Vicious || Book Review

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?


Vicious by V.E. Schwab || 5/5

  • It was a page-turner. I couldn’t stop reading, and my homework definitely suffered.
  • It wasn’t in chronological order, but it wasn’t hard to keep track of what was going on.
  • I fell in love with the characters.
    • It was interesting to read a story where everyone is morally gray. There’s no clear hero, and there’s no clear villain.
    • So who should you root for?
    • What if someone’s doing the right thing for the wrong reasons? Or the wrong thing for the right reasons?
    • I loved getting into the heads of the villains. And finding them relatable. Usually, you’re supposed to despise the villain. You’re supposed to gasp and go “How could they do something so atrocious?” But what if you know how and why? Do things change?
  • The writing style is beautiful, the characters are believable.
  • I was constantly asking questions and I was fully sucked into the world of Vicious.
  • Overall, I HIGHLY recommend this book. Go read it. Right now. You’ll thank me later.

Read 9/23/2018 to 9/26/2018


Read More: Review of This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab


Also, I think this song pairs nicely with Vicious.

3 Days, 3 Quotes Challenge Day 2

Hello, squishy, nonexistent marshmallows!

I was tagged for this by the awesomazing Sophia Ismaa and the wonderful H.R.R. Gorman a long time ago.


RULES

  • Thank the person who nominated you.
  • Post a quote for three consecutive days (1 quote for each day)
  • Share why this quote appeals so much to you.
  • Nominate 3 different bloggers for each day

So first, I haven’t done three consecutive days (I’m bad at following the rules), but I will be doing three consecutive posts. So there’s Friday, today, and probably Wednesday. Speaking of scheduling posts, school is starting tomorrow for me (far too soon), so we’ll be returning to the schedule of posts on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays instead of every weekday. Also, Spinnette’s school doesn’t start for another week, and I’m just putting it out there that I’m jealous.

Also, I’m doing multiple quotes instead of just one. *I am a rulebreaker*

Also, since yesterday’s post was optimistic, today’s theme will be pessimistic quotes that I love.

“You spend your whole life in the labyrinth, thinking about how you’ll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.”

—John Green, Looking for Alaska

“Everyone’s immortal until they’re not.”

—V.E. Schwab, A Gathering of Shadows

You’ll also notice that I didn’t write down why these quotes appeal to me so much. More evidence of my rule-breaking tendencies. Really, when I read a quote that I love, I’ll be drawn to it. It breaks me out of the flow of the story and it makes me think.


I’m Tagging…


Read More: 3 Days, 3 Quotes Challenge Day 1

A Gathering of Shadows|Review

This book was absolutely awesome. It’s definitely MUCH better than the first book, which I was kind of just “meh” about.

The writing flowed really well and the world building was great. This book is definitely character-driven rather than plot-driven. (Which is good for me because I like character-driven books better.) The characters are spectacular. I love them all.

There wasn’t much of a plot (in the traditional plot diagram way of things). Things kind of just kept happening and the book seemed more like a bridge between the first and the third book than an addition to the overall storyline. The whole premise of the book is kinda random. It doesn’t really flow from the first book. The events from the first book don’t even seem that essential in this book. It’s not really a continuation of the first book. It’s more like another adventure concerning the same characters. The book was definitely not slow-to-start, things were always happening, but there was no clear antagonist or major conflict for the majority of the book.

Lila is really trigger happy and I can’t begin to understand her. She’s really spontaneous. My issue with her was that when she went on her killing sprees, she rarely showed remorse, which didn’t make her seem real. She was extremely unrelatable for me. I still love her, though. But maybe that unrelatable-ness makes her enviable. Either way, she’s awesome.

ALUCARD IS THE BEST.

I feel really bad for all these characters.


SPOILERS AHEAD… YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

I love Holland. Especially the idea of an antagonist that isn’t really bad just ‘cuz. Holland’s a good guy who is forced to make some hard choices. This goes along with the idea that everyone thinks they’re the good guy.

END SPOILERS


 

Rating: 5/5

Apologies for the choppy post, guys. I’m still trying to figure out how to go about writing book reviews. This time, I took notes while reading the book and then put those notes into paragraph form. Obviously, that didn’t work. It was choppy and lacked my usual charm. Also, the whole thing seems rather negative even though I LOVED this book and I gave it 5/5. That’s probably because I only paused my reading to write about the parts I didn’t like because when I liked parts, I was engrossed.

I also should probably write reviews right after I read the book. I finished this book a week ago, so I wasn’t able to properly expand on the ideas I wrote down.

Either way, it’s a work in progress.

Book Reviews for Days!

I’m going to eventually run out of titles for these book review posts.

I haven’t been reading as many books lately as I want to. I think I’m facing the dreaded reading slump. But it’s all curable. Hopefully. I’m going to read Six of Crows to fix it.


the young elites.jpg

The Young Elites   3/5

The story was lovely, but I didn’t like the writing style. I didn’t really connect with the character or care about them. The relationships between them were also weird. None of the minor characters were developed, either. The story was just kind of average. It was okay. I am planning to continue the series.


 wonder woman warbringer.jpg

Wonder Woman: Warbringer   4/5

This book was okay. I like the characters a lot and the story was good, but I wasn’t really invested in it. The book didn’t call to me and it took me nearly two weeks to finish it. People who aren’t fans of superheroes (like me) will be fine reading it. It made sense and the worldbuilding was good.


of mice and men.jpg

Of Mice and Men   3/5

It was okay. I don’t really have much to say about it.


looking for alaska.jpg

Looking for Alaska   4/5

The characters were the most unrelatable high schoolers I’ve ever read. They were sixteen, but they seemed a ton older. The story was interesting enough, but there wasn’t much of a plot and the ending was unsatisfactory. Things just kept happening instead of there being your usual antagonist and such. The metaphors were awesome and this book was a ton better than An Abundance of Katherines or Paper Towns.


warcross.jpg

Warcross   5/5

The story was great. I love the idea of Warcross. I need the game right now. The ending of the book leaves the reader needing the second book to come out right away (I’m speaking from experience) and it also asks some deep questions.

Emika was randomly talented and the romance felt weird for some reason I can’t put my finger on, but I can live with that. The minor characters weren’t really developed, either. I’d like to see more of them.

The plot of this book was amazing, but the characters could use some more work.


a gathering of shadows.jpg

A Gathering of Shadows   6/5

I’ll have a full-sized review on this out soon. Everyone needs to read this series.


Currently Reading

six of crows.jpg

I’m in between books right now, but I’m going to reread Six of Crows to remedy my reading slump and it’s going to be brilliant.


My TBR

  1. Six of Crows
  2. Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda
  3. Let the Sky Fall
  4. Pathfinder
  5. A List of Cages
  6. Seraphina
  7. The Rose Society
  8. Batman: Nightwalker