A review by deadcowonabun
In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters
3.0
I would give this book 3.5 stars. I think it’s a really good read and I recommend it.
I was really pulled in about halfway through the book. While it was a pretty slow start, I liked the whole mystery surrounding Steven so much, I was trying to solve it right along with Mary.
I’m pretty neutral about the characters, weren’t super great but weren’t terrible either.
The one thing that did bother me about this book is that it felt like Mary could just come back to life whenever she wanted. She died and came back to life twice in this book. The first time gets a pass from me because it explains why Mary has a connection with Steven and the whole compass thing was cool. The second time she died and came back to life I didn’t like it. It didn’t feel like it served much of a purpose to me. She got to have that little moment with Steven I guess but either keep her dead or let her have that moment without making her die and come back to life. I just think with all the death with the war and plague in this book it doesn’t sit right with me that she can literally die and come back to life at will. It takes the finality out of it. 99.9% of deaths are final. A second chance is believable but not a third. THEN we find out when she wakes up in a hospital bed that not only was she already half dead from the severe head injury, but she was able to survive the flu too? I don’t buy it. If the author wanted to keep her alive and have it be believable I wouldn’t have added her getting the flu. It just seems unbelievable and unnecessary, again.
Overall that wasn’t enough to ruin the book for me. I really did like it and think it’s a good read. That one part just didn’t sit right.
I was really pulled in about halfway through the book. While it was a pretty slow start, I liked the whole mystery surrounding Steven so much, I was trying to solve it right along with Mary.
I’m pretty neutral about the characters, weren’t super great but weren’t terrible either.
The one thing that did bother me about this book is that it felt like Mary could just come back to life whenever she wanted. She died and came back to life twice in this book. The first time gets a pass from me because it explains why Mary has a connection with Steven and the whole compass thing was cool. The second time she died and came back to life I didn’t like it. It didn’t feel like it served much of a purpose to me. She got to have that little moment with Steven I guess but either keep her dead or let her have that moment without making her die and come back to life. I just think with all the death with the war and plague in this book it doesn’t sit right with me that she can literally die and come back to life at will. It takes the finality out of it. 99.9% of deaths are final. A second chance is believable but not a third. THEN we find out when she wakes up in a hospital bed that not only was she already half dead from the severe head injury, but she was able to survive the flu too? I don’t buy it. If the author wanted to keep her alive and have it be believable I wouldn’t have added her getting the flu. It just seems unbelievable and unnecessary, again.
Overall that wasn’t enough to ruin the book for me. I really did like it and think it’s a good read. That one part just didn’t sit right.