Dear Reader,
It’s me, Ashleigh Kennedy, the long lost soul trapped in Dauphin Hall. Ever since starting my job in the DHC Writing Lab (and my Honors capstone due in four weeks), I’ve been spirited away to the depths of the English Department, desperately attempting to return to sunlight once more. But fear not, dear reader, I am permitted today to resurface just once in order to deliver what is probably going to be my last blog post with the Dorm-less Diaries. :( On a more serious note, this is my last semester at Shippensburg before heading off to graduate school, and I will miss everyone who I’ve made memories with in the Commuter Committee and the Honors College in general. I will carry y’all with me wherever I go.
Okay, back to pretending to be happy. It’s November 1st as I write this, Día de los Muertos, All Saints Day, etc., so why not talk about something on the more sinister side, something to fill the post-Halloween itch in your soul. Today, we’re talking about Vicious by V.E. Schwab. You might remember V.E. Schwab from when I reviewed her other book, A Darker Shade of Magic, or you might just know her from her other wildly popular books, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, This Savage Song, or Gallant. But if you don’t know her, just know that whether you like YA fantasy, sci-fi realism, or more poetic historical fiction, you’ll probably find something to like in at least one of Schwab’s many books.
Vicious is more on the grim, realist side of things, with just a hint of the fantastic to set things ablaze. The story revolves around the “protagonist” Victor and the “antagonist” Eli, both of whom begin as morally ambiguous college roommates studying biology. Eli takes a gander that ExtraOrdinary people, people who have borderline magical abilities, do exist and can be replicated through experimentation. As Victor and Eli set out to test this theory, they become changed in more ways that they even begin to realize and turn to taking each other down in the aftermath.
This is an almost 400-page book, but it doesn’t feel like it, as Schwab’s stark and steady prose combined with the pressing and turning plot builds suspense that gives Eli and Victor’s final confrontation a razor-sharp edge. And if all this information doesn’t yet convince you, well, this book’s first scene is two of the characters digging up a grave. Vicious is a celebration and condemnation of villainy, a delight that fills you with dread. I recommend it for all your late November nights to come.
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