I did not finish this book. After trying for a good month and 56 % in I finally gave up. Maybe this book is the right thing for people who liked "Ash vs. the Evil Dead" but clearly not for my. I did not care for the characters and as much as I tried I did not like Amanda or her down worn, useless angel upstairs. The only thing that dragged me on for a while was her demon roommate. While this book is supposed to be funny with a lot of sarcasm it didn't work for me.

Summary: Amanda Grey has unleashed seven shades from hell and one moved in with her; well she still needs a roommate.

Things I liked: Leyva has a way of writing that feels like you are having a conversation with him in a coffee shop. I personally enjoy this type of writing style. It puts you the reader into the author's headspace a bit. His characters are fleshed out and three dimensional. You don't know who are the good guys or the bad guys; which makes the story entertaining and keeps you guessing. The pacing of the story is fast and doesn't let up. You may get to take a breath here and there but the story just keeps coming. The writing is witty and intelligent...I found myself laughing out loud in many different parts of the story. I actually tweeted Alcy and asked what "ass plague" is. He so graciously responded.. (Thanks Alcy)!!

Things I didn't like: Honestly, there wasn't anything that I didn't like in this story.

Star Rating: 5 Go out and buy this book then buy the sequel!!

My Thoughts: Alcy Leyva is a great story teller. There is so much that is funny in this novel that yeah just yeah. Just read it. I want to talk about all the parts but alas no spoilers. If you want to read a fast paced, smart and witty story please with all that is bookish go out and buy And Then There Were Crows you won't be disappointed.

I didn't want to give it a star rating because I dropped it at 10%, as this is so so clearly not my cup of tea, but Netgalley doesn;t let me post a review without it, so I'm forced to go with 1*. Neither the writing, nor the action managed to get to me, despite the fact that the synopsis seemed very attractive to me..

This was a pretty fun read. I mean, the amount of sass and snark in this book was off the charts. Leyva should probably be writing for Deadpool. Just sayin’.

The book starts off with our main character, Amanda Grey, trying to find a roommate so that she doesn’t lose the family apartment while her parents are on vacation. Grey is an anti-social weirdo who would rather punch you in the face and run away than talk to you. But she sucks it up and goes to Craigslist, cuz she’s gotta save the only home she’s ever known. And this is how her own personal (and literal) hell begins.

I actually related to Grey in a lot of ways cuz I also deal with GAD and panic attacks. When you deal with shit like that, it is a lot harder meeting new people and hiding out in your room is really appealing. It was cool seeing Grey grow as a person and learn to overcome some of that through the loyalty she felt towards her family. She learned that she can trust people when they say that they care and that she can depend on others (so it’s not the end of the world if she opens up a little bit. That’s what the demons are for). And of course she does all of this while being sarcastic as hell. Her inner monologue was hilarious and I wish I could think up amazing comebacks like hers.

I liked all the secondary characters as well (except for one, but I guess that was fine cuz they turned out to be a real dick anyway). Grey’s demon roommate, D, was probably my favorite. Even though he doesn’t talk for like the first half of the book, his mannerisms were enough to endear him to me. I even came to like Grey’s kid sister who also got a bit of development as well.

The plot was a roller coaster of gore and sarcasm. It was gross (in a good way), but also comical so it made all of the crazy stuff happening really entertaining. I feel like it would be a real awesome horror movie, like on the same level as Evil Dead. It has that same combination of disturbing and ridiculous. My only critiques are that the story lagged a bit in the middle and the plot got a little fuzzy, but the beginning was strong and the last third of the book really picked up. I felt like the fight scenes could also be finessed a bit cuz I found them a bit confusing at times. But overall, it was a really cool and funny read and I’ll be looking for a sequel.

Although I enjoyed the blurb, I'll be honest and admit it was totally the cover that drew me to this one. I have a thing for corvids to begin with, but the cover and title were a definite advantage for me picking this one up.

It took me longer than I thought to read. The beginning is great and it hooks you, but soon I got tired of the endless metaphors and similies. Don't get me wrong, some of them were very clever and funny, but after the hundredth one it got tedious. I ended up putting the book down a few times. I did pick it back up and in the end finished the novel.

