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A review by andreasromancebooks
Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver
5.0
4.75 ⭐️ I can't believe I'm giving a dark romance 5 stars, but holy sh!t this book was unbelievable!
April 2024 Edit: I have recently discovered there are severe allegations made against the male narrator in this audiobook. I will not delete this review, since I did enjoy this book immensely. I will, however, put most of the commentary specifically pertaining to the audiobook behind a spoiler warning. A shame we live in a world where sexual predators keep ruining amazing things for EVERYONE. As always, all my support goes to the brave women who are coming forward, and with those who may not able to.
It's been a week since I finished this book and I still think about it almost daily. I hate that I haven't had time to sit down and write this review -one that will try to do justice to this book (spoiler: it probably won't)- because I don't think I've ever been this excited to write a review that I already know will sing the praises of the word eejit, but here I am.
There are so many things I want to say, but the first one should probably be that this book is a bit of an anomaly for me. I don't usually read -let alone enjoy- dark romances, but my dislike for them comes from the fact that most authors use the term 'dark romance' to disguise the fact that their MCs, or more specifically their MMCs, are extremely sexist, racist, homophobic or otherwise horrible human beings to every character in the book. The whole violence and murder thing doesn't bother me as long as the driving force for it isn't any of the aforementioned biases. Wow, that was kind of wordy just for me to say 'I don't enjoy when book heroes are POS people'.
In this book, I have found a little niche in the dark romance world that I could absolutely and completely get behind. Serial killers who kill other serial killers? I am sold. Take my money. I knew very little going into the book, even if it was heavily recommended, and I'm so very glad for it. Don't get me wrong, it did surprise me just how absolutely unhinged both MCs are, but they are so f*cking perfect for each other.
Which brings me to my next point. I adore unique, flesh-out characters who step away from the norm and aren't afraid to be openly different. 'Otherness' is beautiful, and although it can come in many forms, here it comes in the shape of CPTSD and murder fantasies. And it's so unbelievably good! Which, in my opinion, only makes the romance in this book sweeter. Rowan and Sloane are wonderful characters in and of themselves, and I'm pretty sure I would read any book with them as MCs, but this book goes above and beyond.
And yes, this is the part where I'm going to start absolutely raging over the word eejit.
It should be illegal to make the word 'eejit' sexy, ok? It's not a pretty word, it's odd and funny-sounding. It even looks weird written down.
So yeah, I just could go on and on about how I think this book changed my perception of the whole genre of dark romance, and my exploration into it, but I think we all get the gist.
That is not to say that I loved, or even liked, everything in this book. The smutty scenes were a tad too unnecessarily violent and they tend to fall into D/s power plays with female degradation more than I would have liked. To be honest, the violence in the s*x scenes probably only bothered me because he did get very rough and alphaholic with her in bed when he's not like that at all otherwise. I thought it especially unnecessary considering that they already have another very real outlet for their rage... you know... the murders and all that.
So yeah, this book is by no means perfect, but isn't that the beauty of it? Just like its characters, flawed and unhinged to the point of insanity, this book is an adventure that I would recommend to anyone - who's not squeamish. Like, at all. I'm serious, the first chapter will let you know if you can actually safely read this. If you can make it through the 'little orzo pasta' thing, you're good. I promise. If not, then maybe quit while you're ahead.
April 2024 Edit: I have recently discovered there are severe allegations made against the male narrator in this audiobook. I will not delete this review, since I did enjoy this book immensely. I will, however, put most of the commentary specifically pertaining to the audiobook behind a spoiler warning. A shame we live in a world where sexual predators keep ruining amazing things for EVERYONE. As always, all my support goes to the brave women who are coming forward, and with those who may not able to.
It's been a week since I finished this book and I still think about it almost daily. I hate that I haven't had time to sit down and write this review -one that will try to do justice to this book (spoiler: it probably won't)- because I don't think I've ever been this excited to write a review that I already know will sing the praises of the word eejit, but here I am.
There are so many things I want to say, but the first one should probably be that this book is a bit of an anomaly for me. I don't usually read -let alone enjoy- dark romances, but my dislike for them comes from the fact that most authors use the term 'dark romance' to disguise the fact that their MCs, or more specifically their MMCs, are extremely sexist, racist, homophobic or otherwise horrible human beings to every character in the book. The whole violence and murder thing doesn't bother me as long as the driving force for it isn't any of the aforementioned biases. Wow, that was kind of wordy just for me to say 'I don't enjoy when book heroes are POS people'.
In this book, I have found a little niche in the dark romance world that I could absolutely and completely get behind. Serial killers who kill other serial killers? I am sold. Take my money. I knew very little going into the book, even if it was heavily recommended, and I'm so very glad for it. Don't get me wrong, it did surprise me just how absolutely unhinged both MCs are, but they are so f*cking perfect for each other.
Which brings me to my next point. I adore unique, flesh-out characters who step away from the norm and aren't afraid to be openly different. 'Otherness' is beautiful, and although it can come in many forms, here it comes in the shape of CPTSD and murder fantasies. And it's so unbelievably good! Which, in my opinion, only makes the romance in this book sweeter. Rowan and Sloane are wonderful characters in and of themselves, and I'm pretty sure I would read any book with them as MCs, but this book goes above and beyond.
Spoiler
Especially since I picked this one up as an audiobook. Holy mother of everything holy, listen to this book if you have the chance.And yes, this is the part where I'm going to start absolutely raging over the word eejit.
It should be illegal to make the word 'eejit' sexy, ok? It's not a pretty word, it's odd and funny-sounding. It even looks weird written down.
Spoiler
But, for the love of everything, this man said “Rowan, you feckin’ eejit” and I just about lost my mind. Why is this accent so f*cking hot? Like the Scottish/Irish accents? And don't get me wrong, I know that if I'd read that instead of listened to it, it would probably bother me since I'm not a big fan of accents being written down. But I listened to this book. And it was unreal. Truly a wonderful experience -and I do mean filled with wonder. I was awestruck half the time. There's something off in my brain, I'm sure, when I can hear a man narrate how he's murdering someone and my only response is: 'Yes, of course.' and 'More, please.' Lucy Rivers also does an incredible job here. And I cannot stress this enough, but books in which both the female and male narrator do their own dialogues regardless of which character's POV, are just superior. There are even adlibs added when one of them sighs or laughs that play as background noise as the narration continues. Really, one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to.So yeah, I just could go on and on about how I think this book changed my perception of the whole genre of dark romance, and my exploration into it, but I think we all get the gist.
That is not to say that I loved, or even liked, everything in this book. The smutty scenes were a tad too unnecessarily violent and they tend to fall into D/s power plays with female degradation more than I would have liked. To be honest, the violence in the s*x scenes probably only bothered me because he did get very rough and alphaholic with her in bed when he's not like that at all otherwise. I thought it especially unnecessary considering that they already have another very real outlet for their rage... you know... the murders and all that.
So yeah, this book is by no means perfect, but isn't that the beauty of it? Just like its characters, flawed and unhinged to the point of insanity, this book is an adventure that I would recommend to anyone - who's not squeamish. Like, at all. I'm serious, the first chapter will let you know if you can actually safely read this. If you can make it through the 'little orzo pasta' thing, you're good. I promise. If not, then maybe quit while you're ahead.