A review by litwrite
Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig
3.0
It took me a while to get into this. I was forcing myself to read through the first half of the book. I just didn't 'get' it. The characters seemed forced to me, especially Miriam who seemed all hard angles, no softness. She irritated, and so did everyone else. I felt it was trying way too hard to be noir.
But then by the third part, something just clicked. I got it.
It's no coincidence that the majority of the true action begins in part 3 of the novel, and it's really where all the disparate pieces, the harshness of the characters, how everything seems over the top - it comes together and it makes sense. Miriam's character goes through her epiphany, and the novel comes together because of this fact.
Not sure if it really *fully* worked for me as urban fantasy meets noir, but that strong second half really saved this book for me. I don't really think it compares all that favorably to [a:Charlie Huston|4861|Charlie Huston|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1232225739p2/4861.jpg]'s [b:Already Dead|21277|Already Dead (Joe Pitt, #1)|Charlie Huston|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320468155s/21277.jpg|1154196], which I think was a little stronger all around and came together much better.
But then by the third part, something just clicked. I got it.
It's no coincidence that the majority of the true action begins in part 3 of the novel, and it's really where all the disparate pieces, the harshness of the characters, how everything seems over the top - it comes together and it makes sense. Miriam's character goes through her epiphany, and the novel comes together because of this fact.
Not sure if it really *fully* worked for me as urban fantasy meets noir, but that strong second half really saved this book for me. I don't really think it compares all that favorably to [a:Charlie Huston|4861|Charlie Huston|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1232225739p2/4861.jpg]'s [b:Already Dead|21277|Already Dead (Joe Pitt, #1)|Charlie Huston|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320468155s/21277.jpg|1154196], which I think was a little stronger all around and came together much better.