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A review by bekkah_co
Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I picked up this book partially because of the hype and partially because of the whole "Cannibalism?? Murder?? Sex??" angle people were taking towards this. I understand that many consider this book pretty disturbing. It does handle some pretty intense themes. The content warnings are there for a reason, trust me. But also, if you're thinking this book is going to be an absolute raunchy gore-fest, it's not that bad.*
I went into this wanting to be disturbed. *If you're someone, like myself who read fanfiction in the late 2000s and early 2010s, none of this is going to get to you. It's pretty tame compared to a lot of the fanfiction I've come across and read. Now Butcher & Blackbird does manage to capture that fanfiction-like charm. It's cringey and weirdly place, but I love it for that.
I think the two biggest issues I have with the book are the pacing and the interesting character "development". The pacing is "loosely" two chapters are a year. This is very loose, and the timeline does get a bit messy as Rowan and Sloane begin to see each other more. As they develop their relationship, everything moves too fast. I'm a lesbian, I get fast moving relationships. However,moving in and then promptly naming your restaurant after your "couple name" is fucking insane, even for serial killers. Similarly, there was no character development. Rowan was an obsessive fan boy with a hot head and a protective streak. Sloan started out with two very distinct sides of herself: her Normal Side and her Serial Killer side. Eventually both of these sides seemed to disappear to have Sloan's personality meld with Rowan's. There was a point in the book I had to go back to the start of the chapter to make sure that I was reading Sloan's POV and not Rowan's. They do not grow as individuals, they grow into an amorphus amalgamation of a couple. But hey, at least they do it together.
I was going to give this book a flat four. However, the epilogue and the bonus content really killed me. It was too cringe, even for a book filled with cringey dialogue. I've read some abhorrent shit, including most of the squicky stuff in this book, and I guess I draw the line atDragon Onesie Sex RP .
I went into this wanting to be disturbed. *If you're someone, like myself who read fanfiction in the late 2000s and early 2010s, none of this is going to get to you. It's pretty tame compared to a lot of the fanfiction I've come across and read. Now Butcher & Blackbird does manage to capture that fanfiction-like charm. It's cringey and weirdly place, but I love it for that.
I think the two biggest issues I have with the book are the pacing and the interesting character "development". The pacing is "loosely" two chapters are a year. This is very loose, and the timeline does get a bit messy as Rowan and Sloane begin to see each other more. As they develop their relationship, everything moves too fast. I'm a lesbian, I get fast moving relationships. However,
I was going to give this book a flat four. However, the epilogue and the bonus content really killed me. It was too cringe, even for a book filled with cringey dialogue. I've read some abhorrent shit, including most of the squicky stuff in this book, and I guess I draw the line at
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Cannibalism, and Murder
Minor: Sexual assault