief, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Alcohol

While lots of characters die, you don't necessarily need to worry about all of them staying dead. And several of these warnings are either quick, nonpermanent, or done with an analytical purpose instead of an emotionally or mentally unstable one.

peggyluwho's review

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

madmadmaddymad's review

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

thisisuru's review

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Violence, Blood, and Gaslighting

tannerisboring's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Violence, and Blood

soph22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I didn’t know what to expect but this was gripping, thrilling, so dark with so many twists and turns. Loved it!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

rtherese's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

Amazing Perfect. 12/10. I’m naming my kids Victor, Eliot, and Sydney

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Stalking

willow_the_wisp's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

foggyoblio's review

dark funny mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Confinement