Book Review: THIS SAVAGE SONG by Victoria Schwab

Photo credit: Goodreads

So Victoria Schwab's This Savage Song has a pretty unique premise, if you haven't already heard it: basically, the book takes place in a world where acts of violence create actual monsters. How cool is that? 

That was basically all I knew when I bought the book, and the premise definitely didn't disappoint. But before I go into more, here's the Goodreads summary:

"There’s no such thing as safe. 

Kate Harker wants to be as ruthless as her father. After five years and six boarding schools, she’s finally going home to prove that she can be. 

August Flynn wants to be human. But he isn’t. He’s a monster, one that can steal souls with a song. He’s one of the three most powerful monsters in a city overrun with them. His own father’s secret weapon. 

Their city is divided. 

Their city is crumbling. 

Kate and August are the only two who see both sides, the only two who could do something. 

But how do you decide to be a hero or a villain when it’s hard to tell which is which?"

So the first hundred pages or so, I kind of had trouble getting into it. It was a weird situation because I loved the prose, I found the world building fascinating, and while I was reading I definitely enjoyed it. But for whatever reason once I put the book down, I had less motivation than usual to pick it up again.

Once I got past the first 100 or so pages, however, that quickly changed and I devoured the rest of the book in a few days.

This Savage Song is more than just a fascinating premise—it involves some of my favorite plot elements, like betrayal, dealing with your own darkness, unlikely alliances, and trying to find hope in a hopeless situation. I loved the whole set up with the different tiers of monsters, and Kate's daring, guarded perspective was really fun to read, especially alongside August's more vulnerable chapters.

All in all, I found this book fascinating, and now I'm very much looking forward to the sequel, Our Dark Duet.

Diversity note: Not much representation in this one, unfortunately.

Is this book on your TBR? 

Twitter-sized bites: 

.@Ava_Jae gives 4 stars to THIS SAVAGE SONG by Victoria Schwab. Is this uniquely dark YA on your TBR? (Click to tweet) 

Looking for a dark YA w/ a fascinating world? Check out THIS SAVAGE SONG by Victoria Schwab. (Click to tweet)