[Book Review] This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

5 STARS

It has been SO long since I have stayed up late in the night hooked on a book. This book was on my brain as I settled into my bed to sleep. I ended up caving and compromising saying I'd read for fifteen minutes. An hour and a half later and now more than half way through the story I had to force myself to put down the kindle, and get sleep. The minute I woke up I was back grabbing my kindle and needing to be in the fantastic and unique world Victoria Schwab created. 

This Savage Song is a book I feel like is best to go into with little to no information about it (honestly, I think that's the best way to jump into most books) but what I feel is important is knowing the basics. In the world of This Savage Song the United States as we know it has been mostly destroyed because the violence in our world bred monsters, literal monsters, who now are pretty much ruling the lands.

"Someone pulls a trigger, sets off a bomb, drives a bus of tourists off a bridge 

and what's left in it's wake isn't just a shell casings, wreckage, and bodies.

There's something else. Something bad. An aftermath. A recoil. A reaction

to all that anger and pain and death."

 There are three types of monsters: the Corsi, the Malchi, and the Sunai. The Corsi are describes as shadow monsters who feed on flesh and bone, the Malchi are basically vampires (the basic corpses that feed on blood) that we know with a few small changes, and then we have the Sunai who are the more rare form of monster that is described as monsters who look like humans, but feed on souls by using music. 

 "Monsters, monsters, big and small

They're gonna come and eat you all.

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." 

The two main characters Kate and August were great to read from. We flip between their point of views but I never had an issue with not knowing who I was currently reading because both characters had such distinct voices that it was easy to know. I love when there are more than one point of view but sometimes the characters sound like the same person, so it's really nice to see that the writer could write the characters and their own entities. I am also happy their families were parts of the story. I don't like it when young adult characters sometimes go on these huge adventures and there is almost no sign of them having parents or families. Both Kate and August's families were not only in the story but a good chunk of importance to the stories.  

"It was a cruel trick of the universe, thought August, that he 

felt human only after doing something monstrous."

The pacing was well done. I do admit, at first the book started a little slow but not so slow that I felt bored. Enough was happening that it kept my interest and I got through it without much of a problem. I got hooked pretty early on, maybe five or six chapters in and I could not put the book down. Victoria Schwab is an amazing writer. I love the way she tells a story. She has a great way of not only writing amazing characters in these insanely unique plots but she's also really good at having the setting and overall feeling/vibe of the story drift on every page. I have so many quotes I love so much from this book alone that I can't fit into this review, but there's just something about her writing that I just love.

“The beautiful thing about books was that anyone could open them.”

I have read Vicious by her and I absolutely loved it. A line that has always stayed with me even after over a year of me reading it "Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human." is the line that actually inspired this book. Which is so interesting and I love that these books have that small link because the concepts for both Vicious and This Savage Song are so interesting. I cannot wait to read the other Schwab books I own because I am in love with her writing. Young adult books are drenched with romance, and that's not always a bad thing as long as it is well written. However, it's nice to pick up a young adult book and not have romance. Granted, in the future the two main characters Kate and August could maybe have a romance. If that happens, I don't think I'll mind it because their friendship started first and that's the best kind of start of a romance in my opinion.  

“I mean, most people want to escape. Get out of their heads. 

Out of their lives. Stories are the easiest way to do that.”  

Honestly, my only real problem with this book was that I wanted to see more of the two monsters Corsai and Malachi. We get a small glimpse of the Corsai, and we see some Malachi but I definitely want more in the next books. I don't really even classify this is as a problem and more of just me wanting more because I have no doubts we will see  more of them in the future. Also, I really want to know more about Isla because she is a character I was very fascinated with because of her mysteriousness. 

"They were nightmare creatures, the stuff of bedtime stories gone wrong, 

 the things that lurked under the mattress and in the closet, given life and teeth and claws."

I highly recommend this book to everyone but specifically to anyone who wants something a little spooky and mysterious to read when it's cold outside. The writing alone is enough for me to recommend to everyone, so the fact that the story and characters are also amazing makes me want to buy this book for my shelves. 

Thank you for reading! 

Have you read This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab or any of her other books? Do you have any books you've read recently that you recommend?