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This Savage Song
This Savage Song
This Savage Song
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This Savage Song

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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#1 New York Times Bestseller * An Amazon Best Book of the Year

There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from acclaimed 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, This Savage Song is a must-have for fans of Holly Black, Maggie Stiefvater, and Laini Taylor.

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.

In This Savage Song, Victoria Schwab creates a gritty, seething metropolis, one worthy of being compared to Gotham and to the four versions of London in her critically acclaimed fantasy for adults, A Darker Shade of Magic. Her heroes will face monsters intent on destroying them from every side—including the monsters within.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperCollins
Release dateJul 5, 2016
ISBN9780062380876
Author

V. E. Schwab

V. E. Schwab is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, ranging from middle grade to teen to adult. Her books have garnered critical acclaim and been featured in the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, the Washington Post, and NPR; have been translated into more than a dozen languages; and been optioned for television and film. Schwab, an avid traveler, received her MFA from the University of Edinburgh, where her thesis was about the presence of monsters in medieval art. She lives in Edinburgh, Scotland. 

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Rating: 4.050209304393305 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This Savage Song is a YA fantasy novel that I had serious trouble putting down. Also relevant? There’s a male narrator and a female narrator but no romance whatsoever.Kate Harker and August Flynn are heirs to a city of monsters. Long before the start of our story, acts of human violence began to form creatures that were decidedly inhuman. Violent crime leads to Corsai, murder to Malchai, and mass murder to Sunai. These monsters began to destroy the city and the people living in it, and yet more destruction was caused by a war between two fractions of the populace. Kate’s father made a deal with the monsters, letting them hunt those who hadn’t paid for his protection. August’s father believed that the only right thing to do was continue to fight the monsters and protect human lives, regardless of whether or not they could pay. After much death, the two sides entered a truce, dividing the city between them. But now, that truce threatens to break, and Kate and August are right in the middle of it.Oh, and it’s worth mentioning that August is adopted. Because August isn’t actually human — he’s a Sunai who was found after a school shooting. He and the only two other Sunai were adopted and raised by Harry Flynn, and they are the greatest weapon for his side. August has spent his entire life living within the Flynn compound, but now he has a new mission: attend high school with his enemy’s daughter, Kate Flynn, while keeping everyone there from knowing he’s not human.Kate’s spent the past several years being shuffled from one boarding school to the next, repeatedly doing everything she can to get expelled in the hope that it will force her father to bring her back home. Now she’s finally succeeded, and she has her chance to prove that she’s a worthy air to the Flynn family name.I really do like the concept of violence breeding monsters, but I wasn’t so thrilled with the rest of the world building. I was having a lot of trouble figuring out if this was our world or not, until the book uses a high school history class as a vehicle to explain world building. Apparently after the Vietnam war, the United States split into ten mega territories, all centered around a single large city. This decision just didn’t make much sense to me and didn’t feel completely thought out or explored.I really liked both Kate and August as protagonists. I especially appreciate that Schwab didn’t include a romance between them. To be honest, whenever one narrator is male and the other is female, I tend to just assume they’ll end up together. Thank goodness This Savage Song didn’t go that route — I want more stories like this.I loved Kate so much. The entire reason I wanted to read the book was because I’d heard Schwab read a bit of the opening scene, where Kate burns down a church. Kate is a tough as nails female protagonist, but she’s not as heartless as she wants to be. I liked August a lot too, but probably not as much as Kate. I got the feeling that the Sunai had some fae mythology in them – August devours people’s souls through his music. However, I feel like August was being coded as asexual and neuroatypical as a way to emphasize that he was inhuman, and that made me really uncomfortable.This Savage Song‘s greatest asset is probably the pacing. When I say I couldn’t put this book down, I mean it. I had an exam in an hour, but I’m sitting there reading This Savage Song. It was so addicting!Long story short, This Savage Song was a ton of fun, and I can’t wait to read the sequel.Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I really enjoyed this one but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. I love the Darker Shade of Magic series so I had very high hopes for this one. I think I was unfairly expecting an adult novel but obviously this is YA. I still very much enjoyed the story and the unique plot. I will definitely continue the series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book considering it had monsters, no romance, lots of blood and gore, and very little storyline. However, I loved the two main characters, Kate Harker and August Finn. Both were flawed and vulnerable in their own way, and so very, very likeable. Kate was a feisty, tough piece of works - clever, cruel, vicious, calculated and savage. In fact, she was a human trying to be monstrous to impress her father. August, on the other hand, was a monster trapped inside a human body. He was a tortured soul, full of self-loathing for what he was capable of. His inner battle, and desperate need to protect the innocent, had me wanting to hug him. He was such a sweetheart.Then there were the monsters. The blood-drinking Malchai and the flesh-eating Corsai were evil and murderous, determined to kill as many humans as possible. However, the Sunai were totally differen; they only feasted on the souls of sinners. It was such an unique concept and the author's world-building had me drawn in almost from the start.As for the ending - wow! It was left wide-open for the next book and I can't wait to get my hands on it. This is the first book I've read by this author, but it certainly won't be the last.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    "It hurts," he whispered.
    "What does?" asked Kate.
    "Being. Not being. Giving in. Holding out. No matter what I do, it hurts."
    Kate tipped her head back against the tub. "That's life, August," she said. "You wanted to feel alive, right? It doesn't matter if you're monster or human. Living hurts."
    😦👌❤

    The Writing and Worldbuilding

    It's really no surprise I loved this, given that it's written by my Queen, Victoria Schwab. Reading the blurb, I wasn't totally sure how this book was going to play out, what kind of a world this was set it, but reading the book, I understood everything about it perfectly. It honestly reminded me of another favorite book of mine, Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion with its tough, hardcore heroine and not-really-human-but-trying male protagonist. But whereas Warm Bodies was a romance, this was a fantastic friendship, and that was awfully refreshing (though don't get me wrong—I ship Kate and August so hard, though I don't think he even has a sex drive, soo...)

    I loved how the book was split into parts of a composition—it really added to the symbolism and was just super unique.

    The world made me think of the Pied Piper with a paranormal apocalypse twist. It was so cool and unique and I absolutely loved everything about it.

