This Savage Song

By: V. E. Schwab

Narrated by: Therese Plummer

#1 New York Times Bestseller * An Amazon Best Book of the Year

There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from acclaimed 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, This Savage Song is a must-have for fans of Holly Black, Maggie Stiefvater, and Laini Taylor.

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.

In This Savage Song, Victoria Schwab creates a gritty, seething metropolis, one worthy of being compared to Gotham and to the four versions of London in her critically acclaimed fantasy for adults, A Darker Shade of Magic. Her heroes will face monsters intent on destroying them from every side—including the monsters within.

Dual POV voices work well

In the future, America has fractured into territories, named after character traits, and values, such irony. Monsters exist in the real world, in cities and towns, brought forth by violent crime. V-City is the setting of our story, and is divided in two, each side run by a different family. The Harker side keeps its own monsters branded, and people pay for protection. The Flynn side fights monsters and patrols the streets to keep crime in check.

Kate Harker has finally come home after getting kicked out of her fifth boarding school; the daughter of the Boss, she just wants to prove herself to her father and be a family again. August Flynn goes undercover at the same school as Kate, to keep an eye on her and get information. August is not a true son, because he is a Sounai, a monster who feeds on souls of the wicked, but he just wants to be human.

So this sounds like a Romeo and Juliet set up doesn’t it? But there is no romance, and Kate and August are enemies., at least at first. It's a series starter that I like very much. I’m curious to see how this plot plays out. The ending is satisfactory but the epilogue sets up the next book nicely.

monster monster in the wall with blood and claws

story pulls you in with relatable characters and dark atmosphere, performance was absolutely powerful woo

Roller-coaster!

This Savage Song is a roller-coaster of a book--fast paced, thrilling, and nonstop. A more-than-one-time read. Great plot, solid characters, wonderful storytelling, immersive narration. It's a 5 star read! Loved this book and can't wait to read the next in this series!

lovely plot twist

early on I thought this storyline was headed towards a Romeo and Juliet type of scene with just different background. I was very very pleasantly surprised. it's still a coming-of-age for both characters. once again Victoria schwabs writing and dialogue and the way the characters process their own growth is just fucking beautiful.

Slow but constant build

I liked this story. I felt engaged the whole time and the character development was good. It was a bit of a slow burn but not boring. The idea of monsters coming alive from violence I think was very clever. But what isn't necessarily explained (unless I missed it), was why Verity and not the whole country or world? I understand Malichai & Corsai behavior, but Sunai I don't. Why play music? It is usually an instrument that is played in order to reap a sinners soul. But it seems rather inconvenient for the Sunai to have to carry around an instrument all the time. Despite all that, I still enjoyed the story and the narration.