Mockingbird by Chuck Wendig
Apr. 9th, 2014 11:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Miriam Black has a terrible talent.
The first time she touches someone, she will see the moment of their death. Still in her early twenties, she’s foreseen hundreds of car crashes, heart attacks, strokes, suicides, and slow deaths by cancer. It is all she can do to keep her talent – her curse – in check.
But when Miriam touches a woman while standing in line at the supermarket, she foresees that this woman will be violently killed – right here, right now.
It’s several months after BLACKBIRDS. Miriam and Louis are living together in a trailer in a small New Jersey tourist town. She’s wearing gloves to stop her having visions of a person’s death when she touches them and she’s even got a job at the checkout of the local supermarket. But Miriam can’t be normal for long.
When Louis asks her to meet a friend, Katey, who’s convinced she’s going to die, Miriam’s unprepared for what she finds. Katey works as a teacher at a boarding school for troubled teenage girls in a town near Miriam’s home town. As Miriam’s forced to confront her past, she discovers that something very wrong is happening at the school and that those responsible have gifts similar to hers …
The second in Chuck Wendig’s MIRIAM BLACK SERIES is another dark, foul-mouthed, noir fantasy ride with razor-sharp dialogue and a female main character who’s finally found a role for her terrifying gift. I loved how Miriam’s developed from being a witness to death to a bringer of it and Wendig does well at showing the impact this has on her – both as a temptation and as a terrible consequence. I also loved that there’s no happy ever after here – the relationship between Miriam and Louis feels realistic and though I was disappointed by it, it does completely fit Miriam’s self-destructive, contrary character. The supernatural elements are well handled and creepy and the plot cracks along at a breakneck pace. Again, my only real gripe is with the antagonists who I’d have liked to see more of because Wendig gives them a terrifying motivation but they still feel a little underdeveloped on the page. That aside though, I think this is thoroughly entertaining, dark fantasy fiction and I’ve already bought my copy of THE CORMORANT.
I enjoyed the backstory elements for Miriam in this book, particularly the introduction of her dodgy uncle Jack but also the fact that her relationship with her religious mother becomes more rounded. Similarly the friendship that develops between Miriam and Katey (who could easily have been a figure of pity but doesn’t) and the quasi maternal relationship between Miriam and the mouthy Wren help to flesh out some of the more abrasive elements of Miriam’s character and make her more relatable. She’s very much a Marmite character, but I can’t get enough and will definitely read the next book.
The Verdict:
The second in Chuck Wendig’s MIRIAM BLACK SERIES is another dark, foul-mouthed, noir fantasy ride with razor-sharp dialogue and a female main character who’s finally found a role for her terrifying gift. I loved how Miriam’s developed from being a witness to death to a bringer of it and Wendig does well at showing the impact this has on her – both as a temptation and as a terrible consequence. I also loved that there’s no happy ever after here – the relationship between Miriam and Louis feels realistic and though I was disappointed by it, it does completely fit Miriam’s self-destructive, contrary character. The supernatural elements are well handled and creepy and the plot cracks along at a breakneck pace. Again, my only real gripe is with the antagonists who I’d have liked to see more of because Wendig gives them a terrifying motivation but they still feel a little underdeveloped on the page. That aside though, I think this is thoroughly entertaining, dark fantasy fiction and I’ve already bought my copy of THE CORMORANT.
The first time she touches someone, she will see the moment of their death. Still in her early twenties, she’s foreseen hundreds of car crashes, heart attacks, strokes, suicides, and slow deaths by cancer. It is all she can do to keep her talent – her curse – in check.
But when Miriam touches a woman while standing in line at the supermarket, she foresees that this woman will be violently killed – right here, right now.
It’s several months after BLACKBIRDS. Miriam and Louis are living together in a trailer in a small New Jersey tourist town. She’s wearing gloves to stop her having visions of a person’s death when she touches them and she’s even got a job at the checkout of the local supermarket. But Miriam can’t be normal for long.
When Louis asks her to meet a friend, Katey, who’s convinced she’s going to die, Miriam’s unprepared for what she finds. Katey works as a teacher at a boarding school for troubled teenage girls in a town near Miriam’s home town. As Miriam’s forced to confront her past, she discovers that something very wrong is happening at the school and that those responsible have gifts similar to hers …
The second in Chuck Wendig’s MIRIAM BLACK SERIES is another dark, foul-mouthed, noir fantasy ride with razor-sharp dialogue and a female main character who’s finally found a role for her terrifying gift. I loved how Miriam’s developed from being a witness to death to a bringer of it and Wendig does well at showing the impact this has on her – both as a temptation and as a terrible consequence. I also loved that there’s no happy ever after here – the relationship between Miriam and Louis feels realistic and though I was disappointed by it, it does completely fit Miriam’s self-destructive, contrary character. The supernatural elements are well handled and creepy and the plot cracks along at a breakneck pace. Again, my only real gripe is with the antagonists who I’d have liked to see more of because Wendig gives them a terrifying motivation but they still feel a little underdeveloped on the page. That aside though, I think this is thoroughly entertaining, dark fantasy fiction and I’ve already bought my copy of THE CORMORANT.
I enjoyed the backstory elements for Miriam in this book, particularly the introduction of her dodgy uncle Jack but also the fact that her relationship with her religious mother becomes more rounded. Similarly the friendship that develops between Miriam and Katey (who could easily have been a figure of pity but doesn’t) and the quasi maternal relationship between Miriam and the mouthy Wren help to flesh out some of the more abrasive elements of Miriam’s character and make her more relatable. She’s very much a Marmite character, but I can’t get enough and will definitely read the next book.
The Verdict:
The second in Chuck Wendig’s MIRIAM BLACK SERIES is another dark, foul-mouthed, noir fantasy ride with razor-sharp dialogue and a female main character who’s finally found a role for her terrifying gift. I loved how Miriam’s developed from being a witness to death to a bringer of it and Wendig does well at showing the impact this has on her – both as a temptation and as a terrible consequence. I also loved that there’s no happy ever after here – the relationship between Miriam and Louis feels realistic and though I was disappointed by it, it does completely fit Miriam’s self-destructive, contrary character. The supernatural elements are well handled and creepy and the plot cracks along at a breakneck pace. Again, my only real gripe is with the antagonists who I’d have liked to see more of because Wendig gives them a terrifying motivation but they still feel a little underdeveloped on the page. That aside though, I think this is thoroughly entertaining, dark fantasy fiction and I’ve already bought my copy of THE CORMORANT.
