This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity, 1)

#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.
The repackaged paperback includes a map of V-City!
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Community Reviews
I appreciate the mirroring between August and Kate, but something about them both felt superficial. Like you never really got to know them, which in a certain light makes sense given their respective backstories, but then this attempt at personability was thrown into Verses 3 and 4 and that fell flat for me.
I will say I was pleasantly surprised by the ending. The story took a direction I didn't expect and I appreciate that.
First off, the setting is excellent. Post apocalyptic settings can be hit or miss for me, but I very much enjoyed how this book set everything up.
Secondly, I very much enjoyed the different monsters and how they are portrayed. They aren’t your usual vampires and I always love new takes like this.
Thirdly, I love August and Kate!! They are both characters with so much depth and wants and goals and it was a pleasure to read from both of their perspectives. And they fit together so well.
I didn’t see the end coming the way it did. I thought I knew what to expect but it played out so differently but still just as well as I wanted, though I still want so much more. So on to the sequel!
I highly recommend this book, it was an excellent read.
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