This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity, 1)

For the past couple years, Victoria (V.E.) Schwab has been focusing on her adult books, with Vicious and her Darker Shade series. However, This Savage Song takes her back to her start in YA, with an urban fantasy that explores the question of what it means to be monstrous. For readers of her adult works, expect a tone closer to Vicious than Darker Shade, and for readers of her YA, be prepared for a darker, twistier tale than either The Archived or The Near Witch.

This Savage Song takes place in a time and place not too removed from the world we live in now, except for one crucial detail — in this world, acts of violence breed literal monsters. The more horrific the violence, the more terrible the creature it creates.

August, one of the two narrators, is one such monster, born out of an event so horrible, he can barely bring himself to think of it. He wants nothing more than to be human, but throughout the story, it becomes increasingly clear why that can never be possible, and why, even so, he can never stop trying.

Kate Harker, the other narrator, is the teenage daughter of the most powerful man in the city, and would happily throw away her humanity if it won her the attention of her father. She and August don’t so much come together as collide, and the narrative of This Savage Song clearly relishes playing out the tension between the monster boy longing for the very thing his human companion doesn’t seem to value at all, and the girl trying to reconcile what she knows of monsters with the boy standing in front of her.

It’s hard to discuss the plot of This Savage Song without getting into spoilers, so suffice it to say that the entire book is a tense, thrilling exploration of what it means to be human, what can make someone monstrous, and the marks violence leaves, both on the soul and on society. Kate and August’s relationship follows one of my favorite trajectories in fiction, from enemies to wary allies to respected partners to trusted friends, and I loved every delicious moment of their slow-burn friendship (is slow-burn friendship a thing? Because it should be).

I also was fascinated by the monsters that populated the dark world of This Savage Song. For the most part, they are not the mindless, salivating brutes of horror novels and fairy tales, but sinister, intelligent beings with agendas of their own. When the story starts, the monsters have more or less taken over the city, but they still have structure and hierarchy within their new, monstrous society. I’ve always considered worldbuilding one of Victoria’s great strengths, and This Savage Song is no exception, as she feels her way through how the world as we know it would change — and how it would remain the same — if monsters roamed among us.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the writing itself; as always, Victoria’s prose is beautiful, each word carefully chosen, each paragraph meticulously crafted. On a sentence level, I truly feel she’s one of the most talented writers in the game today. There’s hardly a page that goes by without a phrase that would be appropriate to print in loopy script and place in a frame somewhere. Her worldbuilding is lush and detailed, the dialogue sharp, the action taught, and the act of reading her words is decadence and joy and education all in one.

Make no mistake, This Savage Song is very dark, probably Schwab’s darkest since Vicious, and therefore won’t be for everyone. It’s violent and disturbing and, at times, very sad. But despite its darkness, it’s not a depressing book. Yes, Kate and August go through terrible trials and have to face awful things, but when I turned the final few pages of This Savage Song (which, it’s worth noting, ends on a very satisfying note, despite this book being the first of a duology), I felt oddly uplifted. For me, though it’s subtle, there was an undercurrent of light woven throughout the story, enough to leave the reader with the impression that though things may get bad, so bad it seems nearly impossible for them to ever turn around, that there is always hope. There is always goodness somewhere, maybe buried deep, maybe not where you’d expect to find it, and you might have to fight tooth and nail to get to it, but it’s there nonetheless. It’s a difficult balance to strike, but in my opinion, it’s executed beautifully here.

If you are a fan of urban fantasy, unlikely friendships, gorgeous writing, and thoughtful explorations of morality and monstrousness, rush to your local bookstore and dive into the world of This Savage Song today.

I just finished this book and really I don't even have words to express how amazing it is. Having finished every adult book Schwab has written to date I couldn't get past my need to read more books by her, but at the same time, due to my bad luck when it comes to finding good YA books, I hesitated at making the switch, even for an author I love as much as her. But I was ordering a butt load of books and I wanted to make my total as close to $50 dollars as possible (trying to finish up a a gift card) so I tacked in on at the end. I could not have made a better decision.