    My only problem was that some of the characters felt like copies from her previous books, namely her adult ones under V.E. Schwab. Maybe she wanted similar characters for her Young Adult readers? Maybe she just isn't as versatile as I thought? They're not bad characters, and they definitely aren't unoriginal, but I've read them from her before, and I wanted to see all of her possibilities. (I'll go into specifics of which characters reminded me of who in spoiler tags in the character section below.)

    The Characters

    Kate Harker: I really liked Kate. She was so tough but also realistically vulnerable, and her wit and quick thinking were great. However, she reminded me too much of Lila Bard from the Shades of Magic series. Particularly the fact that, like Lila, she has one of a set of two sensory features out of operation due to some injury—her ear for Kate and her eye for Lila. This isn't a problem at all, but it was something I noticed.

    August Flynn: He was my absolute favorite. He's my smol cinnamon roll and I love him and his cat. I really loved his perspective and the slight difference in structure his thoughts brought, having that kind of ADHD feel. I really loved his struggle to feel human and to understand his place in the world. He was definitely the most unique character in this.

    Leo: He was interesting and I really liked his darker moments. While I understand what it brought to the symbolism of the story, I found him to be way too similar to Eli from Vicious, particularly relating to his religious idealism.

    Callum Harker: He was very interesting, and gave me The Walking Dead villain vibes (though I haven't actually ever watched TWD lol).

    Sloan: He was pretty creepy.

    Conclusion

    Overall, I found this to be a gripping and fast read that enthralled and enchanted me. I'm sad it's just a duology because this world is epic and I absolutely love it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    4.5 stars

    This Savage Song follows two characters, Kate, a human who wants to be more like her cold-hearted father and August, a monster who craves being human. They live in two different parts of the same city, Verity. The city itself has been under a truce since the mysterious Phenomenon and monsters have cropped up to destroy everything. However, the truce is close to breaking as more people are being attacked by monsters that the leaders of Verity can’t control. August is sent undercover to the North in order to get close to Kate in case the truce comes to an end. They are thrown together as one is almost killed and the other is framed and they must help each other to survive and learn who is trying so hard to break the truce and start a war.

    Both Kate and August are such complex characters and the author develops them so fully throughout the novel. August is such a gentle character when he can’t afford to be in the world that he lives in, but he holds onto what he values even when people try to force him to give them up. Kate wants to seem hard like her father, wants to make him proud of her. But she becomes strong in such a better way.

