This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab: Monsters and Music probably shouldn't got together this well

This Savage Song 

by 

Victoria Schwab

I’ve heard whisperings of Schwab for some time now and I am so glad I accidentally found her. I picked up this book because it had a totally creepy rhyme on the back

Monsters, monsters,

Big and small,

They’re gonna come

And eat you all.

 Also because the cover was so pretty (yes I cover judge though I do try to put more emphasis on the blurb than the cover, I am sometimes unsuccessful). 

    Actually I didn’t realize the author was the same Schwab everyone had been talking about until I got home and started it. 

Still I am amazed. For an impulse grab this book was beautiful. The writing was lovely and easy to lose yourself in and I loved the characters. Though I’ll admit the setting was slightly dystopian which put me off a bit in the beginning (there is too much dystopian these days alright). Still I loved it.

The characters

Hey this book only had two characters. I can’t even remember the last book that had less than three or four. Anyway.

Kate Harker 

It’s another Kathrine! 

I’ve read very few books over the years with even one character named Katherine and now all of a sudden I’ve read two books whose main characters were even spelled the same as mine?! Wacky.

 Anyway Kate is essentially a terrible human being. Her dad is a crime boss who makes people pay to protect them from the monsters that are overrunning the city. Out of some weird Stockholm syndrome thing Kate is simultaneously scared and impressed by him. In the beginning she wants his respect and love so much that she acts like a tiny school age mob boss. 

Sorry Kate I couldn't resist.

Which I’ll admit was kind of funny to read about. Still she was sort of reluctant terror so it's better than it sounds.

 August Flynn 

he’s a monster but you know a good monster. 

The resemblance is uncanny

Basically in this world there are three different monsters. 

Corsai, who are like shadowy piranhas with claws and they’re born from senseless acts of non-lethal violence like muggings.

The Malchai, who look kind of like vampires and are born from murders and the like.

Finally there are the Sunai who look like regular humans 

*gasp*. 

But they can suck your soul away with a song and they kind of have too because they need to eat. Anyway Sunai are born from terrible events like mass bombings or terrorists attacks.  August is a Sunai who was born at the sight of a school shooting and as depressing as that is at least he wasn’t a Malchai right? 

Anyway August is hilarious and snarky but also so heartbreaking with his struggle between wanting to be human but needing to feed on the souls of people who have created the other monsters.

What I liked

It was technically a dystopian which means that it’s a dystopian that I actually liked 

I rarely enjoy dystopian but this version was actually interesting. Mostly because it focused around weird monsters and people trying to live as normally as possible instead terrible governments and the rather overused everything is awful mindset. But everything is still mostly awful.

There isn’t really any romance 

I was shocked too Ya'll

and there is a collective sigh of relief. Because I don’t have to complain about it.

The language was . . . mostly under control 

I mean there is a high school and Kate lets a few rip every once in a while but honestly for a YA book there was very little foulness.

August was a musician 

I’ve said before that I love when characters have some sort of creative aspect like artist, writers, and now apparently musicians. Even though I’m a complete squib when it comes to music so I have no idea if it was accurate or not or whatever a musician would say about the whole mess. Still it was fabulous and some of my favorite parts was when August pulled out his violin. 

Even though it would steal people’s souls and all.

Tiny complaint/confusion

And mild spoilers I guess

          But at one point after Kate has broken somebody’s collar bone she goes and talks to the principal/school doctor? I think? And after spending approximately five minutes with her he diagnoses her with anxiety and hands over this pack of pills for her to take. 

          Now I’ll admit I don’t know a lot about this kind of stuff but isn’t kind of harder to diagnose anxiety? I mean it at least requires more than five minutes of observation right? 

         Honestly the whole scene was so weird and kind of unsettling that I was prepared for the doctor to be evil or for the pills to be poisoned or something. But maybe my ignorance of the medical field is just showing and wasn’t as wacky as I thought. Who knows?

Anyway small complaints aside This Savage Song and I are friends

see friends 

i  am firmly hooked on Victoria Schwab. Now I just need to track down more of her stuff.