This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity, 1)

Rating: 5/5Title: This Savage SongAuthor: Victoria SchwabSynopsis: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.

I loved this book and it’s brother from the first page to the closing of the final one. It was genuinely one of the best reads I’ve had with such a different concept that reminded me of the City of Bones series. Yet it’s heavy reliance on the musical aspect was refreshing and truly a wonderful spin. It had me itching for more while also recognizing how beautifully complete the two stories told are.The twist was to be gently expected though I didn’t feel it was meant to be a complete world shattering shift. It felt rather natural once fully confirmed and fleshed out by the author.I own quite a few of Shwab books and all have been enjoyable but this series might possibly be my favorite!

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.

I first jumped into V.E. Schwab's work with A Darker Shade of Magic and was blown away by her world building skills, and her beautiful range of characters that make up that story. I quickly read through that and its sequel (A Gathering of Shadows) and it left me feeling giddy. I hadn't felt so many emotions from reading a good book in a very long time, and I thought nothing would top that.So when I picked up This Savage Song I was excited but thought I could never enjoy it as much as her other series. Turns out I was wrong. This book proved to be as enthralling as the other two.I don't know what it is about the way that Schwab writes but once I've started I just can't put a book of hers down. It's honestly the quickest I've ever read a book since back when I was reading Harry Potter as a kid.Her books take you by the hand and lead you into a world you don't even question, instead you stand alongside her characters and learn about it with them.This Savage Song is a fresh look at the idea of monsters. In this series there are three types of monsters that are all unique but are each different because of what created them; they each are created by a different crime.* Corsai are created from horrible acts of violence - they're creatures that live in the dark and eat anything as they feast on flesh and bone.* Malachai are created from murder - they are similar to vampires in movement and graceful brutality. They feast on the blood of a person.* And Sunai are the only monsters that resemble humans in appearance so they can blend in. The difference with these though is that they are created by cataclysmic events of tragedy. (So multiple people dying in one place at the same time, e.g a bomb.) But they are different though because they feed on a soul - and only the soul of a person who has sinned in an act of terrible violence.The base of the story is set in a world where a City is divided in two, literally. A City where a truce that keeps these two divides running in a teeth-gritting harmony is slowly crumbling.One side is ran by a human called Henry Flynn. He runs a task force sent out to deal with monsters and also sinners to lower the chances of more monsters being created. He has the luck of having the Sunai sided with his cause, their identities unknown to most.The other side is ran by Callum Harker. He is also human but a lot of people would say he was as much a monster as the actual monsters themselves. He runs an empire - putting a great number of the Malachai and the Corsai under his control and forcing people to pay for his protection from them and other monsters.But, he is sorely lacking in knowledge of the Sunai. Something that troubles him and his empire because they have a gift of music: something similar to that of a Siren song that enraptures a person and renders them unwilling. Perfect for them to deal with unwilling sinners. Except this song also works on Corsai and Malachai - something that is a great disadvantage to Harker, and something that gives Flynn an edge.But... the majority of this story revolves around two kids: August Flynn and Kate Harker.Kate Harker is the daughter of Callum Harker. She is on a mission to prove how ruthless she can be to her father, and prove to him that she is as strong as he is. That she deserves to have a place in his empire. A place at the top.August Flynn is one of the three Sunai that joined Henry Flynn. Adopted and raised as Henry's youngest son, he wants nothing more than to be human. To prove that he is not the monster everyone is telling him he was born to be and to be as kind-hearted and good as his own father.But this is a story of self discovery about whether Kate will realise if being just like her father is who she really wants to be? And whether not all monsters are quite as black and white as they are described to be, but instead there are areas of grey even amongst monsters. That a human can sometimes be a worse monster than those with pointed teeth?And for August, he may have to make choices he doesn't like, and will he have to realise that he is a monster whether he likes it or not. No matter how hard he fights to revoke that part of him, can he ever truly escape it?This is the thing that resonates with me with all of V.E Schwab's work; all of her characters are so realistic. They have flaws and they have problems and moments of indecision. But most of all they make mistakes. From Kell and Lila in the ADSOM series to Kate and August in this, they are very much human in their characterisation and the decisions they choose to make.Also one thing that made me very happy with This Savage Song: NO ROMANCE. It's rare to find a young adult fiction without a romance subplot between a male and female lead, so this is ultimately refreshing. It really emphasises their struggle and the issues with the trust that may have to be built when they ultimately meet. Very cool.V is also very, very good at writing action scenes. (And YA friendly torture scenes). They are never clunky, and every detail that's important is there for you to have. Instead they are very emotionally-driven. Instead of reading about every punch or kick a character makes - Victoria is very good at writing WHY a character makes that action. How the scene effects them and WHY they make a decision or say a line. It's chapters like the ones leading up to -and of- the penultimate "battle" near the end of TSS that had me welling up and had my chest hurting because my heart was in my throat. Because of that emotional connection she makes you have with her characters you can do nothing more than clutch at the page, wishing for them to be okay.For me the only criticism I had was the pacing somewhat. It had the same effect on me as I had with ADSOM where the first half of the book I enjoyed it but I was okay to pause and it took a little time to properly grab me. But the second half is like a roller coaster ride; it hooks you by the throat and drags you into the mix. At that point I just can't put the book down for love nhy money. But that would be my only main criticism. I still enjoyed it immensely.I saw another review complaining about the lack of backstory between some characters and the city itself: for me it was enough. This story was about the role of monsters and humans in the city and how the city is surviving now. Having to rebuild around the devastation monsters can bring. I would have liked to know more about Henry and Callum because of the brief glimpses we had of their characters when they were younger but I don't feel like I missed anything by not knowing.For me it reflected Kate and August very well: they've both been in the dark for a long time. Kate for being away from her father and August for him being "born" after it happened, it makes sense for them not to know the exact ins and outs of their fathers feud. I imagine both men would rather not speak of the penultimate moment that caused the rift in the city, and before. We just know they are very different people and I'm sure we'll see more discussion about that later.Yup - incase your wondering this book is going to have a sequel so if you're left feeling like it's a bit open ended then it's because book 2 is being written! Yep, this book is part of a duology. I wouldn't read this and look for what isn't there, instead I would embrace the characters of August and Kate and take in the world of V-City, and prepare for another rollercoaster ride with book 2.I'm finishing this long, long review with nothing more than I hope this encourages someone to pick this book up. Or at least try any of V.E Schwab's work.And to utter a huge thank you to V.E Schwab herself; for all of the hard work she puts into her books. How much love, blood, sweat and tears she pours onto a page for the readers to enjoy. And to her brain for creating these amazing worlds and universes and filling them with such fascinating characters. Her books have made me love reading again and I can't ever thank her enough for that.

