SOCIAL MEDIA

Sunday 5 May 2019

Monsters of Verity is Another Tick to V.E Schwab's Name


Series: Monsters of Verity
Author: Victoria/V.E Schwab
There's no such thing as safe in a city war, a city overrun with monsters ...

Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city - 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.

Review


I’m surprised but I also don’t know why I’m surprised as to why I thoroughly enjoyed Monsters of Verity when V.E Schwab hasn’t disappointed me so far. In her other series, Shades of Magic, I wrote that I was smitten in my review and I can now pinpoint that what I’m really smitten about is her writing. Schwab writes in such a compelling manner, that I find it hard not to love the characters, the plot and the world. 
The world is developed in such a strong way, with rich history behind each city to make it realistic. When Schwab decided to expand the world, I liked that she didn’t invest too much time trying to explain how relevant the new city is only because it’s a minor stopover and not necessarily something readers need to fixate on. I find that some fantasy novels take it a little too far and I do get confused trying to keep up on the different places with different names. 

Plot wise, I did notice that the first half of both books were slightly too slow for me. When I started This Savage Song I had to keep pushing myself but once it reached the halfway point it picked up and became addictive and engrossing. The intensity peaked and I flew through the last half pretty quickly. The continuation in Our Dark Duet wasn’t as slow, but I found that getting back into rhythm didn’t happen until after the first quarter of the book. What I did love about the plot was how realistic it was. Not from the fantasy perspective but from the implications of war and the consequences of bad actions. There is an array of emotions that are exhibited and I felt it all - from the happiness to sadness, grief and loss to pain and healing, it made me really appreciate the storyline only because Schwab wasn’t trying to please every reader by making everything sweet and dandy. 

The strongest element in Monsters of Verity though, are Schwab’s characters. Kate and August are written with so much depth, they become memorable and convincingly relatable. It’s hard not to fight for them and believe in them. I just wanted the best for them and to be happy all the time, which meant I was really invested in the characters and for that Schwab has succeeded in delivering a fantastic series. I’m not a fan of reading novels that make me feel detached but through the characters I was captivated. 

I’m excited to see what else V.E Schwab has to deliver, especially after experiencing this series and how emotional I was after reading it!

Individual Ratings

This Savage Song: 4/5
Our Dark Duet: 4/5

Overall Series Rating


No comments :

Post a Comment