Victoria Schwab
"This Savage Song"
Greenwillow
464 pages
8.1
Blurb
There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from 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.
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.
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.
Review
In Schwab's universe, there's no right or wrong, there's no bad or good. Even the good people have a monster inside of them, and how Schwab is able to pull and twist the real character of human being without any struggle is clearly shown in This Savage Song, the latest effort from Schwab.
Kate & August, the main characters of the book, may bear no resemblance at the surface. Kate, the daughter of Verity's north side's crime-lord, only wants to be loved by his father and wants to prove that she deserves her father's recognition, that's she's as ruthless and vile as her father can be. Meanwhile, August, a monster himself, hates himself, and longs to be human. But as a monster and the step-son of south side's leader who's trying to maintain the peace in monster-infested city of Verity, it's hard to maintain your humanity. When he's sent to the same school with Kate to spy on her, he's surprised to see how similar their condition is, he begins to develop some friendship with Kate, while hiding his identity as a monster. But as the chaos erupts and some monsters try to assassinate Kate, they begin their journey together and find out what really happens and what makes human human.
As you can expect from Schwab's work, This Savage Song proffers twisted plot and complicated story, much like her Vicious This Savage Song sets different dark tone and nuance, and that's like a breath of fresh air in the young adult books department.
Once again, Schwab's book works, and as Sony has bought the movie license for This Savage Song we may be able to see this great book visually sooner than you think.
Kate & August, the main characters of the book, may bear no resemblance at the surface. Kate, the daughter of Verity's north side's crime-lord, only wants to be loved by his father and wants to prove that she deserves her father's recognition, that's she's as ruthless and vile as her father can be. Meanwhile, August, a monster himself, hates himself, and longs to be human. But as a monster and the step-son of south side's leader who's trying to maintain the peace in monster-infested city of Verity, it's hard to maintain your humanity. When he's sent to the same school with Kate to spy on her, he's surprised to see how similar their condition is, he begins to develop some friendship with Kate, while hiding his identity as a monster. But as the chaos erupts and some monsters try to assassinate Kate, they begin their journey together and find out what really happens and what makes human human.
As you can expect from Schwab's work, This Savage Song proffers twisted plot and complicated story, much like her Vicious This Savage Song sets different dark tone and nuance, and that's like a breath of fresh air in the young adult books department.
Once again, Schwab's book works, and as Sony has bought the movie license for This Savage Song we may be able to see this great book visually sooner than you think.
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