Our Dark Duet

May 15, 2017
In a world where monstrous acts beget actual monsters, what is humanity? Picking up six months after This Savage Song (2016), this duology conclusion opens with Kate (human, white, deaf in one ear) and August (not human, fair-skinned) separated; he's in quarantined, monster-ridden supercity Verity, embracing his purpose, which is to reap those who have committed violence. Meanwhile, Kate has escaped to Prosperity, where she's teamed up with what feels an awful lot like the Scooby Gang of Buffy fame to fight more monsters. The story starts slowly but picks up when Kate returns to Verity on the heels of a monster that breeds violence; the Malchai and Corsai just kill people, and the Sunai reap souls, but the Chaos Eater causes people to turn on one another in acts of unrelenting carnage. Kate joins August and the Flynn Task Force to fight the Chaos Eater and the lead Malchai, and her presence helps August find himself again. The breakneck pacing of the climactic latter half eventually resolves into a poignant ending. Too many peripheral characters--including a nongendered Sunai whose representation is exciting but problematic--and too much time with figurative mustache- (and literal dead-body-) twirling villains detract from what works, although Schwab's style is on point, as always. Happily, the many ardent fans waiting for this volume probably won't mind its snags, they'll just delight in the feels. (Fantasy/horror. 14-adult)

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July 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-Six months after This Savage Song, Kate Harker is now in the town of Prosperity, hunting monsters with an underground group of humans. August Flynn, on the other hand, has reluctantly risen in the ranks of fighters in their hometown of Verity, where the humans are locked in a bloody stalemate with the monsters on the other side of the seam. When Kate is infected by a new and troubling kind of monster, she tracks it back to Verity with the intention of killing it herself. However, she must work with August and the rest of the Flynn family to stop the new monster and keep the city safe for humans. In the course of fighting for Verity, Kate must also confront Sloan, her father's former henchman, and Alice, the shadow created by Kate's own act of violence. The first few chapters of this dark fantasy contain artful reminders of what happened in the first volume. Lyrical verse is also strategically woven throughout, giving readers a peek behind the eyes of a monsters and adding to the darkly beautiful atmosphere. Creating a world where "violence begets violence" and monstrous acts literally create monsters gives the author lots of room to explore interesting issues such as guilt, sin, and forgiveness, which she does to great effect. Masterly writing, a fast-moving plot, and just the right amount of bittersweet romance make this book hard to put down. VERDICT A necessary first purchase for all teen collections.-Sunnie Scarpa, Wallingford Public Library, CT

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 1, 2017
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* When we last saw them, monster-hunter Kate Harker had formed a surprising alliance with soulful monster August Flynn. Now August remains in Verity, a city overwhelmed by a triad of monster breeds spawned by human sins. Kate has fled to Prosperity, a neighboring territory where monsters are few enough that most people still pretend they don't exist. But consummate loner Kate has joined forces with a group that hunts them. While Kate has reluctantly softened, August has hardened almost beyond recognition. Now a military leader, he fights against the Malchai, the blood-drinking monsters created by murder, who seek to control the city, and he no longer resists his own Sunai abilities to steal the souls of murderers. When Kate encounters a new kind of monsterone who causes humans to act on their most violent impulses and then feeds on the resulting chaosit sends her hurtling back to an unwelcoming Verity, and to August. If This Savage Song (2016) was a tense exploration of human nature, this sequel is a reckoning. The price of violence, even for a reason, is high, and Schwab folds questions of identity, morality, and judgment into her stunningly crafted narrative. Things like safety and happiness are unfamiliar concepts in this world, and readers will be hard-pressed to put this action-driven finale down before they reach the bitter end. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: This Savage Song was a number-one best-seller, and this second half of the duology delivers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2017
It's been six months since Kate and August--a girl who has been forced to act monstrously and a monster who wants nothing more than to be human, respectively--parted ways at the end of This Savage Song (rev. 5/16). Alternating between their immediate, propulsive perspectives, this sequel's narrative reveals that each is still hunting the violence-created monsters that plague their alternate United States. Kate tracks the spread of the creatures with a group of teenage hacktivists but, to protect them, rebuffs their overtures of friendship. August, now a special officer in his father's army, uses his abilities as a Sunai, or Soul Eater, to reap tainted human souls; previously compassionate to a fault, he has hardened his heart to avoid future pain. The lonely teens reunite when they individually discover the existence of a monster that feeds on chaos itself. The pair races to find a way to destroy the Chaos Eater before more lives are lost--and before it overtakes Kate, who's been infected with its deadly directives. Free verse integrated into Kate's chapters is clunky but reflects her fragmented glimpses of the monster. Subplots involving nuanced secondary characters (including August's Sunai sibling Soro, whose nonbinary gender is deftly handled) raise the stakes further. Suspenseful action sequences are well paced, with affecting moments of understanding and tenderness, building to a satisfying if not happy ending. katie bircher

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2017
Alternating narrators Kate and August (from This Savage Song) race to destroy the Chaos Eater. Free verse integrated into Kate's chapters reflects Kate's fragmented glimpses of the monster. Subplots involving nuanced secondary characters (including August's nonbinary sibling Soro) raise the stakes further. Suspenseful action sequences are well paced, with affecting moments of understanding and tenderness building to a satisfying if not happy ending.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)