Book Review: Vicious (Vicious #1)

Release Date: September 24, 2013
Author: V.E. Schwab
Publisher: Tor
Length: 364 pages
Source: Purchased Book

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.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

    

Review:

Characters: Normally this is the part of the review where I take a good look at the protagonist, or protagonists of the story, talk about if I liked them as characters, if they felt realistic and just my overall feelings about the central character. However, even though there is a central character, one that I'd even go so far as to say is the protagonist, there is a whole cast of characters in this book and they don't all fit into "hero" and "villain" roles. There is one character who I feel like wholly encompasses a hero or "good guy/girl" role, but the rest are sort of anti-heroes and anti-villains. They look from the outside like the opposite of what they are, but knowing these characters, their true personalities come to light. I loved the complexities of these characters. It wasn't because they were multi-layered and realistic, which they were, but more that as I said before they don't fall into typical character stereotypes, everyone in this book is flawed in some way and some more than others and it's just fascinating to read.

World-Building: This book is full of flashbacks and time jumps that while I was fine reading it, it could, especially if you speed read, get a bit confusing. With that out of the way, let's talk superpowers. The main feature of this book is the idea that some people, through a certain series of events, can be granted ExtraOrdinary powers. What I really enjoyed about this world is that the whole idea of powers and the like springs forth out of science. There's a perfectly rational explanation for the distribution of these powers and why and how certain powers are given to certain people. Then there were the bits of exposition that tie this story together. For the first part of this story there is very little emphasis put on the present day chapters, they're short and while they can still be entertaining, they sometimes felt more like something to string the backstory chapters together and act as a bit of a drum roll for the second half of the book. The second half of the book mostly takes place over one day, with chapters here and there explaining the backstory of certain characters and filling in holes in the story in a smooth and entertaining way.

Predictability: I don't normally read adult books, and because of that I'm not at all attuned to the different formulas and styles of writing adult fiction. With this book, there weren't really any big twists or "gotcha" moments where something intense or chocking is revealed. Instead this story just sort of chugs along, the various climactic moments just sort of happening without the big reveals I'm used to. Even when things were revealed in this book, it was done without ceremony and just sort of felt dampened and like there was no need for excitement or shock over that last revelation.

Ending: Going into this book I had expected it to be a standalone. However, as I was getting ever closer to that final climax I went to the GoodReads page and noticed that there is a sequel planned for sometime in the future, now that sort of changed perspective on how I viewed the ending. First off, the final climax, which for all intents and purposes felt like the climax of a standalone, had an air of something unfinished added to it. Then there's the actual ending. Now, the ending to this book sort of has a dual purpose feel to it. On the one hand this book wraps up very well and there's no real need to dive into this world again if you don't feel inclined to, but depending on how you look at it, the ending is also a cliffhanger that, if you let it, can grind agonizingly on you until the release of the sequel, so tread lightly.

Rating:

Okay, so this book was very hard to rate. Not only is it an Adult book, which I don't read all that often, but it has got its own unique intricacies that made it very hard to rate. In the end I went with five stars because I really loved this book, its world, and its characters and I won't waste any time picking up the sequel as soon as it's released!

Book Review: V is for Villain

Release Date: May 20, 2014
Author: Peter Moore
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Length: 336 pages
Source: eGalley via NetGalley

Brad Baron is used to looking lame compared to his older brother, Blake. Though Brad's basically a genius, Blake is a superhero in the elite Justice Force. And Brad doesn't measure up at his high school, either, where powers like super-strength and flying are the norm. So when Brad makes friends who are more into political action than weight lifting, he's happy to join a new crew-especially since it means spending more time with Layla, a girl who may or may not have a totally illegal, totally secret super-power. And with her help, Brad begins to hone a dangerous new power of his own.

But when they're pulled into a web of nefarious criminals, high-stakes battles, and startling family secrets, Brad must choose which side he's on. And once he does, there's no turning back.

Perfect for fans of The Avengers, Ironman, and classic comic books, V is for Villain reveals that it's good to be bad.

