This Savage Song - Victoria Schwab
Review:
The newest book by one of my favorite authors, V.E. Schwab (She goes by "Victoria" for her YA novels). I love the premise for the book: violent acts create actual monsters.
The two main characters are a human girl named Kate who desperately wants to be a (figurative) monster: a big, bad crime boss like her father, who runs one half of V-City. The other is August, who is a literal monster, a Malchai, one that drains the souls of his victims through his music, who desperately seeks his own personal humanity. I loved them both, and their personalities and characters and drives are so multi-faceted and real. They interact with other characters in believable and different ways.
The juxtaposition of these two characters in and of itself is one of the driving things behind this story, and one of the things that makes it so compelling. Even though marketed as a YA, it really delves into the deep questions: What makes us human? What makes us monsters?
The plot is fast-paced. Just as Kate and August begin forming a tentative friendship, a tragedy throws them together and they have to run for their lives, trusting no one.
Schwab’s writing is just exquisite. She writes a tight plot and keeps the prose engaging and the descriptions vivid. She creates a dark, gritty reality and writes about the darker side of humanity. And yet she finds the beauty in that darkness, and that’s one of the main reasons I love her writing and her books. Another thing I like is that her stories don’t have neat happy endings. While there are resolutions, they’re messy. People get hurt or die. Some things are left behind. But you wouldn’t want it any other way.
This is the first of a duology (two book series). The sequel will be out sometime next summer. Highly recommend.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Details:
Genre: YA
Language: Some strong language
Sex: No sex
Violence: Lots of violence, and fairly graphic
Review:
The newest book by one of my favorite authors, V.E. Schwab (She goes by "Victoria" for her YA novels). I love the premise for the book: violent acts create actual monsters.
The two main characters are a human girl named Kate who desperately wants to be a (figurative) monster: a big, bad crime boss like her father, who runs one half of V-City. The other is August, who is a literal monster, a Malchai, one that drains the souls of his victims through his music, who desperately seeks his own personal humanity. I loved them both, and their personalities and characters and drives are so multi-faceted and real. They interact with other characters in believable and different ways.
The juxtaposition of these two characters in and of itself is one of the driving things behind this story, and one of the things that makes it so compelling. Even though marketed as a YA, it really delves into the deep questions: What makes us human? What makes us monsters?
The plot is fast-paced. Just as Kate and August begin forming a tentative friendship, a tragedy throws them together and they have to run for their lives, trusting no one.
Schwab’s writing is just exquisite. She writes a tight plot and keeps the prose engaging and the descriptions vivid. She creates a dark, gritty reality and writes about the darker side of humanity. And yet she finds the beauty in that darkness, and that’s one of the main reasons I love her writing and her books. Another thing I like is that her stories don’t have neat happy endings. While there are resolutions, they’re messy. People get hurt or die. Some things are left behind. But you wouldn’t want it any other way.
This is the first of a duology (two book series). The sequel will be out sometime next summer. Highly recommend.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Details:
Genre: YA
Language: Some strong language
Sex: No sex
Violence: Lots of violence, and fairly graphic
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