Reviews with content warning for Death - In the Shadow of Blackbirds

okay, i will be frank, from my poor memory, it is not the most amazing novel in the whole world. but whatever. WHAT FUCKING EVER. i will literally NEVER forget the scene

of the main character interacting with her boyfriend who was now a ghost, who had died in the first world war, and how his fear was described. how he was caught in this purgatory of pure terror for the rest of his existence

. it was so impactful. i literally don't know why. i just never forgot that scene, and i want to read this book again and catalogue that part because i thought about it so much i had a character or two that was inspired by that one scene. man. MAN. man. man. i think that alone also propelled it to a 5 star rating, to be honest.

Content Warnings

khakipantsofsex's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

Content Warnings

siobhanward's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This book wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great. Mary Shelley (not the author) was a decent character and the idea of the plot was ok, but I really expected more from the plot. I was looking forward to more spiritualism and ghosts, not just bits and pieces here and there.

A lot of time was devoted to Mary Shelley not being a typical girl but also super attractive. Like a LOT of time. I think that if I’d read this book as a teen (which, to be fair, is the target audience), this wouldn’t have bothered me as much, but I found that it really stuck out to the point of being silly.

There was a ton of build up for a very rushed ending. I wish the book had moved faster so that the ending could have been longer and more time could have been spent tying up loose ends

Content Warnings

ever_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This book was a really well done horror. There was mystery, intrigue, genuine moments of fear and underneath all the fantastical elements the haunting horror of reality. Reading this book during a pandemic is a surreal experience. It isn't easy but it's not supposed to be, the Spanish flu and our current pandemic are terrifying beasts that you can't fight. The effects of war on both those who didn't come back and those who did is incredibly well done in this book. It's gruesome and unpleasant as it should be. The spiritual elements of the novel were also really well done and the twists were unexpected. While I did find the characters to be the weakest part of the novel they were not poorly written, I just felt they served the plot more than the plot served them. A really well done book for a world in the midst of uncertainty and chaos which reminds us that there are more horrors in the world than just those we can see, or even can't see.

Content Warnings

More...