Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel

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Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel
Black Birds of the Gallows #1
Published by Entangled: Teen on September 5th 2017
Age Group & Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher

A simple but forgotten truth: Where harbingers of death appear, the morgues will soon be full.

Angie Dovage can tell there’s more to Reece Fernandez than just the tall, brooding athlete who has her classmates swooning, but she can’t imagine his presence signals a tragedy that will devastate her small town. When something supernatural tries to attack her, Angie is thrown into a battle between good and evil she never saw coming. Right in the center of it is Reece—and he’s not human.

What’s more, she knows something most don’t. That the secrets her town holds could kill them all. But that’s only half as dangerous as falling in love with a harbinger of death.

A copy of the book was provided for review purposes - thank you! Receiving a copy does not guarantee a positive review and therefore does not affect the opinion or content of the review.

“I’m going to sleep!” says reviewer, as she furiously types on the keyboard. The next time she looks up, an hour has passed, leaving her with one less hour of sleep and an 8 am class looming closer.

Obviously, I am a complete night owl because all of my decent reviews (aka my usual self and not some half hearted attempt of I THINK THIS IS A REVIEW BUT MY BRAIN IS CRYING SO I GIVE UP *presses schedule*) are all written after all the other souls in the house are sleeping soundly.

There’s only one other soul 99% of the time.

Also, I read this weeks ago and completely forgot about the release date being last week, so I started writing other reviews and reading other books and poor Meg Kassel’s debut just sat there crying at me silently, “Are you going to review me?”

Five Things about Black Bird of the Gallows

At the same time, I had high expectations for Kassel’s debut novel, I also didn’t, for some weird and odd reason my brain won’t conjure up (the brain is strange, very strange). Here are some things to be aware of before/when picking up the book:

Death is a theme, but used differently – the few novels I’ve read with a death theme always have something in common: there’s probably a grim reaper, and the grim reaper collects souls. Kassel uses a similar theme, but it’s not the exact same theme. Honestly, I’m curious if this has mythology ties – is it okay if I kind of regret dropping myth and folklore senior year? I sacrificed it for college credit in speech instead (that’s okay, right?).

I am in love with gorgeous lines, and Kassel delivers – I mean, they’re not enough that I want to draw them (this is a rare thing to happen), but there are lovely lines and descriptions! And there’s humor. I think I enjoyed the humor more often.

Suddenly, I notice the light steam coming off his skin—the same coming from my mouth when I speak. It feels like I’m sitting next to an attractive, boy-shaped wood stove.

There’s a music aspect – As a once upon a violin player, music is important! Okay, maybe not important in my life as much as books are, but music books are cute. Music plays a major role in Black Bird of the Gallows when it comes to character development. When we first meet Angie, she’s not as confident with her music as she eventually becomes later in the book.

Birds! (Okay, Crows) – It’s probably a bad idea for me to read another book involving birds after Shatter Me, but I’m fine with birds in this one. The crows are also one of my favorite parts of the book – the crows aren’t directly involved with death, but they play a role as well.

It gets dark – Black Bird of the Gallows might be less dark at the beginning, but it gets dark, VERY dark near the end. (Secretly my evil little heart likes this. I’m worried.)

Overall: Black Bird of the Gallows is perfect for those who enjoy books about death but are looking for something different than what we usually see.