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Blackbird
My name is Alex. I am fifteen years old, and I don't know where my sister is. Or if she will ever come back.
On New Year's Eve 5,000 blackbirds dropped dead. The same day Olivia McCarthy went missing from a small coastal village in Orkney.
Now Her younger sister Alex is on a mission to find out just what happened to Olivia. But does she really want to know all the answers?
On New Year's Eve 5,000 blackbirds dropped dead. The same day Olivia McCarthy went missing from a small coastal village in Orkney.
Now Her younger sister Alex is on a mission to find out just what happened to Olivia. But does she really want to know all the answers?
287 pages, Paperback
First published November 16, 2017
12 people are currently reading
412 people want to read
About the author
N.D. Gomes
2 books18 followersND Gomes is originally from Scotland, but spent ten years living in America working as an educator in the public school districts.
She has an M.Ed. in Education and is working towards an MLitt. in Scottish Literature and Creative Writing.
She loves to read a variety of YA and adult fiction in all genres, and is always on the lookout for a new book recommendation. ND Gomes has an enthusiasm for books, travel, photography, yoga, vegetarian cooking, and spending time with her family, friends, and chocolate Labrador.
Her YA debut DEAR CHARLIE and second novel BLACKBIRD is published by HarperCollins imprint HQ in the UK.
ND Gomes is represented by Silvia Molteni at Peters, Fraser and Dunlop
She has an M.Ed. in Education and is working towards an MLitt. in Scottish Literature and Creative Writing.
She loves to read a variety of YA and adult fiction in all genres, and is always on the lookout for a new book recommendation. ND Gomes has an enthusiasm for books, travel, photography, yoga, vegetarian cooking, and spending time with her family, friends, and chocolate Labrador.
Her YA debut DEAR CHARLIE and second novel BLACKBIRD is published by HarperCollins imprint HQ in the UK.
ND Gomes is represented by Silvia Molteni at Peters, Fraser and Dunlop
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
September 10, 2017
Addictive! Easy and fast to read and captivating from the first page.
December 2, 2017
3.5 stars
Blackbird was a book I had heard very little about until I was lucky enough to pick up a proof during YALC back in July. The premise sounded really interesting and the book itself looked gorgeous so how could I say no?
I have to start by saying that what the blurb of this book promises is very different to the story held within. The thing that most intrigued me from the synopsis was this idea that 5,000 blackbirds had dropped dead on the same night this girl had disappeared. My mind was racing with ideas of how these two events could be connected and what mysteries lay in store for me. BUT (and this is a big but) the story inside had little to nothing to do with the mystery of the dead birds. It is mentioned at the beginning of the book when Alex is looking at the news when it is being reported but it then transpires to have nothing to do with her sister’s disappearance, which is what I believed it would. That being said, this book is still an absolutely great read, I just think the synopsis was a little misleading.
What this book actually does is provide an interesting and emotional mystery thriller as Alex and her family embark on a journey to find out what happened to Olivia on the night she went missing. There are lots of different twists and turns along the way and the plot certainly kept me interested. There were lots of characters involved in this whodunit style thriller and I had fun ruling out suspects and making my own decisions. As someone who reads a fair amount of stories like this, I did guess who the killer was but only a chapter or so before they were revealed and the climax of the story was so intense that it didn’t matter at all.
This book really sparked a lot of emotion in me. There were scenes in this book where Alex’s grief was clear for the reader to see and sometimes I felt quite choked up and had to take a break. For me, this felt like such a real depiction of grief and the way in which Alex often felt so forgotten about and alone seemed true of her situation. There are some really touching moments in the book between Alex and her parents as they all realise they must pull together to get through their loss and that family element definitely made the story and emotions feel real to me.
I liked the characters in the book although I did feel that aside from Alex we really didn’t get to know many of them as well as I would have liked. I actually really liked that we had a couple of chapters scattered throughout the book that were from Olivia’s point of view before her death and I wish we had more of those as I think knowing more about Olivia would have enforced Alex’s emotions even more to the reader. The only other character I felt somewhat of a connection to in the story was DI Birkens and I actually liked the relationship of trust he built with Alex.
The setting of Orkney for this book was such an interesting choice as it really lent itself to exploring the ideas that in a small island life there are those, like Olivia, who cannot wait to escape and flee into the big world and others, like Alex, who are perfectly content and safe in their bubble. I also really liked that it meant we saw glimpses of tradition with celebrations such as the solstice.
Overall this was a good mystery book with plenty of tension and emotion; I was just disappointed that it wasn’t the book I had been lead to believe it would be.
Thanks to HQ and N. D. Gomes for my advanced copy in exchange of a fair and honest review.
Blackbird was a book I had heard very little about until I was lucky enough to pick up a proof during YALC back in July. The premise sounded really interesting and the book itself looked gorgeous so how could I say no?
I have to start by saying that what the blurb of this book promises is very different to the story held within. The thing that most intrigued me from the synopsis was this idea that 5,000 blackbirds had dropped dead on the same night this girl had disappeared. My mind was racing with ideas of how these two events could be connected and what mysteries lay in store for me. BUT (and this is a big but) the story inside had little to nothing to do with the mystery of the dead birds. It is mentioned at the beginning of the book when Alex is looking at the news when it is being reported but it then transpires to have nothing to do with her sister’s disappearance, which is what I believed it would. That being said, this book is still an absolutely great read, I just think the synopsis was a little misleading.
What this book actually does is provide an interesting and emotional mystery thriller as Alex and her family embark on a journey to find out what happened to Olivia on the night she went missing. There are lots of different twists and turns along the way and the plot certainly kept me interested. There were lots of characters involved in this whodunit style thriller and I had fun ruling out suspects and making my own decisions. As someone who reads a fair amount of stories like this, I did guess who the killer was but only a chapter or so before they were revealed and the climax of the story was so intense that it didn’t matter at all.
This book really sparked a lot of emotion in me. There were scenes in this book where Alex’s grief was clear for the reader to see and sometimes I felt quite choked up and had to take a break. For me, this felt like such a real depiction of grief and the way in which Alex often felt so forgotten about and alone seemed true of her situation. There are some really touching moments in the book between Alex and her parents as they all realise they must pull together to get through their loss and that family element definitely made the story and emotions feel real to me.
I liked the characters in the book although I did feel that aside from Alex we really didn’t get to know many of them as well as I would have liked. I actually really liked that we had a couple of chapters scattered throughout the book that were from Olivia’s point of view before her death and I wish we had more of those as I think knowing more about Olivia would have enforced Alex’s emotions even more to the reader. The only other character I felt somewhat of a connection to in the story was DI Birkens and I actually liked the relationship of trust he built with Alex.
The setting of Orkney for this book was such an interesting choice as it really lent itself to exploring the ideas that in a small island life there are those, like Olivia, who cannot wait to escape and flee into the big world and others, like Alex, who are perfectly content and safe in their bubble. I also really liked that it meant we saw glimpses of tradition with celebrations such as the solstice.
Overall this was a good mystery book with plenty of tension and emotion; I was just disappointed that it wasn’t the book I had been lead to believe it would be.
Thanks to HQ and N. D. Gomes for my advanced copy in exchange of a fair and honest review.
January 4, 2018
Wow, this book actually broke me and my heart.
On 31st December 2015, two things happen. Firstly, 5000 blackbirds dropped dead. And then Olivia McCarthy disappears. But this book is only about one of those things. We follow Olivia's sister Alex as she tries to come to terms with her sister's disappearance, and then tries to find out what really happened to her, along with the help from DI Birkins.
This book is part mystery thriller, part emotional comtemporary YA about family, and loss and grief. It really was a roller coaster of a ride throughout this story as you see a family essentially crumble and try to get through the pain and hurt of what's happening to them. It was such a raw emotional book and I was there with my girl Alex all throughout this book, hoping and praying she would get some answers and some closure. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
On 31st December 2015, two things happen. Firstly, 5000 blackbirds dropped dead. And then Olivia McCarthy disappears. But this book is only about one of those things. We follow Olivia's sister Alex as she tries to come to terms with her sister's disappearance, and then tries to find out what really happened to her, along with the help from DI Birkins.
This book is part mystery thriller, part emotional comtemporary YA about family, and loss and grief. It really was a roller coaster of a ride throughout this story as you see a family essentially crumble and try to get through the pain and hurt of what's happening to them. It was such a raw emotional book and I was there with my girl Alex all throughout this book, hoping and praying she would get some answers and some closure. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
May 4, 2018
This is the perfect book for #OWBookClub of this month: "RAINY DAYS READS"
I picked up this book from my YALC pile and I was so addicted.
Blackbird is about a murder in a little isle and you won't put it down until you will reach the very last page.