Now this is how you do YA. My problems with previous YAs (and I have read a lot of them) is that they try to be gritty, but they're not. The female characters are supposed to be tough as nails but they're whinny. The stories are all dystopian and yet for some reason the main girl always ends up as a princess, or a Mary Sue. The plots barely exist, and when they do they have giant holes which make the stories unbelievable. This Savage Song on the other hand fixes everyone of these problems and then improves on the process. YA authors should take note, this is how you do it.

So things I like. Let start with the basics. The plot. Brilliant. Original. And yes it's a dystopian but it's so much more than that. We're literally playing with the concept of who is the monster and who is the man. We have a monster who just wants to be human, created literally from the monstrous deeds committed by humans. And yet somehow we must rely to the monsters themselves to save humans from themselves. But it's not just about this. The plot is multilayered. Then we have the Territory Wars, and beneath all of this we have Kate and Flynn who seem to understand that there is more going on then just these base problems.

Now the characters. Schwab has a way with creating these larger than life characters that resonate with you. Kate, the girl who wants nothing more than to prove her mettle to her father, but deep down inside she just wants her family to be whole. She the perfect balance of hard and soft. She's truly ruthless (not that ruthless that we find in other books where the girl spends time training and knows martial arts and then freezes so that the hero can save her). Kate can take care of herself. And at the same time you can see how hard she tries to put on a brave exterior. How hard she tries to cover up how much she wants to go home, to that cottage with her mother. She's scarred but stronger for it and I love her. I will say that she does share many features with Lila (from a Darker Shade of Magic) but it doesn't matter because she's complete and real and engaging.

And August, the monster who just wants to be human but when it all comes down to it does he even know what that means? The boy who practices emotions in the mirror, gestures and body positions. The guy who wants to help, wants to deny his very self just so he can be "normal". He's endearing. As a Sunai his power is great and yet he's not overpowering. He's not that superhero who swoops in and somehow gets out of every situation alright. He acts his age, he lives by his own code and he does the best he can to always stay himself. He's understated and yet doesn't fade in the background, and comes alive when he really has to. He's a perfect foil to Kate's hard exterior. I love them together.

What I really enjoyed about this book is that Schwab didn't dumb herself down for a younger audience. She didn't sensor her subject matter and dampen her writing style. Sure her characters are younger, and for a brief period of time they attend school (a hallmark of about 70% of YA), but that's where the YA connection dies. This book reads as dark and gritty as her adult books. There is suspense and violence. The monsters are scary and the humans are scarier. The only thing that makes me sad is that as a YA it reads so much faster than her older books so I finished it quickly. It had me on the edge of my seat the entire way through and now all of a sudden 3 months until the next book is 3 months too many. I guess I have no choice but to try the Archived next since it's the only thing that I haven't read by her.

I guess my main point with this review is directed to people who are more familiar with V.E. Schwab than Victoria. Don't let the separation fool you. She keeps her integrity intact in her genre change. At this point I eagerly await the Our Dark Duet as much as I do Vengeful.

Minor spoilers ahead.

I was pretty excited to get into This Savage Song when I got through A Darker Shade of Magic and A Gathering of Shadows. I waited too long to read those books (therefore missing out on ears of awareness that such a great series existed). So I wasn’t going to wait to read This Savage Song when I got my hands on it. This story is definitely a different beast than what I am used to with Schwab. I didn’t really know what to expect after reading the synopsis, only that I was in for a great read. If there is a consensus out there for her books, it’s that she has an amazing ability to make, as Ariadne from Inception would say it, pure creation.

Let me start out by saying that I absolutely love the character of August. If you see my ratting report above, then you are certainly aware. I love him to bits. Maybe not as much as I love Kell from Shades of Magic, but maybe more than I love Alucard or Rhy (which is saying A LOT). He hits me as this sort of anti-hero character and gets himself into a bigger fight than he was expecting. He has so much riding on his shoulders and in a world full of monsters where you too are a monster, all you want is to be human.

