The house next door to Angie's has been vacant ever since her ex-neighbour came home from a business trip, then set to work killing his entire family and himself. Not many people want to live in a home where a murder-suicide took place. So when Reece Fernandez moves in with his mother and siblings, she's intrigued, especially since after meeting him odd occurrences start to happen. It certainly doesn't hurt that he's very tall and extremely attractive, either.

As Angie gets to know Reece it becomes apparent that he has some dark secrets. It is clear to her that he has suffered a terrible tragedy in his past. He wears an open expression of grief and despair that she instantly recognises and is drawn to. He is intense, mysterious and displays an unusual affinity with the mass of large black birds that have recently started to swarm on their street.

Angie has a painful history that affects her and makes her vulnerable. She is a multidimensional young woman and like Reece, is not as she appears on the surface. Only her two close friends know that she is Sparo, a popular DJ at a local night club. With prophetic warnings and ominous signs appearing around her, she has to pay attention. She finds herself in increasingly dangerous situations as she is unwittingly drawn into a battle between good and evil.

Black Bird of the Gallows is filled with omens, curses, frightening otherworldly beings, menacing creatures and brooding, creepy atmosphere. There were some outstanding visuals involving bees that reminded me of the wonderful film Candyman. The relationship between the two central characters was slightly familiar, but this was offset by the originality of the story's mythos. The book contained enough chills to keep me riveted, not to mention the stunningly beautiful cover! I thoroughly enjoyed this darkly delicious YA and would recommend to readers who love thrilling tales, gothic romance and fantasy.

I really enjoyed reading Black Bird of the Gallows and found this young adult sci-fi novel very interesting. I found all the mythology in this novel to be extremely creative and well planned out. Kassel’s writing will draw you in and hold your attention to the very end. The characters and settings are truly remarkable and unforgettable. A very enchanting yet mysterious novel that is incredibly creepy. This novel will not disappoint anyone who loves a good sci-fi fantasy novel. Overall, a remarkable read that I recommend.

This novel was very fun. It had a lot of ominous and spooky elements that payed homage to the death themes, the characters were funny and quirky and the overall story moved quite well! It was also a very quick read, which I appreciated!
Angie was a very interesting character. She was the shy, meek girl who stayed in the shadows, she was also a girl with a difficult past and a girl with an opportunistic future.
Reece is your typical YA kind of guy. Hot? Check. Broody? Check. Swoony? Double check! Has a difficult past that he can only share with the female main character? Check. Bonus: He can shape-shift. He’s not an unlikable kind of guy, but he just wasn’t very outstanding!
Angie’s relationship with her father was absolutely precious. It wasn’t distant or distraught, but very strong and fortified! So kudos to Kassel for skipping that absent-parental YA trope!
The atmosphere was cold, chilly, and darn right creepy! The isolated town in the mountain where supernatural things are bound to happen was the perfect setting to this novel! Kassel did a great job of setting up all those mysterious tones and the mood was always paranoia.
Backstory was a huge element in this book. HUGE! And it totally fell for me. I felt like Angie’s and Reece’s stories needed to be focused on more, to really understand how they came to be who they are. I wish there had been more focus on back story of the characters as well as the magical origins!
Overall, I enjoyed the book. It was fun and creepilicious. It has some of those typical paranormal tropes and it’s rather predictable here and there. Still, I liked it. It grabbed my attention and it was a solid story!

So far so good. Not. Lured by the synopsis I began reading this book, and so far I find it to be full of topics:

- curious girl who feels atracted to the new guy who just moved into town and nest house
- misterious brooding new guy who just moved into town
- paranormal events: crows and flies flyring around, another misterious brooding guy who seems to be an enemy to the first
- main girl ability to read on every little movement and glance of the new guy, never mind they have only talked for like ten minutes, she is now an expert on everything "him"
- the attraction. O, the attraction! Comes out of nowhere, but o the attraction.
- hot girl from school, enemy of the main character who she bullies trying to seduce the new guy. Of course.
- and of course, one of the best friends is also an ex who sometimes creates some friction.

Really? I used to love paranormal, and YA paranormal, but lately seems like it is so full of instalove, instaromance, insta attraction, insta high school recipe that it is dishearting. Will keep on reading because the prose is good and want to see if there is more to the book than just topics (which I believe could be).

Aaaand... sadly I am done. I can't keep on reading this book. The "now I talk to you and now I don't but we always seem to be doing this on and off thingie" between the two main characters is just more than I can take besides all that I summed up before.

