'Vicious' presents morality and revenge as interwoven spirals rather than linear paths. The opening chapters establish Eli and Victor as college rivals, but their moral divergence begins earlier—Eli sees his actions as holy purification, Victor views his as necessary justice. Their definitions of 'evil' keep shifting throughout the timeline jumps, which is Schwab's masterstroke.
The novel's middle sections reveal how revenge erodes morality through escalation. Victor's initial goal seems fair—punish Eli for murdering his girlfriend—but his methods grow increasingly monstrous. He doesn't just want Eli dead; he wants to break him psychologically. Meanwhile, Eli's crusade against other EOs exposes his hypocrisy; he claims moral superiority while committing mass murder. Their parallel journeys show how revenge becomes self-perpetuating.
Secondary characters serve as moral anchors. Sydney's resurrection forces Victor to confront his own exploitation of her, while Serena's mind control reveals how easily power corrupts. The prison break sequence is particularly telling—Eli kills guards without hesitation, while Victor hesitates, showing lingering humanity. Their final confrontation isn't about justice anymore; it's about who can rationalize their atrocities better. The book's genius lies in making readers root for both and neither simultaneously.
Let's talk about how 'Vicious' turns revenge into a Russian nesting doll of messed-up morality. Victor and Eli aren't just enemies—they're dark reflections. Eli thinks he's an angel cleansing the world of 'unnatural' powers, yet he gets high on being worshipped. Victor pretends his revenge is about justice, but really? It's about pride. The novel weaponizes their PhD brains—they rationalize murder like it's a thesis defense.
The side stories gut me. That homeless EO kid Eli drowns? Schwab could've made him a faceless victim, but his brief POV chapter makes Eli's 'morality' feel like a war crime. Meanwhile, Victor's 'no innocents' rule cracks when Sydney looks at him with those dead sister eyes. The real moral question isn't who's worse; it's whether redemption exists in this world.
Power dynamics reveal their true morals. Eli targets the weak, Victor exploits loyalties, and both call it necessity. The ending's bleak brilliance—they're still out there, still justifying. Makes you wonder if revenge ever satisfies, or just creates new monsters. If you liked this, try 'The Library at Mount Char' for another morally gray power struggle.
I just finished 'Vicious' yesterday, and the morality play between Victor and Eli blew my mind. The novel flips the script on traditional hero/villain dynamics—both characters are objectively terrible people, but their motivations make you question who's 'right.' Victor's revenge is cold and calculated, while Eli justifies his murders as 'divine work.' The scary part? Their moral frameworks make twisted sense. When Victor resurrects Sydney to use her as a weapon, it mirrors Eli's god complex when he kills ExtraOrdinaries. The book forces you to sit with this uncomfortable truth: revenge corrupts absolutely, and morality becomes collateral damage in their decade-long feud.
What's brilliant is how Schwab uses their powers as moral mirrors. Victor's pain absorption reflects his emotional numbness, while Eli's invincibility shows his detachment from consequences. The side characters—especially Mitch and Sydney—highlight how normal people get crushed between these two forces of nature. The ending doesn't offer clean resolutions, just like real ethics debates.
2025-07-05 03:45:58
19
View All Answers
Scan code to download App
Related Books
The Art of Revenge
Black Knight
9
16.3K
Serena gave everything to the man she loved—her trust, her devotion, her future.
But betrayal shattered it all.
Pregnant and full of hope, she walked in on her husband tangled in bed with another woman. What followed was worse: the slow, agonizing loss of her baby… and then her own life, bleeding out on an operating table, heartbroken and alone.
But fate wasn’t finished with her.
Reborn with every memory intact, Serena wakes in the past—stronger, colder, and no longer naive. This time, she’s ready to rewrite her story. This time, she’ll make them pay.
Because the girl they destroyed… came back for revenge.
And maybe, just maybe, she’ll find something worth living for too.
Beautiful Revenge
Alan Reyes
The one and only heir of Reyes Oil. He thought he will have a great future in front of him with all the wealth that his father passed onto him. He thinks he can get everything that he wants but he never expect that someone is up to kill him and his family.
Bella Morgan
She swore herself that when she turned 25, she will have her revenge on Reyes Oil. She was more than ready to kill and take that company down. One of the best ticket to that is to seduce the target first and then she will proceed to kill.
Vittoria Russo has spent the last year with one goal, revenge against the Mafia that destroyed her father.
Her father's debt led him into the hands of Ricardo Lombardi, the boss of a merciless Mafia which led to his death and the ruin of her family.
Now, Vittoria is determined to get her revenge and Infiltrates the Lombardi empire to destroy their boss.
But Ricardo isn't a regular Mafia bo
ss, known for being ruthless and wicked, he is a man of many secrets.
As she digs deeper, she uncovers two shocking truths: Ricardo is living under a fake name and is the heir of the castellano Mafia dynasty, a family with a bloodstained legacy and a deadly curse.
