Villains Series by V.E. Schwab
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.
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It’s been more than half a year since I’ve visited the wonderful writing of VE Schwab and it was too long of a break. The Villains duology is highly regarded as one of her best works and for good reason, it’s a book that digs into your brain, it makes you think, it entertains, it thrills, and it horrifies. The concept of making superpowered people and then having that experiment go horribly wrong is extremely intriguing and how it’s handled in this series, the morality of it all, just made it a stunning adventure into madness. These books explore just what it would mean if “superheroes” weren’t really the heroes of the story and what really is a villain? Who decides what’s right and what’s wrong? It was a total mind trip and I loved every minute of it.
Starting with book one, we get to explore the events leading up to Eli and Victor’s fateful experiment and it gives you all the dark academia vibes with just a sprinkling of the darker side of Marvel (think Jessica Jones or Luke Cage). I like how the storyline bounces from present day to glimpses into the past. Most of the times when stories do this I get annoyed as I want to stay in the moment but each present scene so perfectly offset the “explanation” scene from the past that I loved it this time around. The writing is superb, Schwab has a way of digging into your mind like no one else and it’s an extremely immersive experience.
Eli and Victor are both, at the start, already morally grey characters. Right from the start I wasn’t sure who I should be rooting for and it honestly wasn’t until mid-way through that I knew where the story was going. The characters were so dimensional. Victor and Eli were so extreme yet also so human at the same time. Their struggle through morality and their own new place in the world was interesting to see. I liked how two such similar characters had such extremely different reactions to supernatural abilities. The supporting characters also had large chunks of “main character” moments and became just as loveable. I would love to read a book solely about Sydney.
As amazing as it was, book one left me wanting. I knew Victor’s past, I knew whether or not I should like him, whether I should loathe him. Eli was a different story. I hated the guy but it was mainly because I didn’t understand him, couldn’t understand what made him tick. Book two fixed that problem. Seeing Eli’s background really brought us full circle and made both Eli and Victor’s roles so much clearer. I’m honestly just a little heartbroken they couldn’t just be a dynamic duo but I will admit their rivalry gave me life especially in book two. They play such great psychological games with one another and it makes it all so much more thrilling, the building in tension before each time they meet.
If you’re looking for a thrilling/dark academia/fantasy/superhero read, wow, look no further. This series was amazing and I will patiently wait for book 3 (whether or not that ever happens remains to be seen…. personally the end felt a little open to me). 4 Stars for Vicious, 5 stars for Vengeful. Go read it!