Another review for NetGalley, and it was a very pleasant surprise! I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. Not that I had a bad expection, but I had no expectations at all.

Let’s start with our main character, Gin. I absolutely loved her. More stories about nerd girls, please! I could relate to her on a level that I did not expect. She loves computers and making these models and apps to help her with her life. She is awkward and has trouble making friends at school, but she is also very confident and knows who she is. She doesn’t expect to find her self-worth through other people. Her goal is to get a very prestigious internship and then go to Harvard.

She doesn’t quite know what to do with Felix, and for most of the story, I didn’t either. He was a big part of the mystery, even though he seems like mostly a normal, nice guy. A big part of this story was trying to figure out what was going on with him and, of course, with his family’s pet crows. In the beginning, their behavior seems almost magical (to the point that I almost thought this had fantastical elements at one point, but it doesn’t – they weren’t actually “talking” to the crows, they are just very well trained).

The story itself did drag in some places, but it also really kept me invested. I didn’t want to put it down. I was a bit disappointed in the ending, as I was expecting more of a final confrontation, but if there was one, it happened offstage somewhere. It was a satisfying ending, I just wish we had seen it more on the page, especially since so much time was spent leading up to it.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book. It was interesting and fun to read with some really good characters.

Gin was an interesting character. She lives her life by logic and rules and she knows what her plan is for her life. She even designs programs to help her decision making process go smoothly. 

I found it hard to relate to her when it came to that, although the idea of having a program design outfits for me without thinking about it sounds pretty nice.

Her best friend Hannah was awesome and probably my favorite character in this book. She doesn't mind giving Gin crap about living her life by computer programs and reminding her life doesn't need to be lived by an app.

In comes Felix, a new student at school. He and Gin are paired up in computer simulation class and they start an easy friendship that quickly turns romantic. I thought their romance was interesting and found myself rooting for them throughout the story.

Felix's interest in crows is weird at first. It definitely came off as creepy during the first part of the story. But once we are introduced to the crows and learn more about them, I loved them more and more. 

The scientific aspect/computer programming parts of this story were well laid out and I understood them, which was nice. Because I literally have almost zero coding/programming knowledge. And the way this was written I was easily able to follow along and understand what was happening.

There were some twists in this book, but the overarching plot about the crows wasn't a surprise. Basically who the bad guy is implied to be fairly early on is, in fact, the bad guy.  The other twists threw me a bit though, and that's what kept me engaged and thus rating this book 4 stars (realistically  3.5 but I don't do half stars so I rounded up).

Overall, this is a good read and I did enjoy it!

I'll be the first to admit, I'm usually one of the last people to pick up YA novels, but the premise of Crow Flight caught my attention. The story follows the hyper-logical, highly intelligent programmer Regina "Gin" Hartson. Crow Flight begins as Gin starts her senior year of high school, gunning for Harvard and unwilling to let anything get in her way. In her exclusive computer modeling class, she is partnered with the new kid at school, Felix Gartner. Gin's logic-based approach to life begins to falter as her relationship with Felix begins to flourish, until it all comes crashing down with a dark secret hiding in their data. 

I enjoyed the third act of this book, but I made it there by sheer will alone. The characters initially felt like caricatures of teen stereotypes that have been played out in this genre. Relationships and conflicts in this book flow with ease at some points and seem forced and wedged in at others (e.g. large enough to cause a schism between two long time friends). I struggled with the pacing of this book as well. Much of the book passes slowly, uneventfully, with the final act jammed full of action I wish had been expanded upon or at least kicked off earlier in the book. 

The saving grace of Crow Flight, for me, was Gin and Felix's relationship. Despite the clichés, their friendship and the relationship that bloomed from it had a depth and genuine quality that is hard to capture. Overall, a really solid YA read, but not for me.

I received my copy of Crow Flight from Amberjack Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

2.75 stars.

Crow Flight is a quick and easy read, but overall pretty average. Although Gin and Felix's relationship builds up quickly (it's pretty much insta-love), and some plot points appeared out of nowhere, the book still felt predictable and super slow, focusing more on the romance rather than the mystery.

It's an interesting read. I enjoyed the dynamic between Gin and Felix. I have not read many books about programming, so this was different for me. Overall, a good story.

The synopsis does describe the book, but it isn’t interesting enough to make someone want to read this book in my opinion. This book is so much more than the synopsis describes!

Gin is a computer modeler – a very talented one! She applies logic to everything she does in her life, oftentimes with apps she has designed for that very purpose - Outfitter to decide what to wear, TimeKeeper to efficiently plan her day, HungerStriker to determine the best food choices for optimal nutrition, and even Love Fractal to help select a date. Everything can be determined by algorithms and logic in her world thereby eliminating the need for her to make any decisions that could be wrong. Logic can’t fail her, right? But, after meeting Felix (a fellow modeler who trains crows), she soon discovers there is a lot more to life than just logic!