It is a pity because the book shows promise and is very well written, but judging by the synopsis I thought I was going to read some kind of urban scyfi and not some YA "love me-love not and here I am to save your life while being esquive and aloft" kind of thing.
While the narrative is great the characters are more on the plain side (for me they never went far from the archetypical ones), but I think the author shows promise. And probably someone who is more into this kind of book would love it.

This is one of those YA books that are definitely geared toward that younger age group. While I liked the idea of this book and the world building was good, I was kind of bored for most of it and thought some parts to simply be ridiculous. The relationship between the two main characters was awkward at best and not all that interesting. I really liked the harbingers of death thing going on here and the beekeepers were something new. The harbingers are drawn to places were a lot of death is soon to happen, and when it finally does in this book is when this story got so much better. A lot of bad things happen, but there's finally something going on and it's enough to be semi entertaining. I was disappointed with some things and others were simply unbelievable, and not in a good way.

This book has a beautiful cover and a great idea, but the way it all went down just didn't work for me.

(I received an advance copy of this book for free. Thanks to Entangled Publishing, LLC and NetGalley.)

This was a YA paranormal romance featuring a harbinger of death who could turn into a crow.

Angie was an okay character, and I understood how she didn’t like attention after being labelled a freak after the situation she had been in with her mother. Living in a van with a drug-addicted mother, and being taken away shortly before her mother overdosed was hard enough for her without all the unwanted attention associated.

The storyline in this was about Angie meeting Reece, her new next-door neighbour, and realising that something was off about him and the crows that were suddenly everywhere. Slowly she began to find out more about him, and after following him forced him to confess that he was a harbinger of death, and could turn into a crow! We also got a storyline about Beekeepers, paranormal beings which house bees, which sting people and turn them mentally unstable. The paranormal aspect of this book was done well, and the ideas were pretty unique, but I did find the pace a little slow for me, and it took me a while to get through it.

The ending to this a little confusing for me, but things were wrapped up fairly well, and there was no cliff-hanger.
6.5 out of 10.

Black Bird of the Gallows is the debut novel by author Meg Kassel. Protagonist Angelina "Angie" Dovage is a survivor who carries heavy baggage, and no matter what she does, she can't remove the stigma from what happened to her while she was with her mother. Some have even resorted to calling her "Tabloid Freakshow." This comes from living in a world where nothing happens without someone shoving a camera in your face and demanding you answer their questions before running off to Twitter, Facebook, and complaining that you are untouchable or other names. 

I was drawn in right from the start after Angie meets her new neighbor Reece Fernandez. Reece and his family moves into the house next door to her and her father. The same house where something horrible took place. Angie notices that there are a whole lot of crows around her neighborhood since Reece arrived. Crows that don't seem to bother Reece at all. Pretty much the first thing Reece tells Angie is, Stay Away from the Bees. What that means, is anyone's guess. Crows also seem to be keeping an eye out for Angie and leaving her presents. But, why? 

I'll say that a very interesting twist happens right in the beginning, and that's because of a character named Rafette and the fact that he takes a keen interest in Angie after meeting her only one time. I won't go into spoiler territory, but I will say that his arrival makes the story even more dark, and even more twisted that without him. Angie becomes a bit obsessive over Reece, and perhaps a bit stalkerish as well. What she learns would make anyone else run to the hills, and ever come back. But, we're not talking about me. I read where someone has compared the beginning to Twilight. ::head desk::

Thankfully for Angie, she has two best friends in Dino and Lacey who are also into the music scene, and a father who never gave up finding Angie when she was gone. Angie is a DJ at a local mall where wears the persona of a girl named Sparo. Sparo is the polar opposite of Angie, and nobody knows who she really is. I would characterize this as someone doing their best to put a new face forward, while leaving her past, and the school bullies to their own vices. I liked Lacey a bit more than I did Dino. Lacy is the kind of person who believes in Omens & Signs, and the signs are that something horrible is about to take place in Cadence. 

This is a story that is complex, but also predictable. Not only do you have crows, but you also have harbingers of death, a creature called the Beekeeper, and an unseen ancient beings who we really don't really meet but feel their presence. Reece and Angie form a connection that isn't insta-lust. It's a connection born from the things that have happened to them both in the past. The publishers catalog classifies the story as a Young Adult, Paranormal with an intriguing romance. That's a pretty good description. According to Kassel's author page, there are two more books to come. A novella called Cleaner of Bones later this year which will feature Reece, and Keeper of the Bees which is supposed to be a full length novel coming sometime in 2018.

This is a 5/5 stars for me! If this book isn't on your radar it needs to be.

