A review by torilovesheas
Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Ya know, when accidental cannibalism is the highlight of a book, maybe I should reevaluate but...the accidental cannibalism is the highlight of the book. It's marketed as a dark romantic COMEDY but I found nothing funny? It's humor that tried really hard to be effortless and dry and I was straight up not having a good time. Because it was mostly slap stick moments or like... Three Stooges comedy? I know humor is subjective but I expected at least a little haha. Not a haha to be found, pals. 
This is supposed to be about two serial killers but?? All Sloane does is cry, get injured or captured by her target, and lament because she thinks she's not loveable. (She cries SO much oh my god). And Rowan is just... gaga over her the whole time for literally no reason. She's constantly the damsel and he's constantly rescuing her. If these were real life serial killers, they'd have been caught after the first kill because these two are vomiting at crime scenes, getting their fingerprints on every conceivable surface, and just casually getting seen by their victim's captives like it's NBD. They'd have been CAUGHT so quick in real life. There's no psychopathy, no sociopathy, no serial killer-ness to these two, dude. Just regular schmegular human beings killing horrifically I suppose? Their MOs were so convoluted and ridiculous? . So we've got...no background, ridiculously complicated MOs, and no real serial killer attributes? Alright. What happened to their families? Couldn't tell ya. 
Which leads me to the biggest travesty of this whole book. How do you make a book about serial killers that kill serial killers falling in love THIS boring? I expected competition between them per the blurb and we saw it for five seconds and then it ran away into the yonder. I don't care about your mundane lives or your 9-5 or your restaurant opening or what you ate for dinner when we could be talking about murder?? Hello?? Idk the pacing was mad weird due to the fact that it takes place over 4 years and we're only seeing them spend a few days together each year and texting the rest (which we hardly ever see). It was boring. I was bored. A feat, truly.
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