I have found out who the murderer was the second he/she walked in those pages but it was still so addictive to read the entire story. N.D Gomes writing is so captivating.
I will definitely pick up 'Dear Charlie' that is currently in my TBR list.
I picked up this book from my YALC pile and I was so addicted.
Blackbird is about a murder in a little isle and you won't put it down until you will reach the very last page.
I have found out who the murderer was the second he/she walked in those pages but it was still so addictive to read the entire story. N.D Gomes writing is so captivating.
I will definitely pick up 'Dear Charlie' that is currently in my TBR list.
April 9, 2019
3 sterretjes
In eerste instantie werd ik enorm aangetrokken door de flaptekst van die boek: Wat zou het verband kunnen zijn tussen het dood neerstorten van 5000 merels en een vermist meisje?
Spoiler-alert daar gaat het boek helemaal niet over. Het gegeven van de merels diende duidelijk alleen als een lokkertje. Behalve in het begin, wordt er daarna met geen woord meer over die merels gerept. Duidelijke misleiding dus.
Maar uiteindelijk vond ik niet dat dit boek dit lokkertje nodig had, want het blijft heel goed overeind zonder.
Het verhaal is boeiend, spannend en emotioneel. De rauwe emoties die hier beschreven worden voelen heel echt aan en totaal niet gekunsteld. Het centrale mysterie (niet de merels dus) is heel goed opgebouwd en - voor mij althans - niet voorspelbaar.
Dus uiteindelijk vond ik Blackbird een goed, boeiend boek. Alleen nogal ontgoocheld door de misleiding.
In eerste instantie werd ik enorm aangetrokken door de flaptekst van die boek: Wat zou het verband kunnen zijn tussen het dood neerstorten van 5000 merels en een vermist meisje?
Spoiler-alert daar gaat het boek helemaal niet over. Het gegeven van de merels diende duidelijk alleen als een lokkertje. Behalve in het begin, wordt er daarna met geen woord meer over die merels gerept. Duidelijke misleiding dus.
Maar uiteindelijk vond ik niet dat dit boek dit lokkertje nodig had, want het blijft heel goed overeind zonder.
Het verhaal is boeiend, spannend en emotioneel. De rauwe emoties die hier beschreven worden voelen heel echt aan en totaal niet gekunsteld. Het centrale mysterie (niet de merels dus) is heel goed opgebouwd en - voor mij althans - niet voorspelbaar.
Dus uiteindelijk vond ik Blackbird een goed, boeiend boek. Alleen nogal ontgoocheld door de misleiding.
December 19, 2017
Let me begin by saying that I loved the beginning of this book. I fell in love with YA all over again. I even purchased Dear Charlie off the back of how much I was enjoying it. But by around the three quarters mark, I’d kind of lost interest. I skipped a chapter here and there and wasn’t very enthralled by the ending. Having said that though, the journey itself was interesting and I liked the characterisation.
A tragic story, told with an enchanting heart. A pretty decent read to be honest. 3.5 stars isn’t too bad.
A tragic story, told with an enchanting heart. A pretty decent read to be honest. 3.5 stars isn’t too bad.
April 4, 2019
Originally posted to I Should Read That
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler-free.
First things first, if you’re expecting a supernatural link between the blackbirds falling from the sky and the missing Olivia, forget about it now. Nothing in this book is supernatural, nothing in this book is fantasy. I find it weird that it seems to be marketed that way because I think people will be disappointed when they are drawn in by that aspect of the plot and find out that it doesn’t really exist. The story is compelling enough without the 5,000 blackbirds included in the copy or the story at all! I would have made the choice to completely remove it, to be honest.
Now that the negative stuff is out of the way, I really enjoyed this book. The story is told from the perspective of Alex, Olivia’s younger sister. We learn what happens to Olivia through Alex’s eyes, feeling her conflicting, wide-ranging emotions all the way through. Alex worships her sister, despite the fact that they’re two very different people. Alex is content with her life in Orkney, a remote set of islands off the coast of northernmost Scotland. Olivia, on the other hand, is finishing up her time on the island and ready to move to London in a few months. Alex isn’t just dealing with her sister’s mysterious disappearance – she’s struggling with the fact that Olivia will probably never visit Orkney again.
I really liked Alex as a character, as frustrating as she could be. But you know what, she’s a teenage girl dealing with one of the worst possible situations a person can find themselves in. her emotions are raw and real, her grief is striking. Her relationship with Detective Birkin, who is assigned to Oliva’s case, is unusual and believable. As Alex’s family struggles to stay together, she finds other ways to project her feelings. We get two or three chapters from Olivia’s perspective that keep the story interesting –it’s like we get a peak behind the curtains to see what’s really going on.
This is not a thriller, it’s not really a mystery. It is a study of grief and how tragic events can push us apart or bring us together. I really enjoyed this book, although it was a little slow in parts. I enjoyed the fact that the emphasis was not on the investigation surrounding Olivia’s disappearance but on how it affected Olivia’s loved ones. Alex is a reliable, but difficult narrator who is so believably human.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler-free.
First things first, if you’re expecting a supernatural link between the blackbirds falling from the sky and the missing Olivia, forget about it now. Nothing in this book is supernatural, nothing in this book is fantasy. I find it weird that it seems to be marketed that way because I think people will be disappointed when they are drawn in by that aspect of the plot and find out that it doesn’t really exist. The story is compelling enough without the 5,000 blackbirds included in the copy or the story at all! I would have made the choice to completely remove it, to be honest.
Now that the negative stuff is out of the way, I really enjoyed this book. The story is told from the perspective of Alex, Olivia’s younger sister. We learn what happens to Olivia through Alex’s eyes, feeling her conflicting, wide-ranging emotions all the way through. Alex worships her sister, despite the fact that they’re two very different people. Alex is content with her life in Orkney, a remote set of islands off the coast of northernmost Scotland. Olivia, on the other hand, is finishing up her time on the island and ready to move to London in a few months. Alex isn’t just dealing with her sister’s mysterious disappearance – she’s struggling with the fact that Olivia will probably never visit Orkney again.
I really liked Alex as a character, as frustrating as she could be. But you know what, she’s a teenage girl dealing with one of the worst possible situations a person can find themselves in. her emotions are raw and real, her grief is striking. Her relationship with Detective Birkin, who is assigned to Oliva’s case, is unusual and believable. As Alex’s family struggles to stay together, she finds other ways to project her feelings. We get two or three chapters from Olivia’s perspective that keep the story interesting –it’s like we get a peak behind the curtains to see what’s really going on.
This is not a thriller, it’s not really a mystery. It is a study of grief and how tragic events can push us apart or bring us together. I really enjoyed this book, although it was a little slow in parts. I enjoyed the fact that the emphasis was not on the investigation surrounding Olivia’s disappearance but on how it affected Olivia’s loved ones. Alex is a reliable, but difficult narrator who is so believably human.
January 20, 2018
Issues I had with this book:
-Loose ends
-Forced connections between characters
-Perfect people
-Not like Dear Charlie
-Did not tug on heart strings
-Did not explore interesting sibling dynamics
-Didn't really explore parent/child relationships
-Didn't explore friendship
-Didn't grab my interest
-Didn't seem aimed at right age group
-Title was misleading; blackbirds have nothing to do with this tale.
BUT MOSTLY
My biggest issue with this book was how PREDICTABLE this was.
I called everything. Every twist. Every 'surprising' moment. The big reveal. The minor reveals. I called it all from a mile away. The mystery/who-dun-it element was not done well at all.
Which was incredibly disappointing, because IT WAS THE DRIVING POINT OF THE STORY.
The protagonist, the victim, the detective, the killer... none of them were developed enough for their emotional struggles/situations to drive the story.
So the moment I worked out who killed Olivia (within the first few chapters) I lost interesting. I knew exactly what was going to happen.
HERE'S what I assumed:
Alex was going to run around and be irrational with a killer on the loose.
She was going to enter into a kind of strange relationship with the detective.
Her parents were going to eventually come around.
There were going to be flashbacks to perfect sister-sister time.
Last minute, she'd discover who the killer was.
She'd run into trouble either by trying to apprehend killer or reveal his identity.
She'd use her STRENGTH AND FORTITUDE to overcome the killer.
The detective would sort his issues.
I won't reveal what was correct.
But I will.
IT WAS ALL CORRECT.
There was just too little going on with this novel.
I'm disappointed, mostly because of how much I enjoyed Dear Charlie.
SO this was a let down.
I'll still read more of N.D Gomes books, but will certainly be going in with more trepidation.
I bought this book as soon as I spotted it, basically squealing with excitement, BECAUSE ERMAGOD IT'S THE DEAR CHARLIE AUTHOR. I might wait for a library for the next Gomes book.
2 stars, because it wasn't baaaaaad.