I believe this is a debut novel for Meg Kassel and she did an AMAZING job! I absolutely loved this book and I see there will be a novella and a companion novel which I cannot wait for.

The book starts out by following our main character Angie Dovage spying on her new neighbours moving into a house where lots of death has taken place. Angie heads down to the bus stop where she runs into her new neighbour Reece Fernandez who just happens to be a total hottie (hello potential love interest?). While waiting for the stop two weird things happen; a swarm of crows flies at them and encircles Reece and he is seen talking to a strange man with changing faces. Angie tries to convince herself that she is just seeing things and all the crows isn't weird but, as the story progresses crows seem to be drawn to her and to Reece and she needs answers! Later on in the book she learns that Harbingers of Death are real.

This first chapter had me hooked already, the concept of Harbinger's of Death is absolutely fascinating to me and I have never read a story like this, it is completely original. Not to mention Meg Kassel's writing was fantastic and easy to read.

I enjoy a dark story and this filled that role. All the crows gave a creepy feeling to the book as crows are associated with death because they are carrion birds so you know there has to be lots of death if crows are everywhere! Besides the creepy dark feeling to the book there was a bit of romance too that didn't overpower the story. this book is a good read for anyone who enjoys a darker magical realism story with a bit of romance. And for those of you who do not like romance don't worry you'l still love it!

I urge everyone to give this a shot, you wont regret it!

I was kindly sent an e-arc of this book for review from Netgalley.

Black Bird of the Gallows was an interesting and creative YA fantasy novel. I really enjoyed the mythology and fantasy elements of this book. The author created an immersive and mesmerizing world that I got lost in. The world-building was executed very well, and I kept wanting to learn more and more about the world. I would have liked for the fantasy elements to have been presented a little earlier in the book to help pick up the pace, however, I still enjoyed the way the world was introduced.

The beginning of this book felt cliche and predictable, but I still found myself wanting to know what was going to happen next. It was a slow beginning, but once the fantasy elements were introduced, the book got a lot more interesting. The book actually got quite creepy and mysterious, at times, which was something I was not expecting. I really enjoyed those elements, even though I was freaked out!

The characters were all very likable. Angie, the main character, was a strong and independent girl. I liked that she didn't let her past define her and that she always stood up for herself. Reece, the main male character, was a swoony and mysterious guy. I was very intrigued by him, and just like Angie, I could tell there was more to his personality that he was trying to hide.

The romance in this novel was predictable but it had so many sweet moments. I thought the author did a great job at creating some extremely swoon-worthy moments. I ended the book shipping Angie and Reece really hard and I was rooting for them to end up together!

This book was an intriguing and dark novel. Black Bird of the Gallows was an emotional roller coaster, and I look forward to seeing what the author comes up with next!

3 / 5 Fangs

*This ebook was given to me in exchange for an honest review. *

Let me start off with that cover! It is just beautiful.
I truly enjoyed that this story created a whole world full of new myths and creatures. The harbingers felt like a revamped vampire, sucking energy rather than blood. As if I didn't have a fear of bees already, the description of the beekeepers and their background was enough to keep me up late at night. really loved how both have a complicated relationship. Well written, hard to put down. A majority head me on the edge of my seat.
Lost one star because I felt like the resolution needed a few more answers. Otherwise, applause for a debut!

So. Think of every trope in paranormal YA (except a love triangle, which I'm just now realizing) aaaaand you've basically got this book. I was really excited for this one, but I could tell from the first few chapters that it wasn't going to be a good fit for me. I was still curious about how things would play out though, so I went ahead and finished it, but my initial "this isn't a Brittani book" feeling was correct. Honestly, it just reminded me a lot of Twilight, which isn't necessarily a bad thing in and of itself... it's just a "we've been there, done that" thing. The idea behind the book was interesting, but the execution left a lot to be desired for me. The characters fell mostly flat and I just really didn't care. I seem to be in the minority with the ratings on this so far though, so give it a shot if you think it sounds interesting (which it does! I was excited about it! it just ultimately left me disappointed). Hopefully you'll be able to tell within the first couple chapters if this is a book for you, like I did.

Immediately after finishing this book, I wanted to turn back to the beginning and read the book all over again. With that being said, I really enjoyed this novel.
I found myself really enjoying learning about this paranormal world and I loved how the story worked so well with certain legends and superstitions about crows. Without getting into too many spoilers, I loved how Kassel put a spin on the crows and gave them her own impressive traits. I also really enjoyed all of the characters in the story and the diversity that flowed with them.
This book definitely deserves all five stars!

