Hey Everyone,
How is everyone? So I am back with another book review. It feels like ages since I have done one but it has only been a couple of weeks lol.
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?
Published: September 2013
Published Edition: January 2014
Publishers: Titan Books
Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Adult
Pages: 366
Format of Reading: Ebook
Goodreads Star Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (3.5)
review
I just want to mention that The Shades of Magic trilogy is one of my favourite series of all time but I was unsure of how I felt about reading this book.
This follows two roommates in College and they are both interested into the concept of the Extra Ordinary (Like mutants from X-Men or Meta-Humans from the DC universe) both men are sucked into the power and it leads to one of them in prision while the other takes in the glory of being a “saviour to humanity”. Ten years past and Victor, the man who was sent to prison, escapes with his cellmate Mitch and they both go and search for Eli who is taking the glory of being an EO saviour. Victor and Mitch soon encounter a young girl named Sydney who has been shot in the chest. The three of them soon start to look for Eli and try to stop him for good.
I found the conecpt of this book to be interesting and I was curious because it is by Victoria Schwab but I will have to honest, I wasn’t a huge fan going into this book. I got myself confused alot and it was due to the jump of flashbacks, I was completely lost as to what was happening. I remember reading the first chapter and then going “Wait…what did I just read?” I knew from the beginning that this book was not for me. I would have liked it, if the book started off with the flashbacks and then the second half were the present day stuff. I found myself liking the present day stuff more than the flashbacks. Which is typical of me.
I liked Sydney, she was a very interesting character. She was always in the shadow of her older sister but is often afraid of her as well. She hates her sister but manages to tolerate her as well. But when she meets Victor and Mitch, she is able to open herself a little more and understand that her powers are a gift. She does trust both Victor and Mitch but she finds it really hard to accept the actions of her sister whether she trusts her or not.
I think my expectations of this book were something more than what was on the page, Victor’s determination on killing Eli dragged and it would have been great that they had seen each other before the meet at the end. I was expecting some sort of banter or bad guy type of face off, like Klaus Mikaelson. The frenimes didn’t meet to my expectations, I guess I am so used to seeing something more dramatic on screen that on page it is just not enough.
As I have said I loved the Shades of magic trilogy and I am unsure if I will pick up Vengeful. While I admire the book covers and the interesting plot, I don’t see myself buying the book. I don’t know how you feel about this book, whether you loved it or not, how do you feel about it?
XX
DreamingAndReading 