Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Vicious by V.E. Schwab

79 reviews

lyndle's review against another edition

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 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

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

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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. 

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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

fierygecko's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

I have truly never had so much fun absolutely hating the guts of book characters in my life. V.E Shwab writes a fascinating novel about two people who are pretty horrible in two very different ways, and sprinkles in some classic superhero science for spice. The story is told in a way that made me feel like I was reading the script for a movie I wish was actually made. I enjoyed the age diversity in the main cast and how it highlighted what a common goal can do to bring people together. If you’re interested in the lengths two college kids too smart for their own good will go to in order to be special, I recommend this book wholeheartedly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

corvidkings's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, and Alcohol

chasinggrace's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I think my issue with this book is that it features men 😭 I just found that I could NOT get myself attached to Vic, Eli, or Mitch (until the end), and I only gave a shit about Serena and Sydney (barely). But Serena is literally 12 so I could only relate to her so much. 

You’ve got a closeted bisexual narcissist who you’re supposed to like bc he doesn’t kill people, but he was shitty BEFORE he became an EO. Then you’ve got a Christian with a God complex who kills people out of “duty.” I don’t like Eli at all but I just couldn’t get attached to Victor either. 

I liked the concept and I thought the writing was good, but this didn’t hit for me the way it hit for other people. I will say - it does read like a Marvel comic, which was fun. 

I’ll read the next one, but I wasn’t obsessed with this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

sutterkeely's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Alcohol

agooding's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Self harm, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol