This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity Book 1)
Jetzt kaufen
Durch das Verwenden dieser Links unterstützt du READO. Wir erhalten eine Vermittlungsprovision, ohne dass dir zusätzliche Kosten entstehen.
Beiträge
5 stars Another brilliant book by V.E. Schwab! I just love her way of writing. Her way of creating those characters who are always a shade of grey and never just black or white. She did that again in this book. I'm so looking forward to hopefully reading book two next month ;)
At the beginning, for the first 100 pages or so, this book feels like the usual young adult fantasy - rival factions, a new school, the school bully, a hint at forbidden attraction... But boy, after that it gets different fast. Quite dark, tense and fast. Loved it and will now immediately read the sequel.
Young Adult Fantasy by V.E. Schwab! It was a bit dark sometimes, but in a good way! I loved August and Ilsa <3
Heavens above! This book was simply marvellous! Such a twist to the main characters! They are not heroes, but they are not monsters (in this case it's not villains) either! They are somewhere in the grey zone. So, there are three types of monsters in the world: Corsai - kind of like a weird mix between werewolves and vampires; can't be out in the sunlight; feed on flesh and bone; don't seem to have a proper body, unlike the others who are at least a little similar to humans; hive-mind (either all are controlled or none, at least inside Verity); come from violent non-lethal acts Malchai - kind of like vampires; teeth like shark's; super fast; draw their strength from the night; feed on blood; come from murders Sunai - kind of like sirens; feed on sinners (so it has to be someone who has a shadow, one that represents the violence they made and that created a monster); "the darkest creatures to crawl out of the Phenomenon" (quote); come from the Darkest crimes (bombings, shootings, massacres, events that ended multiple lives); only monsters that look human; can kill by using pain too. And let me tell you now why I found this book so amazing. It wasn't just the story that was incredibly compelling, or how the characters were written or even how the fantastic narrative was written. It was the concept of the story. So, interesting concept was: violence truly, honestly breeds violence. After so much violence, something changed to the point of darkness (absence of light, shadows) coalescing into shape, into monsters (Corsai, Malchai and Sunai). Also interesting is this kind of corruption of magic and perverted version of Romeo and Juliette (not in the romantic sense, there's no romance in this book, but in the sense of the main characters coming from families running different cities and being kind of mortal enemies). One of our main characters is human but wants to be a monster: Kate. The other is a monster, a Sunai, and wants to be human: August. They both live in Verity City, a supercity, but live on opposite sides of the wall, called Seam. Kate lives in North City where her father rules. He keeps the monsters at bay by controlling them and collecting them, and people pay for that, for that sense of normalcy and safety. August lives on his "father's" side, South City. This part is still in reconstruction after the war that generated the Phenomenon (the creation of the monsters) and is kind of a military city where the FTF (Flynn Task Force) protects the people by killing the monsters. But Henry Flynn has three monsters with him, his "children" Leo, Ilsa and August. Leo is the face of FTF but no one knows he is Sunai; Ilsa doesn't leave home (because that was part of the truce between Harker and Flynn given that Ilsa made the Barren - a place that used to be a park and is now dead of everything) and their parents finally let August do what he wants: protect people. But he will work kind of undercover ) in the North City and keep an eye on Kate. Another interesting thing about this book is the fact that the monsters can see shadows of people that committed a sin big enough to create another monster. It's a really interesting twist on magic this whole book! In South City, these people would be killed by Leo (or August); but in North City, they have enough cash to have it kind of swept under the rug. One of the characteristics of the Sunai is that, despite not being able to lie (just like any other monster), they make humans be honest, even without compelling them to be it. And the humans don't even realize what they are doing. August was born out of violence against 12 years old, a shootout, and that's how old he was when he was "born". So, from this, I think it's safe to assume that monsters are born with the same age as the victim? And not only that, but can look like the attacker (as Sloan seems to kind of be a copy of Harker? But Kate only has a theory that Sloan is her father's Malchai.. So maybe they just look alike..? )? And they age. The angle Victoria plays with Colin and August, of the new, introvert kid being helped and taken under the extrovert and kind kid's wing, is kind of adorable! A few words in and I already loved Colin! And Kate is a complete psychopath, sometimes! She is a monster in her own right and it's creepy and gives me shivers! I really enjoyed her character for how different she is from the majority of the main characters in books! Okay, so, another thing worthy of note is the fact that monsters, Sunai in particular, don't eat human food but do need to eat sinners' souls so they don't go dark and kill people (sinner or innocent). The hunger seems to manifest itself like a fever and a quick rise in temper, and the time the Sunai can go without eating is dependent on the monster (Leo can go for longer, Ilsa doesn't seem to need it anymore, and August needs it more regularly). Colin seems to be a very good friend to August. And Kate's interaction with him, in the beginning, was good, I can't exactly explain why but I liked it. And August seems more human on the outside than he realizes. For some reason, I thought that the part about Sunai in the song (Sing you a song and steal your soul (quote)) was kind of a metaphor for how they, let's say, hunt or for their powers (like that about making people around them be honest). I'm not sure why, especially when for the others it's not. But it explains why August says he hears the melody or music of the world. He literally uses his violin to kill the sinners and feed. August plays his violin and it makes the sinner follow the melody back to him, even when they were running away. The melody makes the soul come to the surface, and, in a sinner's case, it will be stained red, "shining like a light beneath the skin" (quote). Their monster shadow will also stand still, instead of constantly moving. Then the person confesses their crimes, August (or any Sunai) touches their skin and the soul flows into him, and the sinner dies. August is such a good little monster! He is so much more human than some humans! He feels responsible for killing a cat's owner and because the animal likes him he takes him home with him! And Ilsa loves it and there's something adorable about two monsters being so in love with a cat and the cat trusting them so easily. Kate wants so badly to be like her father, a monster in human form, but she's not, no matter how much she fakes and tries. She's a better person than she gives herself credit for, and I know she hates that but it's good to see this war within her. Kate's not good, by all means, she is not good, but she is also not the monster she pretends and wants to be. Nor will she ever be. What she is is incredibly strong, because putting on that facade that she wants to make real (the cunning, the lies, the menacing attitude, the ice in her veins, the killing, even if it's a monster, in cold blood), that takes a lot more strength than she gives herself credit for. Because that part in the basement was creepy and her killing that Malchai was cold. And she didn't let go of that cold until she was in her bedroom, with music so loud it was impossible to hear anything. Kate is so strong. After the whole incident in gym class, Kate comes outside and finds August (Freddie). I really, honestly like the way the move forward, soft and calm without either noticing that they are moving at all. Kate likes the silence, feels, for the first time in years, that the answer to her game (Where are you?) is Here, all because of him (not the pills). And August enjoys being around her too, is unsure what to feel because what he should feel (hate, disgust and all that) is not at all what he is feeling. He is torn between "don't push her away" and "don't let her too close" and I think it's lovely that he is on this phase already, here! They are very different characters than the ones I'm used to, and so I really like to see them not just interact with each other, but their thoughts in everything! And then Kate's curious about "Frederick Gallagher" and can't find him anywhere! And I think she might make a tiny crush on his picture (I know I do!). Their time together, after the problem with Phillip, was tense with questions (on Kate's part) but at the same time sweet. Their relationship keeps on moving smoothly forward. Until her questions spill and a time bomb is ticking. Kate figures out the truth rather quickly (just a few hours) and on accident! And I can't decide it if she's is afraid or curious, but I think with going with curious (although there's a little fear there too)! Leo is completely insane, has completely lost his humanity! He kills in cold blood without batting a lash, tortures someone while talking as if he was just taking a stroll around the block with his brother! It's scary! And August was really messed up because of the way he pulled that soul/life force! I hated it, hated the way Leo did things. And I feel like, with the truce on the verge of breaking, Ilsa is losing her mind... But she is also very scared that she might have to go dark again and kill hundreds more... And August will do everything in his power to spare her from that, even though he hates that thought, hates the possibility of going dark and "burning bright". Kate is also being cryptic and creepy and weird with August. She knows exactly who and what he is but she is stalling for some reason (the reason being that she likes him, she sees him as human, as good, and she likes him! More than she knows, more than she admits. Because if she didn't, she'd have tied him up already. But he is the only one that makes her like here instead of wondering what the other Kates are doing.), even though she is planning on taking August back to Harker to prove herself. And he is freaking out because he knows she knows! But Kate's plan goes down in flames when she is locked in Colton and her driver doesn't answer her. Everything is locked and people are dead, eyes burned out. Except that it wasn't a Sunai (in this case August) to do that, but rogue Malchai who want to frame him (and are probably under orders from Sloan and a little of Harker's influence too, even though he didn't know that his monster was betraying him). This part of the story is fast paced, constantly shifting between August and Kate in heart-pounding fear (because they are both more afraid than they would like to admit). Kate is left to fight with two Malchai and hangs on pretty well until August finally arrives and gives her a hand. With his music he distracts (?) the Malchai by causing them pain and that gives time for Kate to kill one. But the other then bites her shoulder and August is forced to do something that makes him harm himself: take the life force out of the monster. Kate ends up killing him, but the harm is done and August retches black ooze and passes out. She then ties him up in a closed building and they have the beginnings of an honest talk. I think she is torn between wanting to trust him (because he saved her life and doesn't seem like a monster), and not trust him at all costs because he is, in fact, a monster (a from a very dangerous "species" at that). But when push comes to shove and someone is after her, probably to finish the job, Kate releases August and they are on the run. They go to the subway lines and August has to play to make them pass safely through the Corsai and they were both lost in the music. Kate is severely injured but August stitched her up and they are in a motel, waiting... They had an honest talk about him and not everything was easy... But they are getting better. Then Ilsa appeared in their motel room and did something to help them: kept Sloan at bay and was almost killed in the process, but managed to get away (even though she now can't speak). Kate and August ran again, after a fight with a monster and a human under Harker's employment, and went into the Waste. But, of course, the car they took didn't get them all the way to their destination and ran out of gas and August is fighting hunger. They are in the middle of the Waste in the middle of the night and that's not good. But a trucker stops by them and takes them to a truck stop, thanks to Kate's efforts. But then she's on the news because people think she's been kidnapped and that the Flynn family is behind it. And a Sunai was seen with her. So it's a narrow escape from the truck stop because people try to take them (or at least Kate). They run and run and run until they are in the middle of the woods and no one is following them. August thinks he beat his hunger this time and they continue on their way to the house where Kate stayed with her mother when she was little, while the territory wars were raging. But August is slip-slip-slipping into his hunger and is losing it, even when he doesn't really realize that. When they are almost to the house he is out of his mind, rambling about how they are different, and Kate understands then how much is hunger is affecting him. And she wants to help, is desperate to find him someone for him to eat. And it is at this point that the reader is perfectly confronted with the growing liking between these two and how much they trust each other by now. It's both a terrifying thought knowing how close he is to go dark and lovely because of their trust and August's faith in her (at least I read it like that) and Kate's trying to make him better, trying to help him. But she couldn't. She tried her best to keep him with her but when she accidentally kills a man, because Sloan tracks her to the house and there's a struggle between her and the man, and she becomes a sinner, exactly what August needs to end his hunger... But he fights it, fights it almost to the end, even though Sloan is torturing him to make him go dark and kill him. But, as it turns out, both Sloan and Leo were the headmasters behind the plan to kill Kate, all because the truce was falling apart and they wanted to start a war. Even though Henry didn't want to (and that explains perfectly why I always felt like Leo was bad and didn't trust him). Besides, he makes his brother go dark, to kill Kate, but August kills Leo instead. And, so Kate doesn't have to intentionally kill her father and have a worse sin on hanging on her soul, he is the one who kills Harker, after Kate got the answers she wanted. And it was a very satisfying end to the book, August going to the FTF and Kate going into another town. Except, of course, when one reads the last couple of pages and realizes that Leo missed (I think?) Sloan's heart and the monster (Malchai) that Kate created wakes him, or something, just by pulling the pole from his chest. And I was left unsure if this new Malchai resembled Kate but goes by her mother's name or if it resembles her mother altogether... Either way, it was very interesting! Overall this book was absolutely fantastic, it has a very interesting and rare (in my opinion) take on magic and society and it was a delicious read. I found myself often craving this book, being hungry to read it, being unable to think about anything other than it! And that is spectacular because it doesn't happen often with me.
Victoria Schwab, auch als V.E. Schwab bekannt, zählt seit „Vicious“ zu meinen Lieblingsautoren. Nach und nach lese ich mich nun durch die Veröffentlichungen von Schwab. Die Villians- und Shades Of Magic- Reihe habe ich bereits durch und so war jetzt „This Savage Song“ dran. Es ist der Auftakt der Monster Of Verity- Duology.Verity City - eine Stadt, die in Nord und Süd geteilt ist. Kate Harman und August Flynn sind die Erben dieser Stadt. Eine Stadt, wo Gewalt Monster erschafft. Kate möchte so sein wie ihr Vater. Er herrscht über den Norden, lässt Monster frei auf den Straßen wandeln und lässt sich von den Menschen für seinen Schutz bezahlen. August möchte nur menschlich sein, so gutherzig wie sein Vater und eine größere Rolle beim Schutz von Unschuldigen spielen. Aber er ist ein Monster, dass die Seelen durch Musik stehlen kann.Als sich die Möglichkeit auf tut Kate zu beschatten, da sie erneut vom Internat geflogen ist und zurück in Verity City ist, ergreift August seine Chance. Doch Kate entdeckt sein Geheimnis. Als Kate in ein Hinterhalt gerät, müssen beide fliehen.„This Savage Song“ von Victoria Schwab ist eine Urban Fantasy Variante von Romeo und Julia mit Monsters. Dabei zeigt Schwab ehrlich und schonungslos die dunklen Seiten der Menschheit und wie diese Monster erschaffen. In „This Savage Song“ sind die Menschen mehr monsterhaft als die Monster selbst.Die Charaktere sind von der ersten Seite an faszinierend. Kate ist zu Beginn sehr grausam, weil sie ihren Vater beeindrucken will, in dem sie ist wie er. Sie ist aber auch sehr bitter und sarkastisch. August Flynn ist eher der Denker und Außenseiter, dessen größter Wunsch ist menschlich und quasi einer der Guten zu sein. Die Musik ist seine Zuflucht, aber gleichzeitig auch seine Kraft. Beide stehen auf unterschiedlichen Seiten, doch beide fühlen eine Anziehung zum anderen, was vor allem auf Verständnis beruht.„This Savage Song“ von Victoria Schwab gehört definitiv zu meinen Jahreshighlights. Es hat mir so gut gefallen, dass ich es in eine Rutsch durchgelesen hab.
3.5 stars
4,5 Sterne Hier haben wir eine Geschichte über eine Welt, wo Gewalttaten richtige lebendige Monster erschaffen - aber natürlich mit Kategorien. Wir haben die Seite der Monster, die entweder ihr dasein ausleben oder es für gute Zwecke einsetzen oder lieber ein Mensch wären. Dann haben wir die Menschen, die zum einen mit den Monstern zusammen arbeiten oder versuchen diese zu kontrollieren. Dadurch, dass dieses Phänomem erst vor ein paar jahren auftrat gibt es verschiedene Ansätze zur Lösung. Ich mochte unsere Hauptcharaktere sehr gerne, die bald miteinander auskommen aber keine Liebesbeziehung zueinander entwickeln, sondern Freundschaft. Weiterhin war die Länge des Buches genau richtig. Das Buch ist in sich abgeschlossen, aber man freut sich auf den nächsten teil.
Beiträge
5 stars Another brilliant book by V.E. Schwab! I just love her way of writing. Her way of creating those characters who are always a shade of grey and never just black or white. She did that again in this book. I'm so looking forward to hopefully reading book two next month ;)
At the beginning, for the first 100 pages or so, this book feels like the usual young adult fantasy - rival factions, a new school, the school bully, a hint at forbidden attraction... But boy, after that it gets different fast. Quite dark, tense and fast. Loved it and will now immediately read the sequel.
Young Adult Fantasy by V.E. Schwab! It was a bit dark sometimes, but in a good way! I loved August and Ilsa <3
Heavens above! This book was simply marvellous! Such a twist to the main characters! They are not heroes, but they are not monsters (in this case it's not villains) either! They are somewhere in the grey zone. So, there are three types of monsters in the world: Corsai - kind of like a weird mix between werewolves and vampires; can't be out in the sunlight; feed on flesh and bone; don't seem to have a proper body, unlike the others who are at least a little similar to humans; hive-mind (either all are controlled or none, at least inside Verity); come from violent non-lethal acts Malchai - kind of like vampires; teeth like shark's; super fast; draw their strength from the night; feed on blood; come from murders Sunai - kind of like sirens; feed on sinners (so it has to be someone who has a shadow, one that represents the violence they made and that created a monster); "the darkest creatures to crawl out of the Phenomenon" (quote); come from the Darkest crimes (bombings, shootings, massacres, events that ended multiple lives); only monsters that look human; can kill by using pain too. And let me tell you now why I found this book so amazing. It wasn't just the story that was incredibly compelling, or how the characters were written or even how the fantastic narrative was written. It was the concept of the story. So, interesting concept was: violence truly, honestly breeds violence. After so much violence, something changed to the point of darkness (absence of light, shadows) coalescing into shape, into monsters (Corsai, Malchai and Sunai). Also interesting is this kind of corruption of magic and perverted version of Romeo and Juliette (not in the romantic sense, there's no romance in this book, but in the sense of the main characters coming from families running different cities and being kind of mortal enemies). One of our main characters is human but wants to be a monster: Kate. The other is a monster, a Sunai, and wants to be human: August. They both live in Verity City, a supercity, but live on opposite sides of the wall, called Seam. Kate lives in North City where her father rules. He keeps the monsters at bay by controlling them and collecting them, and people pay for that, for that sense of normalcy and safety. August lives on his "father's" side, South City. This part is still in reconstruction after the war that generated the Phenomenon (the creation of the monsters) and is kind of a military city where the FTF (Flynn Task Force) protects the people by killing the monsters. But Henry Flynn has three monsters with him, his "children" Leo, Ilsa and August. Leo is the face of FTF but no one knows he is Sunai; Ilsa doesn't leave home (because that was part of the truce between Harker and Flynn given that Ilsa made the Barren - a place that used to be a park and is now dead of everything) and their parents finally let August do what he wants: protect people. But he will work kind of undercover ) in the North City and keep an eye on Kate. Another interesting thing about this book is the fact that the monsters can see shadows of people that committed a sin big enough to create another monster. It's a really interesting twist on magic this whole book! In South City, these people would be killed by Leo (or August); but in North City, they have enough cash to have it kind of swept under the rug. One of the characteristics of the Sunai is that, despite not being able to lie (just like any other monster), they make humans be honest, even without compelling them to be it. And the humans don't even realize what they are doing. August was born out of violence against 12 years old, a shootout, and that's how old he was when he was "born". So, from this, I think it's safe to assume that monsters are born with the same age as the victim? And not only that, but can look like the attacker (as Sloan seems to kind of be a copy of Harker? But Kate only has a theory that Sloan is her father's Malchai.. So maybe they just look alike..? )? And they age. The angle Victoria plays with Colin and August, of the new, introvert kid being helped and taken under the extrovert and kind kid's wing, is kind of adorable! A few words in and I already loved Colin! And Kate is a complete psychopath, sometimes! She is a monster in her own right and it's creepy and gives me shivers! I really enjoyed her character for how different she is from the majority of the main characters in books! Okay, so, another thing worthy of note is the fact that monsters, Sunai in particular, don't eat human food but do need to eat sinners' souls so they don't go