Reviews

Una canción salvaje by V.E. Schwab

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mgallmeyer03's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

angelika0105's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

kiyamarie's review against another edition

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4.0

Nobody gets to stay the same.

I devoured this book. I was invested because I wanted to see how everything played out and yet I’m still wondering.

I loved the characters, even though I felt like they were toeing the edge of being complex. By this I mean, they want to be complex with conflicting internal issues, but it seems like it’s over done. Hard to explain really. You just have to read it.
Anyways I really liked Kate and August. I thought there was going to be a romance and there wasn’t, which normally would disappoint me. There was just something about the chemistry these two had that didn’t demand the extra complication.

I couldn’t necessarily stick with the setting in my head—the whole dystopian US thing. I just keep planting the story in a different place or forgetting entirely that they were in a designated place.

I’m not quite sure this will resonate with me like A Darker Shade, and it didn’t bring strong emotions like the Near Witch, but I found it enjoyable. And I’m most definitely reading the second book to find out what happens next.

valery_03's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

nora_the_worm's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

swiftpool's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book had me HOOKED. Highly recommend the audiobook. It had me wanting to savor every chapter while also wanting to race ahead to see where the plot went. The twist at the end totally surprised me - and then there was another twist which was so obvious and yet completely caught me off guard (in a good way).

p.s. this is why we double tap, folks!!

Content Warnings

adventureowl's review against another edition

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5.0

Absolutely wonderful!!! Got me out of a terrible reading slump! So energetic and at points, very relatable.

faithtrustpixiedust's review against another edition

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5.0

"It hurts," he whispered.
"What does?" asked Kate.
"Being. Not being. Giving in. Holding out. No matter what I do, it hurts."
Kate tipped her head back against the tub. "That's life, August," she said. "You wanted to feel alive, right? It doesn't matter if you're monster or human. Living hurts."

😦👌❤

The Writing and Worldbuilding

It's really no surprise I loved this, given that it's written by my Queen, Victoria Schwab. Reading the blurb, I wasn't totally sure how this book was going to play out, what kind of a world this was set it, but reading the book, I understood everything about it perfectly. It honestly reminded me of another favorite book of mine, Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion with its tough, hardcore heroine and not-really-human-but-trying male protagonist. But whereas Warm Bodies was a romance, this was a fantastic friendship, and that was awfully refreshing (though don't get me wrong—I ship Kate and August so hard, though I don't think he even has a sex drive, soo...)

I loved how the book was split into parts of a composition—it really added to the symbolism and was just super unique.

The world made me think of the Pied Piper with a paranormal apocalypse twist. It was so cool and unique and I absolutely loved everything about it.

My only problem was that some of the characters felt like copies from her previous books, namely her adult ones under V.E. Schwab. Maybe she wanted similar characters for her Young Adult readers? Maybe she just isn't as versatile as I thought? They're not bad characters, and they definitely aren't unoriginal, but I've read them from her before, and I wanted to see all of her possibilities. (I'll go into specifics of which characters reminded me of who in spoiler tags in the character section below.)

The Characters

Kate Harker: I really liked Kate. She was so tough but also realistically vulnerable, and her wit and quick thinking were great.

Spoiler

However, she reminded me too much of Lila Bard from the Shades of Magic series. Particularly the fact that, like Lila, she has one of a set of two sensory features out of operation due to some injury—her ear for Kate and her eye for Lila. This isn't a problem at all, but it was something I noticed.

August Flynn: He was my absolute favorite. He's my smol cinnamon roll and I love him and his cat. I really loved his perspective and the slight difference in structure his thoughts brought, having that kind of ADHD feel. I really loved his struggle to feel human and to understand his place in the world. He was definitely the most unique character in this.

Leo: He was interesting and I really liked his darker moments.

Spoiler

While I understand what it brought to the symbolism of the story, I found him to be way too similar to Eli from Vicious, particularly relating to his religious idealism.

Callum Harker: He was very interesting, and gave me The Walking Dead villain vibes (though I haven't actually ever watched TWD lol).

Sloan: He was pretty creepy.

Conclusion

Overall, I found this to be a gripping and fast read that enthralled and enchanted me. I'm sad it's just a duology because this world is epic and I absolutely love it.

exorcismemily's review against another edition

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3.0

Mehhh...I was pretty bored with the first half, but I did enjoy it by the end. I'll definitely give the second book shot - hopefully it's like an ACOTAR/ACOMAF thing for me. I wanted to love it so badly.

Where was the background info??? You can't just call something The Phenomenon and then barely explain it!! I NEED MORE DETAILS.

Seriously, I'm sad. I usually adore everything by VE Schwab, and this was just okay. I definitely like the adult books more. Oh, well. It was still an awesome concept and I liked the world-building - I just wanted more information!

shayslibrary's review against another edition

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5.0

5 out of 5 stars
I Will recommend it to friends.

I couldn't put the book down. It was the very first book of Victoria Schwab that I read, and I am so glad that I liked it.

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