This book was a really fast read and I enjoyed the story overall. Some parts of the book seemed a bit clichéd and reminded me of bits and pieces from other books I have read in the past. I did really enjoy the paranormal parts of the book and felt that it made for an interesting storyline. I did like how the author went into Angie’s past and how it connected with everything that was currently happening to her. I would’ve liked a little more detail about what happened at the end of the book. It all wrapped up pretty quick and while I understand what happened I felt like the why/how part was glossed over.

I give this book a 3 out of 5 stars.

*Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review. This kindness in no way affects my opinions, and this review is honest.

"Reece leans forward, reaches for me, then drops his hand. 'I'd give anything to be a normal boy. To stay. Go to prom with you. But even one of the reasons why I'm drawn to you is because I'm attracted to death.'"
-Meg Kassel, Black Bird of the Gallows

3/5 stars

About everyone is afraid of the inevitable death that awaits one, unless if you are a harbringer of death, a beekeeper, or a scarecrow. This whole different world and everyone involved in it is unknown to everyone else until Angie Dovage, an outcast who has a troubled past, a love for music, and an obsession with her new next door neighbor Reece Fernandez, stalks and becomes a friend to the new guy Reece. With the new harbringer of death in her life, that includes more supernatural creatures like a beekeeper who is trying to bring destruction and chaos to the world and people around him coming after Angie and the ones around. As many disasters follow after one another, Reece starts unveiling everything about his world, and many more things start to become unveiled to Angie and the reader as a tale of adventure comes to play before one's eyes. As worlds collide, no one knows who will survive and who will die due to chaos and destruction beekeepers bring along for the harbringers to eat up. If Angie and Reece can try to save the world, will they be able to survive, too?

Discussion:

First, I really enjoyed reading about the characters, even though they all seem to have tragic pasts, presents, and futures.

1. Angie Dovage
Angie has a tragic past, which includes her dead mother, and a title that follows her everywhere she goes and influences every decision she makes. She is a daughter of a rich man who lives in Pennsylvania and tries to rescue Angie from her past. She is called a freak from the popular kids due to her mysterious past and character, and no one really knows her except for her two closest friends Deno and Lacey. She is also called Sparo when she is doing what she loves, which is music and creating it; however, she only plays by the rules and never does anything original until one point in the book when she realizes she needs to be herself before she regrets not doing it. She was an okay character to read about but she would always care about Reece, what he was doing, who he liked, etc. Although, I did like how she would express herself through music, and when she exposes her identity, I related with her so much since I had just revealed a secret of my own to my family. I had told them, finally, I have a blog about books and my love for them. I also realized along with her that it is good to let go of secrets that can be building up inside of you.

2. Reece Fernandez(or whatever name he chooses)
I did not really enjoy reading about Reece and his whole mysterious, puzzling life Angie was trying to discover. He was always brooding all over the place and was too mysterious for me ever to build a connection with. To me, he seemed to only stick around Angie due to her tragic past and her mother's death, which she suffered through. Also, he was always holding back information from her when Angie really needed to know it for any catastrophes coming her way. However, Reece would just hold it off until the disaster had already happened or was happening. Also, a really big part of his life, other than Angie, is his identity of being a harbringer of death. This means that he feeds off of the energy of death and that he has to move often with his makeshift family due to Beekeepers spreading chaos all over. This information is a lot to get used to since Reece, of course, tells it all at one time, which can be a little overbearing.

Along with many conflicts that intervene with the characters, relationships can either cause fireworks explosions celebrating the new couple or a stupid conflict that breaks up the troubled couple. Who cares if someone has a super cool world and many awesome characters if you have no relationships to cheer for? I would, since I was hoping that no one who I cared about would die. The main romance was Angie and Reece's. I really liked the chemistry they had together and some of the scenes they were in together; but, it was so infuriating reading about them being in the same room, wanting to kiss each other, and the two of them not being able to do anything about it. Also, even though I may have liked their chemistry and their interactions, I may bring more excitement for this couple to the table than I really have. Some scenes of their romantic endeavors made me feel weird and had assured me that the relationship between the two felt forced. Also, it had seemed to be the only relation they could hold with each other, other than never knowing about each other.

In the book, there is an emergency with a shooter near the high school. Everyone is freaking out, people are looking out the windows for a sneak peak, and students are texting everyone they know miscellaneous things. This whole event started because a boy who would never have been thought to be violent in any such way had gotten stung, which makes people turn crazy, by Ralfette, who is the Beekeeper. Even though an accident or something bad was bound to happen, this scene felt rushed and was over too quickly for me to get a good grasp on it since this event was only for Angie to see how stupid she was being about not showing off her talent for music at the local club. Also, in a bad situation, people have the normal reactions: to be scared, emotional, and wanting knowledge about what is happening. However, in this scene, it felt a little overdone or even more exaggerated than how someone would actually act in a situation like this.