    Schwab, here, gives us such a fresh new take on future dystopian society. I loved how she mixed science fiction (dystopian) with fantasy (monsters). Not only has she furthered my love for science fiction in general, but she has also restored my faith in YA novels. If you love YA fantasy, or even if you don’t, this is definitely one you have to check out. I recommend this for anyone who wants something different, but still loves dystopian novels.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    There is a five letter word to describe Kate. Actually probably a few. When I first starting reading the book I thought it was going to be difficult to like Kate Harker but it didn't take long to warm to her acerbic-almost mean personality. Her facade starts to crack and we get to learn about her along with August.I was on pins and needles. The story races along at breakneck speed with betrayal and death on every corner, alley and even underground. No where is safe. No one is safe. The tone of the book is very dark. The only light seems to emit from August Flynn who keeps looking for the good in everyone, including himself.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A promising start to the series. Characters were not as vivid as her other books but I'm intrigued.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This post-apocalytic duology takes place in a re-constituted America after a period of national unrest, a strained economy, and political anarchy. Twelve years before the start of the story, a fundamental change in nature caused violence to start taking actual shape. Specifically, monsters were created out of all the murders being committed. At first, there were only three types:Corsai came from violent, but nonlethal acts, and they fed on flesh and boneMalchai came from murders, and fed on bloodSunai came from mass killings, and fed on life-forces of sinners, the auras of their souls. As far as anyone knows, there are only three Sunai in existence, and they live with Henry Flynn, who is the head of the southern portion of V-City, capital of Verity. He is trying, along with his Sunai, to keep at bay the bad people and the monsters they create.The North is run by Callum Harker, an autocrat who extracts money from his people in return for protection. He also employs torture to instill fear and obedience, with the help of his favorite Malchai, Sloan. His 17-year-old daughter Kate knew her father was a bad man, but thought he was what the city needed: “Good and bad were weak words. Monsters didn’t care about intentions or ideals. The facts were simple. The South was chaos. The North was order. It was an order bought and paid for with blood and fear, but order all the same.”Even though Kate was contemptuous of Flynn for being a quixotic idealist, she comes to admire his “son,” the Sunai August, who is 16. (He was created four years earlier after a mass shooting at a middle school.) Kate and August improbably become friends when they end up at the same high school. Kate is drawn to August because he wasn’t fake like the other students, and because he clearly didn’t belong in a way she couldn’t identify; all she knew was that she didn’t belong either. Ironically, Kate wants to be more like a monster so her father will accept her, and August wants to be more human like his father, because he has a moral code. He spends most of his time afraid: “Afraid of what he was, afraid of what he wasn’t, afraid of unraveling, becoming something, else, becoming nothing.”And in fact, the Sunai can become something fearsome. Sunai “go dark” if they stop feeding on souls: “They lose the ability to tell the difference between good and bad, monster and human. They just kill. They kill everyone.” It happened to August twice before Kate met him. Now he has stopped eating because he doesn’t want to feel like a monster. But he also is afraid that eventually he will lose control from hunger and go dark. Kate understands when he confesses to her: “He was just someone who wanted to be something else, something he wasn’t. Kate understood the feeling.”They grow close, and August and Kate run off to the Waste, the dangerous no-man’s land outside of the city limits. They go to Kate’s old house, but they are tracked down. Kate kills someone who tries to break in, and even though she did it in self defense, she now has the telltale red-colored life-force of a sinner. August’s “sister,” the Sunai Ilsa, helps them escape. The two are captured by Sloan, who brags that he killed Ilsa. The third Sunai, Leo, tries to kill Sloan, and August, Kate, and Leo get away.But then August, weak and starving, goes dark, and all of their lives change.Evaluation: Schwab is a skillful weaver of tales, and knows how to incorporate magic into them without the magic seeming fatuous. In the case of both Kate and of August, you can see how their backgrounds helped define them, for good or for ill. The identity struggles of both Kate and August are so unusual, and so heartbreaking. At one point, sitting on the roof of the compound, they are looking up at the stars:"'I read somewhere,' said Kate, "'that people are made of stardust.'He dragged his eyes from the sky. 'Really?''Maybe that's what you're made of. Just like us.'" I look forward to the sequel.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Having very much enjoyed Shades of Magic by Ms Schwab I bought this.I enjoyed this too although it is YA and quite short, lacking the detail that Shades had. It took me a few chapters to understand the set up of the world, the different monsters and who was fighting who. The two main characters are interesting in different ways and although certain "twists" are obvious I will be getting the 2nd book soon.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I didn’t know what the hype was all about until I saw the second book released just recently. Took out this book and in the first day I was half way through. It was addicting and it moved at a fast pace. It took me a little long to warm up to these characters and the setting. The setting is interesting, with the three different groups of monsters infesting the area. There was some sort of catastrophic event and the area was split into two. I rather like the way the world is being set up in this case. We have monsters. Not vampires, or werewolves, or some other mythical creatures we are familiar with. These are different and nothing that I have come across yet in the novels I have read in the past. I rather wish there was more history in regards to world building. Or at least, a bit more information but it doesn’t deter the reader from enjoying the novel. Kate and August are both great characters and opposites. Kate, who is a complete bad ass and August who is trying to fit in and be normal. I like them because first of all, they aren’t filled with besotted love like some YA novels have out there or worse yet, they fall in love and the world crashes around them. I’m glad this book doesn’t have any of that nonsense. They both use each other as a means to an end but they end up being unspoken friends despite their differences. What I like the most about these two is, they both exposed themselves to vulnerability to each other and learnt a lot from their respective groups. The plot itself is very interesting and readable. The action is good and not over the top dramatic. The twist near the end is predictable but what you didn’t see coming is the ending and you’re left with either being blown away or….well there’s no other is there? You’re just straight out blown away. Definitely recommended for YA readers. I’m off to get the second one. I enjoyed this book immensely.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    “The beautiful thing about books was that anyone could open them.” This book was not even nearly perfect (structurally).This book had quite a few typos (yes, I know it's petty, but I notice these things).BUT, this book kept me invested from cover to cover. I stayed up reading till 2 am one time, and that says a lot, as I very much love my precious sleep time!It made me feel sad for Kate.Adore August.And fall in love with Ilsa. But most importantly it gave me THE FEELS! And it's been a while since a book has done that. FEELS so strong that they got my heart pounding. And I loved it!“It was a cruel trick of the universe, thought August, that he only felt human after doing something monstrous.” August Flynn is a precious dandelion. August Flynn deserves all the love in the world. August Flynn is a monster. August Flynn is fictional...Kate is a character that I would have normally hated. But somehow Kate was a character that I loved.“She cracked a smile. "So what's your poison"He sighed dramatically, and let the truth tumble off his tongue. "Life.""Ah," she said ruefully. "That'll kill you.”I absolutely adored their chemistry and their conversations. AND I was so, so thankful that there was no romance. Ilsa is a precious little star in the universe of darkness that she alone inflicted. “Nobody gets to stay the same.” I had some questions at the end of the book, and I really hope that they will be addressed in the next one. “He wasn't made of flesh and bone, or starlight.He was made of darkness.” I checked out 'This Savage Song' from the library, but it is definitely something that I would love to add to my permanent collection. “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."
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed this supernatural duologyl. These novels were suggested to me by another librarian because she enjoyed the audio; I agree that the audio was well executed.A divided city, Verity, is home to enemies, monsters, the guilty, and the innocent. August Flynn is a secret; he is one son of the leader for one side of the city. No one in Verity really knows what he looks like although everyone is well aware of his brother Leo and sister Ilsa. They are Sunai--they take the souls of the guilty. Kate Harker is the daughter of the leader for the other side of the city, but she is kept far away, safe. She’s determined to earn her reputation at Harker’s daughter by finally manipulating her father to return. August is sent to spy on Kate now that rumor determines that she is attending school in Verity. He is able to sneak over the wall and meet people and be free from the compound. Whereas everyone fears Kate, August does not. Of course, he is almost indestructible, so he fears little. He desires to be human and cares for people; Kate just wants people to fear her. When an assassination attempt on Kate appears to blame August, they run to save their lives.These novels are dark--the society and creatures don’t make for a successful society. For fear of giving too much away, I won’t write anything else. I enjoyed the two novels quite a bit.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Just finished devouring this book. I loved it. August is an amazing character. I can not wait until the sequel.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In a dystopian future, the USA has conglomerated into larger states and every act of violence between humans results in the birth of a monster. In the divided city of Verity, Kate Harker is desperate to prove to her father that she is just as ruthless as he is and a worthy heir to take over his territory where he rules the monsters and extorts money from all of the citizens in exchange for their safety. On the other side of town, August Flynn is a Sunai, the most rare type of monster. He's fully devoted to his adopted father's cause of fighting the monsters to protect the human population. As the truce between the two sides begins to wobble, August is tasked with infiltrating Kate's high school in case of need of leverage. When everything starts to fall apart, August and Kate will find the strangest ally may be each other.I picked this one up because I so loved Schwab's Shades of Magic trilogy. While this universe that she's created isn't quite as compelling, it remains fascinating. She creates flawed characters whom you can't help but root for as they face off against the brutal world in which they live. There's a beautiful idea at work in how monsters are created and August's struggle to figure out who he is is a fascinating character arc. With plenty of action moving the plot along and a serious twist at the end, I will definitely be picking up the sequel to this one.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book was like a thunderstorm. You could feel the growing tension- like the calm before the storm. Slow and steady. You feel the tension in the air down in your bones. You can smell the rain coming. You see the sky start to darken.... And then the skies open up and the storm begins.