    

Review:

Protagonist: This story focuses on Brad Baron, a by with a famous superhero brother and no real powers of his own. Well, that's not exactly true, he does have a superior intelligence and some annoying voices in his head, but no physical powers. Since this story is about a boy who becomes a villain, I was interested to see how the author handled it, and well it's actually handled rather well. The road from hero worshiping lad to villain is actually very believable. Honestly, in a lot of respects I actually agreed with what Brad was doing, there were a few things that were a bit too fr or felt a bit crazy, but most everything was rather rational. While I don't 100% completely agree with who Brad becomes by the end, there's still a lot about him that I would identify with.

Romance: So the romance in this book isn't all that expansive. The romance between Brad and Layla starts off a bit awkward, and in the beginning I didn't know whether or not I would like it. Over the course of the book the romance progresses, but is still kept very tame. It never got overly one sided and neither of the individuals involved did anything creepy thankfully, but there wasn't anything that I felt particularly attached to in the romance.

World-Building: So one of the gimmicks to this book is that there are footnotes providing extra details of world-building. Some of these notes would break up the flow of the story if they would have just been added in, and some of them were really interesting and helped expand this world even more. However, most footnotes felt either superfluous or that they could have just been entered into the main text and not thrown off the story at all. The world-building itself was pretty cool. While in the beginning I just assumed this was a world in which metahumans existed, as the story progressed we learn about their origins and about the truths behind this superpowered world.

Predictability: For most of this book things seemed to be fairly predictable. Things just sort of went how I expected them to as our protagonists entered into their nefarious ways, and somethings just seemed overly obvious. However as the book developed and evolved there were some definite twists that caught me off guard. There are deep dark secrets to this world, things that I never would have guessed if the foreshadowing hadn't been there. Overall, the foreshadowing for larger twists later in the book was kept very slight, there's not much that'll clue you in on what's going on until the author wants you to.

Ending: So this is a standalone, at least from what I can tell it is. However after a rather epic final climax, this book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. I mean most everything is pretty wrapped up, but there are still a great many things left to explore. I don't know if this author meant to leave so many things up in the air or if he hoped to turn this into a series, but either way, by the end of this book I still had so many questions on my mind and I felt as though Brad's journey was far from over.

Rating:

For the most part I really enjoyed this book, there were plenty of times I couldn't even set this book down because it was so good. However with some rather superfluous footnotes and an unfinished ending I just couldn't give it five stars.

Book Review: These Vicious Masks (These Vicious Masks #1)

Release Date: February 9, 2016
Authors: Tarun Shanker & Kelly Zekas
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Length: 352 pages
Source: eARC via NetGalley

Jane Austen meets X-­Men in this gripping and adventure-­filled paranormal romance set in Victorian London.

England, 1882. Evelyn is bored with society and its expectations. So when her beloved sister, Rose, mysteriously vanishes, she ignores her parents and travels to London to find her, accompanied by the dashing Mr. Kent.

But they’re not the only ones looking for Rose.

The reclusive, young gentleman Sebastian Braddock is also searching for her, claiming that both sisters have special healing powers. Evelyn is convinced that Sebastian must be mad, until she discovers that his strange tales of extraordinary people are true—and that her sister is in graver danger than she feared.

     

Review:

Protagonist: Evelyn doesn't fit into proper Victorian Society, nor does she really want to, but her mother insists on dragging her to every ball and social event trying to finder her a husband. Evelyn shuns this and does whatever she can to foil her mother's insistence, but that becomes all but a small speck of a problem after her sister is abducted in the middle of the night. Now Evelyn runs off to London following a trail her sister left with only the witty and charming Mr. Kent as her company and help. I really enjoyed Evelyn's stubborn character; she's always up for adventure, even if it's dangerous. Over the course of the book she grows stronger and surer of herself as she searches vehemently for her sister.

Romance: So since this is a Swoon Reads title, I knew there was going to be plenty of romance, and while there is quite a bit of romance, it's not a main story line. There is a love triangle in this book and try as I might I cannot dislike either suitor. I mean, they both have plenty of faults and there are many times that I've switched allegiances, but when it comes down to it, I really enjoy both suitors and their chemistry with Evelyn, while different from each other, is done very well. I'm trying to decide if I have a preference but even though one suitor is your typical dark and brooding love interest, he's not as clichéd as all of that. The other love interest is more the witty, charming, always has a fun retort on the tip of his tongue, friendly type of character. 

