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semogecarg's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
theespressoedition's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I gotta admit that this was a bit disappointing for me. After such a strong start in This Savage Song, I had high hopes for Our Dark Duet, but it wound up falling a bit flat.
Sure, the writing was just as superb as every other Schwab book, and for that, the book gets 3 stars. However, the story itself felt a bit repetitive and confusing. It seemed like I was reliving a lot of what happened in the first book but this time around, I liked the characters way less.
August was someone who I absolutely adored in the first book. I truly loved him and his almost chocolatey sweetness. However, in this book, he became almost villainous. I understand that was for his character to grow and change and grow again. But to see the roles reversed and have him be more on the morally gray side while Kate was almost a "damsel in distress," threw me for a loop. She was such a badass in the first book and was definitely the morally gray one. So yeah, the side-switching had me scratching my head a bit.
After the totally open end of the first book, I was excited to find out what would happen next in Verity and beyond. For the most part, things felt wrapped up, but I still had questions at the end. I guess that was so that I, as a reader, could kind of choose my own conclusion. I just hoped for a bit more finalization for everything.
Overall, the duology gets 3 stars from me. It was good, but it didn't completely blow me away or anything. I probably wouldn't read them again unless Schwab decides to add to them at some point.
Sure, the writing was just as superb as every other Schwab book, and for that, the book gets 3 stars. However, the story itself felt a bit repetitive and confusing. It seemed like I was reliving a lot of what happened in the first book but this time around, I liked the characters way less.
August was someone who I absolutely adored in the first book. I truly loved him and his almost chocolatey sweetness. However, in this book, he became almost villainous. I understand that was for his character to grow and change and grow again. But to see the roles reversed and have him be more on the morally gray side while Kate was almost a "damsel in distress," threw me for a loop. She was such a badass in the first book and was definitely the morally gray one. So yeah, the side-switching had me scratching my head a bit.
After the totally open end of the first book, I was excited to find out what would happen next in Verity and beyond. For the most part, things felt wrapped up, but I still had questions at the end. I guess that was so that I, as a reader, could kind of choose my own conclusion. I just hoped for a bit more finalization for everything.
Overall, the duology gets 3 stars from me. It was good, but it didn't completely blow me away or anything. I probably wouldn't read them again unless Schwab decides to add to them at some point.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Gore, Death, Blood, Gun violence, and Violence
rosenau's review against another edition
dark
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Gun violence, Cannibalism, Death, Murder, and Blood
alexiab's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
while I wasn't as excited about this book as I was with the first, I still loved August and Kate, and seeing how their characters grew after the events of book 1 was really interesting.
I expected more of August's personal journey to be about his shifting into his monster side and less about accepting the whole soul eating thing, but I suppose those somewhat go hand in hand. I also expected more "people who are sinners aren't necessarily evil" thing to be more of a prominent part of August's story, but whateva.
I'm also knocking off an entire star because I am just... so completely angry that Kate and Ilsa died. It didn't feel like character deaths that were inevitable, or that it was a peace that Kate or Ilsa would have wanted. I've seen Schwab do character deaths that, while devastating, make sense for the character's journey, but this felt like an abrupt stop to everything that Kate had been working for, and an abrupt cut off of everything Ilsa had endured. Overall just REALLY unsatisfying.
the more I think about this book the more irritated I am. I mean damn it's called Our Dark Duet WHERE'S THE DUET?! WHERE'S MY AUGUST AND KATE CONTENT.
I expected more of August's personal journey to be about his shifting into his monster side and less about accepting the whole soul eating thing, but I suppose those somewhat go hand in hand. I also expected more "people who are sinners aren't necessarily evil" thing to be more of a prominent part of August's story, but whateva.
I'm also knocking off an entire star because I am just... so completely angry that Kate and Ilsa died. It didn't feel like character deaths that were inevitable, or that it was a peace that Kate or Ilsa would have wanted. I've seen Schwab do character deaths that, while devastating, make sense for the character's journey, but this felt like an abrupt stop to everything that Kate had been working for, and an abrupt cut off of everything Ilsa had endured. Overall just REALLY unsatisfying.
the more I think about this book the more irritated I am. I mean damn it's called Our Dark Duet WHERE'S THE DUET?! WHERE'S MY AUGUST AND KATE CONTENT.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, and Death
ajboyd_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I AM SO SAD!
I LITERALLY HAD MY HEART TORN OUT OF MY CHEST AND CRAMMED BACK IN. OVER. AND OVER. AND OVER. AGAIN.
WHY COULDN’T AUGUST JUST HAVE A NICE ENDING, HUH? WHY COULDN’T THE BOY HAVE SOME REST?? GIVE HIM A BREAK! AND THE ENDING WITH ISLA AND KATE??! I HATE THIS! I LOVE THE BOOK BUT I HATE THE ENDING BECAUSE HE’S NOW EMOTIONALLY ALONE. THE TWO PEOPLE WHO TRULY KNEW AND UNDERSTOOD HIM ARE NO LONGER BY HIS SIDE AND I AM RIOTING! JUSTICE FOR AUGUST!!!
I LITERALLY HAD MY HEART TORN OUT OF MY CHEST AND CRAMMED BACK IN. OVER. AND OVER. AND OVER. AGAIN.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Slavery, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Kidnapping
kassidyreads's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Confinement
blank_space_forever's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, War, Violence, and Death
vael's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Child death, Death, Blood, Genocide, and Murder
lisa_m's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
I'm glad I read this book. I wasn't convinced after the first one in the series but I did enjoy reading it. I'm still not the biggest fan but I can appreciate it.
My main issue was that I pretty much hated everyone. I did like the friendship between August and Kate and my favourite character was definitely Ilsa. But I realised that I wasn't really attached to anyone or anything in this story because I wasn't sad even though many sad and horrible things happened.
I did really enjoy the philosophical aspect and the thoughts about humanity and what it means to be good or bad and if there even is a clear distinction. I also thought the concept of a war where one side cannot kill any humans on the other side very intriguing.
All in all I would say great plot, great world building and I totally get why people like this book but it just wasn't my cup of tea. It was incredibly violent and I was kind of mentally checked out.
My main issue was that I pretty much hated everyone. I did like the friendship between August and Kate and my favourite character was definitely Ilsa. But I realised that I wasn't really attached to anyone or anything in this story because I wasn't sad even though many sad and horrible things happened.
I did really enjoy the philosophical aspect and the thoughts about humanity and what it means to be good or bad and if there even is a clear distinction. I also thought the concept of a war where one side cannot kill any humans on the other side very intriguing.
All in all I would say great plot, great world building and I totally get why people like this book but it just wasn't my cup of tea. It was incredibly violent and I was kind of mentally checked out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and War
Moderate: Terminal illness and Kidnapping
wiktoria88's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Blood, Gore, and Death