Basic Summary: Eli and Victor are jerkwads. They get super powers and continue to be jerkwads, only, now they’re trying to kill one another.
Warnings: Violence and suicides.
Review:
Setting
This book jumps between the past and the present. In the past, we get to see how Victor and Eli were before they got powers then how they got their powers. In the present time, we see what time has shaped them into. It’s very easy to follow. The author did a great job with labeling the chapters. Also, this book is a great example that you don’t have to have precise dates. There are details about physical setting but it is short and crisp. While there are plenty of books where description of surroundings is not only amazingly done but essential. In this book it isn’t so there is the basics of physical setting but it isn’t overly done.
Characters
The two main characters, especially in the beginning, tend to fall into the archetypes of anti-villain and ends justify the means not-good guy. However, the author really makes the characters charming and their motivations clear. Really, I think this books secondary characters steal the show a bit. I was really invested in Sydney and Mitch. They were amazing characters whose survival skills are awesome. Even Serena stole the stage and was a more rounded, complex character than Eli.
Plot
The plot is a simple one. Two boys, Eli and Victor, do an experiment to get superpowers. They succeed. Due to a mishap, they detest each other. And then they fall into traditional roles of hero and villain, though, that is purely through their eyes. Then comes the trying to kill one another. It takes a standard super hero origin story and puts in elements of shaky moral compasses. I loved it. The storylines weave together fairly seamlessly.
Overall
I loved this book. It has a lot of charm and adds to super hero novels. I’m looking forward to getting and reading Vengeful. Sydney and Mitch must be protected at all costs.
May you get lost in a book,
Chrissy