dark and kill people (sinner or innocent). The hunger seems to manifest itself like a fever and a quick rise in temper, and the time the Sunai can go without eating is dependent on the monster (Leo can go for longer, Ilsa doesn't seem to need it anymore, and August needs it more regularly). Colin seems to be a very good friend to August. And Kate's interaction with him, in the beginning, was good, I can't exactly explain why but I liked it. And August seems more human on the outside than he realizes. For some reason, I thought that the part about Sunai in the song (Sing you a song and steal your soul (quote)) was kind of a metaphor for how they, let's say, hunt or for their powers (like that about making people around them be honest). I'm not sure why, especially when for the others it's not. But it explains why August says he hears the melody or music of the world. He literally uses his violin to kill the sinners and feed. August plays his violin and it makes the sinner follow the melody back to him, even when they were running away. The melody makes the soul come to the surface, and, in a sinner's case, it will be stained red, "shining like a light beneath the skin" (quote). Their monster shadow will also stand still, instead of constantly moving. Then the person confesses their crimes, August (or any Sunai) touches their skin and the soul flows into him, and the sinner dies. August is such a good little monster! He is so much more human than some humans! He feels responsible for killing a cat's owner and because the animal likes him he takes him home with him! And Ilsa loves it and there's something adorable about two monsters being so in love with a cat and the cat trusting them so easily. Kate wants so badly to be like her father, a monster in human form, but she's not, no matter how much she fakes and tries. She's a better person than she gives herself credit for, and I know she hates that but it's good to see this war within her. Kate's not good, by all means, she is not good, but she is also not the monster she pretends and wants to be. Nor will she ever be. What she is is incredibly strong, because putting on that facade that she wants to make real (the cunning, the lies, the menacing attitude, the ice in her veins, the killing, even if it's a monster, in cold blood), that takes a lot more strength than she gives herself credit for. Because that part in the basement was creepy and her killing that Malchai was cold. And she didn't let go of that cold until she was in her bedroom, with music so loud it was impossible to hear anything. Kate is so strong. After the whole incident in gym class, Kate comes outside and finds August (Freddie). I really, honestly like the way the move forward, soft and calm without either noticing that they are moving at all. Kate likes the silence, feels, for the first time in years, that the answer to her game (Where are you?) is Here, all because of him (not the pills). And August enjoys being around her too, is unsure what to feel because what he should feel (hate, disgust and all that) is not at all what he is feeling. He is torn between "don't push her away" and "don't let her too close" and I think it's lovely that he is on this phase already, here! They are very different characters than the ones I'm used to, and so I really like to see them not just interact with each other, but their thoughts in everything! And then Kate's curious about "Frederick Gallagher" and can't find him anywhere! And I think she might make a tiny crush on his picture (I know I do!). Their time together, after the problem with Phillip, was tense with questions (on Kate's part) but at the same time sweet. Their relationship keeps on moving smoothly forward. Until her questions spill and a time bomb is ticking. Kate figures out the truth rather quickly (just a few hours) and on accident! And I can't decide it if she's is afraid or curious, but I think with going with curious (although there's a little fear there too)! Leo is completely insane, has completely lost his humanity! He kills in cold blood without batting a lash, tortures someone while talking as if he was just taking a stroll around the block with his brother! It's scary! And August was really messed up because of the way he pulled that soul/life force! I hated it, hated the way Leo did things. And I feel like, with the truce on the verge of breaking, Ilsa is losing her mind... But she is also very scared that she might have to go dark again and kill hundreds more... And August will do everything in his power to spare her from that, even though he hates that thought, hates the possibility of going dark and "burning bright". Kate is also being cryptic and creepy and weird with August. She knows exactly who and what he is but she is stalling for some reason (the reason being that she likes him, she sees him as human, as good, and she likes him! More than she knows, more than she admits. Because if she didn't, she'd have tied him up already. But he is the only one that makes her like here instead of wondering what the other Kates are doing.), even though she is planning on taking August back to Harker to prove herself. And he is freaking out because he knows she knows! But Kate's plan goes down in flames when she is locked in Colton