World-Building: So all I really knew about this book going in was X-Men in a Victorian setting and I have to say in a lot of ways that hold up. There are strange mutant-like powers, manifesting in seemingly random individuals, and I found the explanations for these mutations really interesting. As the book continues we see more and more individuals with powers and see the full range of what some people are capable of. The other side of this world is Victorian Society, now while I always enjoy a book with societal sub-plots I also always find the rules and restrictions of what's proper and improper for a lady to do annoying. I mean, I know this takes place in the past where people were pretty much insane when it came to women's rights, but still, it can get really frustrating. 

Predictability: So this book had the perfect balance of predictable and unpredictable, and some of the less predictable stuff was done in a really cool way. So like, whenever something felt a bit off, or something felt too convenient, there would be an explanation that never felt like the authors were just trying to explain away a plot hole, it felt all very meticulously planned and was full of some phenomenal twists.

Ending: This ending was a wildfire; it was full of some fantastic action and spectacular tension. The final climax was so crazy there were so many times that I was really genuinely worried for some of the main characters, the ones that typically don't die in the first book. The very end of the book, the last chapter, really helps to set up where this series is headed and shows us where a lot of characters ended up after the final climax.

Rating:

 

This book was spectacular! There were times when I had my reservations but as the book continued these authors found a way to turn me around on this story and make me love it to pieces! I can't wait to see where this series goes next!

Book Review: Ferals (Ferals #1)

Release Date: April 28, 2015
Author: Jacob Grey
Publisher: HarperCollins
Length: 288 pages
Source: eGalley from Edelweiss

A sinister threat. A city in danger. A boy with the power to command the crows. Ferals is the first book in a dark, action-packed trilogy that’s part The Graveyard Book, part Batman, and all high-octane adventure.

Blackstone was once a thriving metropolis. But that was before the Dark Summer—a wave of violence and crime that swept through the city eight years ago, orchestrated by the fearsome Spinning Man. Now the Spinning Man is on the move again, and a boy named Caw is about to be caught in his web.

Caw has never questioned his ability to communicate with crows. But as the threat of a new Dark Summer looms, Caw discovers the underground world of Blackstone’s ferals—those with the power to speak to and control animals. Caw is one of them. And to save his city, he must quickly master abilities he never knew he had . . . and prepare to defeat a darkness he never could have imagined.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Caw lives on the streets or, to be more specific, in a tree, with only three crows to keep him company. Soon however Caw's life is about to change as he's thrust into the world of Ferals where his odd ability to speak to crows isn't so weird and where he still has more powers left to discover. I really liked Caw as he was a character that was very easy to root for and identify with. Over the course of the book he learns more about himself and his history and grows very organically as a character.

World-Building: So when I first saw this book as being described Batman meets Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book I was very excited. I've never read The Graveyard Book, but this story did have a slight Neil Gaiman quality to it, as well as times where I could see it being compared to Batman as well. There was a lot that was revealed in his book that I didn't think would be explored until later in a series like this. There's so much world-building packed into this one, fairly short, book that I can't wait to see how this world develops as the trilogy continues.

Predictability: So for the most part this book was fairly predictable, but not in a bad way. It wasn't as if I was angry that certain plot points were predictable, but more that I was excited to see what exactly they mean and how they would play into the story and expand it. There were also some things that I wasn't able to predict, mainly smaller details that, at times, were extremely shocking. If you are someone that can easily pick up on foreshadowing then I doubt you'll be constantly shocked by the twists in this book, but if you're a newer reader or a younger one than I think you'll have a blast with how this book can surprise you.

Ending: I was very surprised with how this book ended. A far as I knew the publisher had already ordered the full trilogy, so for this book to end in a way that wraps up most if not all of the dangling threads of this book. The final climax of this book was amazing but with a villain that seemed so daunting and powerful I was surprised with how easily the battle was over. I'll be interested to see where this trilogy will continue and just what's to come for our young hero.

Rating:

This book was such a great read, it was quick and adventurous and, again, with so much packed into this book I'm excited to see how the author expands this world next!