5 Reasons You Should Read Villains by V.E. Schwab!

 

Hey guys!
Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I’ve been super busy.
I’m going to try posting more soon, hopefully, I’ll have more time/ can get more organised!

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1) Villain Story (duh).

The clue is in the title of the duology, it’s all about villains. Who doesn’t love a good villain? This for one contains some great complex, yet sociopathic characters that are just amazing. It gets boring rooting for the good guys all the time, change it up; read about morally grey anti-heroes instead. SO MUCH FUN.

2) Best friends to enemies

Probably the best trope ever, especially when executed well. And it is executed absolutely brilliantly in these books. Right off the bat, you know Victor and Eli were best friends and now enemies and it makes you dying to know how they end up this way.
Also, kinda reminds me of the Charles/Eric relationship in X-men and that’s not the only X-Men similarity…

3) X-Men-like powers

The people who have powers in this world are known as; ExtraOrdinary. They’re basically like X-Men and it’s pretty damn cool. The way they get their powers and what determines them is so interesting to learn about throughout the novels.  Just like X-Men, it makes me envious of their powers?? Why can’t powers exist? *sigh*

4) Weirdly relatable characters

I am no sociopathic killer with superpowers, yet I found Victor (and some of the other characters) weirdly relatable, easy to understand and super likeable. They do questionable things, I won’t lie, but I completely root for them.

5) Badass Ladies.

Sydney is a cool ass character from the beginning, I love her, she’s one of my favourites. But the second book, Vengeful, introduces some more badass ladies such as Marcella and Jude. Marcella is definitely a strong woman character, I love her revenge arc, it was such a joy to read. It’s nice to see a woman ‘villain’.

 

If none of that convinces you to immediately go out and buy these books; just look at the covers. They’re bloody gorgeous.

Review for Vicious | Review for Vengeful

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Review: Vicious by V.E. Schwab

“When no one understands, that’s usually a good sign that you’re wrong.”
― Victoria Schwab, Vicious

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Synopsis:
Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

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I am super late to the V.E. Schwab bandwagon, this is my first book by her and I was not disappointed!

Plot:
The plot is slow but interesting, it wouldn’t be my usual type of book. I usually go for more fast paced, action packed books, however, this was really intriguing.
The story jumps back and forth past and present, with various characters, in the past, Eli and Victor are roommates working on their thesis, Eli’s being on EO (ExtraOrdinaries). Eli believes EO’s are real and wants to figure out how. Victor steps in due to being jealous of Eli and wanting some of the credit.
Flash forward to the present, Victor wants revenge on Eli, so we know something bad happens between them.

V.E. Schwab’s writing was so compelling and intriguing, I just had to keep reading to know what happened between Eli and Victor and obviously, how Victor was going to get revenge. I loved the characters, I love the little trio that formed between Victor, Mitch and Sydney.

This book is basically X-Men, serious Charles/Eric (Prof X/Magneto) vibes – which I absolutely love. If you’re a fan of villains + X-men, go ahead and pick this up because you will love it!

Characters:
Victor: I loved Victor as the main character! He was so interesting and complex, I instantly took to him and I loved reading from his perspective. His friendship with Eli was cool, to begin with, but their rivalry was much more interesting.

Eli: I didn’t mind Eli, at first. Something always felt a bit off with him, I didn’t take to him as easily as I did with Victor. I definitely didn’t expect him to be such an arse,

Sydney: She was such a nice touch to the story, I love that she brought out the softer side of Victor and Mitch. She also added some sympathy, I felt so sorry for her, she’s so young yet been through a lot. She’s basically alone in the world and I love that she found Victor and Mitch.

Mitch: I thought Mitch was a cool side character, I love the friendship/partnership between him and Victor. I also love the little team him, Victor and Sydney make.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

*Review of Vengeful coming soon*

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