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abetterfate's review
4.0
Birds are miniature dinosaurs, worthy of great fear and trepidation.
Not every story is perfect, but many are. I particularly enjoyed McGuire's "The Mathematical Inevitability of Corvids", Tremblay's "Something About Birds", and Wise's "The Secret of Flight".
Not every story is perfect, but many are. I particularly enjoyed McGuire's "The Mathematical Inevitability of Corvids", Tremblay's "Something About Birds", and Wise's "The Secret of Flight".
madarauchiha's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜 my about info carrd: https://uchiha-madara.carrd.co/ 💜 💙 💚 💛 🧡❤️
I thought it was a pretty decent collection. I like most of them, except for about 3 which weren't catching my interest.
Content warnings:
◆ The Obscure Bird - Nicholas Royle
minor child death, cats,
medium emetophobia, explicit animal death and gore, unsanitary / animal feces, body horror
◆ Something About Birds - Paul Tremblay
minor Vietnam war, schools, animal death and gore with insects, religion (pagan, ethnic religions), ableist language
medium gore and body horror
major nsfw / nudity
◆ Great Blue Heron - Joyce Carol Oates
minor animal death, minor open water, death, sexual harassment, sexism, sexual assault , animal cruelty,
minor medium alcohol , gore and murder
◆ The Season of the Raptors - Richard Bowe
minor animal gore, animal death
◆ The Orphan Bird - Alison Littlewoo
minor bullying , animal death,
medium open water and swimming, kidnapping,
major child abuse / bullying, childhood abandonment, child murder, drowning , child abuse ,
◆ The Murmurations of Vienna Von Drome - Jeffrey Ford
minor murder and gore, smoking (tobacco), police brutality, sexism , injuries and broken bone,
medium stalking (done by police), body horror, heights, guns,
major police (main characters),
◆ Blyth’s Secret - Mike O’Driscoll
minor ableism, gore, mental health sectioning / psychiatric abuse, toy guns, minor animal death , suicide , child abuse, animal death, alcoholism, unsanitary and animal gore,
medium animal gore, police, wrist trauma ,
major animal gore , mental health issues,
◆ The Fortune of Sparrows - Usman T. Malik
minor: orphaning, disease, bruises , smoking tobacco, child brides pedophilia csa
medium cats
◆ Pigeon from Hell - Stephen Graham Jone
minor eugenics, self harm, abortion, medical,
medium ableism, NSFW content, animal injuries, drowning, gore,
major child death, car accidents
◆ The Secret of Flight - A. C. Wise
minor suicide and murder, gore and arm trauma
medium murder attempts, domestic abuse, hauntings / supernatural
◆ Isobel Avens Returns to Stepney in the Spring - M. John Harrison
Minor blood, medium suicide,
medium diseases, medical experimentation
major sex scenes
◆ A Little Bird Told Me - Pat Cadigan
medium death, minor unsanitary, medical / cancer ward
major end of life hospice like topics
◆ The Acid Test - Livia Llewellyn
major explicit sex scene, drugs (lsd), minor nudity / nsfw
◆ The Crow Palace - Priya Sharma
minor: orphaning, drowning, death, childhood bullying,
medium medical details, emetophobia
major animal death and gore
I thought it was a pretty decent collection. I like most of them, except for about 3 which weren't catching my interest.
