Review: In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters

It has been ten years since I last read this book. I honestly can't believe it has been that long. I still remembered almost all about this amazing story. And felt like I had just read it, ha. Time have moved too fast. It was about time that I read it again. I was a little nervous at first, but I still loved this book to pieces. Still five stars.

This was my first book by Cat Winters. I have read every book by her since then. Cannot wait for her to write more stories, as her books are always the best. I must confess, I did have a few small issues with the writing this time around, with how I myself have changed in the past ten years. The writing was still good.

There is so much for me to share about this book. But I'm going to try to keep it short. But oh, there was much that I loved about this story. Even though I did remember most of it, I had forgotten one part about the ending, and it still surprised me, ha. It was so good. Though this story is such a heartbreaking one. And I still wished for a different ending. Sigh. It is such a good book and I love it. This book tells the story of sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black. It takes place in the year of 1918. A year of the Spanish flu and of war. It was not a happy time to be alive. But people did their best back then. I must say that I did not know anything about this time period at all when I first read this one, ten years ago. And it was so interesting. I know a little more now, sort of, and it is still so fascinating to read about. So heartbreaking.

This is a story about ghosts. A story about life after death, sort of. For someone who died, and someone who died for a moment and came back. It is a story about death and sickness and war. It is also a story about family and love and hope. It was such a mix of everything, some amazing murder mystery too. But the heart of this story was Mary Shelley. And oh, how I adored this girl. She just had to leave her home, as her father got arrested for treason. And so she had to go stay with her aunt Eva, who lived ages away.

Her aunt was all kinds of crazy, haha. But I adored her even so. Only ten years older than Mary, but she seemed so old. She had just lost her husband to a sickness a few months ago. So they lived alone. The flu pretty much made Eva crazy, haha. But I loved how she cared and how she wanted to live. But gosh, the ways they all tried to avoid getting this flu was awful. Eating garlic all the time. Shudders. Would not be for me. In these days, this story is much more real. That makes it even more heartbreaking and sad.

There is so much to say about this book. But I am going to keep it short. Well, mostly short. I just loved reading this story again. I so loved getting to know Mary Shelley and Eva again. Reading about their life with the flu, with so many people dying around them. Was so sad but so interesting too. But the heart of this story was Mary Shelley and Stephen. Her childhood friend, whom she had been writing letters with for years, after he moved away. We get to know very much about their past, and oh, how I adored them.

She got to visit him a few months before she moved in with Eva; four years after she saw him last. And they connected in a different way. A more romantic one. And I so loved that. But they only got that one moment together, a little kissing. Before he went off to war. They still sent letters, but she had not heard anything for months, when she moved in with Eva. And that really starts this story. With her learning he's dead. And then slowly learning the truth about how he died, trying to figure it all out. Oh. That truly hurt.

Okay. This review of mine have turned pretty messy. I'm just struggling to find the right words to explain my love for this book and these characters. And so I shall not share that much more. This book is about Mary Shelley living during the flu, figuring out how to fit in with her aunt Eva. With her trying to solve the death of Stephen. And then seeing his ghost. It was fully heartbreaking but so very good. Oh, how I loved those scenes. A little spooky. All kinds of amazing. Also, Stephen's brother, Julius. I hated him the most.

One of my favorite things in this book was when Mary Shelley visited the Red Cross hospital and talked to the hurt soldiers there. I wish there had been more about it at the end; I wish to know what happened to them. I hope they all survived. A bunch of damaged young boys, but they were still fun to read about. Oh. And another thing I wish to know about is what happened to her father. If he went to jail or got free. I think he was freed, but I do not know. Much I wish to know after the ending, but it also ended very well.

Oops. Another thing I must mention, despite having finished writing this review of mine. I have mentioned how very heartbreaking this book is. But I haven't really gone into why. We get to know details about what goes on in the war. And it was so sad. And we get some details about the flu too, how people died. Which was horrible too. But the worst part was reading about what happened to Stephen, truly happened to him. It was the cruelest and most awful thing someone could do. I hated it. But it was so well written too. Sigh.

In the Shadow of Blackbirds is such a stunning story. And you are all going to love it, if you still have not read it. I can't believe that it took me ten years to read it again, considering I read it twice the year that it came out. But I'm happy that I finally did read it again. Because it is such a special book and I love it so. The story is all kinds of heartbreaking but a little hopeful as well. Such a great mystery and a good ghost story. The cover is also gorgeous. And there is artwork inside, photos from before. All of them fantastic.

 

Goodreads - Blackwells - Amazon