Book Review: Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab

Title: Our Dark Duet Series: Monsters of Verity #2 Written by: Victoria Schwab Published: June 13, 2017 by Greenwillow Books (Harper Teen) (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: THE WORLD IS BREAKING. AND SO ARE THEY.  KATE HARKER isn't afraid of monsters. She hunts them. And she's good at it.  AUGUST FLYNN once yearned to be human. He has a part to play. And he will play it, no matter the cost.  THE WAR HAS BEGUN.  THE MONSTERS ARE WINNING.  Kate will have to return to Verity. August will have to let her back in. And a new monster is waiting—one that feeds on chaos and brings out its victims' inner demons.  Which will be harder to conquer: the monsters they face, or the monsters within?

I loved This Savage Song, it was one of my favorite books of last year, so I was beyond excited that find out what would happen next to Kate and August. Our Dark Duet was a great sequel full of amazing world-building, a thrilling plot, and great characters.

With Our Dark Duet Victoria once again proved she is a master at world building. I have never read one of her books that didn't have an incredibly fleshed out world. I was very impressed with the world in the first book and here it was even better. In Our Dark Duet we get to explore more of the world at large as we follow Kate who starts the book in Prosperity hunting monsters. It was nice to see what things were like outside of the city we were introduced to in the first book, but Verity is what I cared about. Specifically the monsters of Verity. The groundwork was laid in the first book so here we could just kind of see the monsters in action. Plus we got an all new monster, one that was just as cool and dark as those in the previous books. The Chaos Eater was so interesting and the more we learned about the more interesting it became. I loved seeing it in action and how the characters interacted with it. It added an interesting new dimension and expansion of the world. I have always loved how Victoria creates a fascinating and unique world in her books and Our Dark Duet did just that.

But the other thing I loved about this book, and Victoria's writing, is the characterizations. These are some of the most complex and likable characters I have ever read. I absolutely loved August and Kate in the first book and the more time we spend with them, the more I like them. These are characters who walk that line between good and bad, doing the wrong things for the right reasons. August had really interesting development in this book. The effects of the first book have hardened him a little bit but he is still grappling with who he is and who he wants to be. He has to come to terms with being a monster while still doing the right thing. It made him incredibly likable and interesting. But if TSS was August's book this one was Kate's. She was the more engaging character here for many reasons. Kate is a smart and tough character full of snarky one-liners but still very vulnerable and here she showed us her best side and her worst. She always wanted to be a monster and here she kind of got her wish. We explore her humanity a lot throughout the book and it was fascinating.

And that is just the good guys. With "good" guys like this you can only imagine how dark the antagonists were. The bad guys of this book were seriously complex too. They were devious and I loved them. Sloan is back in this book and scheming and plotting for control of Verity as well as to get revenge on Kate. Then there was Alice, the new Malachi that Kate created in the last book. She was amazing! So devious and deadly. The contrast between her and Kate was fantastic. It was like Kate being unleashed and uninhabited. She was a great foil for all the main characters, even Sloan. Victoria just has a great way with villains and character development for dark and complex characters. Our Dark Duet was a great example of that. Every character here is dark, complex, and so engaging as the walked that fine line between good and evil.

This is also a book that has an incredibly thrilling plot. The events of This Savage Song left a power vacuum in Verity that was explored in the plot of Our Dark Duet. The monsters have been unleashed and are reeking havoc on the city. It made for some really great action scenes as we followed Kate and August as they hunted the monsters. And then there was the Chaos Eater. A new monster that possesses people and stirs them to violence and to destroy everyone around them. That too led to some really thrilling moments and a good mystery as we learned how it works and how to destroy it. Everything really built to an exciting conclusion that had me totally reeling. Seriously, THAT ENDING! I really can't with that ending.

I will say, however, that the pacing on this book wasn't my favorite. It took me much longer to get through this than I expected. I am used to the fact that fantasy books have a high amount of exposition but sometimes I think it was just too much. I definitely think it was too much. It took almost 200 pages before it really hit the plot of this book and it was really hard for me to get into it until that point. It wasn't until Kate got back to Verity that I was really engaged. I spent a week reading the first half of this book but then I finished the second half in two days. I wish it was just a little more balanced but that is really my only criticism.

