10 Books You May Have Missed This Summer

Crop of the cover of This Savage Song, by Victoria Schwab. Image via Greenwillow Books

8. This Savage Song

Victoria Schwab has emerged as a killer fantasy writer as of late, with works like Vicious and A Darker Shade of Magic both captivating readers. (Psst, go read A Darker Shade of Magic, too.) Here’s her latest take on urban YA fantasy, This Savage Song.

As is becoming standard for YA books, comparisons to The Hunger Games and Divergent abound, since this book does have some dystopian flavor, since it’s set in a post-apocalyptic world. However, just because it’s dystopian doesn’t mean it can’t be magical as well.

Our protagonists are Kate Harper and August Flynn, both of whom are set to inherit chunks of the city they both inhabit. One, August, happens to be one of the monsters who roams the city, using musical magic to steal souls. One, Kate, wants to succeed her father as a merciless ruler, no more, no less, even if that means getting kicked out of her sixth boarding school.

Unfortunately, August is just one of many monsters, for some are created by violent acts, some rise from murder, and others, like him, come from mass murder. You know, levels of violence.

Goodreads reviews praise Schwab’s writing and the evolution of Kate and August both throughout the book. Like the rest of her work, it’s not short, but you’ll find the pages flying by.

Greenwillow Books; hardcover, 464 pages.

Next: 7. Beauty and the Clockwork Beast