I’d like to point out that Schwab is the only person out there that can make monsters sound as equally terrifying as they are huggable and lovable. August is a Sunai, the rarest monster there is that seeks out those with malicious intentions who commit malicious acts. To keep himself out of the dark, he uses his violin and let me just say that I think this was one of the greatest moves on Schwab’s part. For some reason, I thought the instrument on the cover was a guitar (which I have no problem with), but when I had the realization it was a violin, I was ten times happier. There is this moment at the end of This Savage Song that August receives a new metal violin to replace his old wooden one. If there was ever a symbol of character growth and development, it was this. When I read that line about the metal violin, I had to stop and think about what this meant for August. He grows so much and that’s what I love about him. He wants to be part of the peace and be part of the solution, but there are so many things standing in his way that he has to face. I usually identify with the female characters, but in this case, I did with August. He loses so much in the process, but remains more human than most of the human characters. I really can’t wait to see what Schwab has in store for him in the next few books because he has A LOT that I want explored. He has some great potential.

It took me a while to warm up to Kate Harker. Though I will say that her metal tip nails did edge me to warm up a little faster. How badass are those? Nonetheless, she rubbed me the wrong way in the beginning, but I knew that I was conflicted about her. She’s one of those characters that has a skewed moral compass because she wants to prove she’s her father’s daughter. What’s problematic about that is Callum Harker’s got more on his agenda than good intentions. And wanting to live up to a man able to tame monsters and oppress people into obeying him is pretty bad, NGL. The more I got to to know and read about why she thinks/feels/acts the way that she does makes me like her more. The deeper I got into the story, the more she reminded me of Rachel Duncan from Orphan Black. And anyone who reminds me of Rachel Duncan is good in my book. They have so many similarities and even down to the sharp-cut blond hair, it all makes me wild. What makes her so complicated is whether or not I can ever trust her. Is she going to be a vigilante? Pursue the greater good? Or is she going to be ruled by a darker monster? I MUST KNOW.

I was told by my co-blogger, Kristen, that she wasn’t sure that I would like This Savage Song because she read somewhere that there wasn’t much romance (and I am a huge YA romance buff). But take heed if you are like me (but worse): this is no Romeo and Juliet story. This isn’t a love story. This is a story about two very different characters trying to fight their inner monsters and keeping the monsters outside from killing them and destroying everything else in their wake. If you want romance, you’re not going to get it here, but do not let that deter you from reading This Savage Song. In the absence of romance, there is so much more to take away. This book is so unique and will leave you thirst for more (which is a tortuous wait). Plus, it’ll have you singing a new tune, no matter how morbid. ;)

Rating: 5/5 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. I really enjoyed the story and didn’t have a qualm with any of the characters that were written.

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.

Ah, my teen dystopias. It’s been awhile and I’ve missed you. Kate is trying to get kicked out of her 6th private school in 5 years. She just wants to go home. She wants the chance to prove to her father that she can hold her own against the monsters. August is a monster. And all he wants is to be human. Or at the very least to be helpful. The two of them will become friends and change each other’s perspectives. Really interesting premise in this one. The evil of man has become actual monsters. There are three types. The Corsai are created by non-lethal types of violence. They feed on humans, but are afraid of the light. They are drawn to fear and have a hive mind. The Malchai are born of murder. They are cruel and cunning. The Sunai are born of mass murders. They look human, but aren’t. They feed on the souls of sinners. I liked this one. I’ve already got the companion book on the way

I finally read a Victoria Schwab book and wow! It was pretty amazing! This Savage Song snagged my interest when I heard it involved monsters! And not like monsters we might be used to, but actual monsters who happily kill and/or eat humans! You might be thinking this sounds like a horror novel, it’s not. Not really. Sure there are creepy moments, but there’s more suspense to this one and quite a mystery brewing filled with many betrayals and lies!

