Conflicting, thy name is Monsters of Verity.

In This Savage Song and Our Dark Duet by V. E. Schwab, a cataclysmic event called the Phenomenon altered the world as we know it. Now, human populations cluster in cities, with only a few scraping by in the wastes between. In the city of Verity, monsters of various kinds roam, making life dangerous. But for Kate Harker, Verity is home, and she’s determined to return there and convince her father, a powerful leader of the place, that she’s worth paying attention to. Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, August Flynn wants to be human, not a monster, though that’s impossible. He’s also one of the few monsters of his kind, all of whom work for his father in the struggle against Harker’s regime. Soon, Kate and August are on a collision course, the ramifications of which will shape the fate of Verity.

The above summary is only for This Savage Song, as I didn’t want to spoil the ending of that, or the start of the second book. But this duology was quite interesting! My teenage self would have definitely loved this. It’s somewhat unfortunate that this came out after most of the dystopia craze had died down, because it’s pretty good. Certainly better than certain other dystopian series (one which rhymes with “convergent:…).

Firstly, I deeply appreciate that Schwab trusts her audience. The first book starts out not being particularly expository in the narration narration, just letting the characters think and talk about things as they realistically would (rather than by info-dumping just for the sake of the reader). It allows the worldbuilding to happen more organically, and allows the reader to piece things together using context clues as best they can, while still leaving space for mystery/curiosity.

Verity is a compelling setting, full of darkness and danger and things with teeth. I absolutely would not want to live there, but exploring it through the pages of these two books was amazing. I wish we’d gotten to know more about the overall world, but what is present is very cool. And intertwined with the setting are the monsters, all of which are scary and intriguing at the same time. Obviously, August gets the most detail, but the other varieties of monsters (sort of like zombies and vampires) are excellent. And the idea that they’re (usually) malevolent, (sometimes) intelligent beings born of acts of human violence is absolutely brilliant and thought-provoking. It perfectly illustrates the theme of “what’s a human” vs. “what’s a monster” that Schwab wants us to consider.

I also was quickly invested in both Kate and August. They’re such different people, but seeing them form an unexpected bond was fantastic and well-paced. I loved every scene where they got to interact, but also liked learning about what their home lives were like. And seeing the building peril in the Harker vs. Flynn conflict was especially gripping due to the growing affection and trust between the two leads.

However, most of my compliments have to go to the first book in this duology, because Our Dark Duet was kind of a disappointment to me. The character and plot development both were much shallower than the first book’s, and the fast pacing didn’t help. I finished the book rather surprised by how dissatisfied I felt with it. In my opinion, this should have been a trilogy, so that certain events and character beats could be given the depth they needed. Further, I had questions about the overall world that I asked in book one, and hoped would be answered in book two, but weren’t touched on at all. For example, I really wanted to know more about the Phenomenon, and the reasons that music and metal were tied up in the magic system. I also wanted to see more of the other cities besides Verity and how those existences differ. Unfortunately, I still want those things, with no chance of ever getting them.

And the ending is… not that surprising, honestly. Is it the ending I wanted? No. Is it the ending I expected? Kind of. It’s not bad, but I wish that we’d gotten to flesh out all the elements well enough so that the ending was more impactful. For me, it just sort of happened, and then the book was done. So much had been left wanting that even the highly dramatic and sad moment didn’t hit me in the feels the way it should have. It’s a shame, because I can see such potential for this duology to have blown me away, yet it didn’t quite get there.

In the end, the Monsters of Verity duology is a truly mixed bag for me. I loved the first book, but the second book let me down. I was fascinated by the worldbuilding and the magic, but didn’t get nearly enough insight or development regarding either. I adored the protagonists’ rapport, but their bond hardly got the chance to shine after the first book. However, it’s nice to see that Schwab has crafted better stories since then (this is one of her earlier works), and I’m still glad I read this!