Blackbirds
by Chuck Wendig
- Percentage of approved critics who have given this book a positive review.
Critic Rating
65%
Critic Reviews: 42
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- User rating from iDreamBooks & iTunes
Reader Rating
94%
Reader Ratings: 121
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Synopsis
Miriam Black knows when you will die. Still in her early twenties, she's foreseen hundreds of car crashes, heart attacks, strokes, suicides, and slow deaths by cancer. But when Miriam hitches a ride with truck driver Louis Darling and shakes his hand, she sees that in thirty days Louis will be gruesomely murdered while he calls her name. Miriam has given up trying to save people; that only makes their deaths happen. But Louis will die because he met her, and... more
About Chuck Wendig
- All Critics: 42
- Positive: 34
- Negative: 8
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The Guardian | 29 May 2012
It's vivid and violent, with some pyrotechnic turns of phrase, if occasionally rough round the edges.
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Savannah Now | 22 May 2012
Blackbirds is a triumphant and tantalizing first step in an exciting new series, one which promises to take both readers and Miriam on a journey as enlightening as it is entertaining.
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The Ranting Dragon | 3 Jul 2012
With near-surgical, intoxicant-fueled precision, Chuck Wendig’s Blackbirds cuts directly to where it hurts the very most and yet keeps you coming back for more, a stellar example of what truly dark and personal urban fantasy should be.
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King of the Nerds!!! | 13 Jul 2012
Fans of horror fiction and good simple storytelling should definitely give Blackbirds a shot.
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Book Chick City | 4 Jul 2012
The backdrop may be urban fantasy but the story is pure thriller with Wendig keeping the reader guessing whether Miriam will save the day.
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The Book Smugglers | 25 Apr 2012
...I have seen this particular story done before, there is nothing new or original about an abrasive, damaged UF heroine who is struggling with the conceits of free will x fate. Been there, read that.
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Functional Nerds | 17 May 2012
One of the things I did not enjoy was the excessive profanity...it wore thin quickly.
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Chuck Caruso | 19 Jun 2012
if you like your novels down-and-dirty, pedal-to-the-metal, and still thought-provoking...if you like your fiction dark and weird, you need to read this book.
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Violin in a Void | 24 Apr 2012
... I enjoyed Blackbirds. It’s a quick and dirty brush with the seedier side of urban fantasy.
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Doyce Testerman | 18 May 2012
it’s Miriam that makes Blackbirds work...You may not like her (she’ll be happier if you don’t), but you’ll care.
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The Readventurer | 20 Apr 2012
My advice about Blackbirds? Skip it, unless you are a dude or have a taste for gross, and read Zoo City instead.
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The Founding Fields | 10 May 2012
...I certainly didn’t expect anything as dark, gritty and as twisted as what this turned out to be. Neither, did I expect anything as fantastic as this.
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My Shelf Confessions | 30 Apr 2012
If you are OK with a lot of cussing, very graphic death scenes, and a wee bit of sex, oh yes and blood, let’s not forget all the blood, then you will definitely love this book.
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Spinetingler Magazine | 24 Apr 2012
Chuck Wendig’s latest novel, BLACKBIRDS, doesn’t walk up to you slowly and give you a hug. No, it smacks you in the face, roughs you up, and makes you like it.
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Dark Faerie Tales | 14 Jun 2012
Uber-violent and crude, a dark thrill ride that never stops. Beware, this novel is not for the faint of heart.
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The Little Red Reviewer Blog | 10 Jul 2012
This style of writing isn’t a scapel that has you bleeding before you realize it, this is more a jagged rusty machete that’s still covered in gore from its last victim.
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Phronk | 29 May 2012
The highest praise I can give Blackbirds is that if the sequel was out, I'd be reading it right now instead of writing this review.
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Tor | 24 Apr 2012
It’s a short, sharp tale that’s consistently captivating and a pure, dark delight from start to finish.