In this world, there are three kinds of monsters; Corsai, Malchai, and Sunai. They all come into being when there’s a serious crime committed. This is the part that was a little confusing for me, but I think what it summed up to was that Corsai are born from non-lethal violence, Malchai come from a more heinous crime like murder, and Sunai are born from truly awful crimes, like massacres, bombings, etc. They apparently appear human, unless they truly lose themselves. Some of this monster setup wasn’t really explained in detail. Just more like, Sunai are created from massacres and that there are only three rumored to be in existence.

In walks August, who is one of those three. He’s a Sunai, a monster, but he doesn’t want to be one. In order to survive he does need to feed on the souls of the truly wicked. August though doesn’t enjoy doing this. It seems the easiest way he can go about getting a soul is when he plays his violin in the presence of such wickedness. He was raised by the Flynns who rule the South City, which is a part of the sector that has more chaos than order. You must fight to have safety in this place. While in the North City, that’s ruled by Harker, safety comes to those who can pay the price and it’s steep. If you don’t pay, then you basically forfeit your life.

Kate Harker wants nothing more than to please her father, she’s gotten herself kicked out many boarding schools just to come home and prove herself to him. She and August meet at her new school which he is also attending. Oddly enough, he’s going “undercover” with a fake identity and is told to keep an eye on Kate. And Kate quickly becomes determined to puzzle August out.

For me, This Savage Song is one of those books that feels so hard to review or explain to others, but when reading it, you get the gist of the storyline. Granted, I feel confused by a few unanswered questions. Mostly in regards to the world-building that I wish had been better explained, but when it comes to those instances, I always try to just roll with it. And usually, I am able to do just that! Because luckily here, it really only was a few things that I didn’t quite understand or grasp to the world-building and whatnot.

From the start you can almost see Kate and August winding up enemies, but then you also already can figure out that soon that will change as well. The change was definitely a slow, gradual kind. And like other readers, I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of romance between them. Are things blossoming or being laid out for the future? Possibly. Who’s to really say? Maybe there won’t be romance in this story at all. But what you will see is a bond growing between Kate and August in some way. But I must say I truly enjoyed watching these two interact. While they may not exactly be friends, they are sort of comrades. They’re being attacked from enemies and they’re left with no one else to trust. As they say, “better the devil you know, than the devil you don’t”.

There’s trouble brewing among the cities. Tensions are high and it seems the ones in South City are not happy about the current circumstances. There were quite a few secrets, betrayals and shocking surprises in this book. It can be hard to tell who the villain is. Is it the North City, the South City, someone else entirely? It’s a tough call.

The ending was quite possibly the best part of this book! Okay, a lot about this book was really, really good! But that ending…oh that ending leaves me with chills! Not only do we pretty much have a nice all out battle of sorts and then watching the characters go in their given direction, but there’s one final chapter, one final segment that will totally blow your mind! Not only in a BIG way, but also in an added little way! Totally WTF?! moment, but in the best possible way!! The wait until the next and from what I heard final, as it’s a duology we’re dealing with, Our Dark Duet, is going to be killer! There are too many loose strings left in this one that I am desperately waiting to see what will befall our characters!

This Savage Song was quite an intriguing read! It was puzzling at times, and filled with so many twists it will make your head spin! It’s a read to keep you on your toes and I would totally recommend it if you’re looking for that dark kind of read that will make you question what or who monsters really are!

Overall Rating 4/5 stars

This Savage Song is like Dexter meets Romeo + Juliet with Monsters and no kissing. I was pretty sure that because of the no kissing situation I’d be less interested in the story, I do like a good romance, but the back and forth between August and Kate was so good that I didn’t really care at all. Even though I really hope in the end the monster gets the girl.

August isn’t a bad guy, he isn’t really a guy at all. He is a MONSTER, but the nicer kind of monster since he only eats bad people. August stopped rolling the apple, closed the book, forced himself to sit still, even though a still body was a busy mind—something to do with the potential and kinetic energy, if he had to guess; all he knew was that he was a body in search of motion.