Kate e August vivem em um mundo marcado pela guerra, onde cada ato de violência cometido pelos humanos gera um monstro: corsais, malchais e sunais. Cada mosntro desses e causado por um tipo diferente de violência e cada um os combate como pode. Após o fenômeno, as cidades foram citiadas e os cidadãos presos nelas, sendo extremamente difícil a entrada de forasteiros. Na cidade V a coisa é ainda mais complicada: ela é dividida em Norte e Sul, lados opostos que lutam de maneiras diferentes contra os monstros que a assolam.O Norte é controlado por Callum Harker, pai de Kate e um completo tirano. Ele arrumou um modo de controlar os monstros e cobra pela proteção que garante ao povo. No Sul temos Henry Flynn um homem que luta pela paz agindo na origem do problema com a ajuda de uma Força Tarefa criada para combater os monstros e a violência que os gera. Os dois lados vivem em uma trégua instável que está na iminência de se romper.Kate vivia fora da Cidade V mas seu maior desejo era voltar e estar ao lado do pai, provando ser digna de comandar junto com ele e tanto o fez que foi expulsa de todos os colégios e internatos que foi mandada até voltar pra casa.August é filho adotivo de Henry, mas enquanto seu irmão (também adotivo) luta com o pai na Força Tarefa, ele fica preso em casa, onde é mais seguro - o que o angustia demasiadamente. Seu desejo é ajudar na causa e quando surge uma oportunidade de ir em uma missão no norte - vigiar a filha de Callum - ele aproveita.É incrível que mesmo após ler tantos livros de Victoria Schwab eu ainda consiga me surpreender com a criatividade, a originalidade e a escrita fantástica da autora. Não tem outra palavra que possa descrever esse livro além de sensacional.O que mais chama a atenção nesse livro é justamente a premissa e o universo criado pela autora. Ela conseguiu traduzir na ficção (de maneira fantástica diga-se de passagem) algo que acontece na realidade: a violência gerando mais violência. Nesse caso, cada ato de violência cria um monstro correspondente e o medo é disseminado pela população.Outro detalhe que conquistou meu coração nessa história é a ligação dela com a música! Amei que um dos modos de "acabar" com a origem da violência seja através da música, que é algo que amo e tem um significado enorme pra mim.Victoria nos conquista logo nas primeiras páginas e é impossível largar o livro antes do desfecho. Como em qualquer livro que nos apresente um universo tão diferente, as primeiras páginas podem ser mais lentas, mas mesmo assim tão envolventes que ficamos ansiosos por saber mais. A escrita é tão fluida que quando percebemos já lemos meio livro em um piscar de olhos.A narrativa é em terceira pessoa e acompanhamos as duas perspectivas dos protagonistas, de maneira que temos a oportunidade de conhecê-los mais profundamente e entender os conflitos pelos quais passam. Kate é uma personagem forte e cheia de atitude, que quer mais do que tudo provar ao pai que não é indefesa e pode comandar ao lado dele. Já August enfrenta um dilema com uma pegada mais de crise existencial: a todo momento ele questiona a razão de ser como é e seu papel no mundo em que vivem. Ele vive tentando fugir de quem é ao invés de se aceitar e usar isso a seu favor - o que pode ser um tanto irritante mas que não me impediu nem um pouco de me apaixonar por ele.O fato é que os personagens são extremamente bem construídos e a autora teve muito sucesso em nos conquistar com eles. O que nos ganha é o fato de eles não serem perfeitos, pelo contrário. Eles exemplificam o que é ser um humano: cheio de erros e defeitos mas tentando acertar, tentando ser alguém. A história é bem surpreendente, cheia de ação e com um ritmo elétrico. As cenas finais são de tirar o fôlego e nos deixar de queixo caído. Confesso que estou mega ansiosa pela continuação e espero que a Seguinte não tarde em trazê-lo pro Brasil!