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I knew ahead of time that it would mess with the line between good and evil, and knowing it made me real apprehensive about if it would work. But it didI love August so much. His internal struggles, his growth, his everything. And, surprisingly, I really like Kate too. I like tough Kate and I like sensitive Kate, and I like how much she grows over the story too.And, of course, I really like the world they're in. The only time I got pulled out of it was when they were in history class learning about Kentucky and stuff. I didn't need for it to be spelled out for me that their world is just our future. At first I tried to make the world fit into stereotypical urban fantasy slots: werewolves, vampires, etc. But it really doesn't work, and I'm very glad. Instead of retelling the old stereotypes, Schwab actually creates her own monsters, which is awesome.I am not, however, totally satisfied with the ending. I'm not sure what I wanted, and I don't hate the ending at all, but it just doesn't feel quite right. Maybe it was too tidy.But anyway, overall I really really loved it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    In a world where violence has created very real and very deadly monsters, Kate Harker is the daughter of V-City's ultimate crime lord, who runs the North and makes the citizens pay for his protection, while August lives in the South, where his father runs a task force to keep the monsters in check. Kate wants to emulate her father and be as ruthless, fearless and strong so he will finally accept her, while August wants nothing more than to be human and as kind as his father – the only problem is that August is one of the monsters. Now the already fragile truce between the two opposing sides is crumbling, and August and Kate are forced into an uneasy alliance to prevent the outbreak of an all-out war.If the synopsis reminds you of Romeo and Juliet, then this is no coincidence as the author draws her inspiration heavily from Shakespeare's play (without the romance); by reversing gender-stereotypical characteristics of each main protagonist, and by placing the action within an alternate universe, urban fantasy setting, she ensures that the plot and the characters remain fresh, and there are plenty of surprises in store. Kate and August are wonderful creations, and you can't help but root for them; inside that big-city tough teenager with attitude and the confidence that comes with being the daughter of Callum Harker is a little lost girl who craves the praise and recognition of her father, while August turns the definition of monster on its head and is the most human and humane of all the characters in the book. I was also reminded of Helena Coggan's The Catalyst, in that both authors explore the deeper psychology of and differentiate between those who willingly embrace evil and those who commit evil deeds because they have no other choice.The novel starts slowly, familiarising the reader with the protagonists and the strangeness of the set-up, and so when the tension increases and events begin to escalate, they are already hooked and the author has nothing else to do but reel them in. Almost the entire second half of the book is a real page turner, and I had to force myself to do some work before being inevitably drawn back. I loved the way V. E. Schwab uses music metaphors and allegories throughout the book, and in a way the entire work feels like a carefully composed symphony. The sequel can't come soon enough.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Monsters are rampant in Verity City. They are created every time a violent act is committed. The North Side of the city is run by Callum Harker, whose alliance with monsters can guarantee safety to those who can pay his price. The South Side of the city is run by the Flynn family whose militia fight the monsters. When Callum's daughter Katherine and the Flynn's adopted son August wind up in the same high school, the barriers between North and South begin to crack with dire consequences.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An alternate universe glimpse at a city teeming with monsters. Not my usual cup of tea, but Schwab's prose is lovely and drew me in. She's a must-buy writer for me now.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I just finished reading this book, and all I can say is - WOW! I think I was holding my breath the entire time I was reading it. A monster who wants to be human; a human who wants to be a monster, each belonging to a feuding side where black and white is indistinguishable. It's at once beautiful and vicious, a true page turner. Looking forward to reading the next book in this series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Told from the alternating perspectives of two young people, this vaguely dystopian young adult fantasy from Victoria Schwab follows the fortunes of the city of Verity, and of Kate Harker and August Flynn - one a human girl determined to be more like her monstrous father, the other a monster who longs to be human. Having done everything she can to get herself expelled from the string of boarding schools to which her father has sent her, Kate heads home to V City, hoping to convince Callum Harker that she is worthy of being his successor, worthy of ruling the north half of the city, which is kept in line by the monsters that Harker controls. August, for his part, longs to convince his adoptive parents that he is ready to join the Flynn family in their fight to rid the south city of violence, and to defend it from Callum Harker's monsters. Both Kate and Harker end up at Colton, an elite private school in the northern sector of V City, and form an uneasy bond with one another. When an assassination attempt is made against Kate, and August intervenes, the two teens find themselves on the run, trying to figure out just who is behind this effort to destabilize the city and plunge it, once again, into bitter conflict.Although I had a little trouble getting into This Savage Song at first, finding the pace a little slow and the world rather confusing, I eventually found my feet and ended up enjoying the story immensely. It's been some time since I read a young adult novel, so I'm glad that this foray provided such an engaging experience. I found Schwab's world a fascinating one, particularly her vision of how monsters are created in it. Arising from various violent acts, three kinds of monsters haunt V City. There are the Corsai, who are flesh eaters, rending and tearing their victims; there are the Malchai, who, vampire-like, drink their victims' blood and drain them dry; and finally there are the Sunai, who appear human but who can use music to capture a person's soul, extracting it from them and killing them in the process. August is a Sunai, the rarest of all the monsters, and Schwab develops his struggle with his nature and abilities in such a way that the reader is drawn in. Kate's perspective, her gradual awakening (reawakening?) to the reality of what her father and his Malchai henchman Sloan have done, is also very well done. I expected, based on my experience reading other young adult titles of this nature, that there would be some sort of Romeo-and-Juliet romance here between August and Kate, and was therefore quite impressed that the author resisted the impulse to go in that direction. Of course there's nothing to say she won't include some romance in the second volume about the monsters of Verity, but it was unnecessary for the story development here, and I was pleased that Schwab refrained.I finished the book wanting to know more - what happens next in V City? how fare Kate and August after the dramatic conclusion here? - and definitely plan to read the sequel. I do wish Schwab had offered more of an exploration of the Phenomenon - the event that sparked the eventual creation of monsters, and the quarantine of V City - and of the balkanization of the US, but perhaps that will happen in the second installment. Recommended to readers who enjoy young-adult fantasy and speculative fiction.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Actual rating 2.5 out of 5This Savage Song is one of those novels that left me feeling utterly frustrated. There are so many things about it that I can praise, yet for everything positive I can say there is an equally heavy negative.To begin with the good, the world building in this novel is immediately striking. V-City is dark and gritty, merging the feel of an apocalyptic dystopia with elements of a faerie tale. One side of the tale is a power struggle between two rival families who each seek to rule the city in their own way. The other is story of action and consequence, where human deeds give birth to frightening and unique monsters.Yet it just didn't go far enough. As stylish and unique as V-City was on the surface, details about the setting are fleeting. We never learn what caused the Phenomena or the politics as to why America redivided itself into seven territories. While some questions do gradually get their answers, the pace of the story is very slow. It's not boring but it does throw the reader in at the deep end and some things - such as what it means for a Sunai to "go dark" - aren't explained for almost 400 pages.The themes of the novel were a little tried and tested - basically revolving around the difference between being a monster and being human. There are plenty of other YA novels that hinge on this question and approach it in a more interesting way (I'm thinking of Ness's Chaos Walking Trilogy in particular). The twist of the story was a little too obvious for my liking, with the villains signposted rather early on. It also ended on a bit of an unexpected cliffhanger. While at least the story did wrap up, it then introduced a brand new mechanic that I can only assume will become the crux of the sequel.Yet my biggest issue with the story was the cast. Mainly, I was more interested in the secondary characters than the protagonists. I wanted to learn more about Flynn and Harker - how their feud began, why the truce had lasted out so long without a hitch, how each of them came into power. Due to the way the story is structured, we learn little about Flynn and don't discover Harker's motivation until close to the end of the tale.I'm not sure entirely what it was about the protagonists but I found it difficult to connect to either of them. While Kate had many interesting attributes - her combat skills, her problem with authority, her deafness - none of it was really played upon. Over the second half of the story, she grew increasingly bland and was largely just protected by August. August was a different animal. I disliked him solely because he was so whiny. I know that angsty characters appeal to some readers but they just don't do it for me. I quickly grew tired of hearing him complain that he was inhuman while rarely acting anything but.This is my first experience of Schwab's work but it didn't really speak to me. Perhaps I'll look at one of her other series in a future review. I expect this story will speak to some fans of urban fantasy but it definitely wasn't my favourite novel of this type.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a story about monsters. It is a dark urban fantasy which takes place in a city divided in two and beset by monsters. One side is ruled by a crime lord who sells protection from the monsters. Kate Harker is his daughter. Her father has kept her away at a series of boarding schools but she wants to come home and make her father proud of her. The other side is ruled by Henry Flynn who has established a large crew to protect his part of the city. August Flynn is one of his adopted children and one of the monsters. I this city monsters come in three kinds - corsai, malchai, and sunai. Corsai hunt in packs in indiscriminately. Malchi are sly blood drinkers. Sunai are the rarest and use song to steal souls. August is a sunai whose instrument is the violin. He doesn't want to be a monster but consoles himself with the fact that he can only rip the souls from sinners. Kate and August meet at the most recent boarding school Kate is attending. August is in disguise to meet Kate. He also wants to preserve the very fragile truce between both sides of the city. Kate and August get to know each other and, as they do, Kate starts to question who the monster really is. When they go on the run after an unsuccessful assassination attempt at school, the two need to depend on each other and keep each other safe since both sides are hunting for them.I liked the world building in this story. I liked the idea that monsters were created because of all the violent acts. I liked that August was determined not to give in to his monster side. I liked Kate despite the fact that she felt she needed to be hard and cruel in order to be accepted by her father. I am eager to find out what happens next for Kate and August and look forward to the next book about them. Fans of urban fantasy will be the perfect audience for this engaging story.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What a good book! I need to read the next one!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Extremely imaginative, dark but beautiful and original. I loved it, it gave me nightmares but I couldn’t stop reading ??
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I LOVED this book
    I really enjoyed reading about Kate and August while each one of them wanted to be something they're not and I liked following them through their journey to accept who they really are!
    I also loved the dynamic they developed throughout the book and how they overcome their differences and learned how to work together.

