I can't stop thinking about this story so I had to write about it - Monsters of Verity

I know, I know. I am the worst blogger. You probably haven't missed me but I have definitely given myself a lot of shit for not posting for over a year. And the reason for this post is because I promised to myself I would either write a post or make a video and I don't own a camera so here we are.

I can't put off this any longer to be honest. So let's get to it, here are my thoughts on Monsters of Verity: This Savage Song and Our Dark Duet.

This story is about two characters: Kate and August. Both part of a different side of Verity, this city invaded by monsters. So there are two sides: North City and South City and each is governed by their parents. Callum Harker leads the North and Henry Flynn the South, with a treaty that could break any minute. Kate and August want very different things in life. She, a human, wants her father's approval and to be as tough as him. He, the strongest and deadliest kind of monster there is, just wants to be human. What will happen when their paths meet and Kate finds out the truth about him? Will she follow what she's been told her entire life? Or will she try to escape with him after he saves her life? 

My Musings 

That was my attempt at giving you a sneak peak of the story and hopefully make you want to read it.

Content

I could about talk this all day. I think. And it's the thing I cherish the most about this story: I haven't read anything like it before. Anything! I can't believe  Victoria Schwab's mind and how she explains the origin of the monsters. There is a reason behind the existence of every kind of monster: Corsai, Malchai and Sunai. The more I think about it, the more blown away I am.

Also, have to point out the fact that a lot of these books are about people and their actions and how they define us even when we don't want them to? The what if's. What you want to do vs. what you should do and how to reconcile those things. And how life isn't black or white because we aren't just what we do, we are the reasons behind those actions too, aren't we? Oh man. When did this get so deep.

The plot man. W i l d. There is no other word for it. In the first book there is always something happening, I found that I just couldn't put it down. I do have to say I feel like the second book didn't have the same pace as the first one. Maybe things picked up around the second half of the book. I remember being by 90 % of the story and thinking everything can't be tied down in this book???? But it was. Oh boy, it was. So much happens in the final pages. So much you are definitely not ready for.

I have to mention this because it's basically the reason why I can't stop thinking about this story: the end. The damn end. I can't believe I never even considered what happened as an actual possibility. I kept acting in denial even as it was happening!! Oh my god. 

Romance

This is what probably cost me at first to appreciate and love. Because romance is not a big part of the story and I have been reading so much of it this year. But the relationship Kate and August develop is so much more than that. They just complement each other so well. And help each other grow and develop. GIVE ME MORE OF MY KATE AND BABY AUGUST, VICTORIA. 

The characters 

At first Kate was such a challenge even for the reader. I feel like sometimes it was hard to see what her motivations really were. What it all really came down was the fact that she wanted to prove to her father how worthy she was and then her development goes from there. It's almost as if she becomes more human in the second book, teaches August a pretty important lesson. And then she couldn't be more human even if she tried. 

August starts by being so honest and raw it is basically impossible to not empathize with him and what he wants. His eternal struggle, the actual physical reminder of what he is at odds with the thing he wants the most, to be normal, whatever that is. What goes down in the end of the first book breaks him but it almost feels like it was something that needed to happen so that it could change him in the second book, just so he can be reminded again of life, of how easy it isn't. And how we have to make it worth living.

Soro!! What a complicated character. I'm not sure if I love them but I am damn sure happy they were a part of the story. They are a genderless Sunai, with a pretty set view of what is right and wrong. But what happens is so big that it affects them too and even rattles the very foundation of what they thought they believed in.

I kind of feel lighter now that I have put into words what I feel and think about this story. And I hope maybe you, if someone actually finished all this, decide to give it a shot. It is so worth it, I assure you.

If you have read these books let me know what you thought or if you haven't please tell me if you plan on reading them.

Until next time,
Ale.