Reviews with content warning for Blood - This Savage Song

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This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab

50 reviews

rradujko's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I love this book. I read it a while ago, and rank it highly among V.E. Scwab's other books. Her setting is immaculate: a dystopia predicated on the repercussions of acts of violence. The plot has elements of standard YA, but the overall themes of the book are — I think — well done regardless. If you want a gritty and quick-moving YA dystopian fiction about monsters, music, and what makes us human, give this one a try.

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abby_can_read's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

📱
This book was an unexpected joy. I wasn't sure if I would like this when I started it. I liked the lore and the worldbuilding.

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mockingjayx16's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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bootrat's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

It took me ages to get through the first couple of chapters of this book, but once the story proper got going (when they went to school) then I absolutely devoured it. V.E. Schwab has such a talent for writing books that I really love, and this was no different! Off to read book 2 asap

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_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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ilostmygrace's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I think I have to give this book a 5 star since I read it in a day. Im just such a huge fan of fantasy and thriller. I kind of wish there was an actual romance between the two main characters but I was also very refreshing that there wasnt.

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theresamothinmyroom's review

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

4 ⭐ CW: Violence, death, death of a parent, blood

This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab is book one in the Monsters of Verity duology. Although I did enjoy this dark urban YA fantasy, I don't think it is my favorite of Schwab's work. Maybe because it's YA it lacked a certain resonance that her other stories have had, but it didn't make it a bad story.

We follow August Flynn, a monster that wishes he were human. He's a Sunai, a monster born from a massacre that eats the souls of humans who have killed. But he hates that to keep control over who he is, he must kill. We also follow Kate Harker, the daughter of Callum Harker who rules over North City in Verity. She's full of anger, and wants to be ruthless to prove herself to her cruel father.

When the Flynns send August to a school in North City to keep tabs on Kate to use her as leverage against Harker, they both become embroiled in a conspiracy to end the truce between North and South Cities, putting them in danger from the Malchai and Corsai monsters. Along the way, they forge a friendship, helping to keep each other alive.

I really liked the way the world-building of the monsters was set up in this. Each type of monster has its own origin and abilities, and the way they are created tends to reflect their personalities as well. I also really liked how music was used in the story. Usually, music is peaceful or healing, but in this it's used to kill. To me it seemed the theme is that life is pain, the best you can do is live it one day at a time. I appreciated that this wasn't a love story between August and Kate. It was a platonic story about survival and what you can live with.

Looking forward to book two!

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sabrielsbell's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

If you want great characters, monsters, and magic you've found the right book. I loved the lore built by this story and the build in characters and their friendship was spot on. There is also a great little twist at the end. If you like Schwabs other works then this will be another hit.

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annadelreads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

“You wanted to feel alive, right? It doesn't matter if you're monster or human. Living hurts.”

I remember DNF-ing this book back in 2022 but that was because I wasn't in my fantasy era. But now that I dipped my toe in that genre, I decided that maybe it was indeed time for me to read it again since I heard so many good reviews and hello? The rating itself piqued my interest. Also, I lowkey wished to get it when I was getting some books from the TBR jar. This might have been my first fiction book since Yellowface that didn't contain romance. But the great thing is that for this book, I devoured within a few days unlike Yellowface where I only finished after 3-4 weeks. Also the same author's other book - The Invisible Life of Addie Larue.

The Savage Song is a book about monsters stemming from the sins of humans. The idea itself is amazing to think about. I was slowly reading through the first hundred pages but once I did, I was just breezing through. It was pretty fast-paced for me because everything in that book only happened in a week, if I counted correctly. The world-building was slow and was pretty hard to understand at first - if I had not googled the monsters and they were; and this might have been the reason why I had stopped reading it back then. The actions and fight scenes were pretty good, although considering there weren't magic involved, it was already pretty good to imagine. Kate is a badass bitch who knows what she wants and how to get it. Although I felt sorry for her for what happened to her and family (not spoiler!) but she really did grow up to be that strong girl. August, on the other hand, just wanted to feel and be human even though he really is a monster. The two of them together was chaotic at first but immediately turned into a good pair of "friends" (if that's what you call it).

I love the adventure of this book and how it's only a duology so I don't have to read so many books in the series just to know the ending. Will definitely continue this story (still not sure when).

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