Vicious
V.E. Schwab is another author I discovered through Litsy. I bought A Darker Shade of Magic and began following her on Twitter. Since my TBR stacks are ridiculous, and I’m a mood reader, I still haven’t cracked ADSOM open, but I did buy the rest of the series. When I saw Vicious at Barnes and Noble, it jumped off the shelf, into my hands. Superheroes? Sounds intriguing. I’m a huge X-Men and MCU fan, so sign me up!
Firstly, let me say that V.E. Schwab deserves all the hype. Her writing style really works for me. The cadence of her prose, her attention to detail, and ability to create a detailed image with words is fantastic.
Secondly, she crafts great characters. They do not fall into a black and white, good or evil category. The ambiguity is compelling. Also, I don’t know about you, but I find people who commit depraved acts while firmly believing they are working for the “greater good”, the true believer types (religious or not), to be the most terrifying and troubling of characters. Think Alexander Pierce in Captain America: Winter Soldier. I don’t want to give anything away, but Schwab definitely writes her zealot well. **shudder**
Lastly, I got a real Flatliners movie vibe from this book, with how ExtraOrdinary people (EOs) are created, which was kind of fun and nostalgic. I could say more, but I don’t want to risk spoilers. This is easily a 4 star book and you should definitely give it a shot if you have any interest in Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels. There is a prequel eBook available, titled “Warm Up”, which I read after finishing Vicious and I highly recommend it as well.
Tails from the Dog-side 