Thursday, September 18, 2014

ARC Review: Blackbird by Anna Carey

Blackbird
Author: Anna Carey
Publication: HarperTeen (September 16, 2014)

Description: From the author of the Eve trilogy comes the breathless story of a girl racing to figure out who she is—and how to stay alive. When a nameless girl wakes up on the subway tracks, she knows only one thing for sure: people want her dead. Can she find them before they track her down? This pulse-pounding contemporary thriller is perfect for fans of The Maze Runner, The Darkest Minds, and Legend

Things I know are true:
  • I am in Los Angeles
  • I woke up on the train tracks at the Vermont/Sunset station
  • I am a teenage girl
  • I have long black hair
  • I have a bird tattoo on the inside of my right wrist (FNV02198)
  • People are trying to kill me
My Thoughts: This story was exciting from the moment a nameless girl wakes up on a subway track in Los Angeles right to the sort of hopeful end. The girl has cuts, scars and a tattoo on her wrist. She has a black backpack with a variety of things in it. One of the things is a notebook with a quarter and a phone number in it. Another is a map of the city. Another is a memo to not trust the police.

When she calls the number she is directed to an office marked on her map where she is set up for a robbery. Now she really can't go to the police. She has no explanation for what is happening to her. But she has met a boy named Ben who has offered to help her. She goes to him but the people who want her dead are never far behind.

While she has no memory of her past, her name, or anything else, she does start to get some flashbacks of being on the run on an island and having a friend to partner with her to get away from the killers. She also gets a flashback of attending a funeral and another of a house and younger brother. None of those memories are particularly helpful for her immediate problem. Gradually she learns that she is being hunted as part of a vast conspiracy where people who want to hunt human game are given targets like her.

The story was an intense thriller and it was told in the second person. I thought that seemed a little gimmicky. I never did figure out who the narrator was. There were a few isolated chapters that gave information that our nameless heroine didn't have but not very much information.

Fans of suspense will enjoy this one. The ending is unresolved and demands a sequel. I'll be looking forward to it.

Favorite Quote:
In the morning heat you are all thoughts, wondering how long the man was standing there before he took that shot. Who are you to him? Why did he protect you? Why did he follow you, watching from above?
I got this ARC from Edelweiss. You can buy your copy here.

1 comment:

  1. I like the sound of this one and this will probably be one of my next few reads. I've heard a lot of skepticism about the second person POV so not sure about that, but will give it a try. Looking forward to it.

    ReplyDelete

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