and her driver doesn't answer her. Everything is locked and people are dead, eyes burned out. Except that it wasn't a Sunai (in this case August) to do that, but rogue Malchai who want to frame him (and are probably under orders from Sloan and a little of Harker's influence too, even though he didn't know that his monster was betraying him). This part of the story is fast paced, constantly shifting between August and Kate in heart-pounding fear (because they are both more afraid than they would like to admit). Kate is left to fight with two Malchai and hangs on pretty well until August finally arrives and gives her a hand. With his music he distracts (?) the Malchai by causing them pain and that gives time for Kate to kill one. But the other then bites her shoulder and August is forced to do something that makes him harm himself: take the life force out of the monster. Kate ends up killing him, but the harm is done and August retches black ooze and passes out. She then ties him up in a closed building and they have the beginnings of an honest talk. I think she is torn between wanting to trust him (because he saved her life and doesn't seem like a monster), and not trust him at all costs because he is, in fact, a monster (a from a very dangerous "species" at that). But when push comes to shove and someone is after her, probably to finish the job, Kate releases August and they are on the run. They go to the subway lines and August has to play to make them pass safely through the Corsai and they were both lost in the music. Kate is severely injured but August stitched her up and they are in a motel, waiting... They had an honest talk about him and not everything was easy... But they are getting better. Then Ilsa appeared in their motel room and did something to help them: kept Sloan at bay and was almost killed in the process, but managed to get away (even though she now can't speak). Kate and August ran again, after a fight with a monster and a human under Harker's employment, and went into the Waste. But, of course, the car they took didn't get them all the way to their destination and ran out of gas and August is fighting hunger. They are in the middle of the Waste in the middle of the night and that's not good. But a trucker stops by them and takes them to a truck stop, thanks to Kate's efforts. But then she's on the news because people think she's been kidnapped and that the Flynn family is behind it. And a Sunai was seen with her. So it's a narrow escape from the truck stop because people try to take them (or at least Kate). They run and run and run until they are in the middle of the woods and no one is following them. August thinks he beat his hunger this time and they continue on their way to the house where Kate stayed with her mother when she was little, while the territory wars were raging. But August is slip-slip-slipping into his hunger and is losing it, even when he doesn't really realize that. When they are almost to the house he is out of his mind, rambling about how they are different, and Kate understands then how much is hunger is affecting him. And she wants to help, is desperate to find him someone for him to eat. And it is at this point that the reader is perfectly confronted with the growing liking between these two and how much they trust each other by now. It's both a terrifying thought knowing how close he is to go dark and lovely because of their trust and August's faith in her (at least I read it like that) and Kate's trying to make him better, trying to help him. But she couldn't. She tried her best to keep him with her but when she accidentally kills a man, because Sloan tracks her to the house and there's a struggle between her and the man, and she becomes a sinner, exactly what August needs to end his hunger... But he fights it, fights it almost to the end, even though Sloan is torturing him to make him go dark and kill him. But, as it turns out, both Sloan and Leo were the headmasters behind the plan to kill Kate, all because the truce was falling apart and they wanted to start a war. Even though Henry didn't want to (and that explains perfectly why I always felt like Leo was bad and didn't trust him). Besides, he makes his brother go dark, to kill Kate, but August kills Leo instead. And, so Kate doesn't have to intentionally kill her father and have a worse sin on hanging on her soul, he is the one who kills Harker, after Kate got the answers she wanted. And it was a very satisfying end to the book, August going to the FTF and Kate going into another town. Except, of course, when one reads the last couple of pages and realizes that Leo missed (I think?) Sloan's heart and the monster (Malchai) that Kate created wakes him, or something, just by pulling the pole from his chest. And I was left unsure if this new Malchai resembled Kate but goes by her mother's name or if it resembles her mother altogether... Either way, it was very interesting! Overall this book was absolutely fantastic, it has a very interesting and rare (in my opinion) take on magic and society and it was a delicious read. I found myself often craving this book, being hungry to read it, being unable to think about anything other than it! And that is spectacular because it doesn't happen often with me.