Next, there is this one part in the book that I just really need to talk about because I find it so hilarious. Angie is going to watch a movie with Reece and his makeshift family at his house, which is where Reece is supposed to give the readers the information we need to understand what is going on, but runs into Hank, one of Angie's mom's ex-boyfriend and the crow with the one white feather that follows her everywhere, on the way. He tells her all the information Reece should have told us sooner, which is that Reece has had a massive crush on Angie for the longest time and all the troubles happening in Cadence, Pennsylvania at the moment. I find it so hilarious since Hank's transforms into a crow, which is so dramatic that it might as well be the movie. This is my favorite scene of the book, and I am not embarrassed nor is my my pride destroyed.

What I very much like about Black Bird of the Gallows is that it is a fantasy set in the real world. And, it is only three-hundred pages. Some fantasy books can carry on into a big series with several long thousand page books(talking about you Game of Thrones) that carry on forever, but Massel's book is a short, sweet contemporary fantasy-filled book that will leave you feeling satisfied without the longing for a second novel. This book would have been a very nice break from all the long fantasy books I have stacked up that I want to read on my bookshelf if I had not read it already. Eh, you live and you learn.

Finally, for this conclusion, I have basically written myself out in the above paragraphs. The only thing I know what to write is that this book was good, and I will certainly look out for anymore of Meg Kassel's books in the future.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

Love,
newbookcats

I've always been intrigued by those harbingers of death who appear before a town suffers a huge tragedy with lives lost like the mothman, for instance. The crows in Black Bird of the Gallows are just like that, appearing as an omen in the trees all over town. 

For Angie Dovage, this coincides with the arrival of new neighbors into the next-door house they thought would never be rented because of the deaths that occurred there. And, of course, the arrival of a cute teenage boy, Reece Fernandez, who befriends Angie even though she has a reputation of being a freak, due mostly to her mother's behavior and death.

Nothing is as it seems. Soon Angie discovers truths she may not be ready to face about what is going to happen to her town. But she also begins to learn truths about herself, which make her question whether she should keep hiding the talents she possesses as well as herself.

Black Bird of the Gallows is engrossing with a rising tension that will keep you turning pages automatically until the satisfying conclusion that tests Angie, Reece, and her friends.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Black Bird of the Gallows blends unique, and frankly bizarre, mythology into a familiar teen romance that reminds me of Twilight. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. Like Edward, Reece is much older than he appears and in a found family that moves and reinvents itself frequently. He's tortured by his nature, what he's seen and done, and fears Angie won't accept him.

Angie lives with her father in the small mountain town where Reece's family moves. She is so much better than Bella though, because she's Beca from Pitch Perfect. She DJs in a club under assumed name and creates her own music. Again, I don't mean the comparison in a negative way - I think Angie and her alter ego Sparo are awesome. And I think the familiarity is comforting during the horrific events that happen over the course of the book. (Some of these, school shootings and natural disasters, feel ripped from the headlines and could be triggering for some readers.)

But instead of vampires, there are birds, men made of bees and mysterious straw men. They are said to be all that remains of ancient magics that were purged from the earth. That story seems quite interesting and I might have liked to see a historical version where the legends were fresh.

I just didn't love the book as much as I wanted to. I like the idea of blending elements from horror and disaster films into a teen romance. But I felt like the creepy and danger overpower any warm fuzzy feelings. And I wanted more explanation of the magic.

I was really excited to read this book when i was accepted to review it. For one the cover is absolutely beautiful but also because of the synopsis! i couldnt wait to find out what was going to happen! Lets just say i wasnt disappointed at all! I loved the characters! Angie is such a connectable character who is in highschool and doesnt like attention on her while at school as she is seen as an outcast and only has a handful of friends. I also  loved her passion for music and how she was able to be herself when she was making her music. Reece, oh reece, where to start! I fell in love with reece. i loved how he was very protective of Angie straight away and how he would do whatever he takes to keep her safe from the evil that was coming! He saw right through angie and saw who she truly was and fell in love for her for who she is! I adord the romance between the two and how they trusted each other and i was reading into the night just to read more about them! Angies best friends were funny and made me laugh multiple times in the book. 

I gave this book 5 stars! I really wish there was a sequel! I need more!

