Double bill: Vicious, Vengeful and stories about Villains

Photo by max fuchs on Unsplash

Knowing I'm a fan of the brilliant V.E. Schwab's Shades of Magic series, my friend had been trying to convince me to give Villains a go for a couple of years. In 2020, I finally got stuck in. And I would say, even though I binged the two published instalments and I'm already itching for the third, this series requires a particular kind of mood; one is not always up for diving into a dark and twisted world where most, if not all, of the main characters are decidedly horrible people.

However, if you are in said mood, the novels are brilliant. Schwab masterfully builds an AU where superpowers exist, but instead of being a gift, they're the result of a near death experience. And, to make matters even more fascinating, the author ties everyone's individual power to the way they almost perished. It's incredibly fun learning how each experience manifests itself, because there always seems to be a twist.

The non-linear way in which the narrative unfolds only adds to the suspense. The books are told through various flashbacks that link together into the web of the story. Between this and the multiple points of view, each novel is a slow build, but you find yourself not minding, because both Vicious and Vengeful are about the journey more than the destination.

In these character-driven tales, we get to meet a host of very bad people. I'm not kidding - these protagonists are genuinely awful, y'all. Now, I love rooting for one side in a conflict - something my partners constantly mocks me for when we watch nature documentaries - but I really struggled to find anyone I wanted to back in the Villains universe. It says a lot about the cast when your favourite is a hulking, unlikely hacker who doesn't even get his own POV chapters.

Victor and Eli are both messed up. Serena is horrible, and Sydney constantly reads like she has one foot on either side. And don't even get me started on the psycho Marcella. Or June, who is alarmingly possessive and comes with tons of undisclosed baggage. They. are. all. terrible. But that's what makes the narrative such a fascinating train wreck. You see them all, driven by their flaws and thirst for revenge, and you just know they're on a collision course, but you can't look away.

Absolutely. Masterful.

Over the course of the series, V.E. Schwab dissects human nature by shining a spotlight on a band of unique, enthralling characters that can only be described as villains, despite their fervent belief that they are the heroes.

5/5 stars for Vicious & 4/5 stars for Vengeful