Title: Our Dark Duet
(Monsters Of Verity #2)
Author: Victoria Schwab
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Dystopia
First published: June 13th 2017
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Finished reading: September 12th 2017
Pages: 533
“The world was complicated. Life was hard. And so often, living hurt. So make it worth the pain.”
It’s no secret I’m a huge fan of Victoria Schwab‘s books and my review might sound a bit biased or like a typical fangirl blabbering about how awesome this particular book was. Because I’m not going to lie and say that even though I finished Our Dark Duet quite a few days ago, I still haven’t recovered. I read the first book of this duology, This Savage Song, last year and completely fell in love with the worldbuilding, writing and characters. It’s true nothing can quite replace or outshine the Shades Of Magic series, but I like to see them as two completely separate stories and worlds to love and cherish. I reread the first book before starting the sequel, and this has definitely reconfirmed my love for this duology. The worldbuilding is actually quite simple and the strength of this story is in both the brilliant writing, the main characters and the constant threat of danger and monsters hiding in dark corners as well as on the next page. Our Dark Duet adds a whole different level and a new monster to the equation, and I quite liked this addition. I just loved seeing my favorite characters evolve and react to the dangerous situations they find themselves in… And even though the ending crushed me, I realy admire Victoria Schwab for her courage to do what she did. This story set in a dystopian world where monsters are real has never been a happy story, and by no means can be called just another sappy YA fantasy story. Because Monsters Of Verity is anything but. Sure, there is a dash of romance included, but there’s no love triangle, no cheesy romance scenes, no all-consuming romantic plot. No, instead you get a double dose of suspense, action, monsters and a whole lot of awesomeness in general. To say that the writing is excellent is an understatement, but then again it is Victoria Schwab we are talking about. Don’t compare this duology to Shades Of Magic, because you will most likely end up being disappointed. Instead, see Monsters Of Verity as something new and completely different, and let the characters and their dystopian world full of monsters enchant you.
WARNING: Possible spoilers! Please don’t read this summary if you haven’t read the first book of this duology yet. I’ll keep the summary super short but it’s impossible to keep it completely spoiler-free…
There is no way back after what happened… Nearly six months after Kate and August first met, the war between monsters and humans has become very real. August Flynn has always wanted to be human, but knows he will always be a monster in the end. He will have to make some difficult choices now he is seen as a leader during the battle agains the other monsters. Kate Harker on the other hand is far away in Prosperity hunting the monsters the people living there don’t even know that exist… Doing what she does best until a new monster shows up and messes up everything. What will happen to the two characters and Verity in general? Will the monsters finally win?
Error, page not found… Excuse me while my mind recovers from the blow. Because WOW. Victoria Schwab wasn’t kidding when she said this wasn’t a happy story; I admire her all the more for it even though this book kind of broke my heart… Bulldozer or not, I loved this story and how things developed after the first book ended. I’m not saying this Monsters Of Verity duology can compete with the Shades Of Magic trilogy, but I like to see them as two completely separate series that both deserve all the love. Because both have deserved a well earned place among my other all time favorite books and characters. I’m having a feeling Kate, August, Kell and Lila would make a very interesting group indeed! 😉
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I just glossed over the review as I haven’t started Schwab yet but wow 5 stars!
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Schwab, Schwab, Schwab, Schwab!! I’ll just keep repeating that until you read one of her books haha. Seriously she’s one of my all time favorite authors. ❤ Then again I love my fantasy books every once in a while (although I can never cheat on my favorite genre; I'm sure you can already guess which one that is haha). xx
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Yay! 😀 So glad to hear you loved Our Dark Duet. I mean, yes, it’s not a happy story (though the epilogue did offer some hope for certain characters), but it was definitely a fitting end for that duology.
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I agree, the ending definitely felt right for this duology! And the epilogue left me intrigued as well.
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I liked the epilogue as well. It gave a sense that the fight against the remaining monsters was still going on, and that maybe the “good guys” had the upper hand but there would still be challenges ahead, but August and Soro were willing to keep fighting.
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Yay for 5 stars! I agree that this duo is definitely different from Shades of Magic. I liked book 1 so I can’t wait to read this book! Excellent review! I’m glad you enjoyed the duo! 😊
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I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed Our Dark Duet will be a good one for you! I love how different the two series are and yet manage to make me love them all the same.
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Thanks! Have you read all of Schwab’s books? I have only read both of these series and still not finishing them yet.. I’m saving the last book to read slowly haha..
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I’ve read the three Shades Of Magic books, the Monsters Of Verity duology and Vicious so far and I enjoyed all six of them… Although I agree it’s been really hard saying goodbye to the characters. (One of the reasons I named my kitten after Delilah Bard haha)
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Yay! haha.. I do love Lila. She’s so awesome 🙂
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I know! And I just love how similar my cat’s personality is to the real Lila; a true troublemaker that one haha.
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Even though I didn’t connect to The Savage Song as much as I wanted, I still saw it as an excellent YA book… I do think I will read the second book, especially since you say that it is brutal 🙂
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Our Dark Duet is pretty similar to the first book in terms of quality of the writing and plot and there is something new thrown in as well. I hope you will enjoy it if you decide to pick it up!
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I had to skim the review a bit because I have yet to dive into any of Schwab’s books… but i did notice that you have high praise so I most certainly look forward to the time I am able to start reading these series 🙂
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I cannot recommend Schwab’s books highly enough! One of my all time favorite authors… The Shades Of Magic and Monsters Of Verity books being my favorites so far. I hope you will find time to read one of her books soon! 🙂
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This is so good to know… I will defo bump them up on the tbr list 😉
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I had to skim through this review, but man, I can’t wait to pick up book 2 now. It does sound like an excellent conclusion to the duology!
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I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did when you do!
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