Vicious

Villains, Book 1

By: V. E. Schwab

Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur

V. E. Schwab's New York Times bestseller Vicious is a masterful tale of ambition, jealousy, desire, and superpowers.

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?

In Vicious, V. E. Schwab brings to life a gritty comic-book-style world in vivid prose: a world where gaining superpowers doesn't automatically lead to heroism, and a time when allegiances are called into question.

"A dynamic and original twist on what it means to be a hero and a villain. A killer from page one…highly recommended!" —Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of Marvel Universe vs The Avengers and Patient Zero

One of Publishers Weekly's Best Fantasy Books of 2013.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.

©2013 V. E. Schwab (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

2013, Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year, Long-listed

Entertainment Weekly's 27 Female Authors Who Rule Sci-Fi and Fantasy Right Now

"Fresh, merciless, and, yes, vicious. Wow." (Mira Grant, New York Times best-selling author of the Newsflesh Trilogy)

“Schwab's characters feel vital and real, never reduced to simple archetypes.... In a genre that tends toward the flippant or pretentious, this is a rare superhero novel as epic and gripping as any classic comic. Schwab's tale of betrayal, self-hatred, and survival will resonate with superhero fans as well as readers who have never heard of Charles Xavier or Victor von Doom.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

“A fun, morally-flexible revenge tale...Vicious methodically ratchets up the tension as Victor and Eli circle each other for the inevitable kill.” (Daniel H. Wilson, NYT best-selling author of Robopocalypse)

Fav author

It’s official! I have a new favorite author! V E SCHWAB! She is incredible! I have not read anything like her work. The magic is phenomenal. The characters are so well put together, I feel they are real. I live the foundations and dynamic between the 2 MMCs and the sisters are great together! I am going to read the second right after this review!

Slow start..

Overall I ended up really enjoying this book. It didn’t grab me right away like Addie LaRue did. It was a little bit slow to start for me, I think it picked up about half way through. I’m glad I stuck it out and did not DNF. Starting on Vengeful now :)

Loved it!

I’ve enjoyed every book I’ve listed to by V.E. Schwab, and the narrator and characters in this one were fabulous and the plot was gripping. A great listen!

Speechless.

New reader and now a fan of V.E. Schwab, and all I can say about this audiobook and novel are lovely things. Jeremy was a perfect pick for narrator, and he kept me in the story every second, just as the characters themselves had. Can’t wait to listen to the next.

So Good!

It's such a good story! The characters are very endearing. The narrator does a fantastic job. Can't wait for book two!

Great story

This was a solid story with characters I enjoyed and felt invested in. I will definitely continue this series.

Dull

I didn't hate the book, but I also didn't find myself itching to hear more. I suffered a bad habit of zoning out to the drab and dull scenes that when I would come to, I didn't bother rewinding.

I was curious enough to finish it and make it to the end because I enjoyed the darker shades of magic series but this is not a book I would recommend like I would for the other series.

Every time I believed there to be some sort of action or suspense it always ended up falling flat, so despite their being a death, it was told with less dramatics than picking flowers.

Not a good commute book, since it made me zone out.
maybe a better sitting by the pool relaxing book.

Slow burn

Was a bit slow at first, but absolutely addicting after a few chapters. Wish it went a little deeper. Performance was good.

Overall a very good story

I found the narrator very captivating and engaging. Loved the story and was motivated to continue listening throughout. Excited to start the second book.

A fun dastardly wonderful book

This book was surprising good! I was impressed at the humanity of these terrible dudes. Interesting side characters and a new look at what super powers would mean. Love it