Our Dark Duet

It's been six months since Kate and August--a girl who has been forced to act monstrously and a monster who wants nothing more than to be human, respectively--parted ways at the end of This Savage Song (rev. 5/16). Alternating between their immediate, propulsive perspectives, this sequel's narrative reveals that each is still hunting the violence-created monsters that plague their alternate United States. Kate tracks the spread of the creatures with a group of teenage "hacktivists" but, to protect them, rebuffs their overtures of friendship. August, now a special officer in his father's army, uses his abilities as a Sunai, or "Soul Eater," to reap tainted human souls; previously compassionate to a fault, he has hardened his heart to avoid future pain. The lonely teens reunite when they individually discover the existence of a monster that feeds on chaos itself. The pair races to find a way to destroy the Chaos Eater before more lives are lost--and before it overtakes Kate, who's been infected with its deadly directives. Free verse integrated into Kate's chapters is clunky but reflects her fragmented glimpses of the monster. Subplots involving nuanced secondary characters (including August's Sunai "sibling" Soro, whose nonbinary gender is deftly handled) raise the stakes further. Suspenseful action sequences are well paced, with affecting moments of understanding and tenderness, building to a satisfying if not happy ending. katie bircher