Kate Harker will do anything to get her father’s attention so he will bring her back home, including burning down her school’s chapel. Her father brings her back to the divided city of Verity where he allows the monsters to roam free and has humans pay for his protection. Meanwhile, August Flynn is the “son” of the ruler of the other half of the city. August is a monster, with the power to steal a soul with a violin song. When the Flynn family find out that Kate will be attending school in the city, they send August to masquerade as a student and get close to her. However, power is shifting in their city. When Kate’s life is put in danger, August has to put his secret at risk to figure out who is trying to kill them.This was such a thrilling and suspenseful story. It was an original and complex world. A lot of the rules and history of the world weren’t described until halfway through the story. I would have liked to learn that earlier so I could really understand the world. I still really enjoyed this story!This Savage Song is a great story! I can’t wait to read the sequel!

Me lo compre por la edición tan bonita que es. Me encanta!

When I see a book with the name V.E. Schwab on the cover I always get excited now. I must have burned through almost all her books this year! She is probably my favourite discovery of 2017. So far I haven’t read one book that disappointed me and This Savage Song was no exception. Urban Fantasy is very often hit or miss with me and not the genre I would go for if I had a choice in books. Schwab is slowly changing my mind though. This Savage Song is another brilliant Urban Fantasy with a different take on a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by monsters.The two main characters are Katherine Harker and August Flynn, both children of opposing factions in V-city. Katherine’s father runs North City, where a tense understanding with the ‘monsters’ has lead to a rule where money can be exchanged for protection. Everyone under Harker’s protection gets a metal medallion, marking them as off limits for the monsters. August’s parents are in charge in South City where the FTF, some sort of security group, protect everyone as much as they can.After the Phenomenon, which stays a very vague event throughout the book, monsters started to be born from the wrongdoings humans committed. The Corsai can best be described as some sort of zombies. They prefer the dark, can’t stand UV-light, smell like death and will not hesitate to tear you to pieces. The Malchai are a bit more sophisticated and have a closer resemblance to vampires. They are pale and cold, cunning and also don’t mind sinking their teeth in humans. Last of all there’s the Sunai. They are very rare and seem to be born out of especially violent events. There are only three and all of them have been adopted by the Flynns. As you might have guessed reading this, our August is one of these Sunai. Between South and North a shaky truce was established 7 years ago, but lately that truce has been crumbling and war is looming at the horizon.I was very interested to find out more about this particular kind of ‘monster’ and August’s viewpoint was perfect to slowly but surely find out what they are, what they can do and how they deal with all of this. However, August’s character didn’t immediately win me over. At the start of the book he very much wants to be a part of the FTF, even though his parents forbid it. He seems to be quite jealous of his older brother, also a Sunai, who is the face of the FTF and is out there fighting the other monsters. He seemed to me a very petulant child, but luckily that changed quite quickly the longer we got to spend time with him. He eventually gets sent on a mission to keep an eye on Harker’s daughter Katherine at a school in the safer areas of V-city.I liked Katherine from the start. She’s a very feisty girl struggling with the differences between the girl she’s supposed to be and the girl she actually is. With a father like Harker, she has to prove that she can be ruthless and strong. But deep down inside Katherine is still dealing with her mother’s death and the fact that she doesn’t want to be in the middle of this fight. Aside from her internal struggles though, she’s very efficient and remarkably clever.Even though this post-apocalyptic world is very fascinating, it’s the more personal journeys of August and Katherine that really make this book stand out. Both have their own struggles in their life and even though August’s identity is hanging over them like a dark cloud, they find a connection that has so much potential that I was rooting for them the whole time. I don’t even mean this in a romantic sense, their chemistry as just two people connecting is so strong that I couldn’t help but be sucked into their story.Another amazing book from Schwab’s hand and luckily only the first in a series! I can’t wait to read the second book and find out how Katherine and August are doing now.