My initial interest in this book was based on the study of the crows and modeling their flight patterns. As an engineer that intrigued me and I was interested in how that would work in a YA book. The computer modeling discussions weren’t heavy handed at all in my opinion. The reader will not get bogged down in any technical jargon regarding modeling. And while the study of the crows is a fundamental part of this story, at its heart it is a love story.

I loved Gin. She was a strong, smart character with a bright future and a focused plan for her life. Felix, another great character, was more laid back, adventurous and carefree. When their teacher puts Gin and Felix together to work as a team in their computer modeling class, they start spending a lot of time together. This is where the sweet love story begins that you have read for yourself. It is worth it.

This book is so much more than computers and crows. Love, family drama, typical teenager angst, and even a pinch of corporate intrigue thrown in – never a dull moment!

I really enjoyed this book. It appears that this is the first book published by this author and I definitely look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

Thank you Netgalley and Amberjack Publishing for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The reason I really wanted to read this book, was because of the programming element. I teach English to IT students, so programming is a part of my daily life. Admittedly, a part that I don’t know much about myself, but I’m open to learn.

The programming aspect added a fun and modern twist to a story that was otherwise quite predictable, especially in the beginning. Just your typical high school romance that any girl enjoys reading every now and then. Myself included. Computer whiz Regina ‘Gin’ Hartson falls in love with the new, mysterious student at school, Felix Gartner, who happens to be very rich.

The moment when the story started grabbing my attention a little bit more, was when the crows were introduced. Felix and his father apparently train crows as a hobby. However, for Felix’s father this was actually a bit more than an innocent passing of time. In the beginning it felt a bit like an obsession and I thought it was very strange. However, as the story continued it all started to make more sense and I thought it made the book a lot more exciting. Especially when the FBI got involved.

I definitely enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to my IT students.

Abandoned after 10 chapters
It's a bit intriguing, and I like how it has a contemporary feel despite being kinda futuristic/sci-fi, but it just doesn't really draw me in, and I don't really care about what's going to happen

Crow flight is an interesting book with great characters. I really liked that it was about computer programming and the consequences of that on her life. It’s original and I’ve never read a story about computer science. I liked the chemistry between Gin and Felix, but sometimes their relationship felt a bit unrealistic.

When I requested this book, I thought it sounded cute and the idea of a book about studying the flight patterns of crows intrigued me for some reason. I ended up liking this book so much more than I expected and what a pleasant surprise! This book was exciting, romantic, clever and so much more!

It is told from the point of view of an extremely intelligent girl named Gin who loves to create computer programs for her every day life from what to wear, to how to spend her time, everything is meticulously planned from the programs she has created to eliminate the normal stress of decision making. Without the little problems, Gin is able to focus all her efforts on school and getting into Harvard where she can become the computer programmer she has always dreamed of becoming. So with her senior year planned out perfectly to get her into her dream college and with everything going as planned, leave it to her best friend and a class that should have been her easiest yet to throw her a curve ball that could change all her plans and programs. Life has a funny way of giving us all the unpredictable, and poor Gin wasn't ready for what life had in store for her. Be it good or bad, she has to choose whether to throw her programs aside and go with her heart. Or forever wonder what could have been if she had only taken that chance.

The most important part of this book are its fantastic characters. I loved Gin and her brainy outlook on life. I also really appreciated the fact that even though Gin was constantly focused on school and work and her computer programs, she still had a beautiful best friend who kept Gin active in school and getting a social life even against all computer program odds. And my gosh did I love Felix. These characters were all so well fleshed out. I felt like I was a student in school watching the drama unfold before my very eyes they were so real to me.

The technical terms that usually tend to bog down stories with so much computer science in them such as this book weren't as overwhelming as I thought they would be. I am by no means a computer genius, hell I feel accomplished when I can figure out how to get HTML formatting to work, much less creating entire computer programs to run my life. So when things start to get too technical I can usually feel my eyes beginning to glaze over and my mind starts to wander to different realms and I find myself rehashing what I had for lunch and wondering whats for dinner... its a long and constant struggle this love for food that I have... I digress. I'm happy to say that there were no wandering food thoughts in this book though because there was a happy balance of technical talk with a lot of simple explanations that helped the reader know without having to be in the know. I felt like at the end of this book I could jump right into computer hacking 101 and do pretty good! Just kidding.. I'm still struggling with the italics in the first part of this review. But we'll just pretend like I learned something because I sure felt like I did!