In the first half of the story our protagonist asks several times how she could screw up so badly, which is irritating because none of it is her fault. A couple of times the author lost me since I've never lived in, nor visited, New York city. His familiarity with the location is obvious but skipping over the details of where they were didn't detract too much from the story. There were a couple of places that only made sense after finishing the book that probably could have been given a bit more oomph had the narrator pointed out their strangeness at the time. (mild spoiler: Mandy breaks her wrist and binds it with ducktape, to keep the "loose bone from sliding too much" but no mention is made of pain or the weirdness of the lack thereof.)

One thing Leyva did in excellent fashion was describing Mandy's mental health. As a sufferer of anxiety and depression I found myself wishing I could fist bump this novel in solidarity several times. This passage is especially resonant:

"The point, Barnem, is that sometimes I feel fine and sometimes I feel broken, less than, possibly dead. Sometimes I hear so many damn voices in my head that I forget what mine sounds like. Sometimes I get so angry that I want to tear my flesh up to let out the pressure. Sometimes I fall so deep into my own head that I don't eat or shower for days."

In the end I found this to be an entertaining read with a few standout passages, an interesting if not wholly original plot, a cast of sympathetic characters, and an abrupt ending that is disappointing though not unexpected.

I didn’t know what to expect when I started reading And Then There Were Crows.  Part satirical urban fantasy, part black comedy - the end of the world begins with a Craigslist ad for a roommate.  In this case roommate from hell is an accurate description.  Amanda Grey has agoraphobia and panic disorder.  Dealing with the everyday is hard enough, but now she has shades trying to kill her, a disturbing excuse for an angel blaming her for the oncoming apocalypse, and a new neighbor trying to be her friend.  Odd things are happening in New York, and somehow it is up to Amanda to save the day.

Amanda isn’t the most likable heroine, but she is perfectly believable as a young woman with serious anxiety issues. Her main methods of coping are avoidance and driving people away by being unpleasant.   But she is the perfect heroine for this unique novel and difficult to classify novel.

My only complaint is that there are times when the novel drags.  Otherwise it is an excellent and unusual read.

4 / 5

I received a copy of And Then There Were Crows from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

— Crittermom

When I first saw the plot and the title of the book, And Then There Were Crows, I found it way too intriguing. Once I received the book and started reading it, I found it rather absurd. The book was fine but it took me a long time to finish it because of its slow pace. Few instances I didn't even feel like ending it. Reading the blurb on Netgalley made me get excited, I thought the book would be different than the usual YA genre, but it was disappointing to me. The writing style was way too dull. The story tends to get a little tangled up at times, but in like a quirky and endearing way.

About the character, if I talk about the main character Amanda, she was a mess and I suppose that was the only aspect handled by the author nicely. A young woman coping with mental illness, but not in a sad-but-pretty way was something that made me pull on with the book. Although the plot or the idea about the entire book wasn't that bad the execution was horrible. It could have been written in a much better manner with a fast pace and intriguing structure. Other than that, the front cover was interestingly chosen including the title name. I suppose most of the bookworms would get this book just cause of its title "And Then There Were Crows" and the front cover kinda gives you the creep.

I received a copy of And Then There Were Crows by Alcy Leyva from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was intrigued by the summary and really wanted to like this novel, but it was a chore at times to keep reading. The storyline could have been pulled together better and the characters (especially the main character) developed better. There were flashes of real goodness, but then the story would get bogged down or off track a little.

I would try reading another book by Alcy Leyva to see if the writing/storyline would improve with more experience, but I don't think I would recommend this novel unless further editing to tighten it up happened.

So, despite my five star rating, this may not be the book for you.

You have cursing (lots of it), gruesome violence (lots of it), just general weirdness (a whole freaking lot of it), and snark (pretty much the entire book).

Added to the above mentioned virtues (lol - no, not vices), you've got a rocking adventure of a story that made me smile more than once, laugh out loud (literally a few times), and snort unattractively (many, many times).

I loved our main character. Somehow, our author managed to make her snarky without making her sound like a teenager. D was beyond awesome and even the Pope made me laugh. (Note: if you can't take a rather tongue in cheek view of religion, you might want to skip.)

My first reaction when I started reading it could best be described as a rather stunned what-the-heck-am-I-reading expression, but the book quickly became just pure fun.

So, probably not for everyone (because severed body parts), but definitely for me!