-Loose ends
-Forced connections between characters
-Perfect people
-Not like Dear Charlie
-Did not tug on heart strings
-Did not explore interesting sibling dynamics
-Didn't really explore parent/child relationships
-Didn't explore friendship
-Didn't grab my interest
-Didn't seem aimed at right age group
-Title was misleading; blackbirds have nothing to do with this tale.
BUT MOSTLY
My biggest issue with this book was how PREDICTABLE this was.
I called everything. Every twist. Every 'surprising' moment. The big reveal. The minor reveals. I called it all from a mile away. The mystery/who-dun-it element was not done well at all.
Which was incredibly disappointing, because IT WAS THE DRIVING POINT OF THE STORY.
The protagonist, the victim, the detective, the killer... none of them were developed enough for their emotional struggles/situations to drive the story.
So the moment I worked out who killed Olivia (within the first few chapters) I lost interesting. I knew exactly what was going to happen.
HERE'S what I assumed:
Alex was going to run around and be irrational with a killer on the loose.
She was going to enter into a kind of strange relationship with the detective.
Her parents were going to eventually come around.
There were going to be flashbacks to perfect sister-sister time.
Last minute, she'd discover who the killer was.
She'd run into trouble either by trying to apprehend killer or reveal his identity.
She'd use her STRENGTH AND FORTITUDE to overcome the killer.
The detective would sort his issues.
I won't reveal what was correct.
But I will.
IT WAS ALL CORRECT.
There was just too little going on with this novel.
I'm disappointed, mostly because of how much I enjoyed Dear Charlie.
SO this was a let down.
I'll still read more of N.D Gomes books, but will certainly be going in with more trepidation.
I bought this book as soon as I spotted it, basically squealing with excitement, BECAUSE ERMAGOD IT'S THE DEAR CHARLIE AUTHOR. I might wait for a library for the next Gomes book.
2 stars, because it wasn't baaaaaad.
October 20, 2017
This was an uncorrected proof I picked up for free at YALC, and I'd heard nothing about it previously. I was intrigued by the blurb (and the gorgeous cover, I am a book magpie! 😂) but was too sure what to expect as the blurb is pretty short.
And it turns out that is basically my main criticism of the book. I really enjoyed this book, from the concept, to the way it Gomes handled the characters loss, to the way it had been written overall. My complaint is the cover and the blurb on the back mention blackbirds falling from the sky. While the blurb also talks about the actual plot and mentions it as a suspense book, it does somewhat imply the plot is linked to the blackbirds. Which? It is not :( I would have liked to have seen that! All you get is the main character watching the news report and a couple of brief follow up mentions. Personally, I'd take it off the cover and blurb, the murder mystery is more than strong enough to stand on its own.
However the rest of the book is pretty damn good! I really felt the uncertainty, the confusion, the denial and the anger along with Alex, and her driving need to know what happened. I understood her not talking to her friends (ugh don't get me started on them lol! I get their response but they are rubbish friends) and her feeling like no one was telling her anything. The loss is really well portrayed. I especially liked that they all forgot her birthday except the detective too.
I also got a good feel of life in a small isolated community through the story as well. I think that plays an important part in the story and it was nice to see it come across.
I didn't figure it out, though had a moment of thinking it was possible when the killer drove her home (trying to keep it a bit vague there!)
My only other mild niggle is the audience - I feel this reads as well for adults as it does for YA, it's only real link is Alex's age, and there is nothing too YA about the plot overall - it sort of reads like any other mystery novel I've read. Not necessarily a bad thing though!
And it turns out that is basically my main criticism of the book. I really enjoyed this book, from the concept, to the way it Gomes handled the characters loss, to the way it had been written overall. My complaint is the cover and the blurb on the back mention blackbirds falling from the sky. While the blurb also talks about the actual plot and mentions it as a suspense book, it does somewhat imply the plot is linked to the blackbirds. Which? It is not :( I would have liked to have seen that! All you get is the main character watching the news report and a couple of brief follow up mentions. Personally, I'd take it off the cover and blurb, the murder mystery is more than strong enough to stand on its own.
However the rest of the book is pretty damn good! I really felt the uncertainty, the confusion, the denial and the anger along with Alex, and her driving need to know what happened. I understood her not talking to her friends (ugh don't get me started on them lol! I get their response but they are rubbish friends) and her feeling like no one was telling her anything. The loss is really well portrayed. I especially liked that they all forgot her birthday except the detective too.
I also got a good feel of life in a small isolated community through the story as well. I think that plays an important part in the story and it was nice to see it come across.
I didn't figure it out, though had a moment of thinking it was possible when the killer drove her home (trying to keep it a bit vague there!)
My only other mild niggle is the audience - I feel this reads as well for adults as it does for YA, it's only real link is Alex's age, and there is nothing too YA about the plot overall - it sort of reads like any other mystery novel I've read. Not necessarily a bad thing though!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 17, 2017
2,5/5. i just felt too detached from the characters and i didn't like them very much.
November 27, 2017
Blackbird by N D Gomes is a book that will leave you physically shaken. It plays on your insecurities of safety and is a perfect Young Adult thriller.
The story I told from the perspective of Alex. Her older sister has gone missing and she is determined to find her. However, it is only when looking closely that she realises that there were things she didn’t know about her sister at all.
Her relationships start to fall apart in her dogged need to uncover the truth. Her family are falling apart and Alex is feeling the weight of that burden. It is all too much for her. But she needs answers.
What makes Blackbird so readable is that you feel like you are Alex’s only confident. The first person perspective and the breakdown of all her other relationships makes you, the reader, the closest thing to Alex. Her needs become your needs and you are constantly turning the pages to get to the truth. It is a book worthy of the moniker “unputdownable.”
Blackbird is a classic mystery/thriller in the style of Anne Cassidy. It is perfect for young fans of the genre who love getting stuck into the “whodunnit” of a story.
Blackbird by N D Gomes is available now.
For more information regarding N D Gomes (@nd_gomes) please visit her Twitter page.
For more information regarding HQ Young Adult (@HQYoungAdult) please visit instagram.com/hqyoungadult/.
The story I told from the perspective of Alex. Her older sister has gone missing and she is determined to find her. However, it is only when looking closely that she realises that there were things she didn’t know about her sister at all.
Her relationships start to fall apart in her dogged need to uncover the truth. Her family are falling apart and Alex is feeling the weight of that burden. It is all too much for her. But she needs answers.
What makes Blackbird so readable is that you feel like you are Alex’s only confident. The first person perspective and the breakdown of all her other relationships makes you, the reader, the closest thing to Alex. Her needs become your needs and you are constantly turning the pages to get to the truth. It is a book worthy of the moniker “unputdownable.”
Blackbird is a classic mystery/thriller in the style of Anne Cassidy. It is perfect for young fans of the genre who love getting stuck into the “whodunnit” of a story.
Blackbird by N D Gomes is available now.
For more information regarding N D Gomes (@nd_gomes) please visit her Twitter page.
For more information regarding HQ Young Adult (@HQYoungAdult) please visit instagram.com/hqyoungadult/.
October 23, 2017
An easy read, in a couple of hours or less. I quickly knew who was the killer and I never understood the relevance of the blackbird event on that day which is confusing and makes me try to find the connection, but otherwise it was an enjoyable read of a murder mystery.
(I read a Proof copy of this book, final copy may be different).
(I read a Proof copy of this book, final copy may be different).
January 17, 2019
Opinionzzz 2 come
February 27, 2021
This was not at all the book I was anticipating, it turned out quite differently to how I expected based on the blurb. But I still enjoyed the mystery. I really liked the growing friendship between Alex and the officer investigating the crime. I really couldn't guess who the antagonist was.
March 2, 2022
so good but my brain can’t handle more sad books atm
November 24, 2017
*** Note: I received an uncorrected proof of this book from Goodreads. ***
I really wanted to like this book, having read the blurb and seeing it was being compared to 13 Reasons Why (which I loved) and All the Bright Places (which I liked), I thought this would be something I'd really enjoyed.
There seemed to be something about the protagonist that I found really hard to connect with, I don't know if it was the the tone that was used to portray her points of view or something else but I really struggled with her. This made the novel a little difficult to get through because its told through a first person narrative. I also found the few chapters told from her sister's point of view didn't really change in voice much from the protagonist's.
However, the author did an amazing job at portraying different people's grief and how different people grieve in different ways and I did really enjoy the mystery element.
This book is enjoyable enough but its not one I would read again.
I really wanted to like this book, having read the blurb and seeing it was being compared to 13 Reasons Why (which I loved) and All the Bright Places (which I liked), I thought this would be something I'd really enjoyed.