I couldn't put this book down from the sweet love story, the ever interesting crows, the family drama and so much more there was never a slow or dull moment. I was so wrapped up in the characters and all that was going on it was easy to find that I'd read most of the book in one sitting. I definitely think that this will be a book that can be enjoyed by all types of readers in all types of genres. It was different from everything I've been reading lately but it was still such a fun and refreshing read.

<b>*2.75 Stars*</b>

<i>I was provided an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Gin is starting her senior year in high school and the only class she's excited for is computer modelling. She is already very good in it, since her father has been making models since forever and so has she. Her models tell her how to dress and what to do, they dictate every part of her life. Everything changes when she runs into Felix. She is immediately attracted to this strange popular boy, who seems to hang out with crows. When her modelling teacher partner them up, Gin can't believe it, she's so sure she'll never be able to focus with him around.

This was a hit and miss for me. I didn't really like Gin, nor did I relate with her. The only characters I somehow empathized with was her friends, Lucas and Hannah, and then again, not really. I really didn't like Felix, and was very disappointed with the ending.
I was mostly bored throughout the book. I didn't really care about most of what was happening. It felt slow and a bit messy. I guess that must have been because I couldn't find it in me to like Felix. Everything would have been fine had I liked him.
Since I didn't like him, I really wasn't rooting for their relationship and I found it a bit rushed and unnatural... And I found myself not being interesting in the computer parts all that much either...
I guess this really wasn't for me but I'm sure others would love it.

I was given this book from Netgalley for an honest review.
Wow! This book was exactly what i needed. The plot is so intense and the conflict in the story really hooked me from page one. This was definitely an exciting well written book. I was wanting just a little more action with what was happening, but I couldn’t put it down.
The characters complemented each other well and gave me the nostalgia of being in high school again.

Gin is in her senior year. She's taking classes to make her application to Harvard look better. When she notices a cute new male student, she tries to get his attention subtly but it doesn't work. She does most of her work with programs she's created that can help her with life. She's very logical and data oriented. Unfortunately, he doesn't come up as a match for her in the dating field. But he does get paired with her for a programming class...

Amberjack Publishing and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you). It will be published December 11th.

Gin and Felix work well together. One thing she notices about him is that he has an affinity for crows. It turns out his father raises and trains them. His father also keeps a database on them. They decide to write a program about the crows using that database. It's a good and a bad idea both.

Gin is getting quite fond of Felix. Then he and his parents go on vacation and when they return, Felix is withdrawn from school. She can't get hold of him by phone, so she goes to visit and his father threatens her with a lawsuit if she uses the crow database. What's he hiding?

She hears from Felix here and there and he tells her to continue with the program they were working on and use the database as planned. She finds a connection between the crows and espionage and then the FBI get involved. Then she finds out her dating program is illegal and she has her own problems. She's also worried about Felix really cares for her.

I've always had a fascination with crows (they're smart) and they made this story more enjoyable for me. I enjoyed this read, why don't you give it a try?

I must say, this book hooked me from the start. I’ve always thought coding is intresting, despite having no skill of it myself. Gin was a computer genius and a likable character who did the right thing, even though it cost her dearly. Felix also chose a difficult path. I thought he was terribly rude and an incredible jerk at times, yet he did seem to care for Gin and his skill with a computer shouldn’t be overlooked. Seriously though, how could he have put her through some of the things he did? Their relationship was borderline abusive. I’m still conflicted about that because there was also a caring, sweet side to him. And his decision regarding the information they uncovered was very brave. I’m not sure I would have had the courage to do what he did. Gin’s friend Hannah was also brave and trustworthy. Even though things weren’t always the best between her and Gin, she was still there for her when she needed it most. And boy did Gin need it! Gin’s life will be forever changed because of the choices she made. She lost one dream only to discover another. Like Gin, I too was changed by this book. I doubt I will ever look at relationships or crows the same way again.

I thought this book was a decent read.

I'll start with what I like. The whole concept that life is ilogic and it's better to live in the persent was ust so beautiful and unique. I really liked reding about it. It was also relatable for me, as person who trusts logic a lot and overthinks everything.

I saw some people saying they didn't like the writing style. I, on the other hand, enjoyed it. It was a little bit confusing, there was deffinintly something with the naration, but the writing was pretty nice.

Another thing I really liked was the modeling part. I felt like it added something unique to the story. The modeling infos sounded so accurate. I can see how much work the author put in this book. I'm sure people that are interested in modeling or work in this domain will enjoy the book.

Now, let get to the ugly part. This book didn't catch my attention at all. The whole mistery with Felix and the crows didn't interest me.

