Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver - A Book Review

by - November 04, 2024



Synopsis:

When a chance encounter sparks an unlikely bond between rival murderers Sloane and Rowan, they find something elusive–the friendship of two like-minded, pitch-black souls who just happen to enjoy killing other serial killers. 

From small-town West Virginia to upscale California, and 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?

Genre: Contemporary Dark Romance
Tropes:
  • Touch Her and Die Vibes
  • Golden Retriever X Black Cat
  • He Falls First 
  • Forced Proximity 
  • Serial Killers 
My Thoughts:

Brynne Weaver is a new author who hit my fyp recently and quickly became popular among the BookTok community. 

When I looked into the Ruinous Love series and read what they were about, I thought they would be right up my street – especially since I loved The Mindf*ck series, which this was advertised as being very similar. 

Me and my friend Izzy started our own book club back in September and Butcher and Blackbird was the first official book of the club!

After reading this book, I wasn’t sure what to think on it. I was torn on my opinion because it was marketed as being the exact same as The Mindf*ck series, which I absolutely loved. It was my first adventure into the murder love story world, so when I had heard Butcher & Blackbird was the same, I was very excited! 

I wanted to love this book so badly, but I just couldn’t get into the story at all. I couldn’t connect with Sloane or Rowan and this meant my motivation to read their story was just not there. I think with The Mindf*ck series, I was invested in Lara’s story and when I learned of why she was doing what she was, I felt for her. With Sloane and Rowan, I just wasn’t invested into their history of why they were going around murdering – even though they were similar. I felt like the details regarding their trauma wasn’t detailed enough to make me fully understand. 

In the series, Rowan and his brothers are Irish but for me, the constant reference to Irish slang and Romans constant line of “feckin eejit” got very annoying, very fast. I think the second time he said it had me rolling my eyes. I really hate when authors take something and oversell it or make something the character’s only personality trait. I feel like the Irish persona was made more exaggerated by the fact that Brynne Weaver isn’t Irish?

I did hope that this was the type of book that would grow on me, but it didn’t. 

Towards the end of the book, I was just skim reading it because I had fully lost interest in it

With The Mindf*ck series, I wouldn’t say the scenes detailed were super gruesome, but with Butcher & Blackbird they were – to the point where I was feeling very sick. The cannibalism scene in particular had me feeling very queasy and I was a bit shocked that David was the one to watch for.

I felt like I was left with a lot more questions at the end – who was phantom and why was he targeting Rowan? Maybe they were answered but I was too busy skim reading 🤷🏻‍♀️

I am supposed to be reading the second book Leather & Lark, which I can’t say I’m excited for.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Georgia
🌷

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