This Savage Song No Spoiler Book Review
This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab is such a unique and dark book about monsters, a city divided in two and strong characters with even stronger personalities. I absolutely adored this book and I talk more about why below so just keep reading!
About the book.
Book: This Savage Song
Author: Victoria Schwab
Pages: 427
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: Kate Harker wants to be as ruthless as her father. After five years and six boarding schools, she’s finally going home to prove that she can be.
August Flynn wants to be human. But he isn’t. He’s a monster, one that can steal souls with a song. He’s one of the three most powerful monsters in a city overrun with them. His own father’s secret weapon.
Their city is divided.
Their city is crumbling.
Kate and August are the only two who see both sides, the only two who could do something.
But how do you decide to be a hero or a villain when it’s hard to tell which is which?
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal
Recommended for: Anyone 12+.
Author: Victoria Schwab
Pages: 427
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: Kate Harker wants to be as ruthless as her father. After five years and six boarding schools, she’s finally going home to prove that she can be.
August Flynn wants to be human. But he isn’t. He’s a monster, one that can steal souls with a song. He’s one of the three most powerful monsters in a city overrun with them. His own father’s secret weapon.
Their city is divided.
Their city is crumbling.
Kate and August are the only two who see both sides, the only two who could do something.
But how do you decide to be a hero or a villain when it’s hard to tell which is which?
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal
Recommended for: Anyone 12+.
My thoughts.
SUMMARY
This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab is about a city, Verity,
divided in two. The north side is ruled by Kate Harker’s father and the south
side is ruled by August Flynn’s father. And in the entire city, roam three
types of monsters, the Corsai, Malchai or the Sunai. But what happens when the
city begins to crumble and loyalties are tested?
For a visual explanation, check out Epic Read’s awesome
video explaining what This Savage Song is about.
The book is told in alternating persepctives with Kate and
August, which added to the suspense.
COVER
If you’ve been reading my reviews for a while, you’ll know
that I don’t comment on the cover unless I really hate it or really love it and
this one is the latter. The cover of this book is absolutely gorgeous. I love
how haunting it is, how well it relates to the book and is what drew me to the
book in the first place. The hand lettering done by Jenna Stempel is absolutely
gorgeous and the jacket design with the violin and the orange colours and the
street is SO BEAUT!
WRITING
I watched a video that Victoria Schwab made with Epic Reads
where she joked about having graduated from university ‘with a degree in
monsters’ and it is something that I absolutely agree with! The way she
described Verity, the monsters and the characters really brought the entire
book to life. The writing wasn’t poetic or jaw-dropping but the steady flow and
the quiet coolness (funny way to describe the writing of the book, I know, but
when you read it, you’ll see) of it really pulled the book together.
IDEA
The idea was my favourite aspect of the book, right after
the cover. I have never read a book quite like this one and I like how it was
dystopian but also quite realistic. Verity is shown to be just a normal city which
made the book quite relatable however it added in some supernatural themes with
monsters roaming the streets and some dystopian themes with the city being
divided into two and slowly crumbling. The way Schwab wrote it really mixed in
the different elements of a contemporary, fantasy, supernatural and dystopian
novel to make it a very unique combination.
I also haven’t read any YA novels about monsters (there
probably are some but I just don’t know about them) and I don’t think it’s a
very recurring theme in the YA genre so I quite liked how Schwab broke the
boundaries and brought something new it.
I quite liked how this book wasn’t very romantic because in
the current situation and Schwab didn’t just stuff in romance for the sake of
fitting in with the other YA books. I like how artfully placed everything in
her book is, especially the romance and the character bonds.
One thing I loved loved loved about the book was the poem
about the monsters which appears in the book and on the back of the dust jacket
of the book.
Corsai, corsai,
Tooth and claw,
Shadow and bone
Will eat you raw.
Malchai, malchai,
Sharp and sly,
Smile and bite
And drink you dry.
Sunai, sunai,
Eyes like coal,
Sing you a song
And steal your soul.
Monsters monsters,
Big and small,
They’re going to come
And eat you all.
Tell me that that is not the most haunting but seriously
epic thing you’ve heard! The poem sort of pulled the different monsters
together and explained them in such a creepy but brilliant way and I adored it!
PLOT
I feel the plot is the area that let me down a little, making
me knock off a star from my rating. It wasn’t as action packed and quick paced
as I’d hoped it to be and at times got a little dull. I feel a lot didn’t happen
in the book either other than the characters running from one place to another
which got old fast. There was no big ‘AHHHAA’ moment or even an ‘aha’ moment
for me.
At times, it was also a little confusing, especially towards
the beginning and some of the ending scenes.
CHARACTERS
Kate Harker, one of the main characters is such a badass, it’s
absolutely awesome. I love the games she plays and how cunning and smart she
is. I like how she isn’t a simpering female protagonist that needs the male
protagonist to come rescue her. Kate is such an edgy and dangerous character
and I loved how much life she brought to the book.
August Flynn is the other main character. He is much quieter
than Kate and a lot more deceptive. The characters are complete opposites. While
Kate flaunts how dangerous she can be, August keeps it tucked away in a corner.
While Kate purposely draws attention to herself, August tries to avoid the
attention directed towards him. And of course, the most obvious one of them,
Kate is from the north side and August is from the south side.
FINALLY…
Don’t be fooled into thinking that this is Romeo and Juliet,
both of whom come from opposite sides, one a Montague and other a Capulet. Just
because Kate’s father rules the north of Verity and August’s father rules the
south doesn’t mean they’re going to fall deeply and madly in love.
This Savage Song is about survival and monsters and the
darkness that lurks within each of us.
It’s also an absolute must read.
0 happy thoughts
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