Disappointing sequel
In the first book of this duology, the author managed to keep the readers on their toes by providing a great pace to the story, a slow reveal of the world's mythology (that gladly never felt like info dump) and strong, relatable insights into the characters feelings. We were challenged to understand the rules of this universe before she revealed the whole picture. The sense of constant danger and uncertainty made us feel and fear for the main characters. All of those aspects combined granted This Savage Song a special place among its countless YA fantasy companions. And, unfortunately, the exact lack of those were responsible for its sequel being so disappointing. Something I have read in many reviews since I finished the book was about how it felt like, while in the first one the characters were driving the story, in the second the story was happening to them. And I guess I'd have to agree with that. One thing that could be used to prove that point is the predictability of Our Dark Duet's story. So we've got Verse 1 introducing the new reality of our main characters, Verse 2 bringing them together again, Verse 3... Well... Establishing things (?) for Verse 4 where we have the final showdown. And even though the last verse is certainly more exhilarating than the previous ones, it does not deliver an entire book of tension-building to have what is possibly two of the greatest forces in that universe (Ilsa having created the Seam and the Chaos Eater's massive power of destruction) finish each other off in the blink of an eye. This book is as easy and entertaining to read as the first one and brings interesting new additions, like the dynamic around monsters in another city, the Wardens and even the Chaos Eater itself. Sadly, all of those are underdeveloped. For me, the real highlight of Our Dark Duet is the meditation and deeper exploration on what it means to be a monster or to what degree should a person be punished for a violent act. On a personal note, I just wanted to emphasize how the connection between Kate and the Chaos Eater bothered me. It’s such a Voldemort-Harry kind of solution (to know where your enemy is, to have it messing with your moods…) - and I never liked it in that series either. Just happy that it didn’t become something even bigger here. But, in the end, it was neither really bad nor really good. But for someone who thought This Savage Song had a well-rounded ending and a sequel would have to prove itself worth of existing, this was undoubtedly disappointing.
