Vicious by V.E. Schwab - HIGH

Vicious  by V.E. Schwab, 364 pages. Tom Doherty Associates 2013 $19 

Language: R (51 swears 16 'f's); Mature Content: PG (Implied sex, kissing)  Violence: PG-13 (Suicide, fighting, blood, revenge) 

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH 

Are superheroes real? And if not the heroes themselves, what about just the powers that manifest under extreme stress like when someone manages to lift a car in an emergency? To medical student Eli Cardale, this is the perfect thesis topic, and his roommate, Victor Vale, is no less interested. Ambition is a power of its own and they discover a way to induce these abilities. As their research moves from theoretical to experimental, disasters occur and ten years later, Victor wants nothing more than vengeance on the person who used to be his best friend in the world. 

"Vicious" jumped through time, illustrating what happened when the two boys were in school, the day of vengeance, and the events leading up to it. Characters are ridiculously well developed and are all extremely intelligent. The author walks you through their reasoning very well. Schwab also demonstrates beautiful, introspective writing and story-telling! I really enjoyed this novel, and would certainly recommend it to most people! Mature content includes implied sex, brief kissing, suicide (but not suicidal-ness), much blood and violence, and a decent amount of F-words. All characters are white or implied white. 

Sierra Finlinson