Oh the feels! This story was definitely an original for me. I really enjoyed the little breadcrumbs that were dropped throughout the book (all tying up in the end), the snarky attitudes, the clashing between Angie and Reece in the beginning. I liked the depth of Angie's character, how although she has been through hell and back because of her mom's drug overdose, she isn't really a weak character. That's big. I read the last half of this book in an afternoon, I was so hooked. Definitely on my re-read list!

Oh NO, it really finished guys :( !, that makes me so sad, I feel I need more of this world and its characters, read this book it was all an experience, I underestimated it and it really surprised me

I want to thank NetGalley and Entangled Publishing,LLC for providing me with this copy in exchange for an honest review

4/5 Stars

Black Bird of the Gallows is the typical paranormal story that follows the typical character of the innocent beautifull girl, and the handsome and miterious guy. I feel that it has many similarities to Twilight, the Lux saga or even to Hush Hush, and even when I've enjoyed of most of those series, that was a long time ago, so nowadays to find a book that reminds me of the typical Ya Paranormal story, it was something that scared me a little bit. Being honest, I thought, since the beginning, that I wouldn't like it and took me completely by surprise, I didn't just started to enjoying it once I got more into it but in the end I feel that I need more of this fabulous paranormal plot. I don't know if there will be more books, because although it works well as stand-alone it would really be incredible to have at least a duology. Yes guys, I liked it that much lol

The paranormal aspects are very original, the author's idea to use animals like bees and crows, and put all this legend around them and make the whole thing something dark and cursed is great, never heard nothing like it before. At first I wasn't sure if it worked, I found the whole thing a little bit weird, but ended up working and being something unique. I also liked that the whole plot takes place in a small town where appearances deceive and everything has an mystery aura, that has been great, it gives a touch of tv serie, something like The Vampire Diaries or Supernatual. In fact I think if you enjoy some of those shows you like the book too


There is nothing really amazing about the characters, they are quite normal and typical in this type of story,. at one point I thought it would exist a kind of love triangle and I was really worried about that, but it ended up being the opposite and didn't fall into that topic, which sometimes bothers us so much, was a good thing


What I want to highlight and what I most enjoy was the Meg Kassel writing style, is incredible, super cool and easy to read, I also sincerely think that you could read this book easily in one day, it's so addictive and fast-paced, I sadly didn't have the chance to finish it so fast because life lol, but I would have liked to do it if I could. Once you start with it is very difficult to put it down. I'm 100% sure that I'll read anything by this author in the future. I highly recommend this book if you're in the middle of some reading challenge, it's perfect for such occasions.

I feel that at one point there was a lot of action going on and I was terrified by the result and then PUM!, the book ended, and here I am, still with a million questions. So I don't know how to feel about the end, I think it was rushed. Easily I could have devoured 100 pages more of this story without getting tired and maybe I would have more answers to my questions or at least to know more about what happened with the secondary characters, that is why I hope there is a continuation. And although the book, as I said, ends quite well, I feel that it is not one of my favorite endings and it's from those books that you stay waiting for more.


I highly recommend it if you want a funny paranormal reading, you'll read it very fast and you'll surely enjoy the writing style that is cool and it's not heavy at all. I also want to add that if you don't mind the typical Paranormal YA topics then surely you'll enjoy it, it's a fresh and entertaining reading, GO FOR IT!

Black Bird of the Gallows starts with a unique concept - harbringers of death and beekeeper monsters, but it somehow gets into the same old pattern of teenage angst somewhere around the middle. In the world of the book, small pockets of surviving magic in the world allow the existence of harbringers and beekeepers as well as some other supernatural creatures called strawmen (I'm thinking stoic scarecrows), and they are going around from place to place either causing chaos or deriving their nutrition from it. I was intrigued because they present are written as multi-dimensional creatures who don't just thrive on needless violence, but bam, romance plots come to ruin my fun...

Now, the romance plot is actually a significant arc of the book, with Angie being a central figure to the beekeeper's plans, but I could have done without that endless angst of 'I'm such a disgusting creature' - which I know is difficult when you have creatures that literally feed off death, but still...If I keep aside that part, Reece is actually a lovable character - he is cute and boyish, even though he has memories of countless lives lived and centuries of emotional baggage. Angie is interesting, and she drives part of the plot, but I felt like her emotional struggles weren't given their due in the plot. She kind of becomes a secondary character in her own story, which I did not like. And overall, their romance falls into a cliched pattern of girl-meets-boy, girl gets intrigued by brooding boy, girl meets boy's family and discovers his secret, they date, they break up, supernatural shit, and boom climax!

