Vicious – meltotheany

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“I met Baron Spencer and he became my nightmare.”

Okay, you were all 100% correct. Vicious is totally the human equivalent of Cardan Greenbriar and I immediately want to reread this book this very second. Like, the first scene in his room, where he is sitting on the bed? I was waiting for my good dude to sprout a tail, honest to God. But yeah, this was an amazingly sexy read, and I enjoyed every single second of it. I can’t wait to continue on with the rest of this series.

Basically, this is very much an enemies to lovers story. And Vicious is a bigger bully than Cardan in every way, so if that is not your thing, I might skip this read. But if that is your thing? Oh Lord, please pick this up immediately. Seriously, I think L.J. Shen made a fan for life from this book alone.

This is a book told in flashbacks from present day to events that happened ten years ago that lead both main characters to where they are now. Vicious believes that Emilia overheard a conversation about a secret that he has been keeping forever. Emilia continues to be sweet, caring, and curious, and Vicious believes he has to remind her who has the power in every aspect of their lives.

That is, until Emilia is forced to leave LA forever, and goes to NY to pursue her dreams while trying to forget her tormentor. Yet, ten years later, things aren’t going great for Emilia; she just lost her job, she was just mugged, money is now extra tight, and she is also taking care of her chronically ill sister. Then one night, while she is working a night shift at a bar, the boy who has haunted her dreams walks in and gives her an offer that she is unable to refuse.

“I see you successfully graduated from a bully to a tyrant in the span of a decade.”

She then is forced to work under her bully, doing any and everything to keep him pleased. And we get to see them both struggle with their feelings for one another and decide if it is worth it to just get the other one out of their system. Emilia isn’t willing to fall for her tormentor, and Vicious won’t allow himself to have feelings for the one girl who is off limits for him. And the chemistry is honestly off the charts.

Friends, I’m just going to say it; the sex in this book is 11/10. Seriously, I immediately had to take a cold shower after, because the angst almost killed me during this reading experience. Like, the sexual tension in this is so damn extreme and some of the best I’ve read in a very long while. It feels like the slowest burn of all time, even though I don’t think I’d necessarily classify it as a slow burn. I don’t know, it’s a really weird reading experience, but so damn gratifying. The dirty talk was expertly done, too, and totally leg crossing inducing if you get what I’m saying.

“Vicious was vicious. It was too bad that my hate for him was dipped in a thin shell of something that felt like love.”

Overall, I just loved this completely. I will say that if you don’t like possessive partners then you probably wont like Vicious, but if you do enjoy that kind of thing then I completely implore you to pick this one up immediately, because I thought the trope was really well done. Like, I recommend this with every fiber of my being if you like hate to love romances. And all my friends promise me that Ruckus is even better, so I cannot wait to continue on with this series!

Content and trigger warnings for extreme bullying, talk of past child abuse, talk of chronic illness, talk of cancer, loss of a loved one, drug use, underage drinking, physical abuse, and extreme invasion of privacy.

Buddy Read with Riley! ❤

❤ I also read this for Contemporary-a-thon!

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“Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human.”

Friends, this is my fifth book by VE Schwab, and I’ve three starred every single one of them. At this point, it is glaringly obvious that you should take my review(s) of her work with a grain of salt, because it is obviously a “me” thing. I will say that I adore the author, and I want so desperately to fall in love with a book of hers. And even though I thought Vicious would be the one, it sadly wasn’t.

But this is a book about two college roommates who are literally experimenting with life and death and that tiny, minuscule, grey area in-between. Ten years later, a story of revenge, heartbreak, and anger is born. Yet, we still get glimpses into what happened at college ten years ago to bring these current ramifications into fruition.

“I want to believe that there’s more. That we could be more. Hell, we could be heroes.”

This book does raise the fascinating question, both in literature and in real life: what makes a hero and what makes a villain? Is it just the light the story is told in? Is the difference that monumental? Is it only a matter of perspective? Victor and Eli really challenge this question, and I adored it.

➽ Victor – Fresh out of jail and will stop at nothing to exact his revenge; the slower the better.

➽ Sydney – My favorite character, who needs to be protected at all costs, and is just trying to find her place in a world that has constantly made her feel like she doesn’t belong.

➽ Mitch – I highkey loved this hacker and Victor’s soft friend.

➽ Eli – I actually hated Eli, and I think that’s the point of this book, truly, but his crisis of faith was just too much for me.

➽ Serena – To me, Serena and Sydney were truly the bright, shining stars of this story. And Serena has the coolest power of all the EOs, in my opinion.

And these five people’s paths all cross; some because of tangled pasts, but some because of brand new beginnings. And these characters quickly prove that developing superpowers could be pretty damn frightening. Especially when the powers you develop are rooted in who you are and what you need.

One thing I do want to briefly mention that I adored was Victor’s love for blackout poetry. I’ve actually never seen a book character have a passion for it, and it really warmed my heart. Every time he would create something, it really would take my breath away. It was such a bright light in the story for me.

I read this with a few friends, and the reading was broken down over the course of five days. Day one and day five were both, easily, five star reading days. I loved the start and end of this book more than words. Again, Victoria Schwab is so intelligent, and her ideas are truly a tier above the rest. Sadly, the middle three days I just felt a bit bored, and it only got worse by day four. But the ending? God, I know I shouldn’t, but I desperately want to read Vengeful now.

I also really truly loved how the first and last chapter began. I’m always a sucker when authors mirror events and phrases throughout their book(s) and I feel like VE Schwab always successfully does this. And I get goosebumps each and every time.

Overall, I get that there is some kind of disconnect between me and this author’s books. And nothing is changing that because, believe me, I truly want to love her work so badly. Like I said above, take this review with a grain of salt because so many of my friends adore this book, and I really implore you to check out some of their amazing reviews: Em, Adriana, CW, Hari, & Mari!