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Book Lovers | 5 Jun 2012
This book will attack your brain directly through your eyeballs. You won’t realize it until it is too late.
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Lady Blue Jay | 10 May 2012
Not only is Mr. Wendig’s writing brilliantly gritty, but it’s raw and edgy, just as it should be.
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Stephen Legault | 1 Jul 2012
What got me was the lack of restraint: sometimes you don’t need three or four contiguous descriptions of vulgarity to explain an act of psychopathic homicide or torment. Sometimes one will do.
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Fantasy Book Review
Blackbirds dares you to get down and dirty, dares you to like this miscreant from the wrong side of the tracks, and by the end you will either love her or you will hate her.
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Wishful Thinking | 18 May 2012
...I think post-apocalyptic novels try too hard. Chuck Wendig makes today’s Earth seem like a place you’d want to blowtorch.
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The Eloquent Page | 1 May 2012
After completing Blackbirds I’m going to have to hold my hands up and admit that I am now a full on convert to the Church of Wendig.
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Uncle Berg's Unsanity Files | 16 May 2012
Blackbirds is plotted beautifully, drawing you in from the first page, and making you care deeply about this wounded and lonely soul named Miriam Black.
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My Bookish Ways | 6 Apr 2012
Chuck Wendig has managed to take the best of urban fantasy and crime noir, twist ‘em together like barbed wire, and drag you right over the barbs.
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Word Salad | 13 May 2012
It’s not that the main characters were not compelling enough but perhaps that the plot was predictable.
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Roots Half Hidden | 30 Apr 2012
It’s a piece of dark and gritty urban fantasy, where “magic” is a gift granted through trauma, where fate appears to hold power over people.
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allwaysunmended | 13 Jun 2012
Blackbirds surpassed every expectation I had for this story.
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This Writing Life | 9 May 2012
Wendig’s novel, Blackbirds, is — like the Beastie Boys’ seminal album License to Ill — by turns vulgar, angry, funny, harsh, cruel, and nasty. It’s also more than the sum of its parts.
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Notes from the Belfry | 28 Jun 2012
Chuck Wendig really delivers the goods: Blackbirds is a fast-paced, ultra-violent supernatural noir, with cheeky dialogue and a vivid pop-culture vibe.
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The Windy Pages | 24 May 2012
Wendig does a fantastic job describing the gore too, so this may not be a book for the squimish. But if you have the stomach, and want a wild ride, pick up Blackbirds.
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L'esprit D'escalier | 8 May 2012
Blackbirds is tightly plotted and breathlessly paced.
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The Speculative Scotsman | 7 May 2012
Chuck Wendig was one to watch beforehand, but with this twisted little treat he cements an already-estimable reputation.
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Whirling Nerdish | 9 May 2012
God bless you, Wendig, for a rip-roaring good read.
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Urban Fantasy Land | 23 Apr 2012
BLACKBIRDS is easily on the dark end of the urban fantasy spectrum. It’s gritty, graphically violent, pulp fiction, and yet terribly compelling.
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This is Horror
From the first page Chuck Wendig leaves no doubt in the mind that he knows what he’s doing and this confidence propels the reader into Miriam’s world.
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Emma Maree Reviews | 9 May 2012
The story moves between two timelines with short, snappy scenes without getting confusing, and the present tense keeps us right there for every moment of the action.
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Geek Syndicate | 8 Jun 2012
Both earthy and pithy, Chuck Wendig explores the emotions and feelings of someone who has no control of their gift, but who desperately wants to escape both the curse and her life.
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Wag the Fox | 3 May 2012
The ideas of fate, destiny, choices and coincidences that carry their own consequences all get a time to shine in this novel.
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All Things Urban Fantasy | 4 May 2012
The avalanche of violence was brutal, however, making it a feat for me to get through book one. I don’t think I have the fortitude to venture further into the series...
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Captain Raspberry Blogs the Universe | 23 May 2012
The story is very tight and visceral, but nothing will capture your heart or your liver like the protagonist.
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