This Savage Song

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

3.5/5

I blew through this book in one day. ONE. DAY. It was that good.This was my first foray into books by Victoria Schwab, and will definitely not be my last. This particular story is about a city divided and overrun by monsters. One part of the city is controlled by a man more monstrous than the monsters he controls. His daughter, Kate, is one of the main characters of this book, the other being August- a Sunai. Sunai are one the more powerful and deadly monsters, though all August seems to want is to be human. The narration switches back and forth between Kate and August, and in this instance, it worked really well.

This book had me at “monsters.” The characters were very likable, each struggling with their identity. Kate wants to prove to her father that she is just as tough and ruthless as he is while August wants to participate in more of his adopted family’s missions while also struggling to keep his humanity. Both characters go through a lot in the course of this story, and each come out changed in their own way. Their wants and issues were real despite the fictional setting.

I normally don’t read  YA dystopian literature because it has been done so much, and it was honestly a surprise to learn halfway through this book that the story actually takes place in a dystopic future United States. The setting that Schwab creates could have been a whole world on its own but the dystopian aspect doesn’t dramatically change how I read the story.

There was always some kind of action going on, something more that had me turning the pages till I reached the end. The ending leaves you with a “did not see that coming!” moment and only gives you more incentive to read the sequel.