At some point (somewhere around page 70) I felt like I was forcing myself to read this book just to give you my review. So I took a break from it. But I just didn't want to come back to it because it had nothing to pull me back into it. I ended up forcing myself to finish it, to give my review before the release day.

I found it easy to relate to Gin, with all her insecurities. I liked how she created models to organise her life, but later it became a little bit unrealistic. The magic disappeared page by page and I just ended up not really caring for what happened to her. But I really loved the friendship between Gin and Hannah.

The romance was just unrealistic. I didn't really understand why Gin and Felix liked each other. I mean, yes, Felix was good looking, liked modeling, had ''pretty lips'' and at first the author presented him as perfect. I can get why a nerdy girl like Gin would like him. But why did he like Gin? Because she was different? Come on, give me something new!

I saw a lot of cliches mashed up in the characters. Felix's dad was a big cliche in my opinion.

The ending was surprising and, for such a slow paced book, it weirdly felt right.

Also, I think the cover fits the book really well and I like it.

I think Crow Flight stands as exactly what it is: a debut novel. It has its flaws and uses some cliches, but it's not a bad book. Some people might enjoy it more then others.

I want to read some more of Susan Cunningham future work to see her improvement. I see some potential in this new author.

I was able to read this book through Netgalley to provide feedback and my honest review.

Gin is quite possibly a computer genius. She is able to make complex computer models and her dream is to attend Harvard some day. When a new boy, Felix, shows up at school her focus is turned. Felix winds up in her modeling class and becomes her new partner. As they work through their final project terrible secrets are found and Gin has to make a tough decision.

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book. There was an element of mystery that kept me intrigued. The arrival of Felix and the strange crows he seemed to always be around was so mysterious I didn’t want to put it down until I knew more. Unfortunately it took over half the book to get that answer. Usually that wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me, but the story seemed to drag on without much happening.

The relationship between Felix and Gin was unusual to me. His character never seemed interested in her even when he actually was. I had a hard time seeing why they were interested in each other, other than the fact that they both enjoyed computer models.

If you enjoy computer sciences and modeling I think you would really enjoy this book. There were specifics related to how a computer model works in great detail. I found those bits to be interesting at times and a little boring at other times. Sadly my interests don’t involve computer sciences so I was probably not the right audience for this story.

The biggest problem I had with this book was the ending. The entire storyline was moving so slow and then right at the end every conflict happened one after another. It felt rushed and forced on the reader. I wish the conflict and resolution had been better fleshed out.

I think the concept behind this book was unique. It was an interesting read, but the story didn’t flow for me and was hard to get through.

I loved this book!

Gin is entering her senior year of high school. She's really into computers, and uses computer models to tell her how to make every decision she needs to make, from what to wear to how to spend her time. When she's paired up in a computer class with the cute new boy, she doesn't exactly know what she's getting into. Their project to put together a model of crow behavior reveals some astonishing results... and they find out that they both like each other while they're at it.

I really liked the main character, Gin. Maybe it's because I'm a computer person and I could identify with her. She was often unsure of herself, especially when it came to the cute boy, Felix. I also liked Felix. He was a likeable rich boy who didn't believe that money would solve all his problems.

The plot was interesting. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but what they discovered affected Felix and Gin's relationship. It might not be something you'd expect when you first start reading the book. The plot regarding the crows intersected with the storyline involving Felix and Gin.

I would definitely recommend this book if you're interested in a contemporary love story involving computers and maybe some crows.

The book description appealed to me because I can relate to this nerdy girl (having been one myself as a teenager) and also because I thought the ideas about having apps to control every aspect of your life is interesting - in a way that relying completely on apps, can only go wrong.

However, the book is a bit slow in the build-up and the whole relationship between Gin and Felix seems forced and imaginary. Even so, I enjoyed reading the book for what it is, trying to look at it from a young adult perspective. It is a quick read, but the descriptions of the crows and their flights patterns were a bit dull for my taste. The ending for me was very forced and something about the way it ended with Gin and Felix provoked me deeply - but I am not a young teenage girl anymore, so maybe this ending will appeal more to the correct age group.

This was such an amazing book. The characters are rich and real, the plot is intense. The intrigue and conflict in the story is what really hooked me. This wasn’t just another cute, fluffy contemporary love story. This book has some serious conflict. And while I maybe had hoped for a little more action, the exposition and ultimate resolution were still nerve wracking to read. I seriously could not stop reading.

DNF 20%...

I feel pretty sorry that i, once again, just DNFed a book... but srsly, it just wasn't my cup of coffee. Too cliché, too fast... Maybe it would get better, but, unfortunately, i already lost the interest at the very beginning.