    One of the major things I loved about this book was the fact that August and Kate didn't end up falling for each other and damning the consequences for their "love" and all, but each of them was focused on saving them, it was more realistic than if they did fall for each other
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Really interesting premise and superb world building. I want more information about August's final transformation and why he suddenly had so much control...

    I can't wait for the sequel.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    WOW
    blown away by this one - I don't see how we are supposed to wait for book two. Seriously.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Having read Schwab’s Shades of Magic series, I was really excited to see what else she written. I didn’t enjoy these as much as I did the other books, but I think Schwab has a real knack for creating monsters.This Savage Song is a story about a world in which humans and monsters coincide, and not in harmony. The city has been split in two, with one side offering safety from the monsters in return for money and the other taking a more militaristic approach and utilizing a certain type of monster to take down the others. I really love the way Schwab details how the different monsters come in to being, how different levels of violence begat the different types of monsters.In the middle of all of this are two angsty teens who are trying to figure out who they are, fighting or embracing their own destinies. At times, the story between them feels almost Romeo and Juliet in sentiment and I wasn’t as interested in their interactions as I was other aspects of the novel. Their relationship felt too familiar.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I actually enjoyed this book more than A Darker Shade of Magic. It could be because this one is YA or it could be because I listened to A Darker Shade of Magic rather than physically reading it. I'm not sure which, but I do know that plan on reading Our Dark Duet as soon as I have a chance.

    The Town of Verity is split in two. Kate wants to be just as ruthless as her father who has control over monsters and over his half of the city. August is a monster that wants nothing more than to just be human. They really shouldn't be friends, but then things cause them to work together.

Book preview

This Savage Song - V. E. Schwab

PRELUDE

KATE

The night Kate Harker decided to burn down the school chapel, she wasn’t angry or drunk. She was desperate.

Burning down the church was really a last resort; she’d already broken a girl’s nose, smoked in the dormitories, cheated on her first exam, and verbally harassed three of the nuns. But no matter what she did, St. Agnes Academy kept forgiving her. That was the problem with Catholic schools. They saw her as someone to be saved.

But Kate didn’t need salvation; she simply needed out.

It was almost midnight when her shoes hit the grass below the dorm window. The witching hour, people used to call it, that dark time when restless spirits reached for freedom. Restless spirits, and teenage girls trapped in boarding schools too far from home.

She made her way down the manicured stone path that ran from the dormitories to the Chapel of the Cross, a bag slung over her shoulder, bottles inside clinking together like spurs in rhythm with her steps. The bottles had all fit, save for one, a vintage wine from Sister Merilee’s private store that hung from her fingertips.

Bells began to chime the hour, soft and low, but they were coming from the larger Chapel of the Saints on the other side of campus. That one was never fully unattended—Mother Alice, the school’s head-mistress-nun-whatever, slept in a room off the chapel, and even if Kate had wanted to burn down that particular building, she wasn’t stupid enough to add murder to arson. Not when the price for violence was so steep.

