Verdict: Glorious.
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Genre: Science Fiction
Published by Titan Books, September 25, 2018
Eli Ever and Victor Vale were only medical students when their mutual discovery that near-death experiences can, under the right conditions, manifest extraordinary abilities.
They were best friends, and rivals, and then enemies. They were dead, then alive, and then—Eli killed Victor, once and for all.
Or so he thought—but Sydney Clarke felt otherwise, and used her own superpower to tip the scales. Now, a trio hides in the shadows, while another takes advantages of post-death life to take over the city of Merit.
If there can be life after death—will there be calm after vengeance, or will chaos rule?
I adored this, thankfully. I had been looking forward to this book ever since it was announced ages ago because Vicious is by far my favourite book Schwab has written. This seems like a series she has written for herself as a reader and it shows, there is just something gleefully, unapologetically Schwab here, that I for one happen to adore (and I am obviously not alone in this).
This series is set in a world where specific near-death experiences lead to people becoming super-powered. The first book follows two former friends (Eli Ever and Victor Vale) with super powers as they plot and set their powers and other people’s powers against each other. This book follows directly after the ending of the first one. Again the book is told unchronologically and leads towards an inevitably and action-packed conclusion. Unchronological storytelling is one of my very favourite things in books, so I was always going to enjoy this.
I had an incredible amount of fun reading this. I do think that sometimes the characters do not feel like real people, which in the end I did not mind because it fits the overall mood of this book. Especially the two newly introduced female characters are over the top in the best way possible. Marcella’s behaviour in particular filled me with giddy glee and I loved the way she chews the scenes – I could practically see her every move. I am often a fan of over-powered women in my speculative fiction and her and her unapologetic egotism just really tickled me.
I also have some theories and therefore really hope that there will be further installments of this series to prove me right. I find the world Schwab has created here wonderful and there is so much potential for further stories set in it. She left just enough loose ends to make me hope for more and resolved enough for this book to stand on its own.
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I read this as part of Sci-Fi Month: you can find further information and other people participating here.
I’m glad you enjoyed this after such a long wait! I still haven’t read anything by Schwab but I love following her on social media. I’m just not sure her books would be for me.
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I am not sure the books for be for you either. I do enjoy them for the fast-paced fun they are but the characters are really not super convincing, I find. If you do decide to pick one up, I would definitely go with Vicious. The Shades of Magic series is – uneven to say the least. I still haven’t read the third book in it, but now I am more excited about her writing again.
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I am so excited to read this one! Vicious is one of my favorite reads this year and I can’t believe it took me so long to read it!
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Her Villains series is definitely my favourite of hers! I am looking forward to your thoughts, whenever you get to it.
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Great review! Sci-fi, fantasy, and speculative fiction are all genres I’m wanting to explore more next year, and I’ll have to add Schwab to my list of authors to check out—her style sounds fast paced and entertaining.
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Oh, very cool! Do let me know if you need any recommendations. I read a lot of SFF and we do seem to have a similar taste in books.
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Recommendations would be great! I’ve read Jemisin, Gaiman, and recently Butler, but not much beyond those three. Le Guin’s also on my radar, but I haven’t read anything of hers.
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