What a fun, exciting read! Angie had a rough life when she was growing up. Her drug addicted mom took off with her. Shortly after her dad found her again, her mom died from an overdose. She moved in with her dad in a small Pennsylvania town. While she had a couple amazing friends, Deno and Lacey, she was sort of an outcast. Angie was a band geek, but on the weekends, she transformed herself into a popular DJ. I actually loved the story of her music and how it made her feel like she was better than what the bratty high school girls thought of her.

Angie’s new neighbor, Reece, is attractive, but strange. Angie sees something odd with him and there seem to be crows everywhere since his family moved in. It doesn’t take long for Reece to come clean with her and explain that he’s a harbinger of death and that there are also beekeepers around. Her town is going to have a major tragedy and they are all there for it. Reece and Angie start to fall in love, but he’s cursed and will need to move on after the deaths. But the beekeeper thinks he can make Reece take his curse and figures a way to use Angie to do it.

The pacing of this book was great. I sat down to read for thirty minutes tonight and ended up reading for an hour and a half to finish. I just couldn’t put it down. I found the myths of the harbingers and beekeepers so interesting. Lacey and Deno were favorites. I also really love Angie’s dad and their relationship. I will admit to freaking out hoping that her dog would be safe, too. What can I say? I’m obsessed with happy endings for pets.

I can’t really get into too much more without giving away important parts of the book. I just hope everyone goes out and gives this one a chance. Black Bird of the Gallows is set to be published September 5th 2017 by Entangled Teen. I definitely plan on buying this one.

Thank you to the author, Entangled Teen, and Netgalley for the chance to read and review this book. I gave this five stars.

This was one of my most anticipated reads for this year! I have promoted it whenever I had a chance to sign up for a promotion post. So imagine my delight when I spotted this one on Netgalley. I just had to have it.

Sadly.... I got to about 17% and then I had to stop. I struggled for most of the day (whenever I had time) with the book. I tried again and again. I wanted to like this book, I wanted to love the characters, I wanted to shrug my head at the annoying standard YA tropes that filled the book. But in the end... I just had to stop.

I just couldn't see the world, I just couldn't like the characters, I hate the mean-girl trope and the fact that arty people/band people are on the lowest parts of school hierarchy, the instant OMG hot guy and swoon swoon but then also not wanting to swoon swoon... the bees warnings (really, at least give us some idea why instead of saying it all the time).. the mysterious shape shifting dude.. our MC the DJ who apparently no one can recognise because she wears wigs, make-up, especially that bubblegum pink lipstick (really, don't forget that one). She told us in several sentences about her one time kiss with her best friend (really, we get it, no need to go into it so much).

I am sure that someone else will love this book, but it is sadly not for me.

"Everything I deserve. What is that, exactly? And who gets to decide?"

An wonderful story full of romance, mysterious crows and creepy bees.

When Reece Fernandez enters town Angie Dovage finds herself drawn to him. What she doen't know is that he and his family are harbingers of death, traveling between towns which are marked for chaos to come and lots of people to die. Angie's town is marked as well. But that is not her only problem. When the chaos is over Reece and his family have to leave again because of the magical curse binding them. And another magical creature, the Beekeper, is after Angie, determined to break his own curse with Angie and Reece in the middle.

This books is awesome! While reading I was totally glued to the pages. It grew more and more exciting with every page. I hoped so much for a happy ending for Angie and Reece and was sad that even Angie didn't really believe in one at a certain pointnin the story. Their love grew throughout the stoey starting of as attraction but there is an aspect later in the story. What I liked very much was the mysticism about crows and bees. I will never look the same again at them after reading this book. It was refreshing to read about other mystic creatures than the usual vampire and werewolf where you already know which signs to look for.

Morover the book is really funny in the beginning. At this point I would have given the book five stars. As the story's events grow more serious. Epic events change everything but at the end I was just sitting there and feeling that the story was lacking something at the end for five stars.

All in all a greats tory about romance, crows and bees. Be ware! I am going to buy a paperversion now since I received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review via Netgalley. I am also excited for Cleaner of Bones and Keeper of the Bees by Meg Kassel.

Basically, anytime the words "harbinger of death" or even just "harbinger" (which implies harbinger of death) appear, I'm immediately sold. Like, I am going to read it. No matter what. Its a weakness. It's also kind of rare, so I take what I can get.

