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    Black Feathers: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Black Feathers: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Black Feathers: A Novel
    Ebook421 pages5 hours

    Black Feathers: A Novel

    By Robert J. Wiersema

    4/5

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    Unavailable in your country

    Unavailable in your country

    About this ebook

    Sixteen-year-old runaway Cassie Weathers is utterly alone, living on the streets as winter sets in. Then she meets Skylark, a young girl who introduces her to a community of street-dwellers and runaways. As Cassie settles in to the community, the city is rocked by the news that a number of young prostitutes have been murdered.

    Cassie grows closer to Skylark, but the night terrors and sleep paralysis Cassie suffered as a child begin to return, and the mystery as to why she ran away from home deepens. While it seems she ran to escape abuse, the actual reason might be more terrifying: helpless to resist her dreams, did she kill her father and leave home to protect her mother and sister?

    In the camp, Cassie's dreams take another turn: she dreams of killing one of the members of the community, a woman whose body is found nearby the following morning after an apparent suicide. When Cassie dreams of killing Skylark, she tries to run again only to find herself drawn back into the new home she has found. When Skylark disappears, Cassie is left alone, spiralling into complex dreamworlds where her past blurs with her present and nothing can be trusted.

    Inspired by authors such as Stephen King, Charles de Lint and Neil Gaiman, Black Feathers is a novel that straddles genres, incorporating elements of literary fiction, urban fantasy and horror. It’s a coming of age story, a love story and a mythic thriller.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateAug 11, 2015
    ISBN9781443410540
    Unavailable
    Black Feathers: A Novel
    Author

    Robert J. Wiersema

    Robert J. Wiersema is a bookseller and reviewer, who contributes regularly to the Vancouver Sun, the Globe and Mail, the Ottawa Citizen and numerous other newspapers. Wiersema is also the event coordinator for Bolen Books. He lives in Victoria, B.C., with his wife and son.

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    Reviews for Black Feathers

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    • 4/5
      I’m a bit conflicted about this books, because it’s not something you can read as a straight forward story. There is so much more going on, lots of mysteries and secrets that aren’t all solved at the end of the book, which makes you long for the next one so you can see if what you thought is actually true.
      Black Feathers is a book you need to sleep a few nights on, thinking about the message behind the book and all the duality you encounter while reading (is the Crowman the good guy, or is he also the bad guy?). There is a strong message in this book. It deals with the apocalypse and throughout the book it’s mentioned many times that the earth is revolting, shrugging of parasites (humans) that have used her but have never given anything back. That’s actually what everyone is warning us about now with the climate change etc.

      D’Lacey isn’t afraid of some gory details, so it’s kind of hard to put a single genre on this book. Though it’s called a Fantasy book, it’s something deeper than that, a horror element is definitely there, along with a little eco-warning. It’s partially apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic, which is really interesting to read.
      The story is more of an intimate journey with our 2 protagonists, one of them struggling with a declining earth and all the suffering that comes with it and the other coming to terms with her destiny and the retelling of a story that may take all her resolve and strength.
      The gorey details only added to the book in my opinion, giving it an edge it needed, some violence to underline the rough situation Gordon, one of our main characters, has to live through.

      There were times I though “Huh, the story’s slowing down a bit, I hope the pacing won’t stutter to a halt”, and then something major happens, mostly something I didn’t see coming at all, which draws me back in to the story all over again.
      One thing that annoyed me though, was the constant crying. I was brought up with my parents telling me that crying doesn’t solve anything, although it can be a relieve sometimes. The main characters in this book cried every chapter, and yes, they had it rough, so they had a right to cry now and then, but it was a bit too much for me. It’s good to show the weaknesses in your characters, but you don’t want to make them seem too weak.
      But that’s just my opinion, maybe something to do with the way I was brought up.

      Joseph D’Lacey writes beautifully, it’s a joy to read, so easy and flowing, but with a certain intelligence. Writing on a higher level.
      All in all, I really enjoyed Black Feathers, it was absolutely intriguing and fascinating and I’m still not sure I understand everything the author wanted to put in his story. I’d recommend Black Feathers to anyone who wants a more intelligent story, with lots of secrets and mystery, people who don’t mind a little thinking while reading (and after it).
    • 4/5
      This book was given to me by publishers in exchange for an honest review, and with that much said, that is what I will do. "When the final days come, it was said that Satan walked the Earth in the guise of a crow. Those who feared him called him Scarecrow or sometimes Black Jack. I know him as the Crowman."Post-apocalyptic books never really catch my attention as they don''t interest me. Mind you I will give them a try if the summary alone can pull me in. Needless to say this one did, but beyond that I'm sorry to say it fell flat for me. While yes, the plot was interesting as the two stories are connected by the Crowman, a distant and mysterious individual (who would certainly set me on edge if I ever came across him)and though D'Lacey's character development was great as you got to watch the characters grow into their own, but this book just didn't do it for me. I'm the type of reader that likes to get invested in the main characters, but I couldn't bring myself to do it as the book was divided, as I mentioned, into two different perspectives. I'm not saying that I haven't read books of this nature, for I have, but that doesn't mean I enjoyed jumping from one perspective to another. It reminded me of reading Paolini, where I'd get involved with Eragons story only to be tossed into his cousins, despite them being linked, then only to become invested in that storyline to be tossed back into Eragons. This was how I felt reading this book I'm afraid.While this isn't a series I'll be continuing, I did enjoy it, especially the bits of the Crowman!
    • 4/5
      Gordon Black and Megan Maurice are from two different times and each has their own story to tell. What connects them is the Crowman, who also goes by the names Blackjack and Scarecrow. Gordon lives in the beginnings of post-apocalyptic England. Climate change, dwindling resources and Man’s general abuse of the environment have caused the fabric of society to start to collapse. Megan lives generations later when people live a simpler existence. What they have in common is that they’re both too young and are forced to take on responsibilities far beyond their years. Yes, we have seen this idea before of a young boy or girl who finds out their destiny is to save the world. Here we even have two of them. Don’t let that stop you from trying this book. The author pulls you in right away and keeps you immersed in his world. Along the way he introduces some great characters to keep the story moving. I will warn you there were some incidents that were quite jarring to me and unexpected. Part fantasy, part horror and part coming of age story, this book will entertain you and make you think. This is the first book in a planned two book series, which I wish I knew before I started. It is going to be a long wait until 2014!