Book Review: Our Dark Duet [The Monsters of Verity, #2] by Victoria Schwab

This review contains spoilers for This Savage Song. To read my review for This Savage Song, please follow the link here. 

Our Dark Duet [The Monsters of Verity, #2]
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.

This Savage Song [The Monsters of Verity, #1] by Victoria Schwab

This Savage Song [The Monsters of Verity, #1]
by Victoria Schwab

Genre: YA urban fantasy/horror

My Rating: ★★★★★

Description:

In Verity, there's no such thing as safe. 
Once, shadows stayed shadows. But since the Phenomenon, the violence in Verity spawns actual monsters -- and no one is safe.
Kate Harker wants to prove herself as ruthless as her father -- the man who lets his monsters roam the streets and offers protection...  to those who can afford it.
August Flynn wants to be human. But he isn't. He's a monster, born of violence, who can steal a soul with a single song.
When August and Kate's worlds collide, they are forced to ally themselves against a threat that could tear their city apart.

Overall Thoughts

Excuse me while I go and scream at the sky, because this book is amazing and nobody talks about it! I would honestly give it 300/5 stars if I could. I know I didn't do it any justice in the blurb, but guys. Guys. Do yourself a favor and go read this book!

Okay, now to the actual review. :P

The Characters

The characters were well-developed and sympathetic. August was hands-down my favorite character. He's so desperate not to be a monster, even while he's forced to steal souls for... reasons. (We're straying into spoiler territory now.)

It took me a little longer to warm up to Kate, but when I did, I loved her too. She's got two faces -- the fierce, ruthless, version of herself she presents to the public, and then the face she doesn't show anyone else. I won't say any more, because I feel like the less you know about the book before you start reading it, the better. This is one of those books where it's better to go in blind. 

The other characters were excellently developed, too, but I can't devote a separate paragraph to each of them for the sake of keeping this review a decent length. So suffice it to say that cardboard characters are not a thing in this book. And Ilsa is amazing. That's important as well.

Plot/Pacing

The plot was perfectly paced and riveting. Victoria Schwab did an amazing job with the tension in this book; sometimes it was hard to put down and I was on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next and how the characters were going to get out of this one. I'm finding immensely difficult to discuss the plot without getting into spoilers, but honestly, it was perfect and engrossing and there was never a boring moment. There were some really good plot twists as well, but those were never the highlight of the story for me -- I think my favorite parts of the book are a toss-up between the characters and the beautiful writing. (Okay, probably the characters.)

Worldbuilding

And the setting! The idea behind this book is kind of post-apocalyptic urban fantasy, and it was so dark and creepy and just perfectly atmospheric. I'm not a huge horror fan, but I did enjoy this book, even though it technically works in some horror elements. It wasn't scary enough to keep me awake at night, but just scary enough to keep me turning pages, which I loved.

Writing

But speaking of the writing! It was beautiful. Victoria Schwab has a way with words that paints a picture in my mind, and every sentence flows so smoothly into the next one, it's easy to forget you're reading at all. The writing really played into the overall feel of the book.

The themes also really impressed me. This book is about good and evil, what makes a person good or evil, what makes a monster. Each of the themes were beautifully handled.

Overall, I loved this book so much, along with its sequel, Our Dark Duet. I'm so glad I took a chance reading it, because this is now one of my new favorite book series.

Content

Recommended for ages 15 and up.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: References to a mass suicide, flashbacks to a school shooting.

Swearing is infrequent, but does include some very strong language. It wasn't enough to bother me, personally, and wasn't used gratuitously or for shock value, which I appreciated. 

No sexual content (you heard me right, not even kissing.)

There's quite a bit of violence, including some descriptions of blood and gore. Several descriptions of the bodies of people who have been attacked by monsters. Characters are wounded. At least one torture scene, with some details. Descriptions of monsters.

