by Victoria Schwab
Genre: YA urban fantasy/horror
My Rating: ★★★★★
Description:
Kate Harker is a monster hunter. And she's good at it.
August Flynn once longed to be human. But now, he has stepped into his role as the monster his brother always wanted him to be.
But there's something else stirring in the shadows. There's a new monster stalking the streets of Verity -- one that feeds on chaos itself.
And August and Kate must ally themselves once again before everything they know and love is destroyed. Or is it already too late?
Overall Thoughts
So, this duology has become my latest obsession. And for a good reason! It really is amazing, and totally deserves a place among my ever-expanding list of favorite books. Our Dark Duet took my expectations, threw them out the window, then took my emotions and shredded them. The last chapter destroyed me. All of that meaning, I really, really loved this book, and now the series is over and nothing will be the same. I did originally give a five star rating on Goodreads for this book, but now that I've had a chance to think about it, it probably deserves a four. I did really enjoy it, but there were some significant issues with it that, while they didn't bother me, still impacted the quality of the book.
The Characters
The characters were, again, phenomenal. August's character arc throughout the book was excellent, and while I hated to see him give up his longing to be human, it was so well-written, and was resolved so well that I really can't say anything negative about it.
Kate was still amazing, and I loved her a lot. She's got a lot of strength and resolve, and her character voice is so strong. Both her POV and August's were both equally gripping, and I liked that, since a lot of multi-POV books usually have that one character you just can't stand. You know what I've mean. You've read books like that before. Fortunately, that's not the case with Our Dark Duet.
Also, we get villain POVs! At the end of This Savage Song, we learned that Sloan was still alive, and we also witnessed the birth of Kate's Malchai, Alice (who is terrifying, guys. Terrifying.) The villains are actual characters in both this book and This Savage Song, which makes them more lifelike, and raises the stakes that much more for me.
Plot/Pacing
The plot was good, well-paced and hard to stop reading. The reason I gave the plot only 4 stars was because certain elements of it were not explained by the end of the book -- none of the unexplained plot points bothered me, as I thought the entirety was handled really well, but it could be annoying to some readers who like to have everything neatly wrapped up and resolved at the end. Just know that there are dropped and unexplained plot threads, but that it wasn't enough to make me hate the book. It's really hard for me to talk about the plot without spoilers, so I'll leave it at that. I will say this, though -- if you enjoyed the plot for This Savage Song, you will also enjoy the plot in Our Dark Duet.
Alright, and let me take a moment to fangirl about the themes! This duology honestly tackled its themes so well. The themes of good and evil, right and wrong, that were introduced in the first book are continued here, and I was really satisfied by the entire thing.
Everything else I liked about this book is, sadly, in spoiler territory. So what are you waiting for? Go read it!
Content
Recommended for ages 15 and up.
Violence is similar in descriptiveness and frequency with the violence in This Savage Song. There are several descriptions of murders and people dying; these could be disturbing for anyone sensitive to violence. It's treated as a horrible thing, and is not gratuitous (in my opinion.) One villain character finds joy in killing and violence. Several hand to hand fight scenes, including descriptions of blood.
Several instances of strong language, including several counts of the f-bomb. Again, this didn't really bother me, as it wasn't used for shock value.
Sexual content is limited to kissing. A minor character is gay. Another side character is non-binary.
The Characters
The characters were, again, phenomenal. August's character arc throughout the book was excellent, and while I hated to see him give up his longing to be human, it was so well-written, and was resolved so well that I really can't say anything negative about it.
Kate was still amazing, and I loved her a lot. She's got a lot of strength and resolve, and her character voice is so strong. Both her POV and August's were both equally gripping, and I liked that, since a lot of multi-POV books usually have that one character you just can't stand. You know what I've mean. You've read books like that before. Fortunately, that's not the case with Our Dark Duet.
Also, we get villain POVs! At the end of This Savage Song, we learned that Sloan was still alive, and we also witnessed the birth of Kate's Malchai, Alice (who is terrifying, guys. Terrifying.) The villains are actual characters in both this book and This Savage Song, which makes them more lifelike, and raises the stakes that much more for me.
Plot/Pacing
The plot was good, well-paced and hard to stop reading. The reason I gave the plot only 4 stars was because certain elements of it were not explained by the end of the book -- none of the unexplained plot points bothered me, as I thought the entirety was handled really well, but it could be annoying to some readers who like to have everything neatly wrapped up and resolved at the end. Just know that there are dropped and unexplained plot threads, but that it wasn't enough to make me hate the book. It's really hard for me to talk about the plot without spoilers, so I'll leave it at that. I will say this, though -- if you enjoyed the plot for This Savage Song, you will also enjoy the plot in Our Dark Duet.
Alright, and let me take a moment to fangirl about the themes! This duology honestly tackled its themes so well. The themes of good and evil, right and wrong, that were introduced in the first book are continued here, and I was really satisfied by the entire thing.
Everything else I liked about this book is, sadly, in spoiler territory. So what are you waiting for? Go read it!
Content
Recommended for ages 15 and up.
Violence is similar in descriptiveness and frequency with the violence in This Savage Song. There are several descriptions of murders and people dying; these could be disturbing for anyone sensitive to violence. It's treated as a horrible thing, and is not gratuitous (in my opinion.) One villain character finds joy in killing and violence. Several hand to hand fight scenes, including descriptions of blood.
Several instances of strong language, including several counts of the f-bomb. Again, this didn't really bother me, as it wasn't used for shock value.
Sexual content is limited to kissing. A minor character is gay. Another side character is non-binary.
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