This Savage Song

For the past couple years, Victoria (V.E.) Schwab has been focusing on her adult books, with Vicious and her Darker Shade series. However, This Savage Song takes her back to her start in YA, with an urban fantasy that explores the question of what it means to be monstrous. For readers of her adult works, expect a tone closer to Vicious than Darker Shade, and for readers of her YA, be prepared for a darker, twistier tale than either The Archived or The Near Witch.This Savage Song takes place in a time and place not too removed from the world we live in now, except for one crucial detail — in this world, acts of violence breed literal monsters. The more horrific the violence, the more terrible the creature it creates.August, one of the two narrators, is one such monster, born out of an event so horrible, he can barely bring himself to think of it. He wants nothing more than to be human, but throughout the story, it becomes increasingly clear why that can never be possible, and why, even so, he can never stop trying.Kate Harker, the other narrator, is the teenage daughter of the most powerful man in the city, and would happily throw away her humanity if it won her the attention of her father. She and August don’t so much come together as collide, and the narrative of This Savage Song clearly relishes playing out the tension between the monster boy longing for the very thing his human companion doesn’t seem to value at all, and the girl trying to reconcile what she knows of monsters with the boy standing in front of her.It’s hard to discuss the plot of This Savage Song without getting into spoilers, so suffice it to say that the entire book is a tense, thrilling exploration of what it means to be human, what can make someone monstrous, and the marks violence leaves, both on the soul and on society. Kate and August’s relationship follows one of my favorite trajectories in fiction, from enemies to wary allies to respected partners to trusted friends, and I loved every delicious moment of their slow-burn friendship (is slow-burn friendship a thing? Because it should be).I also was fascinated by the monsters that populated the dark world of This Savage Song. For the most part, they are not the mindless, salivating brutes of horror novels and fairy tales, but sinister, intelligent beings with agendas of their own. When the story starts, the monsters have more or less taken over the city, but they still have structure and hierarchy within their new, monstrous society. I’ve always considered worldbuilding one of Victoria’s great strengths, and This Savage Song is no exception, as she feels her way through how the world as we know it would change — and how it would remain the same — if monsters roamed among us.I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the writing itself; as always, Victoria’s prose is beautiful, each word carefully chosen, each paragraph meticulously crafted. On a sentence level, I truly feel she’s one of the most talented writers in the game today. There’s hardly a page that goes by without a phrase that would be appropriate to print in loopy script and place in a frame somewhere. Her worldbuilding is lush and detailed, the dialogue sharp, the action taught, and the act of reading her words is decadence and joy and education all in one.Make no mistake, This Savage Song is very dark, probably Schwab’s darkest since Vicious, and therefore won’t be for everyone. It’s violent and disturbing and, at times, very sad. But despite its darkness, it’s not a depressing book. Yes, Kate and August go through terrible trials and have to face awful things, but when I turned the final few pages of This Savage Song (which, it’s worth noting, ends on a very satisfying note, despite this book being the first of a duology), I felt oddly uplifted. For me, though it’s subtle, there was an undercurrent of light woven throughout the story, enough to leave the reader with the impression that though things may get bad, so bad it seems nearly impossible for them to ever turn around, that there is always hope. There is always goodness somewhere, maybe buried deep, maybe not where you’d expect to find it, and you might have to fight tooth and nail to get to it, but it’s there nonetheless. It’s a difficult balance to strike, but in my opinion, it’s executed beautifully here.If you are a fan of urban fantasy, unlikely friendships, gorgeous writing, and thoughtful explorations of morality and monstrousness, rush to your local bookstore and dive into the world of This Savage Song today.

