ARC Review: Blackwood

Title: Blackwood
Author: Gwenda Bond
Genre: YA Paranormal, Mystery
Release Date: September 4th


See it at Goodreads


On Roanoke Island, the legend of the 114 people who mysteriously vanished from the Lost Colony hundreds of years ago is just an outdoor drama for the tourists, a story people tell. But when the island faces the sudden disappearance of 114 people now, an unlikely pair of 17-year-olds may be the only hope of bringing them back.

Miranda, a misfit girl from the island’s most infamous family, and Phillips, an exiled teen criminal who hears the voices of the dead, must dodge everyone from federal agents to long-dead alchemists as they work to uncover the secrets of the new Lost Colony. The one thing they can’t dodge is each other.

Blackwood is a dark, witty coming of age story that combines America’s oldest mystery with a thoroughly contemporary romance.


Blackwood was a DNF for me. I’ve had a couple of these this year already and it saddens me. But I’m insanely behind on my reading as it is and if something either doesn’t grab me within the first fifty pages or just screams “dislike” at me in the first fifty pages, I’m going to put it up at this point.


Perhaps Blackwood gets better. And perhaps I’ll give it another try when I can. Right now, I don’t have the interest. No offense.
I was let down sadly, reeled in by the appeal of the Roanoke legend and the blurb, but disappointed with the approach. Come on. Roanoke! I really, really, wanted to get into this book so bad but I just couldn’t. There were too many characters in the beginning to try and get to know right away I felt. I got lost quickly within the first couple of chapters, especially trying to get a “feel” for Miranda as a character since she seemed to be the main focus. Or that’s what I gathered. I don’t really have much to say other than this. I couldn’t get drawn into the story and I felt indifferent to the characters and the action. I’ve always had a fascination with this legend. It’s perhaps our most intriguing unsolved American case, and maybe I got too excited.


Also someone said "Frak". Enough said. That’s where I stopped.


Like I said above, there are times when I go back to my DNF pile (mostly toward the end of the year) and try again when the time and energy permits. This may be one of them because I do really like the idea, and would like to see where it leads by the end of it. Since it didn’t capture my interest within a good portion though, I had to put it down for now. And there’s still a possibility I won’t pick it back up.


Everyone has different tastes though, so you may enjoy this one whereas I personally didn’t unfortunately.

DNF