The Final Six [Spoiler-Free Book Review]

The Final Six [The Final Six, #1]
by Alexandra Monir

Genre: YA science fiction

My Rating: ★★

Description:

The human race is dying. When climate change finally caught up to them, they were powerless to stop it. Now, as more and more dry land is flooded, humanity looks once more to the stars.
The plan is simple. Twenty four teens, drafted from across the globe, will compete to be chosen as one of the Final Six, who will be the first to colonize Jupiter's moon, Europa, and create a new home for the remainder of the human race.
Leo and Naomi are two of the chosen. Though Leo sees his being drafted as a new purpose to go on after his family died, Naomi isn't so sure. She's suspicious, and rightly so -- they're not being told the whole story. And the truth buried beneath the lies could be something disastrous -- something deadly...

Overall Thoughts

Apart from a compelling concept, The Final Six has very little going for it in terms of writing, plot, and characterization. I'll admit, I was attracted to it both by the cover (it really is pretty) and the concept of people colonizing Europa (which is something I'll be attempting to explore in my own sci-fi series.) But after a few pages, it became clear that this book was not going to be for me. I did read to the end, if only to review it, but I can't say it was a particularly enjoyable book.

The Characters

The characters were... well, not my favorite. Naomi was the only person I actually liked in the whole book, and I looked forward to reading her POVs. I don't know why I liked her the most -- maybe it was her relationship with her brother that endeared her to me. But she wasn't extremely well developed, either; she just happened to be the best character in the novel.
The other POV character, Leo, was just plain annoying, and his character was really inconsistent. He's supposed to be in mourning for his family, but as soon as he gets chosen for the competition, it's like he forgets about them (and his depression, apparently?) I'm not saying he had to wallow in sadness, but please, think about them at least!
The other characters were one-dimensional, as most of the focus is on Leo and Naomi. The adults were cardboard, and even some of the other kids on their team (like Beckett) got very little development. Beckett himself was a stereotypical shallow rich jerk, with no real depth of character.

Plot/Pacing

The plot lagged for the first twenty or thirty percent, and it was hard to read through it. Perhaps it was because I really hated reading Leo's point of view, but I did find that the pacing picked up after around the 30% mark, so maybe not? The plot itself wasn't horrible, but it wasn't really anything special, either. Honestly, I had assumed going in that there would be some space travel in it, but literally the entire 300+ page novel was about the training camp preparing them to go to outer space. While some of it was interesting, it wasn't really what I was hoping to read about.
There were also a few cases of deus ex machina that really irritated me. For example, in one scene, Naomi needs a microscope. It's a good thing she packed one! I wouldn't have had a problem with Naomi having a microscope, but at least mention it beforehand -- otherwise, it just comes off as a convenient plot device. There was also a huge case of deus ex machina near the end -- which ruined everything I liked about the book for me. Enough said.

Worldbuilding

The world building was fine. Not exceptional, but not horrid. The premise is that global climate change has caused worldwide flooding and earthquakes, resulting in an apocalyptic earth where only a fraction of the earth's population survives. There's robots, some kind of radiation resistant bacteria, VR simulations for training... some typical sci-fi stuff. It was okay, but added nothing new to the genre. However, if the rest of the story had been good, I would have been okay with it.

Writing

The writing was... not my favorite. The author relied really heavily on tell-y dialogue to fill us in on the world building, especially in the first 20% or so. Some of the adult characters were literally only there to spout off important information and backstory. Not what I came here to read about, thanks. I feel that most of the world building could either have been implied or revealed in more subtle ways, instead of using the scientists with their "as you know" speeches.

Overall, a sadly disappointing read. I may pick up the sequel just to see how the story is resolved, but it's not high on my priority list, and if I never get around to it, I won't feel like I'm missing out.

Content (potential minor spoilers)

Recommended for ages 14 and up. 

TRIGGER WARNING - Attempted suicide. 

Swearing typical to an average YA novel, not frequent, but definitely present. 

Sexual content includes kissing and a mention of a girl's undergarments. One scene in which two characters spend the night together, with the implication that they were intimate with each other. No details.

In terms of violence, there wasn't very much. A character tries to unhook another character's harness while bungee jumping. The characters are told that another competitor died because he swam underneath the propellers of a submarine. 

The characters are all given an injection of radiation resistant bacteria. Two characters become ill as a result, and one is killed. Descriptions of the illness could be disturbing.