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xchloe_bxx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
aleareads's review against another edition
- 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
It has me thinking morality and what makes a hero vs villain, and I love that the motivations of the characters are so fleshed out.
I would absolutely recommend for anyone, but especially if you love:
🦸♀️ superheroes, villains, and super powers
🦇 the Dark Knight trilogy
✨ thought provoking and thrilling fantasy
I absolutely cannot wait to read book 2; I will
be getting my hands on a copy soon!
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
livist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I started reading this because I saw Victoria was rereading it as she prepares to write the final in the trilogy. I had always wanted to read this series so decided to read along side her (though she’s long since finished and moved on to the second book).
I loved all of these characters, and loved the premise. It very much parallels X-men which is my favorite marvel series, with each EO having their own unique power and origin story.
The characters were deeply flawed but more or less lovable. You can’t help but root for Victor as he has struggled so hard. He’s at least honest about his feelings whereas Eli lives in denial and instead of taking any accountability chalks everything up to God’s hand. So I like the bit of social commentary regarding religious fanaticism.
I loved Sydney and Serena with their complicated sibling love. Serena oddly falling under Eli’s own spell despite her own abilities to put under hers. She failed to see how she was be-spelled to her detriment. Ending in the tragedy of Sydney which helps kick off the rest of the book. Her betrayal of her younger sister makes her death satisfying even though when she releases her sister you sympathize with her a bit, but mostly with Sydney as she processes her love for her older sister and how she’s no longer who she thought she was.
A lot of found family moments. The plot pretty cleanly tied up. I just loved it.
Graphic: Death, Torture, and Murder
teaxx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Torture and Murder
tamzy6's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Toxic friendship
outlast0002's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, Self harm, Torture, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Addiction
queensplay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I love love love Sydney. She was my favourite character.
Someone I love, someone I hate: Serena. She makes me so mad. It seemed like she had no guilt over her actions (but I mean, tHeY aRen'T hUmAn).
Mitch's backstory is so sad. He deserves a huge hug, because honestly, he's not a bad guy. He's absolutely precious, and I love him.
Finally: This. Ending. The best ending I've read in a while. The conclusion came together so perfectly, and everyone I wanted dealt with was dealt with. And oh, did I love Eli's ending.
Eli's ending, though. Ohhhh, karma. What Victor first did to him, that was fucking awesome. And then when he though he won, killing Victor, but then the police come in, and arrest him while he's blabbing on and on about being a "hero" hahahahahahahaha. I suppose he quickly realized how much he needed Serena then hahahahaha. I loved it. One of the best endings in a book.
And see! This is why Sydney's power is awesome. She could raise Victor up from the dead! They're so Dad/Daughter 🥰
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Torture
alisa_justonemorechapter's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, and Fire/Fire injury
capsandclauses's review against another edition
- 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
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.”
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Torture
katebella's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Addiction and Drug use