This Savage Song – Monsters of Verity #1 – V.E. Schwab

Kate Harker and August Flynn’s families rule opposite ends of Verity, a grisly metropolis where violent acts summon real monsters: bloodsucking Malchai; clawing Corsai; and soul-stealing Sunai. The truce that keeps the families at peace is crumbling, and August is sent to spy on Kate. But when Harker’s men try to kill her and pin it on the Flynns, August and Kate find themselves running from both sides, in a city where monsters are real…

Review:

When I see a book with the name V.E. Schwab on the cover I always get excited now. I must have burned through almost all her books this year! She is probably my favourite discovery of 2017. So far I haven’t read one book that disappointed me and This Savage Song was no exception. Urban Fantasy is very often hit or miss with me and not the genre I would go for if I had a choice in books. Schwab is slowly changing my mind though. This Savage Song is another brilliant Urban Fantasy with a different take on a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by monsters.

The two main characters are Katherine Harker and August Flynn, both children of opposing factions in V-city. Katherine’s father runs North City, where a tense understanding with the ‘monsters’ has lead to a rule where money can be exchanged for protection. Everyone under Harker’s protection gets a metal medallion, marking them as off limits for the monsters. August’s parents are in charge in South City where the FTF, some sort of security group, protect everyone as much as they can.
After the Phenomenon, which stays a very vague event throughout the book, monsters started to be born from the wrongdoings humans committed. The Corsai can best be described as some sort of zombies. They prefer the dark, can’t stand UV-light, smell like death and will not hesitate to tear you to pieces. The Malchai are a bit more sophisticated and have a closer resemblance to vampires. They are pale and cold, cunning and also don’t mind sinking their teeth in humans. Last of all there’s the Sunai. They are very rare and seem to be born out of especially violent events. There are only three and all of them have been adopted by the Flynns. As you might have guessed reading this, our August is one of these Sunai. Between South and North a shaky truce was established 7 years ago, but lately that truce has been crumbling and war is looming at the horizon.

I was very interested to find out more about this particular kind of ‘monster’ and August’s viewpoint was perfect to slowly but surely find out what they are, what they can do and how they deal with all of this. However, August’s character didn’t immediately win me over. At the start of the book he very much wants to be a part of the FTF, even though his parents forbid it. He seems to be quite jealous of his older brother, also a Sunai, who is the face of the FTF and is out there fighting the other monsters. He seemed to me a very petulant child, but luckily that changed quite quickly the longer we got to spend time with him. He eventually gets sent on a mission to keep an eye on Harker’s daughter Katherine at a school in the safer areas of V-city.
I liked Katherine from the start. She’s a very feisty girl struggling with the differences between the girl she’s supposed to be and the girl she actually is. With a father like Harker, she has to prove that she can be ruthless and strong. But deep down inside Katherine is still dealing with her mother’s death and the fact that she doesn’t want to be in the middle of this fight. Aside from her internal struggles though, she’s very efficient and remarkably clever.

Even though this post-apocalyptic world is very fascinating, it’s the more personal journeys of August and Katherine that really make this book stand out. Both have their own struggles in their life and even though August’s identity is hanging over them like a dark cloud, they find a connection that has so much potential that I was rooting for them the whole time. I don’t even mean this in a romantic sense, their chemistry as just two people connecting is so strong that I couldn’t help but be sucked into their story.

Another amazing book from Schwab’s hand and luckily only the first in a series! I can’t wait to read the second book and find out how Katherine and August are doing now.

Release date: June 7th, 2016
Publisher: Titan Books
Age Group:  (Young) Adult
Pages: 496
Format: E-book
Source: Bought