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Rating: 4.75/5
Title: This Savage Song
Author: Victoria Schwab
Synopsis:
There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from acclaimed author Victoria Schwab, a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains—and friends or enemies—with the future of their home at stake. The first of two books, This Savage Song is a must-have for fans of Holly Black, Maggie Stiefvater, and Laini Taylor.
Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August’s secret, and after a failed assassination attempt the pair must flee for their lives. In This Savage Song, Victoria Schwab creates a gritty, seething metropolis, one worthy of being compared to Gotham and to the four versions of London in her critically acclaimed fantasy for adults, A Darker Shade of Magic. Her heroes will face monsters intent on destroying them from every side—including the monsters within.
Initial thoughts:
I’ve always been taught never to judge a book by it’s cover, but I gotta say, the cover of this one really had me interested. On the back cover there is a short little poem that explained what the different monsters of Verity were and I thought that it was quite clever. This book had been on my TBR list for a while now as well simply due to the fact that it was written by Victoria Schwab. There is a second book as well that I ordered with the first and have yet to read, but will do so as soon as I finish writing this review. Also, from what I had gathered before reading the book, it seemed like this was going to be a ‘what makes a monster’ book and Victoria did not disappoint me at all with this wonderful tale.
Plot:
What I liked:
The way that Victoria Schwab writes madness is captivating. As soon as a character begins to feel stressed, the writing style of the book changes to match the thoughts of that person. It feels so relatable. Things move quickly, but never too quickly for the reader to be lost in the stylistic change each time it happens.
I also really loved the world building and the characters in this book. Kate is wild, but always seems to have an end goal in mind while August is rather frazzled at times trying to understand humans and conform to their mannerisms so as not to be out of place. The change in tone that comes when each character is in the spotlight holds a lot of feeling and makes things very distinct as they both describe their understanding of their surroundings and give the reader a specific look at Verity.
The villains in the book were executed fantastically. The idea of what is a real monster really plays a role as August and Kate both learn who is really pulling the strings within the city.
The pace of the book was wonderful and I thought it was really cool to keep track of the days along with August as a new tally formed on his skin each day.
What I didn't like:
To be honest there wasn’t a lot that I found I disliked about this book. There was one thing in particular that ate away at me as I read the book and that was how Verity fit into the rest of the world. It felt as if there was lot that could have been explained on that part and I am hoping that will be explored more in the second book.
Characters:
Kate Harker: She is an amazingly strong character and personality. She does have her flaws though and that’s what makes her human and relatable.
August Flynn: My favorite character in the book. He was so loveable even though he was a Sunai and could eat people’s souls. I loved how his mind jumped around like notes on a music score. He just didn’t want to hurt anyone and be considered ‘normal’ and I wanted to give him a hug.
Ilsa Flynn: She is a little scattered, but I loved her. She seemed very graceful and seemed rather innocent, but she could also be very deadly.
Leo Flynn: A Sunai with a very righteous way of thinking. He believes that humans deserve to be judged and punished for their crimes.
Sloan: A Malchai who was made from Callum Harker. He is certainly a very manipulative character, but has his own sense of what needs to happen in order for change to occur.
Callum Harker: I hated his guts. He was a very well thought out villainous character who only protected those who could pay for it. He didn’t seem to care about anyone and even when he showed a sliver of humanity, I couldn’t find myself to trust him.
Henry Flynn: He was an interesting father figure who only wanted to protect.
Overall:
I would recommend this book to just about anyone. The theme of the book was amazing and so was the process in which it was conveyed. Violence breed more violence, literally. I know that I will read this book over and over again as time goes on and I cannot wait to finish reading the second book in the series.