Yes I have finally started, and finished, a series in a timely manner. If you saw my review for This Savage Song, you would know I buddy read this duology with the lovely Hannah @InkandMyths. We decided to immediately jump on the sequel and ended up a little disappointed by this sequel. Keep reading this book review to find out my feelings on this series ender.
Summary
THE WORLD IS BREAKING. AND SO ARE THEY.
KATE HARKER isn’t afraid of monsters. She hunts them. And she’s good at it.
AUGUST FLYNN once yearned to be human. He has a part to play. And he will play it, no matter the cost.
THE WAR HAS BEGUN.
THE MONSTERS ARE WINNING.
Kate will have to return to Verity. August will have to let her back in. And a new monster is waiting—one that feeds on chaos and brings out its victims’ inner demons.
Which will be harder to conquer: the monsters they face, or the monsters within?
Review
In the second Monsters of Verity novel, Schwab continues to explore what humanity is made of when confronted with monsters. The shadows that creep in the night, the sins that haunt our doorways, and the sounds we search for in dark alleyways. Our Dark Duet jumps from the start line, compared to This Savage Song which was a slow steadying crescendo. Just when we think we have a grasp of the world around us, Schwab introduces new monsters and cities to the already monstrous humanity.
While I enjoyed the sequel, and the concept of struggles between humanity and monstrosity, I felt that some elements were introduced which were not fully wrapped up and the ending felt rushed. There’s a poetic quality to Our Dark Duet, but I was ultimately also frustrated that there were intriguing elements introduced and either shallowly discussed or never really given much weight. Additionally, even though this is a dual POV sequel, I felt like August continually stole the show (just like in the first). Even after finishing, I’m not sure I ever got a sense of who Kate was.
Perhaps some of this was intentional, as both August and Kate are trying to navigate their changing identities, but it left me feeling only drawn to August. When I’m confronted with dual POV or even multiple POV novels, I find myself wanting to be intrigued, in some way, by the characters. This could just be my personal preference. Overall, I appreciated how Our Dark Duet confronts the mistakes of humanity. Even if we make a mistake, are forced to do something monstrous, is there still hope for us? In a world full of pain, loss, and monsters, can anyone truly escape unscathed? And if we judge people only on our mistakes, are we dooming our own society?
Overall,
Our Dark Duet is an action packed sequel with games of war and lives on the line. Full of new monstrosity, I enjoyed how Schwab explores the concept of a (un)blemished soul. If we should be given second chances to change, to evolve, to atone. Find Our Dark Duet on Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org & The Book Depository.
Wonderful review!
Thanks!
I’ve had my eye on eventually reading the second book, but I just haven’t been in a huge rush. I really did enjoy the first, but I think compared to Schwab’s other work it wasn’t the strongest for me.
I’m glad to see that he had some really nice perks, though! I’ll probably check it out in time.
Yeah, I just need to read Vicious and also finish the ADSOM trilogy, but yeah I felt that this was not as strong as some of the things I’ve heard about Schwab’s other books