YA Weekend: This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab
A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Series: Book 1 of Monsters of Verity
Publisher: Greenwillow Books (July 5, 2016)
Length: 427 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Having read Vicious and the books in the Shades of Magic series (under V.E. Schwab) I’m not a stranger to the writings of Victoria Schwab, though this is admittedly the first time I’ve tried her Young Adult. I was really excited to dive into This Savage Song, and delighted to discover that it was just as unique and engaging as her adult fantasy novels.
The story follows the lives of two teenagers who cannot be any more different. Kate Harker and August Flynn are both the children to the rulers of their respective parts of the city, but being an heir to power is just about the only thing they have in common. Kate is the daughter of Callum Harker, the man who runs the north side of Verity City, while August is the third adopted child of Henry Flynn, who runs the south. Kate is a troubled young woman, desperate to prove to her father that she is a Harker, strong enough to live up to the family name. On the other hand, August isn’t even human. He and his two siblings are monsters known as Sunai, the only three in existence among a sea of other monsters such as Malchai and Corsai.
Outwardly, August appears human, able to hide in plain sight, but inside, he craves to be more than that. Every day he lives with the fear that he will lose control and hurt someone again, when all he wants is to be a good person, like his father, who took August in when he was just a boy and raised him as his own. Henry Flynn is a moral man who could not abide the conditions of the north, where Callum Harker lets the monsters roam free and only grants protection to the human who are able to pay for it. Determined to protect all innocents, Flynn took to the south instead and arranged a truce with his North City counterpart, which was somewhat successful in quelling the unrest. However, that truce is about to break down. When it is discovered that Kate Harker has been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and has now returned home to attend school locally, August jumps at the chance to help his family by gathering information about her. Together, the Flynns hatch up a plan for August to go undercover as a student in order to gain access to the daughter of their enemy.
By far, the most impressive thing about This Savage Song is the world-building. Not surprisingly, it can be a little confusing at first, as Schwab dispenses the information in bits and pieces as the plot unravels, so that the more you read the more you’ll learn about life in the surprisingly rich and complex world of Verity. The most fun part of this gradual revealing process was discovering the different kinds of monsters. We have no idea what the Malchai, Corsai, or Sunai are at the beginning of this story, but the details slowly work their way to us via creative means, such as through overheard songs and nursery rhymes sung by children on the train, for instance. Every time I read one of the author’s books, I’m always amazed at her ability to weave in so much about the world into without resorting to overt info dumping.
I also liked the fresh twist on the forbidden friendship trope. Surprised I didn’t say romance? Not every YA novel starring a male and a female protagonist has to end up with the two of them getting together, and I thank Schwab for not going down that route since the relationship between August and Kate is so much more compelling as it is now. The bond between them comes from a deeper place, forged from a shared desire to vanquish their inner demons, even if they do face very different challenges. August wishes he wasn’t a monster, and tries hard to suppress that part of himself, while Kate surrounds herself in a cold, unforgiving shell in the hopes that her father will finally accept her. Both characters battle with their identity, but finding peace won’t be easy.
Perhaps my only criticism with this book is Kate. Thankfully, August made up for a lot of my dissatisfaction over her character. I tried, but I never did manage to warm up to Kate, even after all the progress made by her character at the end of the book. Strangely, I felt similarly turned off by Lila in A Darker Shade of Magic, and I have to wonder if this is just a weakness whenever Schwab tries to write “badass” female characters. Instead they come off as really desperate and arrogant, as demonstrated by Kate’s approach of using aggression to overcompensate for her shortcomings.
Aside from that though, I really enjoy Schwab’s writing and the way she spins a tale. I had a feeling This Savage Song would be as entertaining and original as her other books I’ve read, and I was happy to be correct. I liked what I saw here, and I look forward to more from this series.
The BiblioSanctum 
Hee. I really enjoyed this one too!
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It was brilliant!
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Glad to see this was a good one! I agree with your lack of feeling for Lila in ADSOM- I never really clicked with her 100%. Hopefully I’ll like Kate more 🙂
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I was disappointed that even in book 2 I couldn’t feel that connection to Lila…but I liked it better than book 1!
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Awesome! I haven’t had a chance to read that one yet!
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Hope you get a chance to check it out!
