This Savage Song

4.5 Stars!
This Savage Song was really different from what I usually read. It was dark and set in a broken world with different kinds of monsters.

I found the plot fascinating and unpredictable with so much happening. The characters were also exciting to read; Kate was eager to please her father by being as ruthless and cruel as him. While August was a monster trying to help humanity. I also liked Isla.

This novel was really interesting because it makes you wonder who the real monsters are; the humans or the monsters since they were created by humans doing evil things.

Eager to find out what happens next in Our Dark Duet!

This Savage Song is a uniquely peculiar novel that cleverly combines magic, monsters and music. Dark, violent and monstrous, the novel is a real slow-burn that leaves you wanting to know more.

I really had no idea what to expect going into this novel. I have only read one V.E. Schwab novel before – A Darker Shade of Magic – and while I enjoyed it, I’ve never really felt the immediate urge to finish the series. So I was a little hesitant to pick up This Savage Song because, let’s be honest, Schwab’s novels are highly venerated by the YA community and there’s always been a tiny part of me that thinks that they’re … overrated? (Don’t hate on me.)

But I was very glad I gave this novel a chance because I thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot is quite ingenious and features an impending war, badass if unmoral characters, and a unique take on vampiric monsters – the Malchai who feed on blood, the Corsai who feed on bones and flesh, and the Sunai who feed on souls.

August is one of only three Sunais in existence, and unlike his “brother” Leo who believes that Sunais are superior to all other monsters and humanity, August just wants to be a normal human boy. He takes no pleasure in feeding on souls and even goes so far as to try to stop himself from eating altogether. He has to be one of the sweetest characters I have ever come across in YA literature and I can see every reader falling for him. His struggles are emphatically real and relatable – he has issues with his family, issues with morality, and issues fighting his nature.

Although I generally liked Kate and responded to her, I did have a few issues with her too. While I was ecstatic that there is a YA novel that features a ruthless female protagonist, I did find some of Kate’s lines to be a little cheesy. Her constant attempts to act macho just came across as awkward – I actually laughed out loud when she tried to frighten a fellow classmate by saying she is “worse” than her father. Sure 17-year-old Kate, you are much more frightening than a man who literally controls monsters, owns half a city, and has every wealthy person in his pocket. Sure.

Despite the few occasions where she irked me, Kate does grow as a character and learns from her past and her mistakes. Reading her POV, you discover that inside she is just lost and craves her father’s attention. Once Kate goes through a brief development, I liked her so much better and can’t wait to read about her in the sequel and finale.

The world-building is incredibly interesting but also quite slow in developing. It wasn’t until around page 200 that we are told exactly how the monsters are created, and I am still a little confused as to what happened all those years ago that resulted in V-City separating into two. I usually have no problem with slow world-building, but in regards to This Savage Song, the background history should have been explained sooner for clarity.

The writing was top-notch, and the point of views very distinctive – I enjoyed the frequent POV flips as they showed different sides to Kate and August that we wouldn’t have necessarily seen through their own views.

This Savage Song is a different type of fantasy: Schwab offers her unique brand of magic on an otherwise overused “monster” story, and shows us you don’t have to be a literal monster to be monstrous.

"You wanted to feel alive, right? It doesn't matter if you're monster or human. Living hurts."

I wasn't expecting much diving into this story. Sure, we're talking about Victoria Schwab, the woman who gave birth to ADSoM, with its mouth-gaping magic system and charming characters (Gaahhh Kell ?) but I always try not to be too biased by my love for an author when it comes to a new book of theirs.

The story is about Verity city which is inhabitated by both humans and monsters. One half of the city is controlled by Flynn, the other one by Harker, a man who grants his citizen's protection at a pretty high monetary prize. Also, he owns a great chunk of the monster population. The two sides have been on the verge of war for quite a long time.
The monsters are of three kind: Malchai, Corsai and Sunai.

" Corsai fed on flesh and bone, Malchai on blood, and whose it was meant nothing to them. But the Sunai could feed only on sinners. That's what set them apart. "

(again, Victoria has done it again, after that beauty that Arnesian is, she chose the most beautiful words to name her monsters!)

Our main characters are August, a Sunai who lives with the Flynns, and Kate, Harker's daughter. I wasn't greatly impressed by these two: August is pretty boring actually, the monster who wants to feel human, who denies himself his monstruous nature because is incapable of accepting it. Sure, it is an interesting concept but I wanted to read about kickass monsters, not angsty ones. Kate is the rebel one, she has always lived great lenghts away from her father (both emotionally and physically) and wants to demonstrate him how she's a Harker too, how she can manage leadership over the monsters as well. Between the two I found her to be more well-rounded than August, probably because we got glimpses of her past that made us understand how the woman we see today came to be. Plus she has the best comebacks:

"What are you doing?"
"Praying" she said.
Rachel arched a brow, "For what?"
"Forgiveness," said Kate. "For what I'm about to do if you don't get out of my way."


The chemistry between the two worked pretty well but I would have preferred a little bit more of communication on both parts.

The major problem I had with this book though weren't the main characters. My problem with This Savage Song was the overall plot and side characters. Nothing really happened, there wasn't a slow building up to the major final twist. The two MCs were too oblivious to too many things and, us following their path, could only see one side of the story which didn't give me the whole picture of what was going on. The side characters only happeared sporadically. I wasn't given the means to sympathise with them and when in the end things went down I really didn't care.
The cliffhanger was pretty interesting, reminded me a little of ADSoM, but I didn't see it coming so I'm curious as to find out what happens next.

In the end I was not the greatest fan of this work but it still managed to instill in me that seed of curiosity that will encourage me to pick up the next instalment in this series!