This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity #1)

Author: Victoria Schwab

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

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.~Goodreads

This Savage Song was the first novel that I’ve read by Ms. Schwab and I gotta say, I really enjoyed it!

The City of Verity is dark, gritty, dangerous and I loved it; it was a character in and of itself. As for the monsters who dwell there, well, they were completely disturbing. Violent. And disgusting. The mix of the three, Sunai, Malchai, and Corsai, was awesome. I loved the little sayings that went with each!

I absolutely adored the characters in this book too, especially August. He is a multidimensional character who goes through a lot. He’s trying to learn about himself and he's trying to understand the world that he lives in and he's trying to figure out where he fits in to it. I would love a prequel on how he was raised because the guy is fantastic. Such a compassionate….monster, gah! I don’t even want to call him a monster because he’s so much more. The little snippets we get to see of him going “dark” just added another element to his whole persona, that I ended up loving him even more. Also can I just say that the Sunai are pretty rad monsters? 

And then there is badass Kate. She could completely handle her own in this brutal world. I loved the fact that she  would continually ask herself, "Where are you?"  The idea that there was another Kate, living another life, in a parallel universe. It made me sad yet love her all at the same time. I also really enjoyed the dynamic of her and August’s relationship. At first I was bummed because, ****SPOILER****, there was NO romance between them, but their…friendship, alliance, whatever the hell it is, was awesome. 

The plot was full of twists, turns, blood, and betrayals. This Savage Song is completely captivating and I seriously can’t wait to see where this story goes. The ending was SUCH a tease and I need more NOW! Definitely pick this one up!