The story had potential, but it wasn't executed properly. The writing was good enough and I would probably look up some other books by the author, but this one was average for me.

Rating: 4.5 fun, creepy stars

As soon as I saw the first words of the summary for this debut novel, I knew that I wanted to read this book. Also, it doesn't hurt that the cover is one of my favorites I've seen this year. I couldn't believe my luck when my review request was approved. Then I proceeded to immediately start reading. Black Bird of the Gallows is a fantastic and imaginative debut that met my expectations in every way.

From the very first page, I could tell that this story was going to be deliciously dark. The story begins as Angie Dovage notices new neighbors moving into the house where a horrible tragedy occurred a few months prior. From their first meeting, she senses that there's more to the new boy next door, Reece Fernandez, than meets the eye. As the story progresses, Angie is slowly drawn into a supernatural world that she never knew existed. With the town in danger, a crush who turns out to be a harbinger of doom, and ever-present demons from her past, Angie must deal with being unexpectedly thrust into a battle between good and evil.

The pacing in this book was perfect, I was entirely engrossed in the novel and ended up finishing it in two days. I loved how the author slowly unspooled the mystery, keeping the tension just high enough for the reader to always be intrigued. There were some unexpected twists that I didn't see coming. As much as this was a story about the harbingers of doom, it was also a story of Angie finally coming to terms with her traumatizing past. If you're easily creeped out, I would not recommend reading this one before bed since some of the villains are somewhat nightmare inducing (they're truly excellent, innovative, and wonderful but still incredibly creepy).

As much as I enjoyed the romance that slowly developed between Angie and Reece, I liked her relationships with her friends and her father more. Angie's relationship with her dad was wonderful to see and led to some moments that made me actually laugh out loud. I also liked that as Angie's romantic relationship developed, she didn't leave her friends behind. Also, despite being secondary characters, both Deno and Lacey were fully developed and just as well-written as Angie was. As for Reece, I loved how his backstory was slowly revealed and how vulnerable he was with Angie, especially as she lets down her walls with him. Their relationship was based on mutual respect and friendship rather than just lust, which was a nice change.

Black Bird of the Gallows was the perfect fall read, with just the right mix of spooky, creepy, and swoony moments. I've already decided that I'll be buying Meg Kassel's next book, I enjoyed this one so much.

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A surprise love, I wasn't expecting to enjoy this book so much when I requested it. Books based on myths and legends are always interesting when there's a creative twist and I loved that the author added intriguing history to the concept of harbringers to death. There's a forbidden romance aspect in this that I enjoyed, considering romances in that vein are a hit or miss with me, and I especially liked how despite the familiar conventions in this book aside from the legends, I still managed to find it original. Will honestly say I'm more than a little nervous about bees now and I hope I never get stung by one.

what happens when you fall in love with a harbinger of death? what do you do when the boy you like is also a black bird who feeds off the energy released by death? and what can you do when you realize that his presence in your life means that sometime soon very bad things will be happening?

black bird of the gallows is part romance, part horror story. there's a sense of forboding and menace throughout this story that is woven into the teenage angsty romance between angie and reece. and you guys, i loved this story. it was unique and interesting and the imagery was so vivid. i'm not the most visual person but here i could see the crow to human transitions. i could see the blurry faces of the beekeepers. the writing is so cinematic and lyrical. i feel like the author spent some time watching the birds and candyman, which are two of the scariest movies of all time in my opinion.

there is something about angie that draws the birds and bees her way, and figuring out what that is and what that means, not just for the people of the town, but also her romance with reece makes for a compelling story. this is one debut worth reading.

I have been waiting for this book's release for years now. Really! It's not because I know Meg Kassel, because I don't; I wasn't lucky enough to read a very early beta copy or anything. However, this book was originally scheduled to be published by Egmont USA, and I was so excited about it I could hardly stand it. Then Egmont closed the US office, and I felt so devastated for Meg when they said the book wouldn't be published after all. Well, fast forward a year or two, and you can imagine how thrilled I was to find out that the book had been picked up by one of my favorite publishers, EntangledTeen. I'm pretty sure I did a little happy dance! And despite feeling like September would never arrive, here we are on release day! I'm so happy for Meg, and so happy I got to read this awesome book!

BLACK BIRD has it all: action, heartbreak, mystery, great friendships, romance, and a very cool paranormal element, and together these all add up to a winning package! I love the friendship between our main character, Angie, and her two best friends, Deno and Lacey. I also love the relationship between Angie and her father. And Reece, well, he is so delicious he even had me, a notorious disliker of most birds but *especially* crows, saying, "aww, how cute that crow is! Crows are misunderstood birds, man!" (It's true!) Accompanying the great characters, the paranormal mythology behind the harbingers and the Beekeepers was so very cool. I've never read anything quite like this before, and I love how sympathetically the paranormal creatures are portrayed. This story is really unique and I truly loved my reading experience, and I'm so very happy that this book is now out in the world for everyone to read!

