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Book Review: Vicious by V.E.Schwab

Vicious 

By V E Schwab 


Published Year: 2013

Page Count : 340 pages 

Medium Used : Paperback 

Genre : Science Fiction, Supernatural, 2024-read.

Rating : 2.5/5 





 Victor Vale and Eli Cardale are pre-med students and roommates,friends. As part of their seminar, they have to choose a thesis topic. While Victor chooses adrenaline and its effects/causes, Eli chooses EOs (ExtraOrdinary people) startling the professor and other students alike. After studying several cases, he concludes that under specific circumstances, a person can become an EO. And those circumstances are near death experiences. The person must be in a near death situation but must also want to live desperately. So upon Victor's suggesting and monitoring, Eli makes a near death attempt. He becomes an EO. His special skill is self healing and regeneration. Because Eli has become an EO, Victor takes it as a challenge to become himself one. So he also becomes an EO - his skill, controlling pain. After this, the story goes in a pretty much predictable way. One of them is bad, the other good. Its a battle between good and bad with the help of other EOs on both sides. 


There is no element of surprise in this plot. Also it is not suspenseful enough for my liking. At one point, I was noding off and desperately trying to shake off the boredom. 


I think the characters could have been better developed. One is villian and the other hero.. but I didn't feel this to be the case always. Victor is both good and bad. Eli is both good and bad. And both are vulnerable. And both have virtues, weaknesses. 


The story is devoid of twists. The narration goes all over the time lines .. like ten years ago, two weeks back, one month ago and so on. 


The special skills that people come into.. I didn't get how or what skill a person might acquire. I mean, what makes a person become so and so and another, a different skilled EO. What decides it? Hopefully, the second and last book in the series will clear up some air for me. 

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