 Title: This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity #1)
Author: Victoria Schwab
Date Read: August 23 2017 Published: July 5th 2016 @ Greenwillow Books Genre: YA Urban Fantasy Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Continue Reading... |
This Savage Song follows Kate and August, the children of opposing leaders of a city called Verity-- a city overrun with monsters. After some vague catalyst (that I'm really hoping we learn more about later), violent acts begin to create actual living monsters. The severity of the act is what creates the varying creatures: the Corsai, smoke-like creatures with a hive mind created by non-lethal acts, the Malachai, vicious and conniving creatures created by murder, and the Sunai, created by mass murder.
August, our male protagonist, is one of the few Sunai in the city, and he wants nothing more than to be human. Kate, whose father is the ruthless leader of the monsters in the north side of the city, tries to prove her worth by proving she can be monstrous.
It's difficult to put into words what I liked so much about this book. There are a lot of tropes present that I connected with, like a prep school setting, some great chase scenes, and learning to trust someone you're allies with out of necessity. But more than that, I just liked the underlying sincerity behind the main characters that drives the story.
Kate, for example, is not a likeable character. In fact, at the outset of the novel, she's downright insufferable. I found myself literally saying aloud "Kate, calm the fuck down" while reading the prologue. But the thing is, even if you don't agree with her actions, you can still see why she is the way that she is. She's trying so hard to be something that she's not, and you can feel that through the writing.
August is precious. I really don't know how else to describe him except to say that if I knew him in person, I would not hesitate to fight for his honour. I know that some people aren't fans of his character archetype, being the sad and mysterious teen, but he's just so earnest that this didn't bother me at all.
The pacing was also very successful. I was always on the edge of my seat, and by the end of the book, I was needing to put it down every ten pages or so because I was STRESSED. I didn't want anything bad to happen to these poor kids.
The only thing that I would put my weight into criticizing is the world-building itself. While the tone and atmosphere both worked well, the world-building that was done just wasn't enough for me. I found myself confused fairly often and I definitely wanted to know a lot more about the mechanics of the Phenomenon that created the monsters. I'm really hoping the sequel will reveal a lot of that, which is why it's not enough to take away a star in my rating.
(This book was read as part of the reading challenge The Reading Quest, see original post for more information.)
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