The doors to the smaller chapel were kept locked at night, but Kate had pocketed a key earlier that day while enduring one of Sister Merilee’s lectures on finding grace. She let herself in and set the bag down just inside the door. The chapel was darker than she’d ever seen it, the blue stained glass registering black in the moonlight. A dozen pews separated her from the altar, and for a moment she almost felt bad about setting fire to the quaint little place. But it wasn’t the school’s only chapel—it wasn’t even the nicest—and if the nuns at St. Agnes had preached about anything, it was the importance of sacrifice.

Kate had burned through two boarding schools (metaphorically speaking) in her first year of exile, another one in her second, hoping that would be it. But her father was determined (she had to get it from someone) and kept digging up more options. The fourth, a reform school for troubled teens, had stuck it out for almost a year before giving up the ghost. The fifth, an all-boys academy willing to make an exception in exchange for a healthy endowment, lasted only a few short months, but her father must have had this hellish convent of a prep school on speed dial, a place already reserved, because she’d been packed off without so much as a detour back to V-City.

Six schools in five years.

But this was it. It had to be.

Kate crouched on the wooden floor, unzipped the bag, and got to work.

The night was too quiet in the wake of the bells, the chapel eerily still, and she started humming a hymn as she unpacked the duffel: two bottles of jack and almost a full fifth of vodka, both salvaged from a box of confiscated goods, along with three bottles of house red, a decades-old whiskey from Mother Alice’s cabinet, and Sister Merilee’s vintage. She lined the contents up on the back pew before crossing to the prayer candles. Beside the three tiers of shallow glass bowls sat a dish of matches, the old-fashioned kind with long wooden stems.

Still humming, Kate returned to the liquor cabinet on the pew and unscrewed and uncorked the various bottles, anointing the seats, row after row, trying to make the contents last. She saved Mother Alice’s whiskey for the wooden podium at the front. A Bible sat open on top, and in a moment of superstition, Kate spared the book, lobbing it out the open front door and onto the grass. When she stepped back inside, the damp, sweet smell of alcohol assaulted her senses. She coughed and spit the acrid taste from her mouth.

At the far end of the chapel, a massive crucifix hung above the altar, and even in the darkened hall, she could feel the statue’s gaze on her as she lifted the match.

Forgive me father for I have sinned, she thought, striking it against the doorframe.

Nothing personal, she added aloud as the match flared to life, sudden and bright. For a long moment Kate watched it burn, fire creeping toward her fingers. And then, just before it got too close, she dropped the match onto the seat of the nearest pew. It caught instantly and spread with an audible whoosh, the fire consuming only the alcohol at first, then taking hold of the wood beneath. In moments, the pews were going up, and then the floor, and at last the altar. The fire grew, and grew, and grew, from a flame the size of her nail to a blaze with a life of its own, and Kate stood, mesmerized, watching it dance and climb and consume inch after inch until the heat and the smoke finally forced her out into the cool night.

Run, said a voice in her head—soft, urgent, instinctual—as the chapel burned.

She resisted the urge and instead sank onto a bench a safe distance from the fire, trailing her shoes back and forth through the late summer grass.

If she squinted, she could see the light of the nearest subcity on the horizon: Des Moines. An old-fashioned name, a relic from the time before the reconstruction. There were half a dozen of them, scattered around Verity’s periphery—but none had more than a million people, their populations locked in, locked down, and none of them held a candle to the capital. That was the idea. No one wanted to attract the monsters. Or Callum Harker.

She drew out her lighter—a beautiful silver thing Mother Alice had confiscated the first week—and turned it over and over in her hands to keep them steady. When that failed, she drew a cigarette from her shirt pocket—another bounty from the confiscation box—and lit it, watching the small blue flame dance before the massive orange blaze.

She took a drag and closed her eyes.

Where are you, Kate? she asked herself.

It was a game she sometimes played, ever since she learned about the theory of infinite parallels, the idea that a person’s path through life wasn’t really a line, but a tree, every decision a divergent branch, resulting in a divergent you. She liked the idea that there were a hundred different Kates, living a hundred different lives.

Maybe in one of them, there were no monsters.

Maybe her family was still whole.

Maybe she and her mother had never left home.

Maybe they’d never come back.

Maybe, maybe, maybe—and if there were a hundred lives, a hundred Kates, then she was only one of them, and that one was exactly who she was supposed to be. And in the end, it was easier to do what she had to if she could believe that somewhere else, another version of her got to make another choice. Got to live a better—or at least simpler—life. Maybe she was even sparing them. Allowing another Kate to stay sane and safe.

Where are you? she wondered.

Lying in a field. Staring up at stars.

The night is warm. The air is clean.

The grass is cool beneath my back.

There are no monsters in the dark.

How nice, thought Kate as, in front of her, the chapel caved in, sending up a wave of embers.

Sirens wailed in the distance, and she straightened up on the bench.

Here we go.

Within minutes girls came pouring out of the dormitories, and Mother Alice appeared in a robe, pale face painted red by the light of the still-burning church. Kate had the pleasure of hearing the prestigious old nun let out a string of colorful words before the fire trucks pulled up and the sirens drowned out everything.

Even Catholic schools had their limits.

An hour later, Kate was sitting in the rear seat of a local patrol car, courtesy of Des Moines, hands cuffed in her lap. The vehicle barreled through the night, across the dark expanse of land that formed the northeast corner of Verity, away from the safety of the periphery, and toward the capital.

Kate shifted in the seat, trying to get more comfortable as the cruiser sped on. Verity was three days across by car, and she figured they were still a good four hours outside the capital, an hour from the edge of the Waste—but there was no way this local officer was taking a vehicle like this through a place like that. The car didn’t have much in the way of reinforcement, only its iron trim and the UVR—ultraviolet-reinforced—high beams tearing crisp lines through the darkness.

The man’s knuckles were white on the wheel.

She thought of telling him not to worry, not yet—they were far enough out; the edges of Verity were still relatively safe, because none of the things that went bump in the capital wanted to cross the Waste to get to them, not when there were still plenty of people to eat closer to V-City. But then he shot her a nasty look and she decided to let him stew.

She rolled her head, good ear against the leather seat as she stared out into the dark.

The road ahead looked empty, the night thick, and she studied her reflection in the window. It was strange, how only the obvious parts showed up against the darkened glass—light hair, sharp jaw, dark eyes—not the scar like a drying tear in the corner of her eye, or the one that traced her hairline from temple to jaw.

