Our Dark Duet: A summary.
^ not my picture. But, it’s been a long time since I resonated with a meme this much.
What’s it about?
Recap: In This Savage Song, we met August (monster) and Kate (crime lord’s daughter). The two are forced to go on the run after an attempted murder. By the end, Kate’s father has fallen; Kate has decided to seek a new life outside of the city; and August both accepts what he is and his personhood.
Our Dark Duet picks up a few months later. In Verity, the situation has worsened: with the death of Flynn, the monsters are flourishing and the human population is on the brink. August copes with the loss — loss after loss after loss — by slowly surrendering his humanity.
Meanwhile, Kate has set up shop in another district. Barista by day. Monster hunter by night. She even has a posse of support persons and — dare I say — friends. It’s all violently torn away from her after she’s infected by a new breed of monster. In an effort to save her life, Kate returns to Verity.
The second half of the book focuses on Kate’s time with the Flynn family, August’s struggles, and their fight against the monsters in North City.
Things I liked:
Almost everything I liked about This Savage Song.
The character development. Both Kate and August change so much in this book … both for the better, and the worse. It was completely fitting with the story. I utterly adored it.
Things I disliked:
The pacing. Still excellent, just not as excellent as This Savage Song. The action here was slower to build, and ended quite quickly.
The relative absence of sunai action. I so wanted some dark! August … or, given the story’s direction, some not-so-dark! August.
Favourite quote:
I don’t know who I am, and who I’m not, I don’t know who I’m supposed to be, and I miss who I was; I miss it every day, Kate, but there’s no place for that August anymore. No place for the version of me who wanted to go to school, and have a life, and feel human, because this world doesn’t need that August. It needs someone else.
Final thoughts:
While I didn’t enjoy Our Dark Duet quite as much as This Savage Song … it nonetheless left me an emotional mess. If I had to sum it up in three words? Dark, brooding, and moving. It’s definitely one for your to-read list.
The Details:
- The Book: Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab
- Published: 2016, Greenwillow Books
- My Copy: VIRL
- Read date: July 18-21, 2020
- Rating/5: 😭😭😭😭
The Geeky Jock 