I admit that at the end of the book I found myself both glad that the story was complete and actually wrapped up and sad that I wouldn't get to read more about the harbingers and Beekeepers. Then I just saw, before writing this review, that there will be a novella and a companion book to follow specifically about the Beekeeper! I cannot wait to add those stories to this and get a fuller picture of the mythology Meg has given us. In the meantime, I highly recommend you read BLACK BIRD OF THE GALLOWS for yourself!

Disclosure: I received an early copy of this book via EntangledTeen for purposes of review, but I also bought a gorgeous hard copy!

Let me start the review by saying that this is the most gorgeous cover I have seen this year! I was definitely attracted to the book based on the cover and the prospect of an urban fantasy (because crows and harbingers of death? Hell ya!) and was extremely lucky to receive a NetGalley copy from Entangled Teen. The book is officially coming out on September 5th, and I will provide the links at the bottom of my review.

“Black Bird of the Gallows” is a stand-alone, young adult urban fantasy novel with lots of supernatural and even slight horror notes.

Here is the official synopsis:

A simple but forgotten truth: Where harbingers of death appear, the morgues will soon be full.

Angie Dovage can tell there’s more to Reece Fernandez than just the tall, brooding athlete who has her classmates swooning, but she can’t imagine his presence signals a tragedy that will devastate her small town. When something supernatural tries to attack her, Angie is thrown into a battle between good and evil she never saw coming. Right in the center of it is Reece—and he’s not human.

What's more, she knows something most don't. That the secrets her town holds could kill them all. But that’s only half as dangerous as falling in love with a harbinger of death.

I was rather excited to read this book, but, unfortunately, it did not live up to the hype. It is not a bad debut novel, but it lacked depth and solidness of the plot and characterization. The idea of the crows being the supernatural creatures and harbingers of death is not a new one but Meg Kassel takes an interesting spin on it, adding more supernatural forces into the mix. However, a lot of the explanations of the magic and the rules of it were vague, undeveloped, and the ending had a very rushed and ‘Deus Ex Machina’ feel. (Considering how many of YA books tend to have an ending that can be summarized as “well, this happened because it happened”, I am starting to think that a lot of people have never read any classic literature. Go and read the Greeks. It has all been done before.) It was not the worst ending ever but I could tell that this was going to happen a mile ahead.

I did not like the fact that the author decided to title every chapter - it is my personal preference not to know what is going to happen in the chapter that I am about to read as all of those titles were basically spoilers. It sometimes took out the fun out of reading the story.

I liked all of the characters in the book, which is rare. Well, almost everyone - I am not counting the bullies at school. Angie is lovely, and her father is one of the best supporting characters in YA, as he has both a distinctive voice and is not just a plot device, as it often happens with parents or relatives in the genre. Angie goes through some serious character development, that was well-written and thought through. Her friends are great too - they were both funny, and reliable, and supportive, and everything about them was great for the story. The relationship that they had with Angie was great and I loved how close they remained throughout it all.

Let’s talk about Reece now. Okay, first things first: I love angsty and dark characters. I can live off angst. However, in case with Reece it was a bit overdone. I liked the way he was introduced in the story, as well as his background, his family, etc. But as the book progressed, we were not given any new information or anything else, the author just recycled the same facts over and over again. The plot concerning Reece, his family and the curse can be summarized in a couple of sentences. It is a very alluring plot, but it lacks depth and, ultimately, originality.

Have you ever watched the movie “Meet Joe Black” with Brad Pitt? Reece sometimes reminded me of Joe. The Fernandez family had a very strong vibe of Edward Cullen’s family, just on a less violent side. Overall, I did get occasional Twilight vibes from the book (a lonely, angsty girl, who comes to live with her father; a supernaturally attractive and dangerous boy; “the death follows me around” sort of thing, etc), but I guess it can be said about a lot of supernatural or urban fantasy YA books that came out after Twilight Saga (by the way, I am not fan of those books at all).

I am not a huge fan of “insta-love” either but it somehow worked in this book. The amount of romance was a bit too much but it was not overly too sweet. I did, however, roll my eyes whenever those kids wanted to make out when the world was basically going to an end around them.

I found a couple of copy-editorial mistakes, where things disappeared or appeared out of blue, but since I was reading the ARC, I can not tell if those made it into the final version.

