What to Read After Vicious — 6 Books with the Same Morally Grey Energy
V.E. Schwab dismantled the hero-villain binary with Vicious: two college students who create superpowers and become each other's greatest enemy, told in dual timelines that snap together with the precision of a well-set trap. If you finished it hungry for that same moral ambiguity — protagonists who do terrible things for reasons you understand, plotted with control and paid off with satisfaction — these six books are your next reads.
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Vengeful
by V.E. Schwab
The direct sequel: Victor and Eli's rivalry is still burning, and Schwab adds new EOs (Extra Ordinaries) — including Marcella, who may be the most dangerous one yet. Vengeful is larger in scope and darker in tone than Vicious, expanding the world's moral logic in directions the first book only hinted at.
SupervillainRivalsDual TimelineMorally Grey🌶 Cozy - 2
A Darker Shade of Magic
by V.E. Schwab
Schwab's other flagship series: a magic carrier who can travel between four parallel Londons (grey, red, white, and black) — and the thief who forces herself into his world. ADSOM shares Vicious' precise plotting and morally ambiguous protagonist, with a found-family dynamic and world-building that rewards attention.
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Mistborn: The Final Empire
by Brandon Sanderson
A heist against an immortal god-emperor, planned by a man who sees himself as a villain and assembles a team of outcasts to pull it off. Sanderson's plotting precision will satisfy Vicious readers who responded to Schwab's controlled revelation structure — and the magic system is one of fantasy's best.
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Red Rising
by Pierce Brown
A miner infiltrates the ruling class to destroy it from within — Brown's protagonist makes choices as morally compromised as Victor Vale's, and the dual-timeline structure that emerges across the series has the same controlled payoff structure Schwab uses in Vicious.
UndercoverRebellionMorally GreyPolitical Intrigue🌶 Cozy - 5
The Lies of Locke Lamora
by Scott Lynch
A master thief in a Venice-like city runs a long con while bigger forces close in. Lynch's plotting has the same controlled chaos Schwab brings to Vicious: dual timelines, a protagonist who is always the smartest person in the room, and a world with a moral logic that is internally consistent but morally grey from any external standpoint.
HeistMorally GreyDual TimelineFound Family🌶 Cozy - 6
Six of Crows
by Leigh Bardugo
A criminal mastermind assembles five misfits for the most dangerous heist in history. Bardugo's morally grey ensemble and propulsive plotting sit in the same register as Schwab's best work — and Kaz Brekker shares Victor Vale's combination of tactical genius and genuine emotional damage.
HeistFound FamilyMorally GreyEnsemble Cast🌶 Cozy