This Savage Song

I do not know where to begin with this book. I do not think anything I write will do it justice. This book had everything I wanted and needed. There was so much to fall in love with.

I'm a huge fan of Victoria Schwab and everything she has written, this book being no exception. She just has this way of writing that pulls you right into the meat of the story and the world. So Verity is an amazing setting. From the first page I was obsessed with learning as much as I could about the city and its strange inhabitants. Victoria did a fantastic job of giving us the information about the world as we needed it. The story unfolded in a great way that keep me hooked all the way through. For me there was very little down time at all, I was eager throughout the book to see what was going to happen next.

In terms of the characters, we have two completely different but also the same people. Kate and August were a great pair and I loved watching their chemistry unfold throughout the book. There is so much keeping them apart but they are thrown into this war.

Victoria Schwab has this way of making you think everything is going to be okay then throwing a total curve ball at you. At the very end of the book you get what I assume is monsters rising in Prosperity and Alice reviving who I'm also assuming is Sloan. This is going to make for a great conclusion to the duology. I'm really interested to see how Schwab gets August and Kate back together for this one.

Hot damn that was good. Full review to come.FULL REVIEW: So [a:Victoria Schwab 3099544 Victoria Schwab https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1336685438p2/3099544.jpg]'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.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, [b:Our Dark Duet 32075662 Our Dark Duet (Monsters of Verity, #2) Victoria Schwab https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1476399662s/32075662.jpg 43242921].

After having read A Darker Shade of Magic and not enjoying it all that much, I was hesitant to try another Schwab book. I was pleasantly surprised by This Savage Song though. Urban fantasy is up there amongst my favourite genres, so I was hopeful that this could be better for me, but when you've read a ton of urban fantasy, you begin to wonder if you'll ever read something truly different. This Savage Song managed to be different. The world that was built and the creatures that Schwab created were...

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First read: July 8th-10th, 2016 Second read: February 15th-16th, 2017 Third read: December 18th, 2020-January 4th, 2021 Fourth read: July 4th, 2021 5/5 stars “It's a monster's world.” It's not a secret that Victoria Schwab is my favorite author. I crave the worlds and the words she creates, and read them the second my hands can get a chance to grasp their beautiful covers. Except, with this book, my soul felt as if it was being ripped in half because I had to wait an extra three days to buy it. I had the opportunity to meet Victoria Schwab in person (which I am not going to shut up about any time soon) but when I made my way home after the signing, reading this was one of the first things I did. Anyways, just look at all these beautiful books I had signed.This Savage Song was full of monsters and humans, friendship but not romance, good and evil. It's human Kate Harker, who desires to be more than human. And monstrous August Flynn, who would do anything to be human. (Also, can we talk about the quote in the beginning is from V.A. Vale aka Victor Vale from [b:Vicious 13638125 Vicious (Villains, #1) V.E. Schwab https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1527839682l/13638125.SX50.jpg 19250870] because that made me smile)I had high high expectations for this book, and I was not disappointed. I got a entire mix of everything I love about Victoria. Amazing characters, flawless writing, creative plot. Yet, though my expectations were met, they weren't exceeded. I loved this book, one of my favorite reads of this year so far, yet it just didn't compare in terms of [b:Vicious 13638125 Vicious (Villains, #1) V.E. Schwab https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1527839682l/13638125.SX50.jpg 19250870], [b:A Darker Shade of Magic 22055262 A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1) V.E. Schwab https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1400322851l/22055262.SY75.jpg 40098252], or even [b:The Archived 10929432 The Archived (The Archived, #1) Victoria Schwab https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1338729878l/10929432.SX50.jpg 15846509]. Perhaps because I'm just not a fan of paranormal, or dystopian, books. Don't listen to my tiny complaints though. This book is amazing. Victoria Schwab is amazing. If you haven't picked up any of her stories, then I don't know what you are doing in life. I don't care what book of hers you pick up, as long as you choose one.

I enjoyed this a lot. Really liked both August and Kate. The world seems very interesting. However the book didn't wow me enough to get that final star from me. And this is the kind of book I wish he pictures because I had a little bit of a hard time imagining some of the creatures, though that's a personal problem probably and didn't effect my rating.

HUGE Victoria Schwab fan, but this is my least-favorite story of hers. And even still, she is such an exquisite writer, her least-compelling is still miles above “Good.”

Schwab is a master at creating a fantasy world, but this book felt rushed, character development on double speed, the world sketched out but not colored.

And still I'll probably read the second book in the series.