Back at St. Agnes, the Chapel of the Cross was probably a charred husk by now.

The growing crowd of girls in their pajamas had crossed themselves at the sight of it (Nicole Teak, whose nose Kate had recently broken, flashed a smug grin, as if Kate was getting what she deserved, as if she hadn’t wanted to get caught), and Mother Alice had said a prayer for her soul as she was escorted off the premises.

Good riddance, St. Agnes.

The cop said something, but the words broke down before they reached her, leaving nothing but muffled sounds.

What? she asked, feigning disinterest as she turned her head.

Almost there, he muttered, still obviously bitter that someone had forced him to drive her this far instead of dropping her in a cell for the night.

They passed a sign—235 miles to V-City. They were getting closer to the Waste, the buffer that ran between the capital and the rest of Verity. A moat, thought Kate, one with its own monsters. There was no clear border, but you could feel the shift, like a shoreline, the ground sloping away, even though it stayed flat. The last towns gave way to barren fields, and the world went from quiet to empty.

A few more painfully silent miles—the cop refused to turn on the radio—and then a side road broke the monotony of the main stretch, and the patrol car veered onto it, wheels slipping from asphalt to gravel before grumbling to a stop.

Anticipation flickered dully in Kate’s chest as the cop switched on his surrounds, UVR brights that cast an arc of light around the car. They weren’t alone; a black transport vehicle idled on the side of the narrow road, the only signs of life its UVR undercarriage, the red of its brake lights, and the low rumble of its engine. The cop’s circle of light glanced off the transport’s tinted windows and landed on the metal tracery capable of running one hundred thousand volts into anything that got too close. This was a vehicle designed to cross the Waste—and whatever waited in it.

Kate smiled, the same smile Nicole had flashed her outside the church—smug, no teeth. Not a happy smile, but a victorious one. The cop got out, opened her door, and hauled her up off the backseat by her elbow. He unlocked the cuffs, grumbling to himself about politics and privilege while Kate rubbed her wrists.

Free to go?

He crossed his arms. She took that as a yes, and started toward the transport, then turned back, and held out her hand. You have something of mine, she said.

He didn’t move.

Kate’s eyes narrowed. She snapped her fingers and the man shot a look at the rumbling tank of a car behind her before digging the silver lighter from his pocket.

Her fingers curled around the smooth metal and she turned away, but not before she caught the word bitch in her good ear. She didn’t bother looking back. She climbed into the transport, sank against the leather seat, and listened to the sound of the cop car retreating. Her driver was on the phone. He met her eyes in the rearview mirror.

Yeah, I’ve got her. Yeah, okay. Here. He passed the cell back through the partition, and Kate’s pulse quickened as she took it and brought it to her left ear.

"Katherine. Olivia. Harker."

The voice on the line was low thunder, rumbling earth. Not loud, but forceful, the kind of voice that demanded respect, if not outright fear, the kind of voice Kate had been practicing for years, but it still sent an involuntary shiver through her.

Hello, Father, she said, careful to keep her own voice steady.

Are you proud of yourself, Katherine?

She studied her nails. Quite.

St. Agnes makes six.

Hmm? she murmured, feigning distraction.

Six schools. In five years.

Well, the nuns said I could do anything if I put my mind to it. Or was that the teachers back at Wild Prior? I’m starting to lose track—

Enough. The word was like a punch to the chest. You can’t keep doing this.

I know, she said, fighting to be the right Kate, the one she wanted to be around him, the one who deserved to be around him. Not the girl lying in the field or the one crying in a car right before it crashed. The one who wasn’t afraid of anything. Anyone. Not even him. She couldn’t manage that smug smile, but she pictured it, held the image in her head. I know, she said again. And I have to imagine these kinds of stunts are getting hard to cover up. And expensive.

Then why—

You know why, Dad, she said, cutting him off. You know what I want. She listened to him exhale on the other side of the line, and tipped her head back against the leather. The transport’s sky roof was open, and she could see the stars dotting the heavy dark.

I want to come home.

AUGUST

It began with a bang.

August read the words for the fifth time without taking them in. He was sitting at the kitchen counter, rolling an apple in circles with one hand and pinning open a book about the universe with the other. Night had swept in beyond the steel-shuttered windows of the compound, and he could feel the city pulling at him through the walls. He checked his watch, the cuff of his shirt inching up to reveal the lowest of the black tally marks. His sister’s voice drifted in from the other room, though the words weren’t meant for him, and from the nineteen floors below he could hear the layered noise of voices, the rhythm of boots, the metallic snap of a gun being loaded, and the thousand other fragmented sounds that formed the music of the Flynn compound. He dragged his attention back to the book.

It began with a bang.

The words reminded him of a T. S. Eliot poem, The Hollow Men. Not with a bang but a whimper. Of course, one was talking about the beginning of life and the other about the end, but it still got August thinking: about the universe, about time, about himself. The thoughts fell like dominoes inside his head, one knocking into the next into the next into the—

August’s head flicked up an instant before the steel kitchen door slid open, and Henry came in. Henry Flynn, tall and slim, with a surgeon’s hands. He was dressed in the task force’s standard dark camo, a silver star pinned to his shirt, a star that had been his brother’s once and before that his father’s and before that his great-uncle’s, and on, rolling back fifty years, before the collapse and the reconstruction and the founding of Verity, and probably even before, because a Flynn had always been at the beating heart of this city.

Hi, Dad, said August, trying not to sound like he’d been waiting all night for this.

August, said Henry, setting an HUV—high-density UV beacon—on the counter. How’s it going?

August stopped rolling the apple, closed the book, forced himself to sit still, even though a still body was a busy mind—something to do with the potential and kinetic energy, if he had to guess; all he knew was that he was a body in search of motion.

You okay? asked Henry when he didn’t answer.

August swallowed. He couldn’t lie, so why was it so hard to tell the truth?

I can’t keep doing this, he said.

Henry eyed the book. Astronomy? he asked with false lightness. So take a break.

August looked his father in the eyes. Henry Flynn had kind eyes and a sad mouth, or sad eyes and a kind mouth; he could never keep them straight. Faces had so many features, infinitely divisible, and yet they all added up to single, identifiable expressions like pride, disgust, frustration, fatigue—he was losing his train of thought again. He fought to catch it before it rolled out of reach. I’m not talking about the book.

