A review by carefulfearanddeaddevotion
This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab

adventurous emotional funny tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

I do not want to get ahead of myself, but this might go (a healthy distance) under TRC and SOC as one of my fav book series. stayed up until 5am to read it. Ms Schwab, you've outdone yourself (though I guess Addie LaRue came out after this one)

i adoreeee both August and Kate, they're so funny and charming and sweet and i just wanna cup em in my hands. was giggling and kicking my feet every two pages. the supporting cast was maybe a tiny bit flat, but idrc because i just <3 A&K soo much.

I love a good R&J-adjacent story (basically just two kids from rival families making googly eyes at each other. do not like the "everyone dies" part of R&J - i'm a sucker for a happy ending idc), and now you've gone and added MONSTERS to it?? omg yes. lovee the parallel of August struggling against his nature and wanting to be human the whole book
, and then finally, grudgingly giving in "for the greater good"
and Kate wanting to prove she's a Harker and that she belongs beside her father and in V-City, in a way struggling to become a monster
and then finally realizing that her father is not someone she should want to look up to or emulate, allowing August to reap Harker, and willingly leaving V-City and Verity
. finally, some good fucking food

the one and only thing that made me "hmmmm🤔": I don't really understand why self-defense makes you a "sinner". like, i get "for the plot," or whatever
, that Kate had to stop being an "innocent", but the man was attacking her and she didn't really know he was human (? or did she?) so wtf
. but also i get that maybe it's to make the point that, despite the fact that they possess more nuance, Sunai are still monsters and also have trouble making that distinction between good and bad (though, obvi, in a less malicious way than Corsai or Malchai)🤷‍♀️

anyway, two thumbs up



ooohhh also very intrigued by the fact that
Sloan is still alive at the end: he doesn't have a heart (can't be killed????) and didn't die when Harker was killed (it was my understanding that killing the sinner also killed the sin -- but then i guess it was the characters' assumption that Harker created Sloan, it was never actually confirmed iirc
. book two already on my nightstand, can't wait to start reading!
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