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Oh goshy. You’ve made me even more excited to read it. I didn’t know there’s no romance in it.
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Yeah, that was a plus for me, definitely not a minus! 😀
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Agreed! I really enjoyed this story, and I loved the world building in particular. Vicious is still my favorite Schwab book, for me it will be tough for her to beat that story. But I’m looking forward to continuing this series for sure:-)
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I would say Vicious is my favorite by her too, though this comes close. I’ll let the next book in this series be the determining factor 🙂
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I really enjoy how Schwab manages to put a fresh, original twist on traditional fantasy plots/devices! I also found it hard to warm up to Kate, but August was definitely a conflicted sweetheart.
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I just wanted to give August a hug! Kate, no thanks. I really don’t like Schwab’s faux “bad girl” characters, but I’d say I made out pretty well if that’s my biggest complaint 🙂
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Ah, it is unusual to have male and female leads in a YA book and have them as (and stay) just friends.
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It’s the “and stay” part that’s key. I really hope this series carries on with them just friends!
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I have a copy of this and also A Darker Shade of Magic – can’t make my mind up which series to start first – do you suggest this one first?
Lynn 😀
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I’d say this one. I really can’t say I loved ADSOM, guess I just expected too much from the hype 🙂
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I’ve been hesitant to pick up This Savage Song, mostly because a couple other book bloggers I know had DNF’d it… But since then, you and the others have come out with more positive reviews. And then there’s the fact that I haven’t read any of Victoria / V.E. Schwab’s work yet… So maybe I’ll pick up this one after all. 🙂
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I admit, I was worried about the hype over this one at first, after the huge expectations I had for her book ADSOM which fizzled. But I ended up really enjoying this. It’s my first YA book by her too, and I’m usually a lot more picky about this genre 🙂
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So good! 😀 I want more now
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I’m looking forward to the sequel!
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Oooh very nice! I can’t wait to read this one myself as well! Been hearing awesome things about it and I love the concept of monsters in this one. Sounds like a really unique read! Very nice review!
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The monsters was the best part of this book. I thought overall the book had a very cool and unique premise. Hope you get a chance to check it out soon 🙂
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I know a lot of people struggled with Kate because, as you say, she comes off as desperate and kind of arrogant. But for me, that was the appeal somehow – this is what I think a 17 year old would be like if she were in that situation. And desperation makes people do interesting things.
I’m glad you liked this one, Mogsy! It was my first Schwab and I’m definitely stoked to read her other works now. 🙂
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It’s certainly conceivable that teenagers would lash out in such a way if they were under the kind of stress Kate was, but I found it a bit cliched especially since these days the YA genre feels full of blustering characters (both male and female) who put on this aggressive, obnoxious front in the name of being “badass”. I guess I just think that trying to channel strength through appearing nasty and tough has become way too overused, especially since I feel Schwab uses the same approach with her character Lila in her Shades of Magic series.
I hope you get a chance to check out more of her work though, I really enjoyed Vicious! And I should look around for more of her YA 🙂
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My first Schwab book was Vicious but before I read ADSOM, I read The Archived, which was YA…so I already know this woman can write for all age ranges. My point here is that I have NO excuse for not pre-ordering this one back when I had a fully loaded gift card at my disposal LOL! UGH. Her world-building is my favorite thing, along with her writing so I’m glad that both delivered for you here^^ I’m also happy to see a romance-free YA! YAY!
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I’ve heard a lot about Archived…in fact, it might been sitting in my reading list for the past couple years, lol! I’ll have to check it out 🙂
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I’m super late commenting here but I love your review. Yeah, Kate is a pretty unrelatable character. I don’t know why Schwab is writing her girls/women like this, there’s Mac from The Archived, too, she’s not as bad but pretty similar nevertheless. This absolute independence and stubborn refusal to feel anything can be tiring. I hope Kate (and Lila Bard) get better with time. 🙂
And YES I loved the world-building, too. So good. I will definitely be reading the sequel.
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Oh, so actually there’s more than just Kate and Lila? Yeesh, what is up with that! And if I’m to be honest, Schwab’s not the only YA author guilty of this, there seems to be this misconception that to write a “badass” female protagonist she has to be ultra independent to the point of being bull-headed and aggressive about it. At least she didn’t have a character like that in Vicious.
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