Victoria Schwab, auch als V.E. Schwab bekannt, zählt seit „Vicious“ zu meinen Lieblingsautoren. Nach und nach lese ich mich nun durch die Veröffentlichungen von Schwab. Die Villians- und Shades Of Magic- Reihe habe ich bereits durch und so war jetzt „This Savage Song“ dran. Es ist der Auftakt der Monster Of Verity- Duology.Verity City - eine Stadt, die in Nord und Süd geteilt ist. Kate Harman und August Flynn sind die Erben dieser Stadt. Eine Stadt, wo Gewalt Monster erschafft. Kate möchte so sein wie ihr Vater. Er herrscht über den Norden, lässt Monster frei auf den Straßen wandeln und lässt sich von den Menschen für seinen Schutz bezahlen. August möchte nur menschlich sein, so gutherzig wie sein Vater und eine größere Rolle beim Schutz von Unschuldigen spielen. Aber er ist ein Monster, dass die Seelen durch Musik stehlen kann.Als sich die Möglichkeit auf tut Kate zu beschatten, da sie erneut vom Internat geflogen ist und zurück in Verity City ist, ergreift August seine Chance. Doch Kate entdeckt sein Geheimnis. Als Kate in ein Hinterhalt gerät, müssen beide fliehen.„This Savage Song“ von Victoria Schwab ist eine Urban Fantasy Variante von Romeo und Julia mit Monsters. Dabei zeigt Schwab ehrlich und schonungslos die dunklen Seiten der Menschheit und wie diese Monster erschaffen. In „This Savage Song“ sind die Menschen mehr monsterhaft als die Monster selbst.Die Charaktere sind von der ersten Seite an faszinierend. Kate ist zu Beginn sehr grausam, weil sie ihren Vater beeindrucken will, in dem sie ist wie er. Sie ist aber auch sehr bitter und sarkastisch. August Flynn ist eher der Denker und Außenseiter, dessen größter Wunsch ist menschlich und quasi einer der Guten zu sein. Die Musik ist seine Zuflucht, aber gleichzeitig auch seine Kraft. Beide stehen auf unterschiedlichen Seiten, doch beide fühlen eine Anziehung zum anderen, was vor allem auf Verständnis beruht.„This Savage Song“ von Victoria Schwab gehört definitiv zu meinen Jahreshighlights. Es hat mir so gut gefallen, dass ich es in eine Rutsch durchgelesen hab.
3.5 stars
4,5 Sterne Hier haben wir eine Geschichte über eine Welt, wo Gewalttaten richtige lebendige Monster erschaffen - aber natürlich mit Kategorien. Wir haben die Seite der Monster, die entweder ihr dasein ausleben oder es für gute Zwecke einsetzen oder lieber ein Mensch wären. Dann haben wir die Menschen, die zum einen mit den Monstern zusammen arbeiten oder versuchen diese zu kontrollieren. Dadurch, dass dieses Phänomem erst vor ein paar jahren auftrat gibt es verschiedene Ansätze zur Lösung. Ich mochte unsere Hauptcharaktere sehr gerne, die bald miteinander auskommen aber keine Liebesbeziehung zueinander entwickeln, sondern Freundschaft. Weiterhin war die Länge des Buches genau richtig. Das Buch ist in sich abgeschlossen, aber man freut sich auf den nächsten teil.