The opening scene is our main character waking up on the subway tracks right before a train runs over her. She is stunned and cut, but mostly unharmed. As rescuers try to take care of her, she realizes she has a backpack and in it there's a phone number that says she needs to get away and call as soon as possible. She remembers nothing from before this moment.
So she goes on the run, gets framed for a burglary, and runs from someone trying to murder her. She also realizes she's being followed.
She runs into a boy, Ben, in a supermarket who takes pity on her, and ends up giving her his phone number. She eventually uses this number, and this is where the romantic interest occurs.
The whole book is this girl narrowly escaping death, trying to figure out who she is and what has happened to her, and trying to keep Ben and others she has contact with safe. She's not very successful.
She's had a few flashbacks but they don't make much sense. She's clever and finds out she has some surprising abilities that help her fight off her attackers.
Notice I've called her "she?" Blackbird is written in the second person so that you feel like you are right there with her. I found this effective, and it didn't bother me, but I'm not sure it was necessary. I'm kind of indifferent, but not having read the book written in a different POV, I can't really compare it.
I don't want to say too much more about the story, except that it ends in a huge cliffhanger which only brings up more questions and no answers. I won't give my usual rant, but just say that I really think authors should write entire stories before they publish. Even if it's a series, each book should have an ending that ties up the issues in that episode. Otherwise it should all be one book. OK. I guess I did rant a bit....
I liked the main character. My heart pounded for her, and I sympathized with her confusion. I thought she was fairly intelligent and didn't make stupid decisions (like so many stories where the tension is based on those decisions), so I bought into her world.
Carey's blog says this is a two book series and the second book will be released in the spring of 2015. This is a compelling and entertaining read, but you might want to wait until the second book is out so you can read the entire story. I'll be enthusiastically recommending Blackbird to my teens.
Published by HarperTeen, September 16, 2014
eARC obtained from Edelweiss
256 pages
Rating: 4/5
This seems like a good pick for reluctant readers. I've never heard of it before but I'll definitely will try and track it down before I order it for my library.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds really interesting and I love that it's so suspenseful. But waiting til the second book sounds like good advice, as I'm sure I'll be so eager to know what happens next!
ReplyDeleteGrrr ... I HATE cliffhangers! I agree -- an author should write a complete book. It can have unresolved issues, but it needs to be complete in and of itself. Still, I think this book sounds really good. I might just take your advice and wait to read it until the next one is out!
ReplyDelete