I have always loved crows but this books just reinforced my love for these birds. I will never look at the bees in the same way, though.

I would have been able to deal with all of those if the style was more solid. The author’s writing suffers from a very common mistake of ‘telling’ instead of ‘showing’. The details of the curse are repeated over and over, as well as descriptions of things that happen at school, during the day, etc. Even with the first POV, it is still possible to avoid that. There was a whole passage almost at the very end of the book which was the repeated information, almost word to word, to what the characters had said just a page ago. It was glaringly obvious and redundant. A lot of things that happened during “the tragedy event” were told instead of described, and some of the details were so vague that I felt as if the author rushed through this part, when it should have been one of the major parts of the book.

Like I said, “Black Bird of the Gallows” is a debut novel, not the worst but not the best either. I found it cute, but not too original. It was refreshing to read a stand alone novel though. I do feel that the author has a potential to produce great stories, but lacks the skill at this point. Will definitely keep an eye on her future projects.

In spite of my opinion of the book, I do appreciate the opportunity provided to me by Entangled Teen to read and review the ARC.

Personal rating: about 3 stars

Black Bird of the Gallows was hauntingly addicting, and I found myself completely mesmerized as the story unfolded. The creatures and curses were not only unique, but an eerie combination that at times terrified me. There were so many moments of subtle humor that had me laughing out loud and kept a smile on my face. And when you add to that characters that won my heart, well Black Bird of the Gallows easily became one of my favorite books from this year!

“ What are you?” The question slips out— suddenly, vitally relevant.
For a moment , we just stare at each other, our mingling breath making white puffs in the cold air. He drops his gaze. I know, then, the answer is horrible. He’s kept his secrets for a reason, and that reason may be as scarring as the scene before us.


The book started out with Angie learning she has new neighbors. And her first interaction with Reece, a boy about her age, had so many unexplainable moments. He was speaking to a man whose face constantly changed, crows seemed to follow yet be playful with him, and he reminded her of something she couldn't quite pinpoint. Despite all that, they started towards a tentative friendship. While there was a few bumps in the road, the way it developed felt so sweet and innocent. But there was also moments between the two of them that made my heart race. And I'm not one to usually talk about butterflies, but I SO did have them! Watching Angie and Reece together made me feel like I was falling in love for the first time all over again.

I hold my breath and watch the crow glide away. It melts into the blackness, silent as a ghost. Lonely as the night.
Dark as a boy’s eyes.


Yet their relationship was forbidden. It shouldn’t have grown the way it did. It seemed like they were destined for broken hearts. And because of them growing closer, creatures took interest in Angie. That could only lead to horrific things. You see, Reece's arrival in her town was a horrible sign, since he's a harbinger of death. Once he was in her town, there was a shift in the demeanor of the town’s people. Violence and chaotic events started to become more commonplace. Then it all started to take an even darker turn. I was terrified yet intrigued with how it would all play out. Especially in regards to the bees. When I fully understood the bees *shudders*, I realized that I will forever be haunted by them. I can't ever look at a honeybee normally again. *sobs*

He leans his terrible face close. Way too close . “He watches you. Why?”
My heart smashes against my ribs. His nightmare face is inches from mine, but no breath comes from that changing mouth. No puff of white in the cold darkness. Only the disorienting scent of honey and a skin-crawling drone that sounds an awful lot like bees. A lot of bees.


And while I LOVED the storyline, I was even more obsessed with Reece and Angie. Oh my gosh you guys, Reece may be one of the most tortured souls I've ever read about. He gutted me. He broke my heart and then shattered it into the tiniest of pieces. But he also had the ability to completely captivate my attention and melt my heart. And did I mention he was full of secrets? He was such a complex soul and was deliciously addicting! I loved, loved, loved Reece!

Reece goes perfectly still. “You are important to me,” he says finally. “More important than anything any cursed creature thinks he could do to me.”


And then there was Angie. From the moment Angie stated that she preferred footwear that wasn't practical, I just knew her and I were going to be bffs! But seriously, she had such a huge heart and a good head on her shoulders, I easily liked Angie right away. While she had a troubled past, she tried her hardest to not let that define her. And I was so grateful to see she had a wonderful support system with her two best friends and father. The relationship she had with her father was realistic, and I loved that he played an active role in her life. It was so refreshing to see that in a YA book!

His lips brush against mine in the whisper of a kiss. It’s different from any other. It tastes of certainty and sadness and promises that can never be made.


