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3 stars! This review will be spoiler free!
Synopsis:
"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."
Initial thoughts:
(*warning, unpopular opinions ahead*)
This concept is amazing and Schwab does a wonderful job creating the world, the monsters, and the characters. The monsters are unique. The world is dystopian (not my fave), though quite intriguing. The characters are wonderfully complex and diverse. Unfortunately... The pacing... eh. The plot... also eh. In all honesty, I kept reading because of August. I love him and his heart so so so much. Throughout this book you get to really know him and Kate. The plot was made better by the incredible writing that Victoria Schwab is known for. Still, I wasn't really blown away by it. I liked a lot of things. BUT... The list of what I didn't like was longer. HOWEVER, August being such an amazing character alone may be the sole reason I read book two. I do believe that this book could be so so good, but in someone else’s hands. Not my best cup of tea.
Plot:
Likes:
The Romeo and Juliet trope that is August and Kate was cute, I continue to love this trope. I mean, I was here for the August no matter what. He is basically the sole reason I stayed with this book. August’s entire character arc was what made this book worth finishing. His family dynamic added much needed love (from his sister, mother, and father) and twists (as you get to know Leo and FTF) and contrast (between Harker and Flynn as well as between Leo and August).
I love the idea that a monster sprouts up from the horrendous crimes of humans and though you'd think this would stop people from killing/injuring each other, human nature prevails. More monsters pop up and its up to the humans to figure out how to survive. That is such an original concept to me. The monsters themselves are so interesting, especially the Sunai. The Malakai are vampires for all intents and purposes. The Corsai are these weird shadowy creepy creatures. But the Sunai, they steal souls. The souls of sinners. The "righteous" monsters if you will. And the way they are formed is even more devastating than the other monsters.
The element of music was also delightful. The Sunai use music to take souls and August being on the violin was a nice touch of classical to the story.
Now, I'm not particularly a fan of dystopian anymore, used to love it, but I think I've had enough, and I still really enjoyed this world. I attribute this to Schwab and he ability to write up a unique dystopian world. One side handles the monsters by taking out the culprits who formed them. One side has humans buy their safety by keeping the monsters under his control... because that sounds like it totally won't back fire (*sarcasm*).
Dislikes:
This was predictable to say the least. In all honesty the beginning was slow, the middle was okay and pretty fast paced, but then the ending was slow again.
There was less than heart-racing chase to an anticlimactic ending. I didn't Kate's choice in the end. I feel like her resolution in the story for now could have been better.
The way Kate's father character played out was upsetting to say the least.
There was a lack of political intrigue throughout the story. Given that there is a whole dispute between the North and South, I expected more politically based twists.
There was almost no development in the romance department here. August and Kate are what I assumed to be the ship for this duology, but like… we didn’t really get anywhere with that. Though that could be my fault for assuming.
Other than August I really have no attachments to this book, but August is just THAT amazing that I would read the sequel just for him. Still, I’ve only been away from this book for a few days and I feel like I’ve already forgotten more of the pointless plot points.
Characters:
AUGUST is the sweetpie I love in this duology. He feels REAL. He has his flaws no doubt, which every good MC should have and how he overcomes it is heart wrenching. He puts a lot of work into being what he wants to be. He knows he’s not a monster, but a monster he was born. Almost tortured soul-esque. I can’t completely or eloquently explain how much I love August, but he is just amazing enough that I would read book two for him.
KATE was okay to begin with, I kept wondering why she was such a bxtch. I grew to like her once you delve past the facade. Her fighting skills are on point. That was my favorite thing about her. I love that she is fierce and can put on the brave face when she needs to. Does she annoy be sometimes, sure. Still, he role the story was more or less to just exist? I don’t know. I didn’t love her anywhere near how much I love August.
HARKER is despicable.
LEO is also overly righteous and probably has a screw loose. I kinda wish we had more backstory on him and that it was explained from the beginning that it was known outright by all that he was Sunai. Maybe I just missed it? I don’t know again.
FLYNN & EMILY I want to see and know more.
ILSA is so harmless and adorable and peaceful. Her ending that is sorta “assumed” at this point in time is extremely saddening.
Can’t say much else about the characters without being spoilery!
Overall:
As I’ve said like 4 times already… I need to read book two because I’m invested in my baby August. This book has its good points: great writing, August <3, cool monsters, and unique plot concept. Even able to make a dystopian world likeable. Still, it’s lacking in political intrigue, plot twists, climactic events, adventure, and even romance. I imagine many people love this book with all their hearts, but it was just was not for me. This type of book probably just isn’t for me? However, if dystopian, minimal romance, chase-like plots, and monsters are your thing, this could be the one for you! I have no doubts Schwab’s writing alone would make this a new fave dystopian for ya.