ThIS savage song

VE Schwab spins her magic in the way she describes the magic in this one. This is a world where monsters exist and hunt on humans in the town of Verity. The first book is about this monster who just wants to be human.

Verity is divided into sections- the North and the South. North is where the monsters work under Harker and humans buy protection from these monsters by paying Harker. South, led by Flynn is where everyone works for FTF to kill monsters. Violence breeds violence is the theme of the book. So when a violet act is committed monsters are born. Depending on the severity, these monsters can be of three types

• Corsai: Level 1 - Born from lowest acts of violence. This monster remains in the dark and can be killed by light.

• Malchai: Level 5 - Born from medium range of violence like murders. They are able to walk with humans but they dont look very human. Sharp teeth and can be killed by dagger to heart.

• Sunai: Level 100 - Born from very violent acts like mass murders, bombings. They reap souls but their instrument of killing is music. When they play humans and monsters stop and start confessing , their souls comes out of their body and if their souls are red (which means they have done violence) the Sunai feeds on them. Sunai cannot be killed (atleast they appear so). Sunais must feed on a regular basis or they go dark, where they dopnt differentiate between good and bad and cause massive havoc.

The book starts with Kate Harker trying to get back to Verity by burning down the school she is studying at. When she joins school at Verity, South send August Flynn in to keep tabs on her. Kate finds out that August is a Sunai and plans to bring him to her father as a token of her valiance and that she is not a little girl anymore. However, the Malachai from Harker, Sloan and one Sunai Leo Flynn collaborate to kill Kate and put the blame on August to start a full blown war between North and South. August doesn't want to kill her and she doesnt want to kill August. So they run. They are finally captured by Sloan who tortures August to turn dark so that he could kill him. Leo comes into the picture and kills Sloan for trying to kill his brother (hypocrite) and tries to kill Kate. That's when August kills Leo. They come back to the city where Kate finds out that Callum Harker actually knew about this plan and August kills him for her. At the end of the story, Kate is leaving Verity.

Notable characters:

• The Flynns:

  • Henry Flynn: Commander of FTF. Leader of South. Kind, ex-doctor, believes in humanity.

  • Leo Flynn: Very righteous Sunai, very interested in killing murderers.

  • August Flynn: Sunai with empathy.

  • Ilsa FLynn: Sunai who is also kind but also eccentric. She is very perceptive.

• The Harkers:

  • Callum Harker: King of North. Cruel, manipulative.

  • Kate Harker: Daughter of Callum. A amateur bad-ass.

• Sloan: Malchai working under Harker. Very cruel and mean. Loves violence. Wants to take over the city.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

What to like in this story?

• The theme of violence creating violence.

• The line between good and bad and where to draw it.

• Excellent prose.

• Character-driven.

What may be some of the cons?

• It is not plot-driven.