There seemed to be something about the protagonist that I found really hard to connect with, I don't know if it was the the tone that was used to portray her points of view or something else but I really struggled with her. This made the novel a little difficult to get through because its told through a first person narrative. I also found the few chapters told from her sister's point of view didn't really change in voice much from the protagonist's.
However, the author did an amazing job at portraying different people's grief and how different people grieve in different ways and I did really enjoy the mystery element.
This book is enjoyable enough but its not one I would read again.
November 21, 2017
Originally published on Once Upon a Bookcase.
Blackbird by N. D. Gomes sounded so interesting, and I've been in a bit of a mystery phase lately, so I was so eager to read it. However, I'm sorry to say it was a huge disappointment.
Blackbird is billed as a murder mystery, and that's true in the fact that Alex's sister Olivia is murdered, and no-one knows who did it. But when it comes to genre, this book is not a mystery. There are no twists and turns. There aren't lots of suspects and numerous theories and there is no second guessing. This book is mainly about how Alex is dealing with her grief that not only is her older sister, who she idolised, dead, but that she was murdered. There is the possibility I may have enjoyed Blackbird more had it not been billed as a murder mystery. But probably not, because Blackbird is very, very slow.
For most of the book, Alex is obsessively harassing Detective Inspector Birkens, who has the patience of a saint. The police need to get on with their job and try to find out who killed Olivia, but she turns up either at the police station or at Birkens house almost every day. I get that she feels like she needs to do something, that she can't just sit around waiting, but at the same time, she's probably holding things up. And nothing really happens. Oh, she manages to get some information here and there that is helpful to the police, but nothing that leads to major strides in the investigation. It's just slow and samey for most of the book.
And the killer was predictable. The one person - the only person - who says something a little suspicious is the one who did it. Sure, what they said could have been innocent enough, but when you know there is a killer on the loose, as a reader, you notice these things. And it was just so predictable.The police had no suspects. There wasn't anybody else who was behaving strangely, or saying weird things. Of course it was them. There was no shock whatsoever. And really, because Blackbird is so samey, I didn't really warm to Alex much. So when she found herself in danger, after working out who it was, I didn't really care. And even if I did, those moments when things are dangerous only lasts a short while, and then it's over.
Plus there are the blackbirds. The blackbirds that died, that have absolutely nothing to do with the story whatsoever. The story is set in Orkney, the blackbirds died in America. There is no link, it's just something that happened. Something that is unimportant, and has no real explanation either. And it's used as a strapline. Here's me thinking that maybe there's going to be a supernatural element to the story. Nope. The blackbirds have no part in this book. The only reason I can think that the book is called Blackbird is because of the coincidence of the birds dying when Olivia disappeared, and because Olivia wanted to escape Orkney - she felt trapped on the island, and wanted to free, like a bird. But that is it. The birds don't mean anything.
This book was such a huge disappointment. No mystery, and very, very slow.
Thank you to HQ Young Adult via NetGalley for the eProof.
Blackbird by N. D. Gomes sounded so interesting, and I've been in a bit of a mystery phase lately, so I was so eager to read it. However, I'm sorry to say it was a huge disappointment.
Blackbird is billed as a murder mystery, and that's true in the fact that Alex's sister Olivia is murdered, and no-one knows who did it. But when it comes to genre, this book is not a mystery. There are no twists and turns. There aren't lots of suspects and numerous theories and there is no second guessing. This book is mainly about how Alex is dealing with her grief that not only is her older sister, who she idolised, dead, but that she was murdered. There is the possibility I may have enjoyed Blackbird more had it not been billed as a murder mystery. But probably not, because Blackbird is very, very slow.
For most of the book, Alex is obsessively harassing Detective Inspector Birkens, who has the patience of a saint. The police need to get on with their job and try to find out who killed Olivia, but she turns up either at the police station or at Birkens house almost every day. I get that she feels like she needs to do something, that she can't just sit around waiting, but at the same time, she's probably holding things up. And nothing really happens. Oh, she manages to get some information here and there that is helpful to the police, but nothing that leads to major strides in the investigation. It's just slow and samey for most of the book.
And the killer was predictable. The one person - the only person - who says something a little suspicious is the one who did it. Sure, what they said could have been innocent enough, but when you know there is a killer on the loose, as a reader, you notice these things. And it was just so predictable.The police had no suspects. There wasn't anybody else who was behaving strangely, or saying weird things. Of course it was them. There was no shock whatsoever. And really, because Blackbird is so samey, I didn't really warm to Alex much. So when she found herself in danger, after working out who it was, I didn't really care. And even if I did, those moments when things are dangerous only lasts a short while, and then it's over.
Plus there are the blackbirds. The blackbirds that died, that have absolutely nothing to do with the story whatsoever. The story is set in Orkney, the blackbirds died in America. There is no link, it's just something that happened. Something that is unimportant, and has no real explanation either. And it's used as a strapline. Here's me thinking that maybe there's going to be a supernatural element to the story. Nope. The blackbirds have no part in this book. The only reason I can think that the book is called Blackbird is because of the coincidence of the birds dying when Olivia disappeared, and because Olivia wanted to escape Orkney - she felt trapped on the island, and wanted to free, like a bird. But that is it. The birds don't mean anything.
This book was such a huge disappointment. No mystery, and very, very slow.
Thank you to HQ Young Adult via NetGalley for the eProof.
August 6, 2018
I read N.D. Gomes’ Dear Charlie before YALC this year, and was blown away by how good it was, so when I saw proofs of her new novel up for grabs I was very eager to get stuck into one. Blackbird follows 15-year-old Alex, whose older sister Olivia has gone missing, on her search to find out what happened to her. It’s billed as a YA mystery/thriller, but unlike most others in the genre, it deals more with the family’s grief and the emotions attached to the incident than the mystery itself.
Set on the small island of Orkney, the book deals well with the feelings of being trapped in your hometown and seems to really capture the essence of island life. I don’t know whether this sheltered upbringing has anything to do with it, but I found Alex’s voice as a narrator to be a little young. At first I felt she was slightly unbelievable as a 15-year-old, and maybe she belonged in a book that was sort of the top end of MG, rather than YA. However, she did mature a little once the heaviness of the subject matter hit and I found it much easier to excuse her younger, more annoying qualities in the circumstances.
I did find the marketing of this book a little confusing, because the title, cover, blurb, tagline and even the enigmatic first line of the book centre around the ‘5000 blackbirds [that] dropped dead on New Year’s Eve’, which is a really intriguing idea, and sets up some kind of link between Olivia’s disappearance and this mysterious, possibly supernatural happening. However, the situation with the blackbirds ends up being an extremely minor point in the story, that is never really revisited, and completely unrelated to Olivia’s case. I understand that there may be some deeper meaning here that I’ve failed to interpret, but from having a quick read through other reviews, it seems that everybody else has missed this relevance too, and if nobody’s getting it then maybe it just doesn’t work? This isn’t exactly a criticism, because I still really liked the book, but I think people who were expecting the mystery promised on the cover may have been easily disappointed.
In terms of the mystery, it did kind of feel slightly cliched and predictable in places. As much as I liked the character of DI Birkens, the ‘alcoholic detective with a load of personal baggage who takes the case home with him and gets way too close to the victim’s family’ trope has been done to death, so it was a little tiring to read. I also guessed who the unsub was very early on, and the way it unfolds at the end with the circumstances of the unsub’s discovery/capture is, again, a very overused, predictable trope. Whilst I say all this, and it sounds like I’m being really negative, none of it actually bothered me all that much. Like I said, the book didn’t feel like a typical thriller, in that plot and mystery weren’t the main elements; what had much more emphasis than those were the characterisation and emotions, and that aspect of it is so well done.
Like her debut, this is not a light and cheery book, but is once again incredibly moving and powerful. Gomes really does write ‘emotional’ so very well. She described sadness and grief in such a sensory, physical way. One such passage is:
‘My back spasms as I heave in and out. I close my eyes so hard, it hurts my whole face. Warm tears stream down my cheeks and I wipe them away roughly with the back of my glove.’
And I actually found myself choking up a little reading that. Writing in this way prompts the reader to think about how those things would feel on their own body, and makes you experience it along with the character.
I think part of what sets Gomes’ writing apart so much is her attention to detail when describing things; her stories and characters feel so incredibly real, because of the little bits she puts in which make it more 3D. Like, she doesn’t just write ‘I sat on my bed’, but ‘Scooting back up on my bed, I push back until my spine touches the wall.’ It may not sound that important, but that little Scoot-and-Wriggle is something I do every time I sit on my bed. And those tiny little human touches are the bits that could easily get overlooked by a less skilled writer, but they’re the bits which make the characters relatable, give you solid mental images, and make you truly believe what you’re reading.
