Review: Vicious

Vicious by V.E. Schwab
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I almost gave this one 5 stars, but it was like 4.5 all the way and I decided to give 4 at the end. Since that, I started reading the follow-up book and it managed to improve even more on this rather impressive story, so at least I left some space for myself to signal this improvement.

I like urban fantasy, but this one was something really different from the stuff I am used to. I like Richard Kadrey, but considering the kind of dark world of Sandman Slim this is really not that dark. Which doesn't mean that sometimes this was not dark at all, or gruesome even. But sometimes I felt it a little bit more Y.A. than not. By definition this (and all the books under the same pseudonym of the author) are her adult novels, but still.

But it's not a problem at all. The world-building is quite exceptional and I liked how the author builds the characters. After a while, I just realized that I can't really identify with any of the main characters and somehow that was the reason why they felt so real.

The writing was easy but beautiful. The whole language was very natural to me. I really liked the structure of the book, with the rather short chapters going on in several different timelines.

I think I have a new favorite I have to add to my ever-growing list. As I mentioned earlier I've already started the second installment in the saga and I wholeheartedly recommend both.

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