Content warnings:
◆ The Obscure Bird - Nicholas Royle
minor child death, cats,
medium emetophobia, explicit animal death and gore, unsanitary / animal feces, body horror
◆ Something About Birds - Paul Tremblay
minor Vietnam war, schools, animal death and gore with insects, religion (pagan, ethnic religions), ableist language
medium gore and body horror
major nsfw / nudity
◆ Great Blue Heron - Joyce Carol Oates
minor animal death, minor open water, death, sexual harassment, sexism, sexual assault , animal cruelty,
minor medium alcohol , gore and murder
◆ The Season of the Raptors - Richard Bowe
minor animal gore, animal death
◆ The Orphan Bird - Alison Littlewoo
minor bullying , animal death,
medium open water and swimming, kidnapping,
major child abuse / bullying, childhood abandonment, child murder, drowning , child abuse ,
◆ The Murmurations of Vienna Von Drome - Jeffrey Ford
minor murder and gore, smoking (tobacco), police brutality, sexism , injuries and broken bone,
medium stalking (done by police), body horror, heights, guns,
major police (main characters),
◆ Blyth’s Secret - Mike O’Driscoll
minor ableism, gore, mental health sectioning / psychiatric abuse, toy guns, minor animal death , suicide , child abuse, animal death, alcoholism, unsanitary and animal gore,
medium animal gore, police, wrist trauma ,
major animal gore , mental health issues,
◆ The Fortune of Sparrows - Usman T. Malik
minor: orphaning, disease, bruises , smoking tobacco, child brides pedophilia csa
medium cats
◆ Pigeon from Hell - Stephen Graham Jone
minor eugenics, self harm, abortion, medical,
medium ableism, NSFW content, animal injuries, drowning, gore,
major child death, car accidents
◆ The Secret of Flight - A. C. Wise
minor suicide and murder, gore and arm trauma
medium murder attempts, domestic abuse, hauntings / supernatural
◆ Isobel Avens Returns to Stepney in the Spring - M. John Harrison
Minor blood, medium suicide,
medium diseases, medical experimentation
major sex scenes
◆ A Little Bird Told Me - Pat Cadigan
medium death, minor unsanitary, medical / cancer ward
major end of life hospice like topics
◆ The Acid Test - Livia Llewellyn
major explicit sex scene, drugs (lsd), minor nudity / nsfw
◆ The Crow Palace - Priya Sharma
minor: orphaning, drowning, death, childhood bullying,
medium medical details, emetophobia
major animal death and gore
intotheheartwyld's review
I have officially given up on this anthology of “Dark Avian Tales”
After attempting to read 7 of the stories, I DNF’d 4 of them because they were either boring, drawn out, unnecessarily Info dumping or written in an interview style (yah I didn’t like that one a lot)
I was so excited to read some stories that were marketed as dark and centered around birds as I absolutely love and adore birds. But out of the 7, only one actually hit that Dark vibe and that was the 2nd story
The Obscure Bird by Nicholas Royle,the tale was just so intriguing and then the very last page gave it that creepy dark twist and oh was it so good.
After that each story just plummeted in keeping me interested or entertained, I only made it through two others all the way and one was a poem and the other was basically about a dude on drugs the whole time, so that wasn’t dark at all, it was just a dude making poor life choices, I finished it and was like
“Well that my friends is why I don’t do drugs”
After trying for 7 stories and only truly liking one, and just getting more and more frustrated with the next tale, I’m giving up. This isn’t what I had hoped it would be and I’m sad for that.
After attempting to read 7 of the stories, I DNF’d 4 of them because they were either boring, drawn out, unnecessarily Info dumping or written in an interview style (yah I didn’t like that one a lot)
I was so excited to read some stories that were marketed as dark and centered around birds as I absolutely love and adore birds. But out of the 7, only one actually hit that Dark vibe and that was the 2nd story
The Obscure Bird by Nicholas Royle,the tale was just so intriguing and then the very last page gave it that creepy dark twist and oh was it so good.
After that each story just plummeted in keeping me interested or entertained, I only made it through two others all the way and one was a poem and the other was basically about a dude on drugs the whole time, so that wasn’t dark at all, it was just a dude making poor life choices, I finished it and was like
“Well that my friends is why I don’t do drugs”
After trying for 7 stories and only truly liking one, and just getting more and more frustrated with the next tale, I’m giving up. This isn’t what I had hoped it would be and I’m sad for that.
ptrhansen's review
3.0
I really enjoyed a few of the stories, liked a few and wasn't thrilled by a few. If you can like at least a few stories than the anthology is worth it and a strongly believe this one is.
jameseckman's review
2.0
When it says "dark" in the title, they're not joking, the horror is relentless without any relief. Between the plethora of child victims and anti-heroes it wasn't a happy read. If you are in the mood to be depressed, this book could take you there.
pagesandpints's review
3.0
Alfred Hitchcock's movie, The Birds, is one of the most unsettling movies I've ever seen. While perhaps I've always been alone in this, I find birds to be quite frightening (perhaps this goes back to being bitten by swans as a kid trying to feed seagulls at the beach - nasty bastards!!!).
