Black Wings {ARC review} * * * 1/2

Black Wings by Christina Henry

Nov 30, 2010

- Urban Fantasy -

reviewed by Tara SG

received for review via Book It Forward Tours

Book Order (Madeline Black)

1. Black Wings (11.30.10) * * * 1/2
2. Black Night (Fall 2011)

Links

Author’s Website : www.christinahenry.net

Amazon : *pre-order* paperback / eBook

Add To Your GoodReads TBR List

This book in 6 words:

witty, tense fighting, and good mythology

Why did I read this? And am I glad I did?

I came across this via Book It Forward Tours. It sounded like something I would like and it was. However, I’m starting to feel the way about the abundance of angel books that people feel about vampire books. This had good mythology and great fight scenes. I felt like it was a little predictable, but not to the point where I didn’t want to keep reading.

I’ll be picking up the second book in the series.

Brief Summary

Meet Maddy Black.
She’s an Agent of Death who really needs to get a life.

Escorting souls into the afterlife leaves Maddy little time for socializing—until devilishly handsome Gabriel Angeloscuro agrees to rent the empty apartment in her building. But when demons start appearing on Maddy’s front lawn, she realizes there’s more to her new tenant than meets the eye.

- via GoodReads.com

Plot/Pacing/Writing Style

We open the story with Maddy trying to get a woman to leave her cats and pass on to the afterlife (before the cats start eating her body). I felt like this psuedo-gruesome/hilarious beginning fit with the rest of the book. I liked the mythology as far as the Agents and Maddy’s lineage goes. I felt like a little bit of the story was predictable, but I didn’t see how it was all going to come together and I was satisfied with the ending (while still wanting to know what happens next).

The pacing was good. Everything I thought it would slow down another big event went down.

I had a little problem getting into the story because it just didn’t seem to flow that well, HOWEVER, I was reading an ARC and a lot of the repetitive phrases and the such will most likely be corrected before the book is released.

Characters

I liked Maddy. She acted quite a bit younger than she was (acting like she was 20 when she’s really 30ish). She was tough while still having realistic weaknesses. You can’t help but feels sorry for her due to all the loss she’s suffered and being forced into a job that takes over her life. Her relationship with Gabriel is another way she felt younger than she actually was, but I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in the next book.

Gabriel Angeloscuro? Gee I wonder what he is… I kinda hate when an author uses such an obvious name. That being said, I liked Gabriel a lot! He is funny and tough and tortured (everything I look for in a guy!). I’m very much interested in seeing what the future holds for him.

Beezle was an unexpected joy. He added a nice amount of humor and allowed us to see how Maddy cares for those she loves.

Favorite Quotes

“Then they mentioned taking your entrails back to Focalor or something else of that nature”.

“You didn’t think the details were important enough to remember?” I asked. I was a little concerned for my entrails even if Beezle wasn’t.

“Frankly, demonic threats get a little boring after a while. It’s always ‘I’ll pull your beating heart out of your chest’ or ‘I’ll suck your eyeballs out of your skull’. They haven’t had any new material in a couple millenia” Beezle said.

Recommendations

If you’re a fan of Urban Fantasy, then this would be a great one to check out. Expect lots of action-packed fight scenes, but not a lot of romance.