Let me start off this review by saying that I am most definitely, one hundred percent in the minority here. Everyone who has reviewed this book so far has loved it. I guess I just love to swim against the current, which is all the more sad for me because I wanted to love this book as everyone else did.
Little Black Bird follows seventeen-year old Wiktoria who lives in a world in which magic is dying out and she holds a secret close to her heart: she has psychic powers. However, she cannot control her telekinesis and ends up unintentionally hurting people and getting on the radar of local sorcerers and their leader, the revered Guardian. Thrust into a world of uncertain power dynamics, mythical creatures, and demons that have it out for her, Wiktoria finds herself facing down dark powers with only one ally by her side – Artur, a boy who can read her mind, share her dreams, and makes Wiktoria question everything she thought she knew about herself and her world. Together, they face down their enemies and begin to unravel the secrets hiding everywhere.
While I could most definitely see the potential in the premise of this book, I still had a hard time finishing it.
One of my major issues with this book was the repetition. Reading this was like going through the same act over and over again with little to no changes at all. Reminiscent of very early 2000 YA novels, some inconvenience (mostly demons) would appear at the exact moment where either Wiki and Artur were about to open up to each other or the plot would have actually begun to make sense. And instead of working on that, the reader gets two pages of a demon attacking, two pages of Wiki stating that she is not a damsel in distress but then nevertheless ending up hurt and getting saved by Artur or Karina or someone else and then that entire demon encounter is completely forgotten. Not to be mentioned again until another attack happens.
Wiktoria rubbed me the wrong way. Again, I refer back to older YA novels where main characters would state that they are no damsel only to be saved by others (yes, I also repeat myself occasionally). Not to mention that Wiktoria’s introspective thoughts were just so bland. She goes through the same cycle of worrying about her parents, about her magic, about being tired, and then we get three quirky sentences about her loving cheesecake or some popular culture reference that only makes sense to people who have read The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater and then that’s the end of the spiel. Also, and I have to mention this part, Wiktoria gets kidnapped in this book and stabbed by someone. A bit later, that very person who tried to kill her calls her up and asks her to return and guess what she does? She returns. Sure, there are about four sentences where she ‘wars’ with herself whether she should go back for answers but, if it were me, I’d likely opt out of finding out more about my magic powers if the source is, you know, liable to try and kill me again. But that’s just me. Granted, there were attempts to make that almost-murderer repent and give them more of a rounded personality, but all in all, Wiktoria is just way too trusting.
Also, secondary characters only appeared when it was convenient. This would have been fine if it happened once or twice, but there are legitimately characters that only pop up whenever a certain issue is discussed in the book. A good example for this would perhaps be one of the children of some of the followers of the Guardian who has no integrity and basically follows her parents’ rules, whether that means poisoning Wiki, or refusing to brew her an antidote until it’s deemed right by the Guardian. Wiktoria is literally dying from that poison but god forbid someone should actually help her and compromise their morals. Better to let that saviour stay off court until we need them again.
The only character I actually enjoyed was Rafi and I admit one hundred percent that he reminded me of Twilight. And I liked Twilight. He legitimately made the kind of comments Eric and Mike and everyone else in the book that wanted to get with Bella Swan and that at least was entertaining. That cute standoff with Artur about treating Wiktoria right was also, well, territorial but since they’re cousins, I guess that makes sense.
Now, one of the biggest issues I had with the book, and this is definitely my own opinion, was the LGTBQ+ representation.
Call me crazy, but I don’t think that stating someone’s sexuality twice by “name” within a 300-page book without any evidence of it is enough to call this a book that represents LGBTQ+ diversity. There are hints and glimpses at Rafi’s romance life but they are so vague that it’s hard to feel, well, represented. He is no caricature like some of the other secondary characters but then again, I struggle to remember any other characteristics besides his sexuality being mentioned, so maybe that speaks for itself.
Then there was the asexuality representation. This, of course, is only my opinion because I identify as part of that community but the descriptions within this book just made me cringe. As a fellow Tumblr girl, I know the discourse around sexuality on that platform firsthand and some of the quotes in this book weren’t even paraphrased but taken straight off other people. The discussions also had the very palpable snark that Tumblr has (which I love on there but don’t think fit at all with Wiki’s character and her internal struggles with acephobia). The last scenes where Wiki tells Artur to do himself a favour and look up what asexuality means rang demeaning and preachy, which was hilarious considering she didn’t know where she landed on the spectrum herself for most of the book, yet talked down to Artur about it. I do not want to demean anyone’s experience of their sexuality, but I would have wished that this topic would have been handled more delicately considering this book is geared toward young adults who may be questioning their own orientation.
While I enjoyed the dive into Polish folklore and found myself intrigued by the passages detailing Slavic mythology, they also were incredibly info-dumpy. The narration would go off on a dense two-page rant about a certain Slavic god and then just stop. No explanation as to how this is relevant to the story at hand. It all ties together at the end but it still felt like someone was trying to beat me over the head with information that I was supposed to remember a few chapters later when another Slavic god was introduced.
I also admit to being a bit flummoxed at the abrupt ending of the book as the book literally ends with Wiktoria’s parents returning. Tell me where the plot twist is? Did we think they’d stay gone? Is that the twist? I’m honestly confused.
One thing I did enjoy about the book, however, was the setting. Sure, I was bored by the repetitive obligatory paragraph at the beginning of every chapter that denoted the weather, temperature and progression of seasons (which, again, is fine in the usual circumstances but in chapters dealing with for example a kidnapping and waking up in a strange place, I’m more inclined to find out how Wiki is feeling about that than the temperature).
Now, despite all of these issues, I still saw a lot of potential within these pages. There were some very valid beginnings of discussions about social issues and the magic system and the entire structure of The Guardian and its followers intrigued me. I’m holding out hope that the sequel will draw me in to the stories more.
Little Black Bird is available from Amazon and other good book retailers as of June 20th 2020.
Will you be picking up Little Black Bird? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Magic is dying out, but it will not disappear without a fight.
Wiktoria is a seventeen year old with a secret: she has psychic powers. Her uncontrollable telekinesis hurts her and others, setting fires and throwing objects in the air, no matter how hard she tries to hold it back. All she wants to have is a peaceful, average life, but it’s difficult when you’ve been cursed to destroy the magical world.
Her carefully maintained facade of normality starts to unravel when she’s hunted down by local sorcerers and their Guardian, and accused of unleashing banished demons back into the human realm. When a murder shakes up the magical community, everyone agrees that the only way to save the world is to kill Wiktoria.
Her only ally is a boy who can read her mind, shares her dreams and makes her question her sexuality. Together, they face mythical creatures and uncover ancient legends, and they soon realize that there is no such thing as simply good or evil. Whether they break the curse or allow it to fulfil its destiny, the magical world will be forever changed.
Little Black Bird is a tale of trust, friendship and family, and what it means to discover one’s true path.