With curses, love, friendship, trust, and sacrifice, Black Bird of the Gallows truly had it all! It was a page turner, it was impossible to put down, it made me sob out of happiness and sorrow. And did I mention it reads as a standalone?! So now I will patiently wait until I can read every single future release from this author. She has made me a fan for life, and I'm so grateful I got to pick up this book and discover what was inside!

*ARC kindly provided by Entangled Teen via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

**Review is scheduled on blog for my date on the blog tour - 9/11**

Thanks to Entangled Teen and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel. Angie has lived with her father since she was twelve. That's when her mother died of an overdose and the abhorrent environment she was raising Angie in became headline news. Angie and her father live next to a house that was the site of a murder. This house seems to be haunted and has evil within its walls. Reece moves into the house with his mother and siblings and Angie can't quite figure him out. They develop a relationship and learn the secrets each other is keeping. I like that Angie has other aspects of her life that make her happy and that everything doesn't revolve around the guy next door. The mysteries of Angie's past and the mysteries surrounding Reece kept the story interesting. I also enjoyed the friendship between Angie, Deno and Lacey. 4 stars for a suspense filled story!
*I received a complimentary copy of this book for voluntary review consideration.

Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel is one of those books that as soon as I read the summary I was excited to dive right into it. Good versus evil, swoony boy who is not quite human…I’m hooked.

The main character here is Angie Dovage and she is a survivor. Her past isn’t great because of her mother. When Angie’s father finally finds her, it is unclear what Angie really went through but having lived in a van with her drug-addicted mother, she tends to stay out of the limelight and melt into the background as much as she possibly can. Things change a bit when Reece Fernandez moves into the house next door. Angie is drawn to him and from their first meeting it is clear they have a connection.

Reece is the new kid at school and he is immediately taken in by the popular kids but there is something different about him. Crows tend to flock around him and Angie can’t help but be curious. It is because of that curiosity that she attracts the danger that she does and Reece can’t help but do whatever he needs to in order to protect her.

I thought Kassel did a great job of developing the good versus evil story and explaining how the harbingers of death curse works. I also thought the detail put into the transformation of these harbingers, how they follow catastrophe, and the linkage to the beekeepers was interesting. I have to admit, those are the pieces that made this story unique.

The secondary characters are great. Angie’s friends – Deno and Lacey are very supportive of her and while they don’t know everything about what she has gone through, they don’t care. I loved Angie’s father – he wasn’t just in the background the whole time. Reece’s family was interesting and then you have the bad guy – Rafette. All helped to move the story along and played some key roles within the story.

As the story moves forward and Angie learns more about who the harbingers are and why they are in her town, things begin to pick up. There is action, danger, and some swoony bits. I don’t want to give anything away so I can’t say much more here but consider picking this one up when you can. It was a quick read and kept me engaged throughout. I will be watching for more from Kassel in the future based on this book.

In some ways this book is a standard YA paranormal fantasy novel, but the author added enough fresh elements to keep me turning the pages.

Angie Dovage is something of an outcast in her high school due to being abducted as an infant and being raised rough by her druggie mother. When a handsome guy moves in next door, she is instantly attracted, but some things about Reese Hernandez seem a bit strange, like the fact that he seems to attract crows. There’s also the guy with shifting facial features, Rafette, who seems to be following Reese around. Eventually Angie finds out that Reese isn’t a normal teenager, but a human cursed to become a harbinger of death. He’s come to her town because a major tragedy will soon occur, and many people will be killed. Beyond that looming danger, Rafette, who is another cursed being, has his own menacing plans for Angie.

The conventional elements are definitely here. Unpopular teen girl meets handsome guy with paranormal baggage, and love almost instantly ensues. Both of them are in danger from a wicked supernatural being and have to find a way to save themselves. And, yes, Angie does turn out to be special, different from other human beings. About the only thing that’s missing is a love triangle, which the author flirts with but dismisses fairly quickly.

However, the author twists all these elements just enough to keep me reading. Yes, Angie is special, but not so much because of a paranormal power as because she is musically talented. Reese is a cute paranormal guy, but his attraction to death is still treated as being obviously creepy. Rafette is equally creepy (really, I could see that character in a scary movie) and his actions are evil, but he’s not a one-dimensional baddie. Neither of them is quite like any other supernatural creature I’ve encountered before in a book. Angie does eventually save the day for Reese and her friends, but she does it almost accidentally, and there’s still a high body count overall.

The only false note for me was Reese’s instant and overwhelming feelings for Angie. I had trouble believing that a being who is over a century old and who has lived a life filled with suffering and death would be attracted to teenage girl quite that quickly. The author does attempt to justify it, but it still didn’t quite work for me.

