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A review by chwaters
Blackfin Sky by Kat Ellis
3.0
One morning, Sky is running late for school. When she gets there, the reaction from everyone she encounters is one of shock. As far as anyone other than Sky knows, Sky died three months ago when she fell (was chased?) off the pier and drowned. Even the ghost inhabiting the weather vane is surprised to see her run by. Sky, on the other hand, clearly remembers the past three months and cannot understand why everyone thinks she's dead. Even stranger, the grave that she supposedly occupied is now empty and a corpse strongly resembling her own is found in the garage of a set of super-creepy brothers who now seem obsessed with unexpectedly-living Sky. As Sky tries desperately to figure out what has happened to her, she begins to explore her oddball town with fresh eyes. She discovers the charred remains of a circus in the woods just outside of town and begins to discover that her exceedingly strange town may be the site of even stranger happenings, with Sky's family being the proverbial main attraction.
Blackfin Sky is a fascinating, if somewhat confusing, tale. There are a lot of angles that set this book apart from the pack, but to touch on all of them would spoil some major plot points. Sky is an interesting character and most of the secondary characters are as well. Some of the most unique characters in the book aren't people at all, but inanimate objects or places such as the haunted weather vane and Sky's family home, Blood House (which "speaks" to Sky via well-timed door slams, patterns in the wood grain, etc.). The town is the classic insular small town where outsiders are not particularly welcome and the locals are all just a bit quirky. Everyone knows that weird stuff happens in Blackfin, but it's become a part of everyday life for these residents. Things start to get a bit disjointed when the circus comes into play and I can't help but feel that it could have integrated with the storyline better. Everything comes together in the end and the vast majority of questions are answered. The writing is decent, but not exceptional. Overall, this is a fun, off-beat debut that will have readers puzzling it out to the end.
Blackfin Sky is a fascinating, if somewhat confusing, tale. There are a lot of angles that set this book apart from the pack, but to touch on all of them would spoil some major plot points. Sky is an interesting character and most of the secondary characters are as well. Some of the most unique characters in the book aren't people at all, but inanimate objects or places such as the haunted weather vane and Sky's family home, Blood House (which "speaks" to Sky via well-timed door slams, patterns in the wood grain, etc.). The town is the classic insular small town where outsiders are not particularly welcome and the locals are all just a bit quirky. Everyone knows that weird stuff happens in Blackfin, but it's become a part of everyday life for these residents. Things start to get a bit disjointed when the circus comes into play and I can't help but feel that it could have integrated with the storyline better. Everything comes together in the end and the vast majority of questions are answered. The writing is decent, but not exceptional. Overall, this is a fun, off-beat debut that will have readers puzzling it out to the end.