Our Dark Duet is a great sequel to a fantastic YA fantasy duology. It has a Dark an fascinating world, likable and complex characters, and a thrilling plot full of action.

I give Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab 9 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy. If you liked the first book in this series you definitely need to read the sequel. It was fantastic and worth a read. Plus I absolutely recommend this book to fans of dark fantasies.

Have you read Our Dark Duet? What did you think? Seriously, what did you think. I need to talk to someone about this book and what happened. Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Book Review: This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

Title: This Savage Song Series: Monsters of Verity Written by: Victoria Schwab Published: July 5, 2016 by Greenwillow Books (HarperCollins) (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from author Victoria Schwab, a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains—and friends or enemies—with the future of their home at stake. The first of two books.  Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August’s secret, and after a failed assassination attempt the pair must flee for their lives.

I'm not at all sure that I can write any kind of coherent review for this book. I don't think I can express my thoughts for it with anything besides expletives and the phrase "wow, this was so good" over and over again. But let's try, shall we?

I couldn't wait to read this book. It would have wanted to read it just based on the synopsis, I mean a dark fantasy with literal monsters and warring families. On top of that however, it's written by an auto-buy author who has not disappointed me yet and didn't disappoint me now. This was exactly what I hoped it would. A dark fantasy with a violent world, great and complex characters, and a thrilling plot.

First let's talk about the world of this book. Verity is definitely and dark, compelling world and setting. It's a little dystopian with the struggle for power between two different families and a fragile truce that attempts to protect people from things far worse. It's a little fantasy with a world full of literal monsters. It has dark and blood-thirsty creatures that are created from violent act. It's a fascinating concept and is expertly handled by Victoria's brilliant world-building. It's subtle and we learn more about them as we see the monster's in action. It was a great springboard for a story that is just as dark and violent as it's setting.

Because yes, this is a book with dark and violent plot development. Most notably because of the monsters. Wow, seeing them do their thing was violent and so badass. I kind of feel like a bad person saying this, but I loved seeing the monsters in action. It made for such a great story. Plus there is a ton of action and suspense throughout the book including fight scenes, narrow escapes, and more than one moment that had me nervously fearing what was going to happen next and what the consequences would be down the line. It even had a little bit of mystery and a twist that caught me by surprise. And yes, there was a lot of exposition in the beginning but then it suddenly went from 0 to 60 and I was hooked. Then it gets to the climax and wow, that was one hell of a big finish. When it was all said and done I was left totally in enthralled, reeling, and anxiously awaiting what will happen next. But what I liked is that it did actually finish, it's one of the things I love about Victoria Schwab. She writes a first book in a series with a great ending that leaves you wanting more.

But This Savage Song is a surprisingly character-driven read. Part of what made the monsters so compelling is the fact that it played with the idea of what it means to be a monster, why people do bad things and the consequences of those actions. It was all about the main characters figuring who they wanted to be within those constructs of humans and monsters. It of course then played with the ideas of good and evil. But the best part is that it did it from both an internal and external perspective. It wasn't just about society's evil or your person actions that may be good or evil, it dealt with both. This of course made for a ton of conflict and great characters.

And speaking of those characters, they were complex and likable. August Flynn is a monster and doesn't want to be. He's fighting his violent urges and his true nature. I couldn't help but sympathize with him and want him to succeed in that fight. Kate Hacker wants to be a monster, or a least a very violent human who controls them. She's badass and could easily become a femme fatal caricature but she's surprisingly complex. The two are very different and yet they find common ground and make a great team. Plus they also both have great development throughout the book which is the heart of the story and gave me an emotional gut punch when the book ended. I'm always a fan of Victoria's characterzation and I think she did a great job here by creating characters that were well-rounded, likable, and engaging.

On the whole This Savage Song is seriously another brilliant book by Victoria Schwab who is an auto-buy author for a reason. It's a violent and dark read with a thrilling plot, great characters, and a compelling world. I loved it so much and now I cannot wait to find out what happens in the next book.

I give This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab 10 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: BUY! Absolutely buy this book. Victoria Schwab has written an amazing and dark YA fantasy with characters that you will fall in love with and feel things when their stories end. It is a thrilling read that will leave you reeling, and a world that leave you wanting more. READ IT!

Have you read This Savage Song? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!