Blackwood

by Gwenda Bond

On Roanoke Island, the legend of the 114 people who vanished from the Lost Colony hundreds of years ago is just an outdoor drama for the tourists. 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.

• ISBN10: 1908844086
• ISBN13: 9781908844088
• Publish Date: 6 September 2012 (first published 1 January 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Angry Robot
• Imprint: Strange Chemistry
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Language: English

Reviews

[Amber]

Bad start to September, eh?

After reading Lies Beneath and finding it completely dull, I was hoping I wouldn't come across another novel like that any time soon. As you do. I picked up Blackwood because I received it for review, and I feel pretty much the same way about this book as I do about Lies Beneath. Just without the creepy male protagonist and the idiot female who falls in love with a stalker.

The premise was so, so intriguing; I was excited to pick this up because of it. I'm a HUGE fan of the TV show Supernatural, and there are a couple of episodes in which the Croatoan colonists are mentioned. I love unsolved mysteries, and this is one that fascinates me. Where did they all go?! Needless to say, I was really looking forward to reading this because it sounded like something the Winchester brothers would investigate. But, unfortunately, it fell flat.

Like I said, the premise was intriguing, but I think I was put off by the writing style. I can't pin point exactly what I disliked about it (being a terrible book reviewer and all), but I just couldn't get sucked in no matter how hard I tried.

I don't even have any strong feelings about the main characters, because I honestly felt nothing for them. Miranda did, however, have a nice collection of DVDs, which I appreciated. The references to those were funny.

Give this a go if you think the storyline would be your cup of tea, but read some other reviews first because I wouldn't want you to go into this thinking it's awful. It's just not something that could captivate me.

[kimbacaffeinate]

I have always be intrigued by the mystery that surrounds the Lost Colony on Roanoke Island and when I saw the cover of Blackwood and read the synopsis I knew I had to read this tale. Author Gwenda Bond offers her unique twist on this mystery. I found this tale to be dark, gritty and creepy! It grabbed me at page one and the mystery kept me turning the pages.

The tale begins when we meet Miranda Blackwood; she is working at the local theater where they replay the tale of the missing colonist for tourist. Miranda hears and sees a giant ship moving its way towards the stage. Terrified it will crush an actress, she leaps on to the stage knocking the actress down. Expecting a crash she is shocked that the ship disappeared into thin air. Mortified by the stares, she heads home. Her drunken dad is on his way out and she curls up in bed with her dog, Sidekick. In the morning she wakes to discover her dad never returned home. She quickly assumes he has landed himself in jail again. She jumps in her car dubbed, “the pineapple” and heads into town to bail him out. What she discovers is that 114 residents of Roanoke Island have disappeared, the exact same amount that went missing and were never found in 1584. Her dad is among the missing. Sounds creepy right? The tale that unfolds kept me captivated as Miranda discovers secrets about the island and her family.

The characters in Bond’s novel were quirky, witty, scary and unique. I liked Miranda. She is known as the town “freak” and readily embraces this label. She marches to her own drum and has enough problems at home to even think about dealing with people’s opinions. While often timid she can be witty, sarcastic and brave. Phillip is the son of the town sheriff, who was so plagued by hearing the ghosts of spirits his parents sent him away to school. When everyone goes missing, his Dad decides he needs his freaky-kind-of-help. I liked Phillips’s need to protect Miranda, and his edgy bad boy personality. The back history and connection between, Miranda and Phillip was interesting, but lacked some of the depth I need from a sparking romance. It was not insta-love and there were some cute romantic moments. Other characters propelled the story, some felt right and others did not. I would have liked to have seen both present and past characters a little more fleshed out.

The world-building while not without flaws was refreshing and the storyline kept me turning the pages. Some events felt anti-climatic and others needed more back-story. Despite these flaws, I really enjoyed the tale and consumed this in a single afternoon. Bond’s writing style was enjoyable and the book was well paced. The mystery, the curse and the chain of events were both creepy and suspenseful. I love the mystery behind the Lost Colony and enjoyed this refreshing take on it.

I recommend Blackwood to fans of historical mysteries, fantasy and suspenseful tales. This is my first novel by Angry Robot and I look forward to more of their novels. I have added Bond to my author’s to watch list and look forward to reading more of her work.


I want to thank Angry Robot and netGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

[Ashley]

booknook — Young Adult book reviews

Blackwood was an engaging and fast paced read! Gwenda Bond does a great job of holding back just enough information to keep the reader engaged and ready for more. The book is made up of playful language that puts the reader on the same level as the characters. It definitely read like a "young adult" book and that's what I loved about it. The language and style of writing lit up the characters' personalities and gave them unique voices that I came to really love.

Both Miranda and Phillips had great personalities, and that's really what sold me on the book in the end. I LOVED the subtle humour that came from Miranda's character. Miranda would occasionally have these awesome, sarcastic comments off to the side. Here are two examples:

NOTE: Quotes taken from an advanced copy.

"So how do you guys know each other?"
That didn't take long.
"We don't really. Phillips just—" happened to come by so I shot him with an ancient gun "—gave me a ride to the courthouse."

Miranda had no clue what to do. This was the kind of thing she should have brought up in polite conversation with Sara earlier. What do I do if your son suddenly goes spirit tuning fork again?

Her little remarks constantly had me chuckling and definitely kept me engaged in the book!

There was one character problem that irked me. Phillips and Miranda's relationship felt too much like insta-love. Their relationship was definitely cute and I love how they both over analysed each other's actions. It made things pretty amusing! But the whole book took place over a few days. At the beginning, Phillips was the annoying, troubled boarding school kid who had once humiliated and mocked Miranda. So naturally, she was a bit pissed and expecting the worst when he showed on her doorstep. But within 24 hours, they were already falling for each other. And by the end of the book, which couldn't have been more than a week later, they were officially a couple.

If the story had taken place over a longer period of time, I think it would have been a great romance. The two characters had wonderful chemistry and I loved both of them. It just annoys me that it happened so quickly. To be fair, they weren't actually professing their undying love for one another, but the shift from hatred to "almost love" still happened so quickly. It was nowhere near as bad as the insta-love in some other books I've read though.

On another note, I would have liked the author to go into more detail about some events and back stories. We got plenty of background information on the lost colony through Dr. Roswell and his notes, but I never felt like I really understood John Dee. It was obvious what he was trying to accomplish, but I just didn't quite understand where the idea had originally come from (sorry for being vague here, but I'm trying to avoid spoilers!). Some parts of the ending also felt a little rushed to me. Sometimes I thought, "Wait, what just happened?" It could have used a bit more suspense towards the end.

Overall, I enjoyed the book but didn't love it. It was a good and enjoyable read, but I wasn't totally hooked. Sometimes I did feel my mind wandering elsewhere, but the positive elements (such as my love for the characters) kept me engaged and enjoying the book.