Villains duology series by V.E Schwab

 I would like to start by saying that this was a new experience for me. 

As someone who often read or watched a series with mostly main characters being heroes and morally good characters, it was definitely a new perspective seeing things from the eyes of villains and morally gray characters. Not to say that "good guys" can't also have flaws or make decisions with greater cost, but the way that Schwab described her characters felt utterly realistic and complex to the point i couldn't simply decide whether or not someone is truly good or evil in this story. I often found myself not knowing if I should root for anyone or dislike anyone or sympathize. There was no clear line to categorize sides and fit the narrative of "it's either one or the other". This is one of the things I highly admire in Schwab's writing, the ability to represent human complexity and subjectivity in moral. With that being said Vicious and Vengeful, as the titles clearly depict, is a story about vengeance and hatred, born from fear of what is unknown and different from social norms. It is a story of betrayals and broken promises as well as limitations and possibilities if one were to equip immense power which is extraordinary to humans. I would like to start with analyzing individually both books (warning: there might be spoilers!). 

Let's start off with Vicious:

The story circulates around two main protagonists; Victor and Eli

Victor and Eli are best friends and collage roommates, ambitious as well highly intelligent individuals who aspire to accomplish great things. 

This naturally shows a competitive side from the two, mostly Victor's jealousy over Eli's charming personality and determination, as Victor is shown to be his polar opposite. 

While reading the very beginning it seemed to me that the two were truly polar opposites, yet I began to notice on a deeper level that they were far more similar than what shows on the surface.

Victor is cold and calculative, rational and timid while Eli is more charming, bubbly and bold when faced with confrontation. However, we see through Victor's eyes that Eli's behavior might be more of a facade than his true nature. 

Naturally at this point I became invested in both characters, curious over Eli and intrigued over his dynamic with Victor. 

It was when Eli proposed his theory over a possibility to gain superpowers through trauma, as well as managing to prove his theory in practice, that I was hooked on the story. 

EO- Extraordinary humans with powers that suppress ordinary abilities. 

This is where the twist happens, when things turn completely around and the readers are pulled into a rollercoaster of chaos, following the progress of characters making life changing decisions, mistakes that cannot be undone and consequences that would lead to a grim and dark life. 

It all started with a dream of becoming superheroes, of using extraordinary powers to help those in need. Instead it ended up with creating what society would see as monsters, abuse of power and manipulation as well as thirst for blood and revenge. 

I couldn't put the book down, my breath was caught in my throat and my chest tightened with anxiety and anticipation.

It was addicting, turning each page to see what would happen and to know what would become of the characters. 

In a way I felt immense pity, but also anger over the choices made and cruel actions that took place. 

I both wanted them to pay for what they did, but at the same time I felt a strange wave of sadness and at times simply wanted the misery to stop. I grew attached to Victor, at times wishing for his safety yet despising him in times when he made cold hearted decision. 

It was also saddening for me to see two best friends turn enemies, as Victor and Eli, once ambitious partners in creation of something both horrid and revolutionary, end up deadly rivals dancing in the tango of endless grudges and hatred. 

The internal conflict within me is why I applaud Scwhab for her superb writing and ability to bring the characters to life, to depict them in such way that one cannot easily dismiss or love them. 

To me that is truly what morally gray characters are, balance, imperfection and true complexity of human psychology. 

I also adored the side characters, Victor's crew and especially little Sydney who, just like Victor and Eli, is an EO. 

While Vicious focuses mostly on the origin story of Victor and Eli, as well as their rivalry and the understanding of what EO's are, Vengeful expands to something much bigger.

The book is a sequel, it is a web while Vicious is more of a spider within the large web.

In this book we get introduced to new characters, as well as the main antagonist Marcella (who I admit was not a character I was truly fond of, and i'll get to that later). 

In Vengeful we truly see the dark reality of greed and abuse of power. Even if someone is granted a chance to become a superhero, they would rather watch the world burn.

Then there are EO's that show the goodness in humanity, sacrificing their own gain to protect loved ones, such characters like June and Dominic. 

In this book Victor and Eli are forced to put aside their grudges to stop a mutual threat, which is Marcella. 

Now why do I dislike Marcella? 

I think Marcella as a character is well crafted, but the main reason I put my rating lower for this book than Vicious is due to the overly consumed time focused on Marcella. 

Her character takes up 50% of the story which leaves less room for other characters, especially Eli, who had way less scenes in Vengeful than Vicious. 

I will say that this book gives more information and understanding of Eli as a character, but I missed reading about his rivalry and clashing with Victor. 

With that being said it didn't ruin my reading experience, I simply personally wished there was more Victor and Eli moments. 

What is the message that I got from this story?

To me, this duology speaks of society and subjectivity of morality. It is a grim and realistic tale of the dark parts of humanity and the complexity of the mind as we see each situations from the perspective of different characters, get a glimpse of their individual arcs thus understanding why they did what they did. EO's aren't just about heroes or villains, they are humans like any other pushed into a supernatural life that brings more misfortune than luck. Why? Because of society, their fear of what is different and unexplained. 

Instead of trying to understand, to seek humane ways to approach EO's they would rather dehumanize and exterminate them like pests. 

Humans determine in a blink of an eye what is good and evil, using irrationality and fear, as well as extreme beliefs to explain many events.

If one EO commits crime does that automatically mean all of them are monsters? 

Yet when humans commit crime, only those who break the law are considered corrupt. 

If an EO helps others and abides the law they are still considered as possible threat, while humans who help and save others are considered heroes.

Could we truly then say that there is objective morality? Can we truly distinguish good and evil simply by discriminating an entire group for being extraordinary and different from social norms? 

“But these words people threw around - humans, monsters, heroes, villains - to Victor it was all just a matter of semantics. Someone could call themselves a hero and still walk around killing dozens. Someone else could be labeled a villain for trying to stop them. Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human.”

― V.E. Schwab, Vicious

Rating:

Vicious: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Vengeful: ⭐⭐⭐⭐