I don't think I can rate this book.

 

Many of you here are familiar with Martin Edwards from his Detection Club/The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books fame, given that his work inspired our Detection Club bingo game. In addition to his depth and breadth of knowledge regarding golden age mystery fiction, he is a crime writer himself. I've not read any of his other books, although several of them, particularly his series set in the Lake District, appeal to me.

 

This is his most recent work, though, released back in late September. I also have a Kindle Unlimited membership, paid for by my mother, so when I noticed that Gallows Court was available through that program, I thought "why not."

 

And why not, indeed? 

 

Anyway, as I said at the beginning of this review, I don't know what to make of this book. It is set in 1940's London, but in many ways it reads like a Victorian penny-dreadful. There are strong horror overtones, here, and lots of melodrama. The main character, Jacob Flint, is a likeable young reporter for The Clarion. The primary crime reporter for the newspaper has been hospitalized after a suspicious accident, and Jacob sees this an opportunity for advancement and a chance to figure out what is up with Rachel Savernake, the daughter of a famous "hanging judge" who left her an heiress and who seems to have an inexplicable aptitude for crime solving.

 

This isn't a standard mystery, although I figured out the twist pretty early in the book. There was a secondary twist that did give me a pretty good shock. There are several extremely gruesome murders, and very dark themes. It's not really my sort of mystery, although it is gripping and I devoured it in a matter of hours.

 

I hope that someone else reads this - I want to know what everyone else thinks!

 

 

Black Bird of the Gallows has a unique premise with an interesting spin on old myths.

Within you will find a (not so) diverse cast of angsty teens dealing with high school drama and, of course, there's brooding aplenty. But that's to be expected with a YA PNR...

 

It has a quick pace but it in no way feels rushed... if you will, it has a steady rhythm (teehee) all its own that easily led me by the hand, bleary eyed, into the wee hours. The characters feel genuine and more importantly, I felt for & with them. There are heepings of cheesy banter and a quasi-insta love as well.

 

However, the catastrophic events were a tad too tame for what I expected/craved and the plot as a whole has just a pinch of Creepy instead of a generous helping of "where's my nightlight?" Scary. The writing is succinct causing varying degrees of rapt attention (mostly dependent on my ability to stomach and navigate (trooper style) through all of the MANY PNR tropes. The world building is decent though the magical aspect is, at times, flat. Key elements are not only underutilized and poorly explained (never reaching their fullest potential) but characters that are introduced and anticipated (the Strawmen) aren't even given more than a cursory role featuring a 1 sentence speaking line that is heard(?!?) by exactly 1 person... then POOF... into the Ether with them/him/??

 

For a good portion of the book (until about the 70% mark) I found myself screaming at my ereader (a fruitless yet common occurrence in my household) for Reece to just leave town thereby saving both himself and our strong, "I'm no damsel in distress, I'll save myself thank you very much" heroine. All would be right, albeit heartwrenching, with the soon-to-be Harbinger/Beekeeper free town. I chatted animatedly with my ereader all the way until I reached the plot twist at the end and at that point all was forgiven. The ending is both cute and neatly wrapped up with a spiffy glittery bow and a sparkly, cliffhanger free, ribbon to boot.

 

It is more than likely that I am no longer the targeted demographic for YA PNR... BUT if those are your genres dejour then this one's a keeper.

I wish I would have liked this better than I ended up doing.
It took me a while to read this, and then another while to work out what I didn't really like about it.
In fact I love the idea behind it.
The world building is imaginative and I loved the beekeepers and harbinger of death bits.
The story line left me divided. I loved the first half. The first bit of romance. But I wasn't a huge fan of the second part of the romance. It felt too fast too much and suddenly their attraction felt too melodramatic too put on.
Same goes for the plot. I was intrigued in the beginning, then about 60%in I kinda lost interest. I knew where it was going and frankly some of the turns felt too convenient and way too neat.

The writing style was ok. It's a bit too simplistic at times for my taste and some of the dialogues felt a bit generic.
Last but not least, the character building. Again, I felt that the first part was done better than the second part. I liked Angie and her friends. I got her insecurities, liked her relationship with her father and her friends. I loved Reece. The cast in general was interesting, even if there were a few generic support cast members thrown in. In the second part, however I felt less and less connected to the characters. I think partly this is due to the plot taking over. There was loads happening, one calamity after the other. But somehow, I found Angie, less relatable as well. It was too fast of a shift of emotions, it felt a bit unreal.

So while I think this is a really neat idea and though I did like the end, a lot. I found myself not quite convinced. It's somewhere between ok and good. So 2.5 Stars. But because I loved the first half and I adore the cover.. I rounded it up.

I wish I would have liked this better than I ended up doing.
It took me a while to read this, and then another while to work out what I didn't really like about it.
In fact I love the idea behind it.
The world building is imaginative and I loved the beekeepers and harbinger of death bits.
The story line left me divided. I loved the first half. The first bit of romance. But I wasn't a huge fan of the second part of the romance. It felt too fast too much and suddenly their attraction felt too melodramatic too put on.
Same goes for the plot. I was intrigued in the beginning, then about 60%in I kinda lost interest. I knew where it was going and frankly some of the turns felt too convenient and way too neat.

The writing style was ok. It's a bit too simplistic at times for my taste and some of the dialogues felt a bit generic.
Last but not least, the character building. Again, I felt that the first part was done better than the second part. I liked Angie and her friends. I got her insecurities, liked her relationship with her father and her friends. I loved Reece. The cast in general was interesting, even if there were a few generic support cast members thrown in. In the second part, however I felt less and less connected to the characters. I think partly this is due to the plot taking over. There was loads happening, one calamity after the other. But somehow, I found Angie, less relatable as well. It was too fast of a shift of emotions, it felt a bit unreal.

So while I think this is a really neat idea and though I did like the end, a lot. I found myself not quite convinced. It's somewhere between ok and good. So 2.5 Stars. But because I loved the first half and I adore the cover.. I rounded it up.

I wish I would have liked this better than I ended up doing.
It took me a while to read this, and then another while to work out what I didn't really like about it.
In fact I love the idea behind it.
The world building is imaginative and I loved the beekeepers and harbinger of death bits.
The story line left me divided. I loved the first half. The first bit of romance. But I wasn't a huge fan of the second part of the romance. It felt too fast too much and suddenly their attraction felt too melodramatic too put on.
Same goes for the plot. I was intrigued in the beginning, then about 60%in I kinda lost interest. I knew where it was going and frankly some of the turns felt too convenient and way too neat.

The writing style was ok. It's a bit too simplistic at times for my taste and some of the dialogues felt a bit generic.
Last but not least, the character building. Again, I felt that the first part was done better than the second part. I liked Angie and her friends. I got her insecurities, liked her relationship with her father and her friends. I loved Reece. The cast in general was interesting, even if there were a few generic support cast members thrown in. In the second part, however I felt less and less connected to the characters. I think partly this is due to the plot taking over. There was loads happening, one calamity after the other. But somehow, I found Angie, less relatable as well. It was too fast of a shift of emotions, it felt a bit unreal.

So while I think this is a really neat idea and though I did like the end, a lot. I found myself not quite convinced. It's somewhere between ok and good. So 2.5 Stars. But because I loved the first half and I adore the cover.. I rounded it up.