Book Review #5: This Savage Song

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab (Monsters of Verity #1)
Rating: 5 stars (Out of this world awesome!)
Genre: YA Dark Fantasy
Publisher: Greenwillow Books, Traditional
Pages: 427

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The city that they once called home is overrun by monsters: the Corsai, that loom in the shadows, the Malchai, that will tear you apart, and the Sunai, who will sing you a song and steal your soul. There are only three Sunai left in existence. One of them a teenage boy, August, (whom is one of our main protagonists) is sent to school as a spy. His target is Kate Harker, daughter of the feared Callum Harker. Callum Harker is Henry Flynn's (August's father) enemy, who owns half the city.

The interesting world building and diversity of these different creatures really brings this story to life. There are conflicts not only between monsters and humans, but different monsters against each other. Kate has a bad ass personality but is not void of human emotions. She is human after all, not a synth. Her main goal is to impress her hard ass father who acts like a monster. August on the other hand is a monster who acts like a human and who wants to be human. Of course the two aren't too fond of each other but when conflict arises they must work together.

One of the things I enjoyed about this book the most is the design of the different creatures and the diversity of not only their appearance but their behaviors. The number one detail that I love the most...wait for it....*drumroll*...there is absolutely no romance! That's right, no romance. I've been turned off from a story many times from the over indulgence in romance or the pure randomness of it. Much times it just distracts from the main point of the story. Besides the idea of August and Kate forming a relationship doesn't make much sense.

This was by far the best book I read this year! I am very excited for the next in the series to come out and to read Schwab's other series A Darker Shade of Magic.