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laurenbookishtwins's review against another edition
3.0
I received a free copy from the publishers via Edelweiss
Blackbird started really promising and enticing, beginning with a girl waking up on the train tracks in LA, a train fast approaching. She doesn't remember anything about herself, her name, why she's there or what the tattoo on her wrist means. One thing she knows for sure, is that she's on the run from people trying to kill her.
I'm not entirely sure what to rate this, so for now 3 stars is a safe bet. When I saw that Blackbird was penned as [b:The Maze Runner|6186357|The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1)|James Dashner|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1375596592s/6186357.jpg|6366642] series meets [b:Code Name Verity|11925514|Code Name Verity (Code Name Verity, #1)|Elizabeth Wein|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388161911s/11925514.jpg|16885788], I was eager to get myself an ARC. At first, I was really into the story and the mystery and the suspense, but soon found myself disappointed.
The second person narrative was a little off-putting, and made it a little harder to read, but it wasn't disastrous and perhaps many might not found a problem with it. About a third of the way in, the mystery and suspense fizzled away and it never really came back (This was about the time when in came her love interest in a bigger way). I personally found that the plot twists weren't all that shocking and I think it's because Carey failed to build the suspense (Carey brought in an unnecessary romance, I think it would have been much better if there wasn't any at all-but I guess some might like it).
Overall a disappointing but not overly bad read.
Blackbird started really promising and enticing, beginning with a girl waking up on the train tracks in LA, a train fast approaching. She doesn't remember anything about herself, her name, why she's there or what the tattoo on her wrist means. One thing she knows for sure, is that she's on the run from people trying to kill her.
I'm not entirely sure what to rate this, so for now 3 stars is a safe bet. When I saw that Blackbird was penned as [b:The Maze Runner|6186357|The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1)|James Dashner|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1375596592s/6186357.jpg|6366642] series meets [b:Code Name Verity|11925514|Code Name Verity (Code Name Verity, #1)|Elizabeth Wein|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388161911s/11925514.jpg|16885788], I was eager to get myself an ARC. At first, I was really into the story and the mystery and the suspense, but soon found myself disappointed.
The second person narrative was a little off-putting, and made it a little harder to read, but it wasn't disastrous and perhaps many might not found a problem with it. About a third of the way in, the mystery and suspense fizzled away and it never really came back (This was about the time when in came her love interest in a bigger way). I personally found that the plot twists weren't all that shocking and I think it's because Carey failed to build the suspense (Carey brought in an unnecessary romance, I think it would have been much better if there wasn't any at all-but I guess some might like it).
Overall a disappointing but not overly bad read.
morgan_noel_'s review against another edition
5.0
Blackbird is one of the most unique books I have read. It's so rare to find books written in second person, the writing is great and the story is amazing. It constantly keeps you guessing and you never know who can be trusted. I can't wait to read the sequel!
leafblade's review against another edition
3.0
Meh.
No me gustó del todo que esté escrito en segunda persona. Siento que la autora no pudo estar al nivel de una buena manera de escribir, entonces usó la segunda persona como recurso para intentar meternos un poco más en la historia. Y no me gustó.
No conecté con ningún personaje, la verdad.
Creo que el segundo libro va a ser mejor, porque este se me hizo incluso un poco introductorio. Pero no sé, el final como que me dejó con un poco de ganas de leer más. Aún así no veo el segundo libro en mis prioridades.
No me gustó del todo que esté escrito en segunda persona. Siento que la autora no pudo estar al nivel de una buena manera de escribir, entonces usó la segunda persona como recurso para intentar meternos un poco más en la historia. Y no me gustó.
No conecté con ningún personaje, la verdad.
Creo que el segundo libro va a ser mejor, porque este se me hizo incluso un poco introductorio. Pero no sé, el final como que me dejó con un poco de ganas de leer más. Aún así no veo el segundo libro en mis prioridades.
stargirllxo's review against another edition
4.0
I love this book. It is filled with so much suspense that you actually want to keep reading. Its the kind of book that within half a page, there is an entire plot twist and event that makes you scream and want to hide. Sort of like in a horror movie when you yell at the main character to not follow the killer or something. That's how I felt while reading this book but it was still pretty amazing. Obviously i don't want to give any spoilers so I' trying to be brief. I wish they had put more of Ben in the ending to show more of what he meant to be but if i were the girl, I would've done the same thing as her. Sorry if that confuses anyone who hasn't read the book but I would love to fangirl with someone who has. Anyways, I think the ending was sweet and it ended perfectly. It just made me scream because i was hoping for a second book. The ending, like I said, it was sweet but there was some things I would've preferred to know before it ended. The way everything all came together was perfect and Ben seemed so perfect, I was in love with him too and him and the girl are my OTP so the ending was kind of a let down romantically. The blurb at the back describes what the book is about in a way that you want to read it but there was still so much to the girls identity that we don't find out.
