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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.
Content Warnings
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
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, Self harm, Torture, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Addiction
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Child abuse, Gun violence, and Physical abuse
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
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
crocs's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
- spice : 1/5
- humour : 3.5/5
- emotional : 2/5
- characters: 4.25/5
- universe : 4.75/5
- setting : 4/5
- story : 5/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Alcohol
Minor: Drug abuse and Drug use
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.
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.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
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
sn8man's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Gun violence, Self harm, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement and Drug use
egg_apologist's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Fascinating concept, interesting characters to go along with it, but not particularly well executed in my opinion. The book is clearly trying very hard to be a character-driven novel, but I am unconvinced that it succeeded. The chapters are so incredibly short, which has the fun and interesting effect of making the plot feel like a countdown toward the inevitable showdown of the two main characters—Victor and Eli. This made the book very fast-paced and delightfully suspenseful, but it also had the added effect of forcing the narration to cut down severely on both the descriptions of characters/settings AND the amount of dialogue present in each chapter, which resulted in the novel doing a lot of “telling” about the characters, rather than “showing.”
In order to keep the chapters short so that the novel could move the plot along quickly, we (the audience) get very few scenes showcasing what any of the characters (main- or side-) were like before they became ExtraOrdinary individuals (EOs, for short). For example, instead of showing us how close Victor and Eli used to be before their inevitable falling-out (something that would’ve enriched their personalities pre-EO life and fleshed out their characters a lot more), we are given only the shortest glimpse into their lives together in college. We’re shown barely anything at all of their lives before they both decided to become EOs. The flashback scenes pretty much jump straight into showing how those two became EOs, and then their subsequent falling-out in the aftermath. Therefore, we don’t really see much of what they were like together before they fell out with each other; the audience is forced to simply trust that (at least on some level) those two used be friends. Since we don’t get to see much of how close they used to be, their falling out with each other (and therefore their “showdown” that the plot is pushing us towards) doesn’t end up having the same emotional impact that it would’ve had if we’d truly witnessed how close they had been in the past. Not including enough scenes showcasing their backstories also ended up making all of the characters feel just a little bit flat overall.
It is also hinted at (but never outright confirmed) thattransforming into an EO might, perhaps, lessen a character’s empathy towards other humans. This had so much potential to be a fascinating bit of lore, but once again, the audience is given so few glimpses into what Victor, Eli, or any of the other EOs were like before they became EOs, so there simply isn’t enough data for the audience to make a hypothesis one way or another about whether or not this is supposed to be true, or if it’s actually a falsehood that certain characters simply choose to believe. What’s worse, the few-and-far-between glimpses that we are given of their lives before they were all EOs don’t show the characters as necessarily being all that different in their pre-EO lives as they are shown to be in their lives as EOs. Occasionally, certain characters will insist to us that the EOs are behaving differently (i.e., the narrative “tells” us that they are now different), but we are never shown any corroborating evidence (that is, we aren’t shown very many (if any) scenes of what they were like before), so we just have to choose whether or not we want to take those particular characters’ word for it. It could very well be the case that this lack of evidence to corroborate those claims was actually intentional—maybe it was a sort of way to entice the audience to read the next book in the series so that they can find out whether that particular bit of speculation is true. But regardless of what the intention was, the effect was that, since the narrative had already done so much telling rather than showing when it came to the characters’ personalities and backstories anyway, this lore-drop just ended up feeling like yet another thing that the narrative chose to tell rather than show.
To be honest, I feel bad giving this book such a low rating because I truly felt like it had so much potential. But I really do think that the choosing to prioritize creating suspense in the plot (i.e., choosing to keep all of the chapters incredibly short and fast-paced) over prioritizing fleshing out the characters’ backstories (i.e, writing longer chapters in order to “show” the audience more about the characters rather than just “telling”) is a HUGE mistake if the aim is to write a character-driven story. It would’ve been a genius move for a plot-driven narrative, but in a character-driven narrative, that decision only served to undermine the amount of time needed to write characters that are truly three-dimensional. This book was overall a little disappointing, but since it is the first in a series, I’m still willing to give the series as a whole the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully, this issue of writing a character driven story that doesn’t actually quite succeed in fleshing out characters enough gets improved upon as the series continues.
In order to keep the chapters short so that the novel could move the plot along quickly, we (the audience) get very few scenes showcasing what any of the characters (main- or side-) were like before they became ExtraOrdinary individuals (EOs, for short). For example, instead of showing us how close Victor and Eli used to be before their inevitable falling-out (something that would’ve enriched their personalities pre-EO life and fleshed out their characters a lot more), we are given only the shortest glimpse into their lives together in college. We’re shown barely anything at all of their lives before they both decided to become EOs. The flashback scenes pretty much jump straight into showing how those two became EOs, and then their subsequent falling-out in the aftermath. Therefore, we don’t really see much of what they were like together before they fell out with each other; the audience is forced to simply trust that (at least on some level) those two used be friends. Since we don’t get to see much of how close they used to be, their falling out with each other (and therefore their “showdown” that the plot is pushing us towards) doesn’t end up having the same emotional impact that it would’ve had if we’d truly witnessed how close they had been in the past. Not including enough scenes showcasing their backstories also ended up making all of the characters feel just a little bit flat overall.
It is also hinted at (but never outright confirmed) that
To be honest, I feel bad giving this book such a low rating because I truly felt like it had so much potential. But I really do think that the choosing to prioritize creating suspense in the plot (i.e., choosing to keep all of the chapters incredibly short and fast-paced) over prioritizing fleshing out the characters’ backstories (i.e, writing longer chapters in order to “show” the audience more about the characters rather than just “telling”) is a HUGE mistake if the aim is to write a character-driven story. It would’ve been a genius move for a plot-driven narrative, but in a character-driven narrative, that decision only served to undermine the amount of time needed to write characters that are truly three-dimensional. This book was overall a little disappointing, but since it is the first in a series, I’m still willing to give the series as a whole the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully, this issue of writing a character driven story that doesn’t actually quite succeed in fleshing out characters enough gets improved upon as the series continues.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Police brutality and War
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!
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!
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