I finally read a Victoria Schwab book and wow! It was pretty amazing! This Savage Song snagged my interest when I heard it involved monsters! And not like monsters we might be used to, but actual monsters who happily kill and/or eat humans! You might be thinking this sounds like a horror novel, it’s not. Not really. Sure there are creepy moments, but there’s more suspense to this one and quite a mystery brewing filled with many betrayals and lies!In this world, there are three kinds of monsters; Corsai, Malchai, and Sunai. They all come into being when there’s a serious crime committed. This is the part that was a little confusing for me, but I think what it summed up to was that Corsai are born from non-lethal violence, Malchai come from a more heinous crime like murder, and Sunai are born from truly awful crimes, like massacres, bombings, etc. They apparently appear human, unless they truly lose themselves. Some of this monster setup wasn’t really explained in detail. Just more like, Sunai are created from massacres and that there are only three rumored to be in existence.In walks August, who is one of those three. He’s a Sunai, a monster, but he doesn’t want to be one. In order to survive he does need to feed on the souls of the truly wicked. August though doesn’t enjoy doing this. It seems the easiest way he can go about getting a soul is when he plays his violin in the presence of such wickedness. He was raised by the Flynns who rule the South City, which is a part of the sector that has more chaos than order. You must fight to have safety in this place. While in the North City, that’s ruled by Harker, safety comes to those who can pay the price and it’s steep. If you don’t pay, then you basically forfeit your life.Kate Harker wants nothing more than to please her father, she’s gotten herself kicked out many boarding schools just to come home and prove herself to him. She and August meet at her new school which he is also attending. Oddly enough, he’s going “undercover” with a fake identity and is told to keep an eye on Kate. And Kate quickly becomes determined to puzzle August out.For me, This Savage Song is one of those books that feels so hard to review or explain to others, but when reading it, you get the gist of the storyline. Granted, I feel confused by a few unanswered questions. Mostly in regards to the world-building that I wish had been better explained, but when it comes to those instances, I always try to just roll with it. And usually, I am able to do just that! Because luckily here, it really only was a few things that I didn’t quite understand or grasp to the world-building and whatnot.From the start you can almost see Kate and August winding up enemies, but then you also already can figure out that soon that will change as well. The change was definitely a slow, gradual kind. And like other readers, I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of romance between them. Are things blossoming or being laid out for the future? Possibly. Who’s to really say? Maybe there won’t be romance in this story at all. But what you will see is a bond growing between Kate and August in some way. But I must say I truly enjoyed watching these two interact. While they may not exactly be friends, they are sort of comrades. They’re being attacked from enemies and they’re left with no one else to trust. As they say, “better the devil you know, than the devil you don’t”.There’s trouble brewing among the cities. Tensions are high and it seems the ones in South City are not happy about the current circumstances. There were quite a few secrets, betrayals and shocking surprises in this book. It can be hard to tell who the villain is. Is it the North City, the South City, someone else entirely? It’s a tough call.The ending was quite possibly the best part of this book! Okay, a lot about this book was really, really good! But that ending…oh that ending leaves me with chills! Not only do we pretty much have a nice all out battle of sorts and then watching the characters go in their given direction, but there’s one final chapter, one final segment that will totally blow your mind! Not only in a BIG way, but also in an added little way! Totally WTF?! moment, but in the best possible way!! The wait until the next and from what I heard final, as it’s a duology we’re dealing with, Our Dark Duet, is going to be killer! There are too many loose strings left in this one that I am desperately waiting to see what will befall our characters!This Savage Song was quite an intriguing read! It was puzzling at times, and filled with so many twists it will make your head spin! It’s a read to keep you on your toes and I would totally recommend it if you’re looking for that dark kind of read that will make you question what or who monsters really are!Overall Rating 4/5 stars

Kate Harker will do anything to get her father’s attention so he will bring her back home, including burning down her school’s chapel. Her father brings her back to the divided city of Verity where he allows the monsters to roam free and has humans pay for his protection. Meanwhile, August Flynn is the “son” of the ruler of the other half of the city. August is a monster, with the power to steal a soul with a violin song. When the Flynn family find out that Kate will be attending school in the city, they send August to masquerade as a student and get close to her. However, power is shifting in their city. When Kate’s life is put in danger, August has to put his secret at risk to figure out who is trying to kill them.This was such a thrilling and suspenseful story. It was an original and complex world. A lot of the rules and history of the world weren’t described until halfway through the story. I would have liked to learn that earlier so I could really understand the world. I still really enjoyed this story!This Savage Song is a great story! I can’t wait to read the sequel!

Me lo compre por la edición tan bonita que es. Me encanta!

En cuanto a las condiciones del producto, el libro llegó bien asegurado (con plásticos necesarios) para que no se maltratara, la textura de la portada es bastante peculiar y llegó en el tiempo acordado. Altamente recomendable.En cuanto a la historia, debo decir que es un libro poco usual; tiene elementos bastante interesantes que hacen que te enganches de principio a fin. Este libro no puede faltar en tu librero, la verdad vale la pena ser leído.

