The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo meets Jason Bourne: A teenaged girl wakes up on the train tracks in Los Angeles' Union Station. A train is bearing down on her and she only has moments to react. The girl rolls off the tracks and saves her life...and realizes that she doesn't know who she is or how she got on the tracks. The only things she does know: She's been trained in combat and can disarm a grown man. She has a black backpack with $1,000 in it and a bird tattoo on the inside of her right wrist with the letters and numbers FNV02198. And someone is trying to kill her.

She doesn't know her name, her age, or her past. Or who to trust.

A suspenseful book by an LA-based writer that grabbed my attention on the first page and held it throughout the book. I was in the mood for a short, fast-paced thriller and this book is perfect as a "quick read". Some of it's improbable, but aren't all of the "Jason Bourne" movies? And I love those!

--Mr. Bradford, Head Librarian ( )

2nd person point of view. Eurgh. I really didn't care about the characters, except for maybe the narrator, but I think I'd have connected to her more if the story had been told in 1st person instead of 2nd person. Still, it kept me reading. I needed to know how it ended, only it didn't. And that, more than 2nd person POV or my inability to connect to the characters, is why I didn't like this book. We get a few answers, but not many, and we don't know if she and her friend get away. I guess I expected something better from Anna Carey, after the Eve trilogy. I guess there is a sequel that finishes this story, though I was thinking it was a standalone. ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: My expectations weren’t high, but this suspenseful novel surprised me with its grit and originality.

Opening Sentence: The sun holds the heat of the sun, even an hour after it has sunk beneath the pavement, pushing its way below the sprawling city.

The Review:

I’ll admit that I have been holding off on reading Blackbird. Bad review after bad review rolled through my Twitter feed and the Goodreads page, making me hesitant to even crack the cover. Anyway, it’s less than 300 pages, and I’m adventurous, so I decided to power through so that I could write my review and be done. I was prepared for the absolute worst: shaky narrative, unexplained mysteries, plot holes. Instead, I found myself enjoying the first half. I wondered, will it go downhill from here? But in my mind it got better. It was unique, incredibly creepy, and gave me nightmares (yay!). I couldn’t help but enjoy the main character’s struggle and for me, the second person narrative style actually helped me to connect with the MC. True, I wish she had more depth, but her feelings of fear, angst, and anger are well done, and that’s what she feels the majority of the book. One little tidbit I disliked was that the whole book, she never learned her real name. Like, ever. Mostly the side characters think about her as “the girl” when they get their side chapters. She goes by Sunny a couple times, so I’ll call her Sunny in the review for the sake of convenience.

Ben was the love interest for book one, though it wasn’t a very deep romance. It was more of a fling, something to take up the time where Sunny wasn’t being chased by maniacs with secrets. She liked him for his body, and he said a few cute lines, but in the end it isn’t a relationship built to last. I doubt that they will stay together book two, though I can’t say for sure, after such a Ben-related-twist at the end. There was also the question of the boy in her few memories, the one who was protecting and kissing her. I am positive that book two will delve more into their relationship and I look forward to it with their history. In book two, I also look forward to Sunny getting back more of her memories and learning more about how the Island operates. I actually am excited for the sequel, because there are a couple burning questions I still have.

Lots of people found the second person narrative style to be hard to read. Instead of, “I put the book down”, or “she put the book down”, it’s “you put the book down.” It’s not easy to get used to, that’s for sure. But once I got past a couple chapters I felt myself sinking more into the perspective and I believe it allowed for more suspense and a closer relationship with the main character. The book was paced well, not too fast, not too slow, never a second of peace. Just when you thought the pace was slowing, bam! Another bomb dropped and you find the chapters of this short novel fly past. At least, for me. I seem to be the black sheep for this novel. Baaaaa.

Altogether, this novel was a lot of fun to read, a whirlwind of suspense and action. I was a little put off by a couple of things, such as the number of questions left unanswered and the lack of much positive emotion. It was a very dark read. The second person style didn’t bother me at all, though many had much more trouble than I did, and the plotline was unique and complex without many plot holes. I do wish the cover was more satisfying: the colors are very powerful but the graphic just isn’t visually appealing to me. Maybe it was my extremely low expectations that made me enjoy it so much more. After all, I expected to have to forge through like a determined soldier rather than enjoy the ride. Either way, I would recommend the book to anyone looking for dark, suspenseful mysterious with a little twist. If you’re the kind of person who is put off by second person, however, skip it; it’s not worth all the angst.

Notable Scene:

It was real, you think, it happened.

But when you turn around the narrow alley is deserted. Not a single car is in the parking garage. There is only that shallow wash of blood and the rush of the freeway above.

FTC Advisory: HarperTeen provided me with a copy of Blackbird. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

I have been wanting to read this book since the Epicreads girls talked about it on one of their Tea Time episodes earlier this year. I haven't read a book in 2nd person POV since those Choose Your Own Adventure books in elementary school.
As great as this book was I think it may have been better had it not been written in 2nd person. This girl, Sunny, obviously has skills, that she doesn't remember having. So I just can't picture myself doing or figuring out all the things that she does. She would be an awesome character based on everything she can do, so its hard to picture that awesome character as me.
This ending really caught me though. It ended so quickly. I turned the page to find that there was nothing left! It is the ultimate cliffhanger. I just hope the next book comes out soon because I wanna know more! ( )

Have you ever read a book written in second person? This is the first for me and it totally worked. But if not, I highly recommend or maybe just beg you to get your hands on Blackbird as soon as possible. It was that good, that entertaining, and oh so mysterious.

There is a sequel to Blackbird coming out and hopefully we can learn exactly what is happening with our mysterious girl and the boy in her dreams. Is Ben really a bad guy and why are these people hunting other people? So many unanswered questions. Blackbird would be one of those edge of your seat kind of movies (wouldn’t that be awesome?). I’m hoping the next book shows us a little more of how this ‘game’ started and how it’s carried out. ( )