Readers who aren’t turned off by encountering typical YA paranormal tropes are likely to enjoy reading this novel. I did, enough so that I’m going to keep an eye out for future books by Meg Kassel.

An eARC of this novel was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Meg Kassel’s Black Bird of the Gallows is your average, run-of-the-mill fantasy novel with a predictable plot and lackluster characters. Angie Dovage’s life takes a turn when Reece Fernandez moves in next door. Almost immediately, strange occurrences begin to happen. The closer Angie gets to Reece, the more she begins to realize that these strange events are tied to her new neighbors. As a harbinger of death, Reece can sense when death is near and he’s come to Angie’s town because disaster is imminent. But there are even darker players who have descended upon Cadence with their own nefarious plans and Angie is about to be caught in the middle.

When it comes to fantasy novels and especially ones that showcase a romance, I always feel that it’s better for an author to establish the world and protagonist first before introducing a love interest. This was not the case with Black Bird of the Gallows and it was difficult from the first page to care about Angie and Reece as a potential couple when there was no time to grow to like them as individuals. While I wouldn’t necessarily class this as an insta-love story, Angie is taken quite suddenly with Reece that I almost put down the novel. In one conversation, specifically with one look, Angie already thinks she can understand him on a “deep level.” She notes a couple of lines later that it was a six minute conversation. If there relationship had progressed rapidly from this point, I wouldn’t have been surprised. The story saves itself somewhat by allowing these two characters to be in each other’s presence for a more appropriate amount of time before a relationship between them begins.

Harbingers of death are really interesting entities in this world as they don’t cause calamities themselves, but they feed off the energy of the dead. There was apt opportunity to explore these creatures more in the novel, but readers are limited to only learning about Reece at length. Because of this, I never felt like the world-building was fully realized. The Beekeepers are another nonhuman creature in Cadence, one more diabolical than harbingers of death. Using a bee sting to infect humans, Beekeepers cause chaos by driving those stung into doing horrendous things. What bothered me the most about the Beekeepers is the fact that the story seemed to rely on them only preying on the “mentally unstable.” The text does not make it clear if this is in reference to those with mental health problems or just those who have problems controlling their anger. Either way I found it be a really unsettling premise, especially when later the Beekeepers proclaim that they don’t like to sting strong people.

Black Bird of the Gallows fails to really delve deep into its characters, its relationships lacked the kind of emotional depth that would allow me to feel invested, and the world-building felt too small when it came to its imaginary creatures.

A love story in the midst of mass chaos. A interesting and creative YA paranormal read that presents unique mythology and characters. It dove into the world of Harbingers of Death, beekeepers, and the hidden magic within.Angie is no stranger to traumatic events, but life has been going so much better for her, that was until a hunky boy moved in next door.

I enjoyed Kassel's writing a lot. She uses great details and paints a beautiful picture. The way the story unfolds was a great pace although I feel like the ending was a little rushed. With 20 pages left I was unsure how she was going to wrap everything up. I liked what Kassel did with the characters and mythology. It was a unique curse that I haven't read about before in a YA novel.

I did find Angie a little annoying at times. She carried on this whole "woe is me" a little too much. I understand everything she went though and she did have a right to some of her actions and feelings, but she really hid herself too much because of this suppose title of "freak".I thought Reece was a great character and was really complex. Kassel did a good job at filling out his character and giving him those emotions and feelings that should be associated with someone with his curse. I also found the romance to be very typical of a YA novel. It was too fast and unrealistic. It went from a crush to madly in love in 0 to 60 seconds. The romance felt very Twilight to me. One of the notes I made multiple times while reading was this reminded me of Twilight. It just has the same vibe and a similar type of storyline.

Overall I found this to be an enjoyable and fast read. The unique mythology really intrigued me and was what sold me on the story. I loved the cast of characters and the friendships throughout the book. The reason it did not get a 5 star rating for me was because of the unrealistic romance and Twilight vibes. Although the story was different then Edward and Bella's I could not stop comparing them and thinking about it throughout the book. The mass chaos and effects of the curse were fantastic additions that added to the overall atmosphere of the story. I recommend this to those who enjoy dark paranormals with mythology and romance.

If you like a quick read with a SLOW build then you will like this book. I love the premise of the book, but unfortunately it fell short for me. There is so much promise in the idea of the harbingers of death and the beekeepers, even the straw men. But I feel like it was really overlooked by the cliche teenage romance that seemed to run rampant in this book. I would suggest this for younger teens who like the quick romantic fluff with a bit of dark fairytale mixed in.