Wow.. This book was so interesting. The whole concept of crimes of humans creating actual monsters was so novel and fascinating and extremely well written. There is some history given about the city of Verity and the other territories but not in detail about what happened for the world to create monsters. There are some creepy violent scenes, which I am not usually used to reading; but this book was somehow, way too enjoyable. I couldn't put it down and finished it in a single sitting even though it's more than 400 pages long. I did not see the betrayal or the ending coming at all – that makes this book so much more exciting and I am so relieved that I have Our Dark Duet ready to go ASAP.

Kate is such a strong willed girl who wants to prove that she is a Harker and capable of stepping into her father's shoes, even if she has to kidnap and kill for it. I really liked her for her strength, quick thinking, pragmatism but also for her little spark of hope. I totally loved August. He is a monster who wants to be human, who wants to live, and the way he persists to keep his humanity intact is so heartening but also extremely sad because he is falling apart. But ultimately, he accepts his power for the sake of the greater good and I think that was great and I definitely want to see the badass version of him in the next book instead of the quiet one. I am also looking forward to see more fighting between the monsters and I am hoping the next one will be more dark, mor dangerous and obviously more fun.

I have to specially mention that one of the great things about this book was Kate and August didn't fall in love in the middle of all the fighting and killing which is so common and boring in this genre. They are friends and care for each other and will protect each other for now and even if they fall in love later, I will be satisfied because they took their time.

Yesss! I liked it!

The start of the story is quite slow. After a third of the book it really started to pick things up and my, oh, my what a fantastic two third of the book is following!
I really love the dynamic between Kate and August! I definitely like the Sunai, they are interesting.
August definitely stole my heart! <3

It took me a little to get the world, but once I was used to it. I loved it! I can't wait to read the next installment! :)


* I listened to the audiobook, which had a nice narrator.

Original de: El Blog del Gato - El Extraño Gato del Cuento

This Savage Song tiene una historia impresionante, eso es algo que a la autora siempre le voy a envidiar, como es que sale con estos argumentos tan geniales solo es posible tras un pacto con el mismísimo diablo, estoy segura.

El problema que tuve con el libro es que no lo entendí 😂😂😂 Siento que me faltó información o quizá esa fue la meta de la escritora, porque quería saber de dónde y cómo se originaron la clasificación de los monstruos, estuve muy interesada en eso porque la escritura me recordaba un poco a las lenguas nativas de aquí de Perú, pero eso al menos en el primer libro no se explica.

This Savage Song tiene la calidad que quienes hemos leído a Victoria Schwab esperamos, solo que para mí no ha sido la obra maestra que esperaba, aunque quizá a la hora de leer el segundo libro cambie mi opinión.

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Pros:
-No random romance
-Interesting concept and monsters
-Interesting characters. Even the side characters had distinct personalities and appearances.
-Interesting world

Cons:
NOTE: These cons are just my own personal opinion. Most people will likely disagree with me, so please don't let my thoughts sway you from reading this book.

-I feel like there was a missed chance to include August's friends later in the book.
-I didn't like Kate for a lot of the book. She seemed like a bully having a temper tantrum with some of her actions. Later, though, she got more likeable for me.
-The opening did not hook me in.
-Predictable plot twists

Kate Harker and August Flynn are on opposite sides. They're on opposite sides of the city (North vs. South), opposite sides of a war (Harker vs. Flynn), and even opposite sides of humanity (Human vs. Monster). Kate wants her father's love– I mean his respect (side eyes); August wants it to be human. Somehow the two, as different as they could be are forced to work together and fight against the monsters, both real and human, for their survival.

This book was so... so... so good. I cannot say that enough. At first, I wasn't sure if I'd like it, thinking that it'd just be your typical hate to love, forbidden relationship type of YA book. BOY WAS I WRONG. It was so refreshing to read a YA novel that romance between the leads wasn't a thing at all. August and Kate hate each other– well... Kate hates August– and by the end of it, they are able to form a friendship. Take note other YA authors: boys and girls can be friends without romantic feelings being involved. AND THAT ENDING THOUGH. I can't wait to read the sequel and see how this series concludes.

Actually, it was pretty good ! Even though, it's not a five star, I can't wait to read the next book ! Why not five stars? I can't explain, but something is missing. Or maybe it took some time to set up the context or the plot. But still, the writing of Schwab is perfect, the two-POVs is working and the dark atmosphere gives us a good story. A pity : I guessed some twists so it was not really surprising :'(