I don’t ever rate books in between stars, because I’m such a rigid rule follower, but this was a really tricky one for me. Giving it three stars felt far too harsh, as I did really enjoy a lot about it, but it wasn’t without its downfalls, so it didn’t feel on a par with most of the other books I’ve rated four stars this year. It really is a solid 3.5 star read for me. I still rate N.D. Gomes very highly as an author, and I will be eagerly awaiting her next release, but on the whole I think this book kind of missed the mark of being the mystery it was billed as, and that just let it down from being one of my favourites.
Set on the small island of Orkney, the book deals well with the feelings of being trapped in your hometown and seems to really capture the essence of island life. I don’t know whether this sheltered upbringing has anything to do with it, but I found Alex’s voice as a narrator to be a little young. At first I felt she was slightly unbelievable as a 15-year-old, and maybe she belonged in a book that was sort of the top end of MG, rather than YA. However, she did mature a little once the heaviness of the subject matter hit and I found it much easier to excuse her younger, more annoying qualities in the circumstances.
I did find the marketing of this book a little confusing, because the title, cover, blurb, tagline and even the enigmatic first line of the book centre around the ‘5000 blackbirds [that] dropped dead on New Year’s Eve’, which is a really intriguing idea, and sets up some kind of link between Olivia’s disappearance and this mysterious, possibly supernatural happening. However, the situation with the blackbirds ends up being an extremely minor point in the story, that is never really revisited, and completely unrelated to Olivia’s case. I understand that there may be some deeper meaning here that I’ve failed to interpret, but from having a quick read through other reviews, it seems that everybody else has missed this relevance too, and if nobody’s getting it then maybe it just doesn’t work? This isn’t exactly a criticism, because I still really liked the book, but I think people who were expecting the mystery promised on the cover may have been easily disappointed.
In terms of the mystery, it did kind of feel slightly cliched and predictable in places. As much as I liked the character of DI Birkens, the ‘alcoholic detective with a load of personal baggage who takes the case home with him and gets way too close to the victim’s family’ trope has been done to death, so it was a little tiring to read. I also guessed who the unsub was very early on, and the way it unfolds at the end with the circumstances of the unsub’s discovery/capture is, again, a very overused, predictable trope. Whilst I say all this, and it sounds like I’m being really negative, none of it actually bothered me all that much. Like I said, the book didn’t feel like a typical thriller, in that plot and mystery weren’t the main elements; what had much more emphasis than those were the characterisation and emotions, and that aspect of it is so well done.
Like her debut, this is not a light and cheery book, but is once again incredibly moving and powerful. Gomes really does write ‘emotional’ so very well. She described sadness and grief in such a sensory, physical way. One such passage is:
‘My back spasms as I heave in and out. I close my eyes so hard, it hurts my whole face. Warm tears stream down my cheeks and I wipe them away roughly with the back of my glove.’
And I actually found myself choking up a little reading that. Writing in this way prompts the reader to think about how those things would feel on their own body, and makes you experience it along with the character.
I think part of what sets Gomes’ writing apart so much is her attention to detail when describing things; her stories and characters feel so incredibly real, because of the little bits she puts in which make it more 3D. Like, she doesn’t just write ‘I sat on my bed’, but ‘Scooting back up on my bed, I push back until my spine touches the wall.’ It may not sound that important, but that little Scoot-and-Wriggle is something I do every time I sit on my bed. And those tiny little human touches are the bits that could easily get overlooked by a less skilled writer, but they’re the bits which make the characters relatable, give you solid mental images, and make you truly believe what you’re reading.
I don’t ever rate books in between stars, because I’m such a rigid rule follower, but this was a really tricky one for me. Giving it three stars felt far too harsh, as I did really enjoy a lot about it, but it wasn’t without its downfalls, so it didn’t feel on a par with most of the other books I’ve rated four stars this year. It really is a solid 3.5 star read for me. I still rate N.D. Gomes very highly as an author, and I will be eagerly awaiting her next release, but on the whole I think this book kind of missed the mark of being the mystery it was billed as, and that just let it down from being one of my favourites.
September 26, 2017
*SPOILERS*
ARC kindly provided by HQ in exchange for an honest review.
My rating: 2/5 stars
The first thing that came into mind when I read this novel’s title was It’s just like To Kill a Mockingbird! and then when I read the blurb, that thought further engraved itself into my mind. This twisted alikeness of the two books made me super excited to read this novel, because I absolutely loved Harper Lee’s writing. Unfortunately however, I was greatly disappointed when I realised that this book, as a whole, was way below my expectations!
The blackbird symbolism, which was introduced considerably early on in the book and was most likely meant to represent the innocence of the murdered victim, did not have much depth or meaning to it and to me felt quite forced and I personally think the novel would’ve been better off without it.
I was antagonistic towards the main character, Alex, because she was very stubborn and childish from the very beginning of the novel. Sure, she was the baby of the family and was allowed to be pampered, but that doesn’t mean that she had to be immature around everyone. I mean, she got into a cat fight with her best friend because she caught her dating her ex-crush, after she had told him that things couldn’t work out between them! Can you get any more foolish and possessive than that? I also thought that Alex was a fool for, what some may call wishful thinking but I call stupidity, and believing her sister would be safe and alive after being missing for two days on a tiny island where there is no such thing as privacy and everybody knows everybody and the latest happenings in each other’s lives.
I know I’m probably being really harsh with Alex, especially after she lost her best-friend-like sister and all (although it did seem like she was kept in the dark by her sister about quite a few things actually; and some really major ones too!), but to me it seems that it was something that she needed to mature and develop her character.
Maybe it’s the fact that it’s really hard to get me emotional or maybe it’s the fact that Gomes didn’t really enforce the proximity of the sisters’ relationship, but I wasn’t as lost in grief as I thought I would’ve been, had the narration been better.
The first chapter from the victim’s perspective really had me hooked – unlike the rest of them from Alex’s P.O.V – and left me craving for more. The fact that she referred to her possible murderer as only ‘he’ and ‘him’ raised the suspense of the book incredibly, although it didn’t help my interest in the book because there were only two short chapters, from the victim’s perspective, in the whole thirty-one chapter book.
Nonetheless, this book was not a total dampener and there were some things that I did like, for instance the cover and the chapters from the victim’s perspective.
I strongly felt that the blurb, title and book cover mislead readers – especially me – to believe that this novel was something more, something better, than it actually was and I am disappointed to say that it wasn’t the dark, mesmerising, psychological thriller I was hoping it to be. However I would still like to commend ND Gomes on her efforts.
Shreema
ARC kindly provided by HQ in exchange for an honest review.
My rating: 2/5 stars
The first thing that came into mind when I read this novel’s title was It’s just like To Kill a Mockingbird! and then when I read the blurb, that thought further engraved itself into my mind. This twisted alikeness of the two books made me super excited to read this novel, because I absolutely loved Harper Lee’s writing. Unfortunately however, I was greatly disappointed when I realised that this book, as a whole, was way below my expectations!
The blackbird symbolism, which was introduced considerably early on in the book and was most likely meant to represent the innocence of the murdered victim, did not have much depth or meaning to it and to me felt quite forced and I personally think the novel would’ve been better off without it.
I was antagonistic towards the main character, Alex, because she was very stubborn and childish from the very beginning of the novel. Sure, she was the baby of the family and was allowed to be pampered, but that doesn’t mean that she had to be immature around everyone. I mean, she got into a cat fight with her best friend because she caught her dating her ex-crush, after she had told him that things couldn’t work out between them! Can you get any more foolish and possessive than that? I also thought that Alex was a fool for, what some may call wishful thinking but I call stupidity, and believing her sister would be safe and alive after being missing for two days on a tiny island where there is no such thing as privacy and everybody knows everybody and the latest happenings in each other’s lives.
I know I’m probably being really harsh with Alex, especially after she lost her best-friend-like sister and all (although it did seem like she was kept in the dark by her sister about quite a few things actually; and some really major ones too!), but to me it seems that it was something that she needed to mature and develop her character.
Maybe it’s the fact that it’s really hard to get me emotional or maybe it’s the fact that Gomes didn’t really enforce the proximity of the sisters’ relationship, but I wasn’t as lost in grief as I thought I would’ve been, had the narration been better.
The first chapter from the victim’s perspective really had me hooked – unlike the rest of them from Alex’s P.O.V – and left me craving for more. The fact that she referred to her possible murderer as only ‘he’ and ‘him’ raised the suspense of the book incredibly, although it didn’t help my interest in the book because there were only two short chapters, from the victim’s perspective, in the whole thirty-one chapter book.
Nonetheless, this book was not a total dampener and there were some things that I did like, for instance the cover and the chapters from the victim’s perspective.
I strongly felt that the blurb, title and book cover mislead readers – especially me – to believe that this novel was something more, something better, than it actually was and I am disappointed to say that it wasn’t the dark, mesmerising, psychological thriller I was hoping it to be. However I would still like to commend ND Gomes on her efforts.
