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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
A cold blooded killer kidnaps a young girl from a restaurant because he feels an oddly connection with her (not in a Lolita way) and feels like he can turn her into something better, like him self. Kind of a coming of age story with a dark twist, this was impossible to put down and this was very exciting and entertaining in a dark way to read. Would definitely read more by Michael Fiegel in the future.
I LOVE vile, immoral characters that make you hate yourself for loving them. This book is packed full of them, but I will miss Edison North most.
Apparently I'm going through a stretch of "books that remind me of other books." This felt a lot like Billy Summers to me, and not quite as good. Not bad, just not as good.
Sharp, biting prose. An incredibly dark story with characters I had a difficult time connecting with. This one is worth a read but don’t expect any true redemption here.
I'm going with 2.5 stars but I'm rounding up to three stars because I'm really not sure how I feel about this book.
The first part of the book I liked more than the second. Edison is a serial killer for hire. He doesn't have real emotions and freely admits to that. Then one day he is at a restaurant and sees eight year old Christina. He takes her. She deserves a better life than the one she is living (he feels.)
Don't get all excited, he doesn't take her because he is an old pervert. He is just weird and don't forget..a killer. So why does he take this child? He is not really sure himself either. He keeps debating on just when he will kill her and leave her behind. But he doesn't.
That begins their weird relationship. Christina now called Xtina by Edison doesn't go to normal school. She gets taught by Edison. Not the ABC's like most kids. Her training includes how to kill herself if they ever get caught, gun usage, how to kill as many people as possible...you know, the normal stuff.
Then once Xtina is old enough she gets pulled into Edison's line of business. This is when the book started losing me....it got rambly and hard to read.
Honestly, I was bored and didn't really care anymore.
I think it's supposed to be a character study on these two characters but the skills were just not there to pull it off. (Don't start with me trolls...it's just my opinion.) The book had an interesting premise but it just didn't get it for me. I kept making myself read the thing..and honestly you shouldn't have to do that for a better book.
**no gifs for this review because my internet is acting a damn fool and I'm too lazy to fight with it**
Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.
The first part of the book I liked more than the second. Edison is a serial killer for hire. He doesn't have real emotions and freely admits to that. Then one day he is at a restaurant and sees eight year old Christina. He takes her. She deserves a better life than the one she is living (he feels.)
Don't get all excited, he doesn't take her because he is an old pervert. He is just weird and don't forget..a killer. So why does he take this child? He is not really sure himself either. He keeps debating on just when he will kill her and leave her behind. But he doesn't.
That begins their weird relationship. Christina now called Xtina by Edison doesn't go to normal school. She gets taught by Edison. Not the ABC's like most kids. Her training includes how to kill herself if they ever get caught, gun usage, how to kill as many people as possible...you know, the normal stuff.
Then once Xtina is old enough she gets pulled into Edison's line of business. This is when the book started losing me....it got rambly and hard to read.
Honestly, I was bored and didn't really care anymore.
I think it's supposed to be a character study on these two characters but the skills were just not there to pull it off. (Don't start with me trolls...it's just my opinion.) The book had an interesting premise but it just didn't get it for me. I kept making myself read the thing..and honestly you shouldn't have to do that for a better book.
**no gifs for this review because my internet is acting a damn fool and I'm too lazy to fight with it**
Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really didn't enjoy Blackbird. It's a real struggle to get through. I felt like Fiegel came in with the assumption that his audience's hands needed to be held throughout the novel. Blackbird is choc-a-block with pretty straightforward symbolism and theming, but Fiegel spends a good chunk of the book explaining some pretty straightforward meanings. I'd wager the book could have been at least a third shorter if Fiegel assumed even a baseline level of competency in his audience, rather than spend too much time explaining the meaning of straightforward symbols and restating arguments and themes that were already made fairly clear.
When the book isn't treating the reader like an idiot it tends to revel in its own believed wit and intelligence. This mostly just feels like the author is trying to be deep and edgy rather than showing any actual wit. The characters fall flat because they all feel like they're just a mouthpiece for this cookie cutter want to be edginess.
Conceptually Blackbird has a lot of potential. I think it would have been interesting if it explored the ramifications and fallout involved with kidnapping and Stockholm syndrome. Rather than looking at these very serious issues and exploring the emotional burden and struggle involved with a level of respect and reverence, it seems to romanticize the concept. Instead of creating a Humbert Humbert who is truly despicable and shows how someone who causes so much pain performs mental gymnastics to justify their actions, Edison is presented a lot of the time as this killer with a heart of gold type.
I wouldn't recommend Blackbird; it's a chainsaw trying to be a needle.
When the book isn't treating the reader like an idiot it tends to revel in its own believed wit and intelligence. This mostly just feels like the author is trying to be deep and edgy rather than showing any actual wit. The characters fall flat because they all feel like they're just a mouthpiece for this cookie cutter want to be edginess.
Conceptually Blackbird has a lot of potential. I think it would have been interesting if it explored the ramifications and fallout involved with kidnapping and Stockholm syndrome. Rather than looking at these very serious issues and exploring the emotional burden and struggle involved with a level of respect and reverence, it seems to romanticize the concept. Instead of creating a Humbert Humbert who is truly despicable and shows how someone who causes so much pain performs mental gymnastics to justify their actions, Edison is presented a lot of the time as this killer with a heart of gold type.
I wouldn't recommend Blackbird; it's a chainsaw trying to be a needle.
This is like a bizarre Pygmalion story. It’s My Fair Lady if Henry Higgins was a psychopath mass-murderer and Eliza Doolittle was an 8-year-old random girl he kidnapped.
It also has a Fight Club kind of vibe in the sense that these two characters exist on the fringes of reality- as if they are in the dark web and other people are in the regular Internet.
The story shifts in the middle and the second half isn’t as good. Some of the action there seems unnecessary. There are also two major flaws in the plot (2 instances of the same flaw, really) but I won’t spoil the story.
Nevertheless, by the end I got the analogy to the behavior of flocks of birds and understood the answer to why Christian didn’t leave when she could. I understood who is or isn’t the leader of “them” and who the bad guys and good guys are or aren’t. And I still liked it 4 stars worth.
It also has a Fight Club kind of vibe in the sense that these two characters exist on the fringes of reality- as if they are in the dark web and other people are in the regular Internet.
The story shifts in the middle and the second half isn’t as good. Some of the action there seems unnecessary. There are also two major flaws in the plot (2 instances of the same flaw, really) but I won’t spoil the story.
Nevertheless, by the end I got the analogy to the behavior of flocks of birds and understood the answer to why Christian didn’t leave when she could. I understood who is or isn’t the leader of “them” and who the bad guys and good guys are or aren’t. And I still liked it 4 stars worth.
dark
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was a page turner for sure. An utter enjoyment to read, so sad when it ended. Rooting for Xtian the whole way through!!! I will definitely read it again!!!