This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity, #1) in SpecFic Buddy Reads

Jan 19, 2016 Emma rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, paranormal, ya, dystopia

Reread July 2017
I was gutted when I read this last year to learn that the second half of this duology hadn't yet been published. I didn't imagine I would need to reread it as I'd loved it so much, but in fact, when I came to start Our Dark Duet, I realised I didn't really remember the story! Well I woofed it up in no time at all and loved it just as much this time. I think August and Kate are really well written and nuanced characters. I've been assiduously avoiding all reviews of its sequel unt ...more

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Feb 11, 2017 Bradley rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, 2017-shelf, ya

Maybe I'm a fanboy of Ms. Schwab, and so, therefore, I'm a lot more forgiving of a simple Romeo and Juliet tale. Granted, it doesn't go so far as to kill off either main character but that's not really the point.

Kate and August are from different clans of monsters. She's kind of a monster inside and he's an actual monster on the outside. :) Even so, he begins as a pacifist and she's all about trying to get stronger. It's pretty standard story stuff.

The proof, however, is in the pudding. This aut ...more

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Aug 01, 2015 Justine rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016-read

4.5 stars

"Why would you even want to be human? We’re fragile. We die.”

“You also live. You don’t spend every day wondering why you exist, but don’t feel real, why you look human, but can’t be. You don’t do everything you can to be a good person only to have it constantly thrown in your face that you’re not a person at all."

This Savage Song Song is a dark urban fantasy that takes place in an indeterminate future, where the United States has become a system of Territories. Among these is the Territ 4.5 stars

"Why would you even want to be human? We’re fragile. We die.”

“You also live. You don’t spend every day wondering why you exist, but don’t feel real, why you look human, but can’t be. You don’t do everything you can to be a good person only to have it constantly thrown in your face that you’re not a person at all."

This Savage Song Song is a dark urban fantasy that takes place in an indeterminate future, where the United States has become a system of Territories. Among these is the Territory of Verity, known for it's population, or infestation, of monsters, who are created as a side effect of violent acts by humans.

V-City is divided into the North City, controlled by a crime boss named Harker, and South City, protected by a peacekeeper named Flynn. Harker makes deals with the monsters of North City, and the humans who live there pay for his protection. In South City, Flynn and his task force fight both the monsters and the people who bring them into existence.

The story revolves around two main characters. Harker's daughter, Kate, is a girl who wants to prove herself as cold and heartless as her father in order to win his affection and approval. August is Flynn's adopted son, a monster who looks human, and who lives off of the souls of human wrongdoers.

This isn't a simple story of a monstrous human who is saved by a monster who wants to be human. Similar to the characters that appeared in Vicious, Schwab has sketched a morally ambiguous and complex set of characters that make for an interesting and nuanced story.

Instead of an obvious romantic entanglement between Kate and August, there is a much more realistic and complicated relationship that develops between them. It's refreshing to see deep connection between two characters without that romantic overture, and I thought the story was that much richer for it.

I'm a great fan of Schwab's writing, and I think this is probably my favourite of hers to date since Vicious. There is just something wonderfully dark and alluring about her urban fantasy in particular. Although this is going to be a duology, and I am very much looking forward to the second book, This Savage Song does bring the story arc to a nice close and won't leave you feeling unsatisfied with the ending. So don't feel like you need to wait. ...more

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Oct 21, 2017 Lata rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: auth-f, kids-and-ya, sf-f-h, x2017-read

I enjoyed this first book much more than Victoria Schwab’s alternate Londons books. I found the two leads Kate Harker and August Flynn much more interesting and likeable than the irritating, moody, always sorry for himself, self-centred Kel. (Blech!!)
Though I didn’t entirely buy August’s loathing for what he could become, I really liked the interactions between Kate and August and their stances and discussions about monsters.
The monsters threat hanging over Verity was scary, and the different ap ...more

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Mar 19, 2016 Robyn rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2016

This is a quick, clever urban fantasy, with two engaging lead characters. Set in a future, post-apocalyptic (kinda) midwest, the setting reveals itself slowly but the story is very fast-moving. I very much liked the monsters, but would have liked a little more background. (I know, I know, I'm a fiend for world-building.) ...more

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Jun 02, 2016 Candace rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, first-in-series, spec-fic-buddyread, 07-july-read

3.5 not rounded up. Great characterization, originality of plot, and smooth writing did not surprise me from Schwab. Vicious is one of my favorite books and I'm excited about starting out 2017 reading her Shades of Magic trilogy. However, monsters don't excite me as much as superheroes and I didn't like the tinges of horror in this book. Ok, I don't like any horror! So despite the great writing and originality, the originality was not that impressive and this book was not a good match for me. I ...more

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Apr 02, 2016 Amanda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

3.5 stars.

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Jun 04, 2016 Helen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is an excellent story, with engaging characters and an interesting slant on what makes a monster.

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Jul 07, 2015 Christina Pilkington rated it really liked it

*4.5 stars

This was a book that did not grab me right away.

I hadn't realized that this book was more dystopian than urban fantasy. And I've been burned out on dystopians lately. Still, I've really enjoyed Schwab's other series that I have read, so I continued reading, hoping things would get better.

And get better they did!

By page 50 I was hooked. While many elements of the story were not that original, the combination of those elements and Schwab's often beautiful writing style made it a uniqu ...more

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Feb 27, 2017 Amber (Books of Amber) rated it it was ok

This review was originally posted on Books of Amber

Apparently I just don't get one well with Victoria Schwab's YA books. I don't know what it is, but I felt fairly neutral about The Archived books, and unfortunately I felt the same way about This Savage Song. Schwab's adult books? Wonderful. I adore Vicious, and ADSOM was excellent. Can't wait to finish the trilogy. But her YA just doesn't click with me.

Now, I enjoyed the dystopian world in which this was set. I didn't have a problem with it a

...more

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