Shreema
November 11, 2017
I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was another really enjoyable YA thriller that read super quickly and kept me hooked until the very end. There's not much I can say about the synopsis that isn't detailed above without spoiling the book but we follow Alex as she strives to find out what happened to her sister on the night she disappeared. With the help of an unlikely friend, the lead detective on the case, she begins to discover more than she bargains for.
First of all I want to say I really enjoyed how this story was written. I loved the first person narrative and the way the dialogue was structured. There wasn't any unnecessary commentary and I liked this, it really made the story flow. The whole book felt very stream of consciousness and it was quite metaphorical in places and this really immersed me in the emotions of the story. I loved the way this book depicted grief and the feelings of loss and I really felt Alex's desire to know what happened to her sister. Alex really sought attention and comfort from an outside figure to help her make sense of what was happening and this felt really real. She needed someone to talk to that meant something to her, not meaningless conversation, and this made her detachment from her friends much more understandable. She worked through her feelings in a way that made sense. It was nice to see this rather then see her go off the rails like so many young people do in novels like this.
The story kept me hooked throughout. I was intrigued and I needed to see where we were going to end up. I was completely in the dark with where the story was going until about 80% of the way through. At this point we were given a clue in one of Olivia's chapters and I was able to figure out the reveal. This didn't necessarily ruin the reveal for me but I think we could of done without the hint. The ending would of been more shocking had we not got this as I had absolutely no idea until this point. I was also a little bit iffy about the last 20% of the book. I didn't feel what happened to Alex necessarily needed to happen and I would of just liked the investigation to continue with Inspector Birkins and Alex. I feel it would of been nice to bring Alex's want to discover the truth to a head. That being said, this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story and I still had to keep reading to know what happened.
Overall I really enjoyed this book. It was a great suspenseful read and one of the more enjoyable YA thrillers that I have read in a while. I would definitely recommend it to fans of the genres.
This review can also be found on my blog athttps://gemmasbooknook.blogspot.co.uk...
This was another really enjoyable YA thriller that read super quickly and kept me hooked until the very end. There's not much I can say about the synopsis that isn't detailed above without spoiling the book but we follow Alex as she strives to find out what happened to her sister on the night she disappeared. With the help of an unlikely friend, the lead detective on the case, she begins to discover more than she bargains for.
First of all I want to say I really enjoyed how this story was written. I loved the first person narrative and the way the dialogue was structured. There wasn't any unnecessary commentary and I liked this, it really made the story flow. The whole book felt very stream of consciousness and it was quite metaphorical in places and this really immersed me in the emotions of the story. I loved the way this book depicted grief and the feelings of loss and I really felt Alex's desire to know what happened to her sister. Alex really sought attention and comfort from an outside figure to help her make sense of what was happening and this felt really real. She needed someone to talk to that meant something to her, not meaningless conversation, and this made her detachment from her friends much more understandable. She worked through her feelings in a way that made sense. It was nice to see this rather then see her go off the rails like so many young people do in novels like this.
The story kept me hooked throughout. I was intrigued and I needed to see where we were going to end up. I was completely in the dark with where the story was going until about 80% of the way through. At this point we were given a clue in one of Olivia's chapters and I was able to figure out the reveal. This didn't necessarily ruin the reveal for me but I think we could of done without the hint. The ending would of been more shocking had we not got this as I had absolutely no idea until this point. I was also a little bit iffy about the last 20% of the book. I didn't feel what happened to Alex necessarily needed to happen and I would of just liked the investigation to continue with Inspector Birkins and Alex. I feel it would of been nice to bring Alex's want to discover the truth to a head. That being said, this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story and I still had to keep reading to know what happened.
Overall I really enjoyed this book. It was a great suspenseful read and one of the more enjoyable YA thrillers that I have read in a while. I would definitely recommend it to fans of the genres.
This review can also be found on my blog athttps://gemmasbooknook.blogspot.co.uk...
October 25, 2017
When Alex’s sister Olivia goes missing on Hogmanay night on the tiny island of Orkney the close-knit community is shaken to its core. Determined to find out what has happened to her sister, Alex throws herself into the investigation alongside the island police force. What she discovers will lead her to learn a great deal about Olivia, and also about herself.
**
It was the rather enigmatic title of this novel that initially drew me to it, and the blurb sounded intriguing, and like just the sort of read I enjoy. And it is not to say that the blurb is not accurate, but I got a rather different story than the one I was expecting – or perhaps it’s fairer to say that the story was what I expected, but the storytelling was not. Our narrator is fifteen-year-old Alex, who falls asleep on Hogmanay waiting for her older sister to come home, and wakes to find that Olivia never returned.
The core of the story is, of course, finding out what happened to Olivia since the last time she was seen, and we explore this (for the most part) from Alex’s point of view. The thing I particularly enjoyed about Blackbird was the way in which we get an intimate look at how Alex has to try and come to terms with what is happening to her family in the context of all the usual struggles familiar to any of us who have already battled through our teen years. Alex is stubborn, and at times immature, but in this way quite realistic.
The writing does well to maintain the tension and mystery, and although the ending was not a shocking twist, it was a satisfying conclusion to the story. I loved how the setting of Orkney lent itself to the themes of freedom and claustrophobia that are explored through the relationship between Alex and Olivia; their similarities and their differences. I was pulled along nicely by the evenly paced plot and finished the book in a couple of days. Overall it was a quick, enjoyable read that I would recommend to fans of YA thrillers or mysteries.
**
It was the rather enigmatic title of this novel that initially drew me to it, and the blurb sounded intriguing, and like just the sort of read I enjoy. And it is not to say that the blurb is not accurate, but I got a rather different story than the one I was expecting – or perhaps it’s fairer to say that the story was what I expected, but the storytelling was not. Our narrator is fifteen-year-old Alex, who falls asleep on Hogmanay waiting for her older sister to come home, and wakes to find that Olivia never returned.
The core of the story is, of course, finding out what happened to Olivia since the last time she was seen, and we explore this (for the most part) from Alex’s point of view. The thing I particularly enjoyed about Blackbird was the way in which we get an intimate look at how Alex has to try and come to terms with what is happening to her family in the context of all the usual struggles familiar to any of us who have already battled through our teen years. Alex is stubborn, and at times immature, but in this way quite realistic.
The writing does well to maintain the tension and mystery, and although the ending was not a shocking twist, it was a satisfying conclusion to the story. I loved how the setting of Orkney lent itself to the themes of freedom and claustrophobia that are explored through the relationship between Alex and Olivia; their similarities and their differences. I was pulled along nicely by the evenly paced plot and finished the book in a couple of days. Overall it was a quick, enjoyable read that I would recommend to fans of YA thrillers or mysteries.
November 28, 2017
I received this ARC for NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. A big thank you to ND Gomes and Harlequin Australia!
This review is based on an uncorrected proof and therefore quotes may not reflect the published book.
This book was beautifully written. It had a flow that was so easy to engage and from the start, I was anticipating a great little thriller. That, however, was about everything this book gave me.
Blackbird has a plot that was so glaringly obvious, so early in the book, that I quickly lost interest. This book sorely lacked in EVERYTHING. From the young sister trying to seek answers, to the old male detective who has serious transgressions in his past but that doesn’t stop him from being the saviour of the story.
It has all been done before.
The only original thing I took away from this book was the mysterious death of 5000 blackbirds at the beginning of the story. But it turns out
All in all – I enjoyed Gomes writing and therefore I may pick up another of their books in the future. However, this story in particular gave me nothing that I haven’t already experienced before in a crime mystery novel.
Full review | More reviews | Twitter | Pinterest | Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten (N. Gaiman)
This review is based on an uncorrected proof and therefore quotes may not reflect the published book.
This book was beautifully written. It had a flow that was so easy to engage and from the start, I was anticipating a great little thriller. That, however, was about everything this book gave me.
“My sister is always talking about the flower that blooms just once at midnight – the kadapul flower, which is only found in Sri Lanka.”
Blackbird has a plot that was so glaringly obvious, so early in the book, that I quickly lost interest. This book sorely lacked in EVERYTHING. From the young sister trying to seek answers, to the old male detective who has serious transgressions in his past but that doesn’t stop him from being the saviour of the story.
It has all been done before.
The only original thing I took away from this book was the mysterious death of 5000 blackbirds at the beginning of the story. But it turns out
All in all – I enjoyed Gomes writing and therefore I may pick up another of their books in the future. However, this story in particular gave me nothing that I haven’t already experienced before in a crime mystery novel.
Full review | More reviews | Twitter | Pinterest | Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten (N. Gaiman)
March 3, 2019
Blackbird is a young-adult thriller/mystery novel by ND Gomes which tells a story of the search for missing girl Olivia McCarthy.
