Title: This Savage Song
Author: Victoria Schwab
Genre: Fantasy/Dystopian
My Rating: 4/5 stars
In the city of Verity, the people live in fear of two things: the monsters, and the man who controls the monsters.
There are three types of monsters: the Corsai, the Malchai, and the Sunai. The first two are terrifying creatures that murder their prey brutally, the first feeding on flesh and bone, the second feasting on blood. That is, unless you’re under the protection of Callum Harker. Then you carry a medallion that will ward off the monsters and ensure your safety.
The Sunai are much more rare. In fact, there are only three known Sunai, and they’re the most mysterious and terrifying of all. They feast on the souls of sinners.
August Flynn is a Sunai, but he doesn’t want to be. He wishes he were human and he hates what he is. Still, his path crosses with that of the daughter of Callum Harker, Kate, and there is born an unlikely friendship between enemies.
My thoughts:
I love how unique this story is; there really isn’t anything quite like it. Each monster is born from some sinful act, whether it be theft or lies or murder. Unlike the Corsai and the Malchai, August, a Sunai, can only feed on the souls of sinners. AKA, people who have killed mass amounts of people in this case. These monsters appeared after the Phenomenon, or the Phenomenon occurred because the monsters were born, I’m not sure. Honestly, the Phenomenon is still a mystery to me, and I think that’s the idea. This aspect of the story is very intriguing and I’m excited to learn more in the second and final book, Our Dark Duet.
The characters were interesting and well-done, particularly the two main characters. I enjoyed Kate and August’s interactions and banter, and I loved the friendship that develops between them. When Kate finds out what August really is, I love that she gives him the benefit of the doubt, and she takes into account what she knows of his character. She doesn’t immediately write him off and grows to trust him despite his true identity.
Unfortunately, while I was still very interested in the story within the first half, it was also slow. I understand that Schwab was taking her time building the world and unfolding each character to us, but it took me forever to read it and seemed to drag. Still, it picked up later on and I loved where it went.
Other than that, I don’t have too much to say about the book. What else is there to mention? I look forward to reading Our Dark Duet soon so that I can finish this up and see how August and Kate’s story ends. I have high hopes!
Great review! I’ve had my eye on this book for a while. Maybe it’s time I finally pick it up.
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Aww thank you! And I’m so glad, I had been seeing it everywhere and figured it was about time I hop on the bandwagon! I hope you enjoy it, as well!
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Read Our Dark Duet- it’s definitely better than This Savage Song! But it’ll break your heart.
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I actually just finished Our Dark Duet yesterday! My review is set to go live later this week, unfortunately I didn’t have so much to rave about. I can totally see why everyone loves it, though, I cannot deny that Victoria Schwab is an amazing author! I’m still definitely planning to read her other works, as well 🙂 Have you read the Darker Shade of Magic trilogy?
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I haven’t read ADSOM yet! I own the first two in the trilogy but I just haven’t got around to reading them. They’re so high up in my TBR though I hope to get to them soon. Same with Vicious, it looks amazing! I haven’t heard such good things about her YA series though which is a shame 😕
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Same, I hear so many good things about ADSOM and Vicious! I haven’t heard anything about her YA series at all, but either way, I can’t wait to read the rest of her stuff!
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