August . . . , started Henry, because he already knew where this was going. We’re not having this discussion.

But if you’d just—

"The task force is off the table."

The steel door slid open again and Emily Flynn walked in with a box of supplies and set them on the counter. She was a fraction taller than her husband, her shoulders broader, with dark skin, a halo of short hair, and a holster on her hip. Emily had a soldier’s gait, but she shared Henry’s tired eyes and set jaw. Not this again, she said.

I’m surrounded by the FTF all the time, protested August. "Whenever I go anywhere, I dress like them. Is it such a step for me to be one of them?"

Yes, said Henry.

It isn’t safe, added Emily as she started unpacking the food. Is Ilsa in her room? I thought we could—

But August wouldn’t let it go. "Nowhere is safe, he cut in. That’s the whole point. Your people are out there risking their lives every day against those things, and I’m in here reading about stars, pretending like everything is fine."

Emily shook her head and drew a knife from a slot on the counter. She started chopping vegetables, creating order of chaos, one slice at a time. The compound is safe, August. At least safer than the streets right now.

"Which is why I should be out there helping in the red."

You do your part, said Henry. That’s—

What are you so afraid of? snapped August.

Emily set the knife down with a click. Do you even have to ask?

You think I’ll get hurt? And then, before she could answer, August was on his feet. In a single, fluid move he took up the knife and drove it down into his hand. Henry flinched, and Emily sucked in a breath, but the blade glanced off August’s skin as if it were stone, the tip burying in the chopping block beneath. The kitchen went very quiet.

You act as though I’m made of glass, he said, letting go of the knife. But I’m not. He took her hands, the way he’d seen Henry do so many times. Em, he said, softly. "Mom. I’m not fragile. I’m the opposite of fragile."

You’re not invincible, either, she said. Not—

I’m not putting you out there, Henry cut in. If Harker’s men catch you—

You let Leo lead the entire task force, countered August. "His face is plastered everywhere, and he is still alive."

That’s different, said Henry and Emily at the same time.

How? he challenged.

Emily brought her hands to August’s face, the way she did when he was a child—but that wasn’t the right word. He’d never been a child, not really, children didn’t come together fully formed in the middle of a crime scene. "We just want to protect you. Leo’s been part of the campaign from day one. But that makes him a constant target. And the more ground we gain in this city, the more Harker’s men will try to exploit our weaknesses and steal our strengths."

And which am I? asked August, pulling away. Your weakness, or your strength?

Emily’s warm brown eyes went wide and flat as the word spilled out. Both.

It was unfair to ask, but the truth still stung.

Where is this coming from? asked Henry, rubbing his eyes. You don’t really want to fight.

He was right, August didn’t want to fight—not on the streets in the dead of night, and not here with his family—but there was this horrible vibration in his bones, something struggling to get out, a melody getting louder and louder in his head. No, he said. "But I want to help."

You already do, insisted Henry. The task force can only treat the symptoms. You and Ilsa and Leo, you treat the disease. That’s how it works.

But it’s not working! August wanted to shout. The V-City truce had held for only six years—Harker on one side, and Flynn on the other—and it was already fraying. Everyone knew it wouldn’t hold. Every night, more death crept across the Seam. There were too many monsters, and not enough good men.

Please, he said. I can do more if you let me.

August . . . , started Henry.

He held up his hand. Just promise me you’ll think about it. And with that he backed out of the kitchen before his parents were forced to tell him the truth.

August’s room was an exercise in entropy and order, a kind of contained chaos. It was small and windowless, close in a way that would have been claustrophobic if it weren’t so familiar. Books had long outgrown their shelves and were now stacked in precarious piles on and around his bed, several more open and splayed, pages down, across the sheets. Some people favored a genre or subject; August had little preference, so long as it wasn’t fiction—he wanted to learn everything about the world as it was, had been, could be. As someone who had come quite suddenly into being, like the end of a magic trick, he feared the tenuous nature of his existence, feared that at any moment he might simply cease to be again.

The books were stacked by subject: astronomy, religion, history, philosophy.

He was homeschooled, which really meant he was self-schooled—sometimes Ilsa tried to help, when her mind worked in columns instead of knots, but his brother, Leo, had no patience for books, and Henry and Emily were too busy, so most of the time August was on his own. And most of the time it was okay. Or rather, it used to be okay. He wasn’t sure when exactly the insulation had started to feel like isolation, just that it had.

The only other thing in his room besides furniture and books was a violin. It sat in an open case balanced across two stacks of books, and August drifted instinctively toward it, but resisted the urge to take it up and play. Instead he nudged a copy of Plato off his pillow and slumped down onto the tangled sheets.

The room was stuffy, and he pushed up the sleeves of his shirt, revealing the hundreds of black tallies that started at his left wrist and worked their way up, over elbow and shoulder, around collarbone and rib.

Tonight there were four hundred and twelve.

August pushed the dark hair out of his eyes and listened to Henry and Emily Flynn, still in the kitchen, as they talked on in their soft-spoken way, about him, and the city, and the truce.

What would happen if it actually broke? When. Leo always said when.

August hadn’t been alive to see the territory wars that broke out in the wake of the Phenomenon, had only heard tales of the bloodshed. But he could see the fear in Flynn’s eyes whenever the topic came up—which was more and more often. Leo didn’t seem worried—he claimed that Henry had won the territory war, that whatever happened to cause the truce was their doing, that they could do it again.

When it comes, Leo would say, we will be ready.

No, Flynn would answer, his expression bleak, no one is ready for that.

Eventually, the voices in the other room faded, and August was left alone with his thoughts. He closed his eyes, seeking peace, but as soon as the silence settled it was broken, the distant stutter of gunfire echoing against his skull as it always did—the sound invading every quiet moment.

It began with a bang.

He rolled over and dug the music player out from under his pillow, pressing the buds into his ears and hitting play. Classical music flared, loud and bright and wonderful, and he sank back into the melody as numbers wandered through his head.

Twelve. Six. Four.

Twelve years since the Phenomenon, when violence started taking shape, and V-City fell apart.

Six years since the truce that put it back together, not as one city, but two.

And four since the day he woke up in a middle-school cafeteria as it was being cordoned off with crime-scene tape.

Oh God, someone had said, taking him by the elbow. Where did you come from? And then, shouting to someone

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