Olivia, a teenage girl desperate to move away from her small coastal town of Orkney is last seen the night the blackbirds dropped dead, the birds often used as a symbol for freedom. Did this disappearance have something to do with the birds, or her desire to move away?
Gomes’ setting for the book, the small town of Orkney, makes the novel very interesting and it helps to convey a story of mystery where ‘everyone knows everyone’, which in my opinion makes a story exciting and really keeps the audience and the town itself on their toes as they try to guess ‘whodunnit’?
With this setting I believed would come many interactions between townspeople and therefore a lot of character progression and development, and possibly even speculation. However, whilst there are plenty of interactions, a limited number of characters really develop and I think this is helped by the fact that most of the book is written by Olivia’s sister, Alex. I believe that maybe the sharing of writing perspectives could have added to the book.
Although, this solitary perspective allows the audience to really understand the pain and emotion that Alex goes through and Gomes has to be commended for making the book feel so real in this sense. Later in the novel I think it allows the reader to understand how Alex feels about her sister.
Gomes’ style of writing also has to be commended for keeping this book really entertaining throughout and making the audience be interested as the story progresses. Especially in the later novel, Gomes' style of writing really starts to build up the mystery and creates a great atmosphere of thriller.
Finally, I would recommend this book to anyone 14+ who loves to read mystery ‘whodunnit’ novels.
Rating: 4/5
Olivia, a teenage girl desperate to move away from her small coastal town of Orkney is last seen the night the blackbirds dropped dead, the birds often used as a symbol for freedom. Did this disappearance have something to do with the birds, or her desire to move away?
Gomes’ setting for the book, the small town of Orkney, makes the novel very interesting and it helps to convey a story of mystery where ‘everyone knows everyone’, which in my opinion makes a story exciting and really keeps the audience and the town itself on their toes as they try to guess ‘whodunnit’?
With this setting I believed would come many interactions between townspeople and therefore a lot of character progression and development, and possibly even speculation. However, whilst there are plenty of interactions, a limited number of characters really develop and I think this is helped by the fact that most of the book is written by Olivia’s sister, Alex. I believe that maybe the sharing of writing perspectives could have added to the book.
Although, this solitary perspective allows the audience to really understand the pain and emotion that Alex goes through and Gomes has to be commended for making the book feel so real in this sense. Later in the novel I think it allows the reader to understand how Alex feels about her sister.
Gomes’ style of writing also has to be commended for keeping this book really entertaining throughout and making the audience be interested as the story progresses. Especially in the later novel, Gomes' style of writing really starts to build up the mystery and creates a great atmosphere of thriller.
Finally, I would recommend this book to anyone 14+ who loves to read mystery ‘whodunnit’ novels.
Rating: 4/5
October 7, 2017
Blackbird is described as an “electrifyingly dark and contemporary novel”, bringing the psychological suspense genre to YA. [ I received this book at YALC 2017 when one of the stands were giving out free proofs ]
The story is written from the point of view of fifteen year old Alex and the whole novel takes place over the month of January, starting the night of the 31st of December. When her sister, Olivia, goes missing on the evening that 5,000 blackbirds fall from the sky, Alex spends every day following trying to find out exactly what happened to her beloved sister and why she suddenly just disappeared. The storyline was good and I liked the concept of it but I thought it was going to be a rather easy read however it took me nearly a week to get through it. I didn’t connect with any of the characters and there were many parts where I pushing myself to try and finish it. Another thing that put me off when reading was the writing style - I wasn’t the biggest fan of the constant short sentences that gave the book less of a descriptive feel and more of a “getting straight to the point” aspect, which a lot of people like but I’ve always preferred the more imaginative side of a story.
There were sections of the book that I did enjoy and the suspense/psychological aspects were definitely there, I just personally don't think it was a book for me. But if you enjoy an easy read with a rather simplistic storyline then I would recommend Blackbird - especially for filling those gaps in-between book slumps.
Bookstagram : Here
My Other Reviews : Here
The story is written from the point of view of fifteen year old Alex and the whole novel takes place over the month of January, starting the night of the 31st of December. When her sister, Olivia, goes missing on the evening that 5,000 blackbirds fall from the sky, Alex spends every day following trying to find out exactly what happened to her beloved sister and why she suddenly just disappeared. The storyline was good and I liked the concept of it but I thought it was going to be a rather easy read however it took me nearly a week to get through it. I didn’t connect with any of the characters and there were many parts where I pushing myself to try and finish it. Another thing that put me off when reading was the writing style - I wasn’t the biggest fan of the constant short sentences that gave the book less of a descriptive feel and more of a “getting straight to the point” aspect, which a lot of people like but I’ve always preferred the more imaginative side of a story.
There were sections of the book that I did enjoy and the suspense/psychological aspects were definitely there, I just personally don't think it was a book for me. But if you enjoy an easy read with a rather simplistic storyline then I would recommend Blackbird - especially for filling those gaps in-between book slumps.
Bookstagram : Here
My Other Reviews : Here
November 14, 2017
This was a pretty quick and enjoyable read. A fairly fast paced mystery that follows a girl in the days that follow her sister’s disappearance.
Alex was a realistic fifteen-year-old who idolised her big sister and struggles hard with her disappearance. I found the synopsis for this book a little misleading. Firstly, because I don’t understand the significance of the 5,000 blackbirds that dropped dead – it was mentioned once or twice at the beginning and then seemed to have little to no meaning for the rest of the book. Secondly, it mentions that Alex is on a mission to find out just what happened to Olivia. But does she really want to know all the answers? which makes it sound like she launches her own investigation and goes on a journey of discovering secrets. What actually happens is that she asks a few people some questions, accuses the police of not doing enough, and discovers her sister had a new boyfriend – so not quite what I was expecting.
If I hadn’t read the synopsis for this I probably would’ve enjoyed the plot a little more, but I was expecting more secrets and a grittier storyline than what we got.
That aside, I did enjoy it on the whole and the culprit’s identity was a nice surprise. I didn’t love Alex as a character, but I did warm to her by the end of the book and felt sorry for her as the daughter who was getting forgotten by her parents because of her older sister’s disappearance. Her anger and her pain felt real, and I liked the tentative friendship she developed with the chief Inspector on the case.
If you like a bit of light mystery and want to see the impact of a situation like this on the family it affects then I’d definitely recommend Blackbird.
Alex was a realistic fifteen-year-old who idolised her big sister and struggles hard with her disappearance. I found the synopsis for this book a little misleading. Firstly, because I don’t understand the significance of the 5,000 blackbirds that dropped dead – it was mentioned once or twice at the beginning and then seemed to have little to no meaning for the rest of the book. Secondly, it mentions that Alex is on a mission to find out just what happened to Olivia. But does she really want to know all the answers? which makes it sound like she launches her own investigation and goes on a journey of discovering secrets. What actually happens is that she asks a few people some questions, accuses the police of not doing enough, and discovers her sister had a new boyfriend – so not quite what I was expecting.
If I hadn’t read the synopsis for this I probably would’ve enjoyed the plot a little more, but I was expecting more secrets and a grittier storyline than what we got.
That aside, I did enjoy it on the whole and the culprit’s identity was a nice surprise. I didn’t love Alex as a character, but I did warm to her by the end of the book and felt sorry for her as the daughter who was getting forgotten by her parents because of her older sister’s disappearance. Her anger and her pain felt real, and I liked the tentative friendship she developed with the chief Inspector on the case.
If you like a bit of light mystery and want to see the impact of a situation like this on the family it affects then I’d definitely recommend Blackbird.
November 16, 2017
This book is a beautifully written, heartbreaking story of how a teenage girl copes in the aftermath of her adored older sister’s disappearance. Whilst the mystery of what happened to Olivia is a theme throughout the book, it is not the most important one for me. Instead, it is a story about how a family claws their way slowly back from the brink of self-destruction, and how a younger sister who worshipped her sibling adjusts to becoming the only child. As all of Alex’s relationships break down around her, the friendship she forms with DI Birkens is particularly touching as they slowly help each other find their way home.
Gomes’ descriptions of Orkney draw you in and really make you feel that you are right there on the island. Alex’s love for the island is clear from the outset, whilst Olivia’s feelings of claustrophobia, both at being trapped on the island, and in the choices she has made, is almost palpable from the short entries told from her perspective. These extracts also provide some valuable details that only Olivia would know, and show just how much she was hiding, and how badly she wanted to reconnect with her sister.
Although initially I did not see the connection between all the blackbirds falling from the skies of America at the same time a young woman disappears on Orkney, as the story unfolded and Alex’s description of how the birds in the sky reminded her of Olivia’s dancing, the symbolism of these two unrelated events became clear.