Kate e August vivem em um mundo marcado pela guerra, onde cada ato de violência cometido pelos humanos gera um monstro: corsais, malchais e sunais. Cada mosntro desses e causado por um tipo diferente de violência e cada um os combate como pode. Após o fenômeno, as cidades foram citiadas e os cidadãos presos nelas, sendo extremamente difícil a entrada de forasteiros. Na cidade V a coisa é ainda mais complicada: ela é dividida em Norte e Sul, lados opostos que lutam de maneiras diferentes contra os monstros que a assolam.O Norte é controlado por Callum Harker, pai de Kate e um completo tirano. Ele arrumou um modo de controlar os monstros e cobra pela proteção que garante ao povo. No Sul temos Henry Flynn um homem que luta pela paz agindo na origem do problema com a ajuda de uma Força Tarefa criada para combater os monstros e a violência que os gera. Os dois lados vivem em uma trégua instável que está na iminência de se romper.Kate vivia fora da Cidade V mas seu maior desejo era voltar e estar ao lado do pai, provando ser digna de comandar junto com ele e tanto o fez que foi expulsa de todos os colégios e internatos que foi mandada até voltar pra casa.August é filho adotivo de Henry, mas enquanto seu irmão (também adotivo) luta com o pai na Força Tarefa, ele fica preso em casa, onde é mais seguro - o que o angustia demasiadamente. Seu desejo é ajudar na causa e quando surge uma oportunidade de ir em uma missão no norte - vigiar a filha de Callum - ele aproveita.É incrível que mesmo após ler tantos livros de Victoria Schwab eu ainda consiga me surpreender com a criatividade, a originalidade e a escrita fantástica da autora. Não tem outra palavra que possa descrever esse livro além de sensacional.O que mais chama a atenção nesse livro é justamente a premissa e o universo criado pela autora. Ela conseguiu traduzir na ficção (de maneira fantástica diga-se de passagem) algo que acontece na realidade: a violência gerando mais violência. Nesse caso, cada ato de violência cria um monstro correspondente e o medo é disseminado pela população.Outro detalhe que conquistou meu coração nessa história é a ligação dela com a música! Amei que um dos modos de "acabar" com a origem da violência seja através da música, que é algo que amo e tem um significado enorme pra mim.Victoria nos conquista logo nas primeiras páginas e é impossível largar o livro antes do desfecho. Como em qualquer livro que nos apresente um universo tão diferente, as primeiras páginas podem ser mais lentas, mas mesmo assim tão envolventes que ficamos ansiosos por saber mais. A escrita é tão fluida que quando percebemos já lemos meio livro em um piscar de olhos.A narrativa é em terceira pessoa e acompanhamos as duas perspectivas dos protagonistas, de maneira que temos a oportunidade de conhecê-los mais profundamente e entender os conflitos pelos quais passam. Kate é uma personagem forte e cheia de atitude, que quer mais do que tudo provar ao pai que não é indefesa e pode comandar ao lado dele. Já August enfrenta um dilema com uma pegada mais de crise existencial: a todo momento ele questiona a razão de ser como é e seu papel no mundo em que vivem. Ele vive tentando fugir de quem é ao invés de se aceitar e usar isso a seu favor - o que pode ser um tanto irritante mas que não me impediu nem um pouco de me apaixonar por ele.O fato é que os personagens são extremamente bem construídos e a autora teve muito sucesso em nos conquistar com eles. O que nos ganha é o fato de eles não serem perfeitos, pelo contrário. Eles exemplificam o que é ser um humano: cheio de erros e defeitos mas tentando acertar, tentando ser alguém. A história é bem surpreendente, cheia de ação e com um ritmo elétrico. As cenas finais são de tirar o fôlego e nos deixar de queixo caído. Confesso que estou mega ansiosa pela continuação e espero que a Seguinte não tarde em trazê-lo pro Brasil!

If you want your stories to be driven by the characters, buy this book. Victoria Schwab writes these amazing, intricately woven stories with the characters at the center.Plot: You live in a world, where every misdeed by a human leads to the creation of monsters, monsters who in turn eat people. The monster is not bound to you, neither you to it. Would you live among people who created these monsters or would you rather live in a safe place where people fight these monsters and their creators?This is the story of the city of Verity, which is divided into two half - north and south. Each controlled by two humans - one who creates/rules monsters, the other who opposes and fights them. Then you have Kate and August the children of said humans. The stories they weave, and the lives they want to live, but can't because they're stuck in a world where every action has a consequence, and not all the choices you make, are for your own happiness.This story was so well-written, that I felt every emotion in it. August's chapters were so calming to read, even when everything was going to hell. The whole story is never told out-front, but in bits and pieces.There is no romance in this - as said by the author herself. The feelings in this book cannot be simply dubbed as romantic. There's so much more to it all.Fair warning - get ready for some form of heart break in this as that's the way Schwab writes.If you loved her other trilogy, Shades of Magic - then you'll love this duology too. There are some similarities between characters. Kate was in some way - both like Delilah Bard and Holland.Throughout this book, all I wanted was for people to leave August alone and to let him play his violin peace. Is that too much to ask?!