Book Review: Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

Rating: ★★★☆☆(3/5)

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Introduction:

With Scythe & Sparrow being released I finally decided to check Butcher & Blackbird off of my TBR list. I have not really read a lot of dark romances but I was a fan of Dexter as a kid so I figured this couldn’t be too bad.

It ruined ice cream for me for a while.

This story took me a month to get throgh the first fifty pages. Once I sat down and gave it an actual chance, I zoomed through it quicker than I thought possible. It left me hungry to see what Leather and Lark was about and itching to see if Sythe and Sparrow could live up to L&L.

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Summary: A Brief Overview (Without Major Spoilers)

From Good Reads:

When a chance encounter sparks an unlikely bond between rival murderers Sloane and Rowan, the two find something elusive—the friendship of a like-minded, pitch-black soul. From small town West Virginia to upscale California, from downtown Boston to rural Texas, the two hunters collide in an annual game of blood and suffering, one that pits them against the most dangerous monsters in the country. But as their friendship develops into something more, the restless ghosts left in their wake are only a few steps behind, ready to claim more than just their newfound love. Can Rowan and Sloane dig themselves out of a game of graves? Or have they finally met their match?

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What Worked for Me:

The twist towards the end worked. I always like it when a book can surprise me. There is a character that turned out to be not what they seem and it threw me for a loop. I am very good at picking out plot devices so I love it when a surprise hits me.

The dynamics between Butcher and Blackbird. Rowan and Sloane are a match made in hell and I mean that in the best way. They are two very twisted and somehow likable characters that work. We see these two broken toys who are trying to repair each other and it makes them more relatable.

I am not usually into overly dominant males (too much of a brat) but I could get behind Rowan telling Sloane what to do. When the slowburn finally exploded. It took 200+ pages but when the two finally did ignite it was steamy. I found myself having to look around and make sure my cheeks weren’t blushing too hard on my lunch break when I reached the sex scenes. They were graphic and direct and had me Googling what a fourchette piercing was. Glad I Googled that on my personal device.

The accidental cannibalism? No but seriously, that was funny. There were moments in the book that were dark and twisty and yet somehow totally funny. It was definitely a dark romcom.

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What Didn’t Work for Me: Trigger Warnings and Criticisms

Not going to lie, the first 50 pages of this book had me almost at a DNF level of boredom. I just could not get into it. Then I kept going. Slowly, very slowly, I started to get interested enough in the characters that I endured the slow burn that is this novel.

Cookies and Cream Ice Cream was my favorite flavor of ice cream and this book has just about ruined it for me.

There were large gaps of time that this book covered but there wasn’t a lot of character development to back it up. The characters felt stale after a while.

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Final Thoughts:

This book came out in 2023 but I can see why it’s still on the forefront of BookTok girlies. It’s a quick read once you get into it and it got me invested enough that I will check out Leather and Lark. I didn’t realize I liked dark rom coms but I am all for more of this.