kvreadsandrecs's review against another edition
4.0
Second person is a bit strange, but I'll keep reading this series.
amybraunauthor's review against another edition
4.0
Definitely not a story I was expecting, especially since it was written to be told from, well, my POV. Very interesting. I liked the mystery surrounding the hunt, the traps that were set up, and the way the character was confused for most of the story, though I did think the twist with Ben was out of the blue. I mean, granted, it had to happen, but at the time it just seemed really random. Still, a very interesting story.
nklosty's review against another edition
4.0
The concept was something new for me. "Sunny" and the mystery surrounding her were interesting enough to make me want to read more. 89
beastreader's review against another edition
3.0
I am mixed on this book. On the one hand I liked it but on the other hand, I thought it was just alright. The second person dialect did not bother me. It was just all the talking. While I can appreciate the author using the second person as the writing style for this book. It did lend some to the mystery of the whole story at the same time unless the character or characters are really strong in the story then this style can come off as more dream like and put the reader like me at an emotional disconnect with the character. So while I find the story interesting, after a while I lost interest and found myself just going through the motions of reading. This is when I skipped to the last chapter to see how it would all end and I was disappointed. Even the romance that the author tried to start up in this story was not enough to keep me interested.
mrvl_'s review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
laughlinesandliterature's review against another edition
3.0
*I received this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*
Blackbird was an interesting premise, but the beginning struggled with getting me into the book. The plot was well developed it was just unusual.
It was written from an odd point of view, the second person point of view which uses “you” as if it was from my perspective. It was odd and took probably half of the book for me to get used to it. It felt especially like I was being told what happened instead of feeling it. I’m sure Anna Carey was hoping that the “you” perspective would suck readers in but because it is used so sparingly it was really hard to adjust. Also, the first part of the book was really slow moving, and in the beginning I was almost annoyed by the crypticness of pretty much everyone.
However, the second half of the book is where things really got good. The main character finally starts getting some questions answered, and also gets some truths revealed to her. It also helps that I was adjusting to the point of view and so reading the book was becoming easier. It does end on a major cliffhanger, but honestly the second half of the book was so amazing I can definitely deal with that.
I think the book might have been better suited to a standard point of view, and I do think it will turn some readers off because it is so difficult to get used to. I ended up really liking this book, and even though I’m only going to give it 3.5 stars, it’s only because it was such a hard adjustment to make. I do highly recommend it to readers who are not turned off by a weird point of view and who love thrillers. This one kept me on the edge of my seat!
*This review was first posted to Moonlight Gleam Reviews http://moonlightgleam.com/2014/08/blackbird-by-anna-carey-review.html*
Blackbird was an interesting premise, but the beginning struggled with getting me into the book. The plot was well developed it was just unusual.
It was written from an odd point of view, the second person point of view which uses “you” as if it was from my perspective. It was odd and took probably half of the book for me to get used to it. It felt especially like I was being told what happened instead of feeling it. I’m sure Anna Carey was hoping that the “you” perspective would suck readers in but because it is used so sparingly it was really hard to adjust. Also, the first part of the book was really slow moving, and in the beginning I was almost annoyed by the crypticness of pretty much everyone.
However, the second half of the book is where things really got good. The main character finally starts getting some questions answered, and also gets some truths revealed to her. It also helps that I was adjusting to the point of view and so reading the book was becoming easier. It does end on a major cliffhanger, but honestly the second half of the book was so amazing I can definitely deal with that.
I think the book might have been better suited to a standard point of view, and I do think it will turn some readers off because it is so difficult to get used to. I ended up really liking this book, and even though I’m only going to give it 3.5 stars, it’s only because it was such a hard adjustment to make. I do highly recommend it to readers who are not turned off by a weird point of view and who love thrillers. This one kept me on the edge of my seat!
*This review was first posted to Moonlight Gleam Reviews http://moonlightgleam.com/2014/08/blackbird-by-anna-carey-review.html*