Book Review: This Savage Song
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| This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab |
♥♥♥♥♥
Title: This Savage Song
Author: Victoria Schwab, V.E. Schwab
Year Published: 2016
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, YA, Science Fiction
Plot: ♥♥♥♥♥
Characters: ♥♥♥♥♥
World Building: ♥♥♥♥♥
Flow: ♥♥♥♥♥
Synopsis:
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*:
This was my first Schwab book. The end.
Just kidding, however I'm trying to think of how to write out this review and it's stumping me. I did find myself reflecting on the list of references that relate to Schwab's own books that she pinned to her Twitter. Although I have not seen much of Alias and literally zero of Tokyo Ghoul, I get it, I totally get the references. I do believe at one point Savage Song could also be likened to Sin City and I can see that as well.
Some disclaimers, I did start this via audiobook on Libby and then switched to physical. I would 100% recommend starting with the physical book over audio just because there is not a lot of room for the narrator to make the writing pretty. Not to fault the book at all, I think it's a layer in the writing that adds to the story in the same way the steady-ness of Sin City adds to its own story, just a warning. Also, the pages in the book just fly by.
In general, I'm not a huge fan of dystopian novels, without fully explaining I tend to think too far into the back story of how this happened which I found myself doing a lot through the first half of this book. What created these monsters, why are they here, whats the difference etc and to me, I find that distracting as a reader to pile up these unanswered questions. It's a weird balance when creating a new world and the difference between dystopian and full on fantasy is that dystopian has similar rules already in place and when you add in the element of fiction you ask how these rules were bent. Fantasy is full blown who knows from the get go because it's an entire world to be built.
As far as the characters, I didn't think I was going to like Kate because she was really giving me some Emma Roberts from AHS: Coven vibes. In the end she's the only character I really truly can say I enjoyed. August was fine, though I found his resistance to his own nature more annoying than sympathetic. In a weird way, each characters ability to handle August fighting a black out is what made me like August less and Kate more. There wasn't enough emotion to connect to August to feel sympathetic so it just became a "get it over with already". Where as Kate's knowledge that you can't fight what you are and understanding that August is a monster that has these urges and needs made her more relatable as a responsible party. Most of the rest of the characters I felt were really background characters without a lot of development and essentially were 2 dimensional.
The plot was pretty good, I liked the arc that these characters got in book 1. August by the end of the book was more likable because he finally understood that he can't change what he is, but it's how he utilizes his differences that matter. The lack of any real romance wasn't missed either but that may just be because I prefer when two characters go through a lot together prior to making time for each other romantically. It's more realistic to how a relationship in the real world would pan out.
Over all, I would suggest this series to anyone looking for a quick read or some dystopian novels. I know that specific genre of YA/Fantasy has fizzled out a little bit, so anyone looking for a series that isn't overly popular would enjoy this one. Just be sure to hold your questions because answers will happen, it just takes time.
Just kidding, however I'm trying to think of how to write out this review and it's stumping me. I did find myself reflecting on the list of references that relate to Schwab's own books that she pinned to her Twitter. Although I have not seen much of Alias and literally zero of Tokyo Ghoul, I get it, I totally get the references. I do believe at one point Savage Song could also be likened to Sin City and I can see that as well.
Some disclaimers, I did start this via audiobook on Libby and then switched to physical. I would 100% recommend starting with the physical book over audio just because there is not a lot of room for the narrator to make the writing pretty. Not to fault the book at all, I think it's a layer in the writing that adds to the story in the same way the steady-ness of Sin City adds to its own story, just a warning. Also, the pages in the book just fly by.
In general, I'm not a huge fan of dystopian novels, without fully explaining I tend to think too far into the back story of how this happened which I found myself doing a lot through the first half of this book. What created these monsters, why are they here, whats the difference etc and to me, I find that distracting as a reader to pile up these unanswered questions. It's a weird balance when creating a new world and the difference between dystopian and full on fantasy is that dystopian has similar rules already in place and when you add in the element of fiction you ask how these rules were bent. Fantasy is full blown who knows from the get go because it's an entire world to be built.
As far as the characters, I didn't think I was going to like Kate because she was really giving me some Emma Roberts from AHS: Coven vibes. In the end she's the only character I really truly can say I enjoyed. August was fine, though I found his resistance to his own nature more annoying than sympathetic. In a weird way, each characters ability to handle August fighting a black out is what made me like August less and Kate more. There wasn't enough emotion to connect to August to feel sympathetic so it just became a "get it over with already". Where as Kate's knowledge that you can't fight what you are and understanding that August is a monster that has these urges and needs made her more relatable as a responsible party. Most of the rest of the characters I felt were really background characters without a lot of development and essentially were 2 dimensional.
The plot was pretty good, I liked the arc that these characters got in book 1. August by the end of the book was more likable because he finally understood that he can't change what he is, but it's how he utilizes his differences that matter. The lack of any real romance wasn't missed either but that may just be because I prefer when two characters go through a lot together prior to making time for each other romantically. It's more realistic to how a relationship in the real world would pan out.
Over all, I would suggest this series to anyone looking for a quick read or some dystopian novels. I know that specific genre of YA/Fantasy has fizzled out a little bit, so anyone looking for a series that isn't overly popular would enjoy this one. Just be sure to hold your questions because answers will happen, it just takes time.
*There may be spoilers in this section of the review. If you do not wish to be spoiled, please stop reading.
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