I did work out what the situation behind Olivia’s disappearance was before it was revealed in the book, but I do not think that writing a great mystery was what the author had in mind. This book goes much deeper than that, and it will be a while before the emotions of the story really leave me.
Gomes’ descriptions of Orkney draw you in and really make you feel that you are right there on the island. Alex’s love for the island is clear from the outset, whilst Olivia’s feelings of claustrophobia, both at being trapped on the island, and in the choices she has made, is almost palpable from the short entries told from her perspective. These extracts also provide some valuable details that only Olivia would know, and show just how much she was hiding, and how badly she wanted to reconnect with her sister.
Although initially I did not see the connection between all the blackbirds falling from the skies of America at the same time a young woman disappears on Orkney, as the story unfolded and Alex’s description of how the birds in the sky reminded her of Olivia’s dancing, the symbolism of these two unrelated events became clear.
I did work out what the situation behind Olivia’s disappearance was before it was revealed in the book, but I do not think that writing a great mystery was what the author had in mind. This book goes much deeper than that, and it will be a while before the emotions of the story really leave me.
November 22, 2017
You gotta love ND Gomes because of this book. The characters are developed and likable, the plot has twists, and I did not guessed who the killer was or how the ending would play out. It was so intoxicating. I love every single of it. I did not see it coming. It was unexpected but executed so well. The entire time I felt like I knew who it was and then, Boom! It wasn't who I expected and I love books like that. I love the elements of surprise in a novel and this one pulled out all the stops. It was beautifully written, totally immersive narrative, the viewpoints and clever twists was just all so great.
It was also entertaining and I find it hard to set it down. I also love how fast and understandable the pacing of the story and it's a big factor for me to give a novel a high rating. I already finished another book and just started a new one but I still remember the details about Olivia's disappearance and the end of the story.
Another reason that makes me convince to go with this book is because I was so curious about the plot. I am expecting for something mysterious like what is the connection of the 5,000 dead blackbirds to Olivia's death and I am so disappointed that I found nothing about it. But still, I love how the story was told.
There is much to say without the risk of giving up some detail that's best left secret. So many time I wanted to just take one little peek at the end to see what happens to Alex and who is the real culprit. But I did not. I survived the heart pounding suspense and made it to the end of a very satisfying read.
This book is definitely all it was hyped to be.
October 24, 2017
Well colour me disappointed - I thought this sounded really interesting and was intrigued how all the dead blackbirds was going to tie into the story, turns out they don’t. Never really mentioned again after the young victim is discovered, they were just used as symbolism for a loss of innocence and life (I think!?) but there’s not much depth or meaning put into it.
I loved that the first chapter was from the victims POV, I wish there’d been more of those thrown in throughout the book because it really managed to up the suspense of who the murdered was only ever referring to them as ‘he’ or ‘him but giving no other real clues. Sadly it went downhill from there because the rest of the chapters were told from Alex’s POV and Alex was annoyingly stubborn and immature. I know she’s meant to be the baby of the family and has become accustomed to a certain amount of pandering and she’s experiencing loss for the first time, but that’s no excuse to be a total brat to everyone around you. I felt disengaged from her from the get go, she’s irritating and I just didn’t care about her as a character, which ruined the story a bit since she’s our voice for the entire thing.
This book was not the gritty psychological thriller that I was hoping for and expecting from the blurb, if it were I probably would’ve been hooked but instead I was forcing myself to continue with it at times, It just wasn’t a compelling read. I couldn’t get myself hooked on the story or the people.
It's far from the worst book i've read this year but it's not fantastic either.
I loved that the first chapter was from the victims POV, I wish there’d been more of those thrown in throughout the book because it really managed to up the suspense of who the murdered was only ever referring to them as ‘he’ or ‘him but giving no other real clues. Sadly it went downhill from there because the rest of the chapters were told from Alex’s POV and Alex was annoyingly stubborn and immature. I know she’s meant to be the baby of the family and has become accustomed to a certain amount of pandering and she’s experiencing loss for the first time, but that’s no excuse to be a total brat to everyone around you. I felt disengaged from her from the get go, she’s irritating and I just didn’t care about her as a character, which ruined the story a bit since she’s our voice for the entire thing.
This book was not the gritty psychological thriller that I was hoping for and expecting from the blurb, if it were I probably would’ve been hooked but instead I was forcing myself to continue with it at times, It just wasn’t a compelling read. I couldn’t get myself hooked on the story or the people.
It's far from the worst book i've read this year but it's not fantastic either.
January 7, 2018
I wasn’t really sure what I had to expect before I picked up this book. But it was not this. And since I’m normally not reading crime/mystery thingy stories, this was fairly new territory for me. But I have to say, I liked what I read there.
The book starts on January 1st, 2016. The following chapters each tell of the days that follow. From the beginning it is clear, that something is off and that Olivia’s disappearance is not normal. I don’t want to say too much but pretty soon in the book, her body is discovered near the village of Orkney, where the story takes place. The book follows Alex, Olivia’s younger sister in her desperate search for her sister and later, for her sister’s murder.
Alex is fifteen, young and a bit naive, looking up to her sister in almost every aspect of life. That her sister is gone affects her deeply, the person she trusts the most is suddenly gone and she seems to be alone with her grief, because her parents need to sort their grief out as well. N. D. Gomes tells the story in a very realistic, haunting, even a bit childish and naive way, thanks to the young protagonist. She shows the consequences of something so terrible, visualizing fears and hopes of each of the characters, picturing the characters in different phases of grief.
The book is generally pretty dark, reading it made me quite restless. Especially Alex’ character is something that left something behind in my mind. I can feel with her so much, her character is written so well.
Though it was kind of obvious to me where the story was going I enjoyed reading Blackbird a lot. It was short, deep and as I said before, somewhat haunting. I’m still thinking about it.
The book starts on January 1st, 2016. The following chapters each tell of the days that follow. From the beginning it is clear, that something is off and that Olivia’s disappearance is not normal. I don’t want to say too much but pretty soon in the book, her body is discovered near the village of Orkney, where the story takes place. The book follows Alex, Olivia’s younger sister in her desperate search for her sister and later, for her sister’s murder.
Alex is fifteen, young and a bit naive, looking up to her sister in almost every aspect of life. That her sister is gone affects her deeply, the person she trusts the most is suddenly gone and she seems to be alone with her grief, because her parents need to sort their grief out as well. N. D. Gomes tells the story in a very realistic, haunting, even a bit childish and naive way, thanks to the young protagonist. She shows the consequences of something so terrible, visualizing fears and hopes of each of the characters, picturing the characters in different phases of grief.
The book is generally pretty dark, reading it made me quite restless. Especially Alex’ character is something that left something behind in my mind. I can feel with her so much, her character is written so well.
Though it was kind of obvious to me where the story was going I enjoyed reading Blackbird a lot. It was short, deep and as I said before, somewhat haunting. I’m still thinking about it.
November 20, 2017
3.5*
The story follows Alex, a 15-year-old, whose sister has gone missing. The story is very much Alex struggling with the loss of her sister and she becomes heavily involved with trying to find out what has happened. There's not much to say about the plot, as it would be spoiling!
This book was very intriguing from the start, had me addicted from page 1.
It was an easy and fast read.
Even though I enjoyed reading this book, I have to say I'm kind of disappointed that the blackbirds dying had nothing to do with the actual plot, like at all. I was expecting it to have some relevance to the story, but nope. None. I mean its on the front cover! ' On New Year's Eve 5,000 blackbirds dropped dead. The same day Olivia McCarthy went missing from a small coastal village in Orkney.' 5000 blackbirds drop dead but no answers?!
Overall, the book is really enjoyable, it keeps you on edge, it does a good job at hooking you into the story. Just don't go into it thinking the blackbirds dying has anything to do with Oliva going missing and you won't be disappointed.
The story follows Alex, a 15-year-old, whose sister has gone missing. The story is very much Alex struggling with the loss of her sister and she becomes heavily involved with trying to find out what has happened. There's not much to say about the plot, as it would be spoiling!
This book was very intriguing from the start, had me addicted from page 1.
It was an easy and fast read.
Even though I enjoyed reading this book, I have to say I'm kind of disappointed that the blackbirds dying had nothing to do with the actual plot, like at all. I was expecting it to have some relevance to the story, but nope. None. I mean its on the front cover! ' On New Year's Eve 5,000 blackbirds dropped dead. The same day Olivia McCarthy went missing from a small coastal village in Orkney.' 5000 blackbirds drop dead but no answers?!
Overall, the book is really enjoyable, it keeps you on edge, it does a good job at hooking you into the story. Just don't go into it thinking the blackbirds dying has anything to do with Oliva going missing and you won't be disappointed.
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