He has a wobbly grip on this world. He lives in the moments because no one knows how many he will have. As someone who had come quite suddenly into being, like the end of a magic trick, he feared the tenuous nature of his existence, feared that at any moment he might simply cease to be again.

Then there is Kate, the girl with a kingpin father on the other side of the city who is trying so hard to fit into daddy’s world. She wants her place there, and after being shipped off to boarding school after boarding school she has finally pulled enough stunts to be back home with Daddy dearest. Looking so hard for a way into her father’s heart and business Kate is willing to do just about anything for it.

This was a really fun world. A world where acts of violence leave marks in their wake. Murders breed demon like people and other violent crimes make something akin to vampires. But mass tragedies leave the biggest gap to fill and, in those gaps, the Sunai, like August, are born. They are justice made form and can only take a sinner’s soul.

Kate and August might start off on opposite sides but one they were together I liked the story more and more. The friendship that they forge was built on exciting event after exciting event once they end up on the run together. I liked how quickly they learned to work together and trusted each other just enough to take care of each other. They might be from opposite sides of the city but both don’t want the war that someone is trying to spark. They will have to work together if they are going to find out who and why.

The writing is this was what really captured me. I liked the flow of the words and so much of the prose was beautiful. Maybe it was the pills, smoothing her edges. Maybe . . . but there was still something about Freddie. Something . . . disarming, infectious, familiar. In an auditorium full of stares, his was the gaze she felt. In a classroom full of students learning lies, he scribbled the truth in the margins. In a school that clung to the illusion of safety, he didn’t shy from talk of violence. He didn’t belong there, the way she didn’t belong there, and that shared strangeness made her feel like she knew him.

The story does take a little while to get going. In the beginning, I was far more interested in August than Kate. But as the story progressed she became more interesting to me to. She isn’t really the person she is pretending to be and I was just waiting for her to figure that out too. Only a few of the characters in the book get a lot of depth put into them but Kate and August are pretty complex, and together even more so. “It hurts,” he whispered. “What does?” asked Kate. “Being. Not being. Giving in. Holding out. No matter what I do, it hurts.” Kate tipped her head back against the tub. “That’s life, August,” she said. “You wanted to feel alive, right? It doesn’t matter if you’re monster or human. Living hurts.”

Not quite a tale of star crossed lovers but there is an ominous tone to their story and with what happened toward the end I’m not sure there will ever be a happily ever after in this world. But my mind is captured and I must know how the story of the Monster who wants to be a boy and the Girl who is the daughter of a Monster albeit a human one ends.

The story is good, and I really like the concept, but there are two a few things that irritated me a bit,

One, sometimes there were sentences that mean the same thing. Repeated, more than three times in a paragraph, or page. It got to a point where I kept saying "I KNOW." It starts to pick up and the redundancy decreases to a minimum.

Two, Grammar Mechanics. There were "big" words, but it was like reading the first draft of an essay.

The two main characters need a bit of work. With that being said, I'm going to start with August. We don't even know what he is until chapter 3, I believe. Please correct me, if I am wrong. What does the author mean by going "dark"? Does he faint? Is he hungry? Why do they do dark? I have so many questions. How strong can a Sunai be? Why tattoes to mark their "not going dark"? Why are they all unique to each sibling?

As for Kate, I didn't really understand her. I had to reread her parts, and think through the redundancy. Her emotions were described in one sentence, repeatedly written in different adjectives. Actually, this is the same for August, too. Seems to me that Kate did not grow much till the very last bit.

It starts to pick up halfway through the book, and the story starts to get better. I do love stories about monsters, and it does give me exactly that. I would add another star, but I don't want to tell you because it would spoil the plot. I do like it, but you need reread a few lines or pages to understand character. Victoria's other books are better.

That's all I have to say about this book, other than, Be patient with this book.