And her father wasn't the gambler she was made to believe but a cop who infiltrated the Mafia to expose their crimes.
Vittoria’s plan for revenge begins to falter as she develops feelings for Ricardo. Meanwhile, Ricardo, drawn to her resilience and determination, finds himself falling in love with the woman who plans to destroy him.
But with old enemies closing in and the weight of their secrets, Vittoria must make an impossible choice: Avenge her father's death or protect the man she has come to love.
VENGEANCE
(Killing and brutality is their punishment!)
AMERICAN STORY SETTING
The painful exist of Jasper parent left him in a state of dilemma, because he never for once ever thought of himself being so poor and catering for his sister.
His parents properties was taken over by his greedy uncle, who sent Jasper, including his sister out of their mansion and left them with nothing on the streets.
It was so dramatic but a bit tensed for Jasper, his wonderful best friends help him strive through, which he really appreciate.
But when fate plays it game on Jasper, making his amazing friends become a villain and cause the death of his sister Michelle...
Jasper life was turned upside down, his whole wall scrambled! He became cruel, wicked, sadistic and hungry for a revenge!
Chiara Moretti lost everything in a single, shattered night. Betrayed by her husband and sister, a horrific crash stripped away her empire, her face, and her unborn child. Two years later, she returns as Viviana Marino—an untouchable billionaire CEO with a flawless new identity and a master plan to destroy the people who ruined her life.
But her meticulous revenge accidentally triggers a massive mafia blood-debt, trapping her between two terrifyingly powerful men.
Alessandro Bianchi is the fiercely protective syndicate boss who saved her, though his absolute devotion masks a dark, twisted secret. Leonardo Morano is the cold, emotionless mafia kingpin who came to collect a debt from her enemy, only to become violently obsessed with her instead.
Revenge was supposed to be a solo mission but surviving the crossfire between two lethal rivals means Chiara must shed the last of her innocence. She isn't just taking back her company anymore. She is going to flip the board entirely, bring the city's two deadliest monsters to their knees, and make them bleed for the privilege of standing by her side.
For fifteen years Camila Alessandro has been raised by the De Luca Family, to the outside world she was nothing but a pitiful nobody who Riccardo De Luca the richest man in the country took pity on and adopted from the streets
But that's far from the truth, a lie he had crafted into perfection that everybody around him including his family believed it, but the reality was she was a captive, a pawn he used to keep his biggest enemy in check" Her Father
At the age of eight having witnessed him brutally kill her mother and then kidnap her from her family" Camila felt nothing but burning hatred, hatred that knew no bounds , hatred that made a little girl swear for revenge" and promise herself that she'll leave no stone unturned to destroy her captor's Family even if she loses herself
But what happens when she finds herself falling in love with her enemy's son, will she let love get in the way of a perfect revenge when an opportunity represents itself
And it's not just about her anymore, what happens when she reunites with her father she hadn't seen in years who also has his own plans of revenge, plans that include killing the the entire De Luca family"
The question is with everything on the line including her love will she bring herself to tell him that she has fallen in love with their enemy's son who is willing to burn the whole world for her, but unbeknownst to him she's planning to destroy his entire family behind his back
***
And when it all comes down before her which one will she choose Love or Revenge
The rivalry in 'Vicious' starts with a twisted academic competition between Victor Vale and Eli Ever. Both brilliant university students, they bond over their fascination with ExtraOrdinary people—those with supernatural abilities. Their friendship sours when Victor's experiment proves Eli's theory wrong, sparking resentment. Eli, obsessed with being 'chosen,' can't accept Victor's intellectual challenge. Their rivalry escalates when they both attempt to gain EO powers through near-death experiences. Victor succeeds first, infuriating Eli, who sees himself as morally superior. The final straw comes when Eli frames Victor for murder, forcing Victor into prison. Their rivalry isn't just personal; it's ideological, with Victor embracing his darkness and Eli masking his cruelty behind righteousness.
In 'Vicious', the main antagonist isn't just a single character but more of a twisted rivalry that defines the entire story. Victor Vale and Eli Ever are both brilliant, dangerous, and morally gray, but Eli's descent into villainy is what cements him as the primary opposition. The beauty of their dynamic lies in how they mirror each other—both gained supernatural abilities through near-death experiences, but their ideologies clash violently. Eli believes his powers make him divine, a tool to purge other EOs (ExtraOrdinaries) from the world, while Victor sees their abilities as a means to survive and thrive.
Eli's fanaticism is terrifying because it's methodical. He doesn't rage; he calculates. His conviction that he's doing God's work by killing EOs gives him a chilling righteousness. The way he justifies murder as 'holy work' makes him far more sinister than a typical power-hungry villain. What's fascinating is how his backstory shapes him—his religious upbringing and trauma twist his perception of good and evil until he becomes the monster he claims to hunt. The novel forces you to question whether Victor, with his ruthless pragmatism, is any better, but Eli's self-righteous cruelty undeniably makes him the darker force.