Review: This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

Title: This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity #1)
Author: Victoria Schwab
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Release date: June 7th 2016
Source: Edelweiss
Format: eARC

Rating: 4/5

Buy on:  Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

There’s no such thing as safe.

Kate Harker wants to be as ruthless as her father. After five years and six boarding schools, she’s finally going home to prove that she can be.

August Flynn wants to be human. But he isn’t. He’s a monster, one that can steal souls with a song. He’s one of the three most powerful monsters in a city overrun with them. His own father’s secret weapon.

Their city is divided.

Their city is crumbling.

Kate and August are the only two who see both sides, the only two who could do something.

But how do you decide to be a hero or a villain when it’s hard to tell which is which? 

This is the first book I´ve read written by Victoria Schwab and let me tell you, I really liked it a lot, it has a very original story, that is dark and raw and it has no romance (although part of plot reminds me Romeo and Juliet).

Verity is a city divided by two leaders, Callum Harker has control of the north, in which he protects those who pay for his protection, since he controls the monsters that inhabit the north; while in the south Henry Flynn protects its inhabitants from the monsters with his militarized group. And for the past six years, both sides of Verity had lived in a truce, that seems to be coming to an end.

Verity is a city plagued by monsters; There are 3 types .... the Corsai that eat human flesh, the Malchai, they drink blood and the Sunai that feed on souls, these last ones are very rare and its known that there are only three and they all live in the south of the city.

Corsai, Corsai, tooth and claw,
Shadow and bone will eat you raw.
Malchai, Malchai, sharp and sly,
Smile and bite and drink you dry.
Sunai, Sunai, eyes like coal,
Sing you a song and steal your soul.
Monsters, monsters, big and small,
They're gonna come and eat you all!

This rhyme that children sing in both parts of the city defines the monsters best and rhyme reminded me a horror movie I just don´t remember which.

Kate Harker returns to Verity after spending years in different boarding schools, she is tired of living away from her legacy and returns to Verity to prove to her father that she´s a Harker, rough, ruthless and violent, so she will do whatever it takes to convince her father of it. Meanwhile August Flynn, the adopted son of Henry Flynn, he knows that he isn´t a human, but he does his best to emulate them. August wants to help his father and he´s willing to do what is asked from him. The lives of this characters crosses and both are drawn into a conspiracy that could end the truce between the two sides of the city.

This Savage Song a beautifully written book, with a very interesting story, intriguing, dark with creepy moments, set in a city plagued by monsters, which is divided by humans.

Book trailer