Needless to say, when I saw the opportunity to read an entire anthology of short fiction based on birds, I jumped right on it. It seemed an interesting concept and something a bit different than the usual short story collections of horror that are generally published without any particular theme tying them together.
While it can be tough to absolutely love an entire collection of short fiction from various authors, this one was particularly hard to rate because there were an equal amount of stories that I loved to those that I just didn't enjoy or understand. One piece of advice I would give to those who pick up this collection is to read only one or two stories at a time - because they are all avian-themed, I found it became a bit tiresome to read too much at once.
Despite only giving Black Feathers three stars, I still appreciated the creative twist on a horror anthology. The following stories are the ones that I really loved out of the bunch:
"The Obscure Bird" (a creepy tale revolving around the strained marriage of recent parents. I'm now officially freaked out by owls, thanks)
"The Orphan Bird" (super scary story involving a child murderer - the avian theme in this one felt particularly natural and not as abstract as some of the other stories)
"Blythe's Secret" (the narrator reminded me of Norman Bates - loved the twist in this one too)
"Pigeon from Hell" (I apparently just love anything written by Stephen Graham Jones - this story was no exception. What I learned is that teenage girls are just as scary as everyone thinks they are)
Thank you, Netgalley and Pegasus Books for allowing me to read this collection in return for an honest review!
Needless to say, when I saw the opportunity to read an entire anthology of short fiction based on birds, I jumped right on it. It seemed an interesting concept and something a bit different than the usual short story collections of horror that are generally published without any particular theme tying them together.
While it can be tough to absolutely love an entire collection of short fiction from various authors, this one was particularly hard to rate because there were an equal amount of stories that I loved to those that I just didn't enjoy or understand. One piece of advice I would give to those who pick up this collection is to read only one or two stories at a time - because they are all avian-themed, I found it became a bit tiresome to read too much at once.
Despite only giving Black Feathers three stars, I still appreciated the creative twist on a horror anthology. The following stories are the ones that I really loved out of the bunch:
"The Obscure Bird" (a creepy tale revolving around the strained marriage of recent parents. I'm now officially freaked out by owls, thanks)
"The Orphan Bird" (super scary story involving a child murderer - the avian theme in this one felt particularly natural and not as abstract as some of the other stories)
"Blythe's Secret" (the narrator reminded me of Norman Bates - loved the twist in this one too)
"Pigeon from Hell" (I apparently just love anything written by Stephen Graham Jones - this story was no exception. What I learned is that teenage girls are just as scary as everyone thinks they are)
Thank you, Netgalley and Pegasus Books for allowing me to read this collection in return for an honest review!
marziesreads's review
4.0
I was fortunate to read an Advanced Reading Copy of this book.
This anthology offers a series of (mostly) horror-lite short stories with avian themes. Most of the stories are very polished and genuinely creepy. Standouts for me were Nicholas Royle's "The Obscure Bird," Seanan McGuire's "The Mathematical Inevitability of Corvids," Paul Tremblay's "Something About Birds," and Usman T. Malik's "The Fortune of Sparrows." As in any anthology, some stories failed to engage or just seemed oddly placed. (e.g. Joyce Carol Oates' "Great Blue Heron")
Recommended for those seeking avian-related diversion.
This anthology offers a series of (mostly) horror-lite short stories with avian themes. Most of the stories are very polished and genuinely creepy. Standouts for me were Nicholas Royle's "The Obscure Bird," Seanan McGuire's "The Mathematical Inevitability of Corvids," Paul Tremblay's "Something About Birds," and Usman T. Malik's "The Fortune of Sparrows." As in any anthology, some stories failed to engage or just seemed oddly placed. (e.g. Joyce Carol Oates' "Great Blue Heron")
Recommended for those seeking avian-related diversion.
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