This Savage Song

V. E. Schwab

Jul 2016 · Monsters of Verity Book 1 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

#1 New York Times Bestseller * An Amazon Best Book of the Year

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.

Ratings and reviews

You know, I thought this might be a Romeo-Juliet kind of story set in an urban fantasy setting, but boy was I surprised. In the start I was a bit confused as to what was going on – there were monsters, and there were seemingly monster hunters, but there was also two parts of the city, and these monsters arise from crime. But as the story progressed, things fell into place. In a dystopian-like society, the population lives in these territories, where monsters arise from the crimes that humans commit. There are three of these monsters – for varying degrees of crimes, and the one for the worst is also the one that is the most human. Kate is the daughter to the man ruling over the north half of the city – a crime boss who takes payment for his protection and has his monsters on a leash. The south half of the city is ruled by Henry Flynn, who has only three monsters under him, whom he has brought up as family because they can save the rest of them. While it is a dark story about the depravity of humans, and their ignorance of matters that are causing direct harm, it was a great character study of August. He is not human but is trying his best to be; he is having an existential crisis, and like his siblings, he was borne of the worst of crimes. He tries to overcome his nature, and he has the kindest soul of them all. Kate, on the other hand, has been brought up in a life of violence, and all her kindness has been leached from her by her father. She strives to prove to him that she is his daughter – an effort that costs her very soul. The mythology of the world itself is pretty interesting – monsters borne out of crime, like a demon carbon footprint. The ending was quite a surprise and was so exciting that my heart was racing as the events were unfolding. And the way the book ended, with that epilogue, the next one looks very promising.

Now THAT was fun! It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a good 'one sitting book' but this was a extremely well-written tale! Let's put it this way: before I wrote this review, I made sure and procured a copy of the 2nd book! The book gets off to a somewhat but perhaps necessarily confusing start (kind of like this review I fear): you're not sure who or what all of these people are at first nor who is exactly "good" (if anyone). I have to confess, I was even getting a kind of 'oh no, not a high school setting where opposites attract love story' vibe for a few minutes until about 1/3 of the way in. The story then takes off into high gear and it doesn't slow down until we're done! The tension is truly engrossing and I really enjoyed the sort of 'double view' structure - that is, how various witnesses to a scene see the same actions very differently - the author creates in key moments. And when you find out who you should be rooting for, you really want them to be okay and you feel their pain, physical and emotional. The bad guys? Well, let's just say by the time their fate is sealed you've been booing and hissing at them for a while! I also was happy that VS didn't waste a lot of time describing how this whole dystopian setting occurred nor the finer details in the surroundings because of it (not just why the world is screwed up but why this one place even went beyond that). Instead, the focus is on the inner struggles of the cast - or the lack thereof of those around them - and don't waste time describing a multitude of broken down buildings, etc. like too many writers in this genre tend to do. Just the right balance though if you ask me. I'd recommend to fans of YA stories (does this one qualify?) as well as anyone that's ever picked up something even close to 'Divergent' ...or my own favorites like Michael Sanderson's 'Reckoners' series or the brilliant 'Girl with All The Gifts' duology. Don't forget to fasten your seatbelts!

It is good and the charcater is August Also i love Romeo and Juliet srceen but they didn't fall in love. Victoria schawab is my favorite author she wrote dark Y.A. fantasy and i read her other books call vicious i think all of you should read it.

About the author

V. E. Schwab is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, ranging from middle grade to teen to adult. Her books have garnered critical acclaim and been featured in the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, the Washington Post, and NPR; have been translated into more than a dozen languages; and been optioned for television and film. Schwab, an avid traveler, received her MFA from the University of Edinburgh, where her thesis was about the presence of monsters in medieval art. She lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.