Read All About It: This Savage Song

Victoria Schwab is a brilliant author, and I love singing her praises. Her Darker Shades of Magic trilogy is one of my favorites, and my adoration for her writing continues to grow with the beginning of this duology. This Savage Song is a brutal and captivating tale of monsters and humans and the blurred lines between them.

Schwab's writing is clean and striking, with an edge that is ready to cut. This is a young adult novel that is a great tale of good versus evil, with enough moral ambiguity to make it a maze of hazy connections. Even the book itself is attractive, its jacket a piece of art.

Kate Harker is human, but wants to stand proud at her father's side instead of being pushed through boarding school after boarding school and proving that she is as ruthless as he is. August Flynn is a monster, and a very powerful one. But he struggles with his own nature, and cannot always see the difference between surviving and living.

Their city is split in two, and is falling. Kate and August are unlikely allies who see more than they should--but when some monsters are good and some humans are monstrous, the line blurs between who exactly are the true monsters in this world.

I knew I'd like this book, but I wasn't sure I would love it. I am wonderfully happy that Schwab pulled me in, and I have no regrets. This world is brutal and dystopic, with an edge that makes nothing what it seems. The veneer of this world is revealed to be almost post-apocalyptic, with the United States falling into 10 smaller territories. This Savage Song is a compelling narrative that explores the hard truths of the monstrous capabilities of humans themselves.

Schwab's monsters are embroiled in this conflict because of their own natures, and August is extremely compelling as a monster who wishes desperately to live as freely as a human does. His abilities as a Sunai, the strongest monster "class", are extensive and almost heartbreaking as Schwab plays his nature as a monster against his morality as a victim. Kate, meanwhile, is the savage part of this song. She wants to follow in her father's footsteps, but without seeing the entire picture. She is lost and lashes out against those who surround her, a cornered beast ready to surrender her own humanity to further her goals. Together, August and Kate create a compelling dynamic of bullets and song that I can't wait to read more of.

Schwab is a master at creating both worlds and narratives. Her characters are tortured and bright, their world suffering and bloated with violence. It's such a unique story that is made pure by the darkness it explores, with a complex system of right and wrong made of humans and monsters that are flawed and beautiful.

Stay tuned for my review of the second book of this duology, Our Dark Duet. I'm sure it will be just as compelling and brutal as This Savage Song, and August and Kate will capture our hearts once more. Until then, it might be smart to watch the shadows. They may be hiding monsters.