I was really hoping this book carried a bit of darkness with it, which to me is implied by the description and title, and cover. And in many ways it did. I was so grateful for that. The characters are all really likable, from the main couple to the friends and family. One of my favorite characters may have been the bad guy - the Beekeeper. (He does have a name in there somewhere but just calling him the Beekeeper is so much more interesting). I dont want to go into too much detail on him, I just hope that you all experience the eerieness of him yourself. Everything about him seemed so grim, like scary in a sad way. His description is so easy to build up in your head, and just so creepy. I loved it.

Once all the shit really hits the fan, everything becomes a disaster. Its insane, and heart breaking, and everything just feels so.... dreadful. So doomed. So sad. But as with most books, a light shines through in the end.... and that is where my issue is, and why this is actually 4.5 stars and not 5 stars.
While most of the ending wrapped up nicely, there are two things that do not. First, a person, or entity, rather, that apparently supper powerful, but barely explained or brought up in the book, and has a hand in the ending... and secondly, the big event - like, BUT WHY. HOW? This thing happens that saves the day, and you literally give almost no explanation about it. Its basically glossed over in a few sentences. I guess it was a bit rushed? Maybe not thought all the way through? I don't know. I just know I would have enjoyed a further explanation and how it was involved in the mythology of the creatures and events in the book. I can definitely put together what the general idea there was, but it just would have been nice to hear it explained in context.

Anyway, I still really enjoyed this book!! Definitely recommend.

**A huge thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Teen for providing this ARC in exchange for a honest review!**

Black Bird of the Gallows
Meg Kassel
My Review: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ +
Holy hell! I couldn't get enough of this book. This takes the human/monster romance to a whole new level. The story is original and captivating.


I would recommend Black Bird of the Gallows to everyone that likes monster stories and love a taboo romance.


The house next door to Angie's is tainted. Would you want to live in a house where an unforgivable crime happened? Reece is new in town and has just moved into the creepy house. Now there are all theses crows surrounding it too and Angie is certain something isn't right.

Reece is everything Angie isn't. He fits into popularity at school without any effort. He plays sport and the girls are interested in getting to know him. He isn't someone Angie would normally notice but somehow they are drawn to each other. He has a secret and she wants to know even if it could be deadly.

This book is a teen read and not scary (It's just hard to describe without giving anything away). It's about truly loving someone no matter what. There are more strange happenings in this story than romance but it is necessary. The ending is perfect and the story was action packed. I loved this book. 5+ stars.


*ARC received in exchange for a fair review*

300 pages. Kindle Price £5.61
Expected publication: September 5th 2017, by Entangled Publishing

BLACK BIRD OF THE GALLOWS instantly hooked me with a unique premise and concept I haven't seen much of in YA. I mean, who would see "the boy next door is a harbinger of death" and not want to read it right away? Not me, certainly. I have to hand it to Kassel for incorporating different lore and original mythos into the paranormal fantasy genre, because it's these elements, more than anything, that make her novel stand out from the rest. Unfortunately, that's about the only thing I did enjoy. Everything else felt like a well-worn pastiche. The characters felt too thin, the romance accelerated too quickly for me to be emotionally invested in it, and I was able to predict just about all of the twists and turns it took. Had I read this at 14-15 without having already read loads of YA fantasy, perhaps I might have enjoyed this more. After all, I'm still all about that premise even if the execution left me wanting. As an introductory to YA paranormal romance, it's not half bad, but not for me.

Angie Dovage is like most people would be, a bit curious as to who her new neighbors are and what they will be like. When Angie runs into Reece Fernandez at the bus stop her curiosity is piqued even more by the good looking strange boy. Angie takes it upon herself to follow Reece and find out just what is behind the mysterious new boy.

What Angie ends up finding about Reece would send most people running and screaming. Reece is not a normal human boy, he’s a harbinger of death. When a death happens Reece feeds off the energy of the dying due to a curse he’s been living with for centuries. But Reece is not the only supernatural in town and Angie finds herself in danger with Reece vowing to protect her.

The one thing that I would complain about with Black Bird of the Gallows is that starting off it definitely had that feel of let’s check off all the young adult fantasy expectations. The beginning of the story had flashes of Twilight to it which had me wondering if I’d find any originality buried within the pages. Of course too that brings me to the warning of the instalove that bother a lot of people since it’s a typical oh the new boy is cute start but eventually there are more reasons added to the relationship.

Thankfully the story of the battle between good and evil within the pages of this one did bring a bit of newness to it which made this one an interesting read. After reading this one I’ll certainly be looking at crows and bees a bit differently so the author certainly got a bit creative with the supernatural side of the story which ended up making this one worth the read instead of just checking off what is expected in a young adult novel.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.