Review: Black Wings

Christina Henry
Urban Fantasy
295 pages
Madeline Black #1
Chapter 1
ACE


Synopsis:
As an Agent of Death, Madeline Black is responsible for escorting the souls of the dearly departed to the afterlife. It's a 24/7 job with a lousy benefits package.

Maddy's position may come with magical powers and an impressive wingspan, but it doesn't pay the bills. And then there are her infuriating boss, tenant woes, and a cranky, popcorn-loving gargoyle to contend with.

Things start looking up, though, when tall, dark, and handsome Gabriel Angeloscuro agrees to rent the empty apartment in Maddy's building. It's probably just a coincidence that as soon as he moves in demons appear on the front lawn. But when an unholy monster is unleashed upon the streets of Chicago, Maddy discovers powers she never knew she possessed. Powers linked to a family legacy of tarnished halos.

Powers that place her directly between the light of Heaven and the fires of Hell...

Review:
The book is all about Madeline Black, who is a grim reaper {one of thousands on earth} and her discovery of who she really is.  The story is quick and is charged the entire time; you'll be done before you know it. The story-line is fueled by constant mini-battles, and sorting through each one's aftermath.  In a lot of ways the story was infuriating but oddly it was really intriguing. There were things that I wanted to happen that didn't, and at one point, I realized I was kind of desperate for Maddy to "act" instead of only "react" but she doesn't really. Funny thing though, you don't care because you're hooked and you're flying through the pages.  I'm definitely interested to see what happens next for Maddy.


Madeline was a character that was hard to nail down; even harder for me to understand my feelings towards. On the one hand, she's very interesting with all her powers, and her gargoyle protector Beezle.  She's lived alone since her mother died when she was 13, and she even has an ass-hat of a boss. Makes for a pretty well-rounded life. But on the other hand, there are parts of her that left me scratching my head wondering, "Ok.  Is that who she is?"  For example, she has ONE friend in this life {who isn't made of stone} and when something happens to him she doesn't seem to let any of that effect her, it definitely didn't slow her down, but it didn't really fuel her character either.  As the answers of her past slowly start to unravel she does eventually have the nervous brake down she deserves, and it did make me think "well maybe she just has too much going on to process, maybe it just hasn't hit her yet" but it didn't really work.  But strangely again, it didn't ruin the story or keep me from wanting to know more ... so there ya go.  


There is a love interest on the horizon that has me more intrigued than anything else, at this point it's hard to say what I want to happen, and I'm surprised that I'm nabbed by the "forbidden love" angle yet again.  But I found that by the end of the book that it was that part of the story that has me most excited for book 2.  Forbidden love does it to me every. time. 


** I read somewhere that the love interest was her half-brother, that's NOT the case**


Bottom Line: Reading a book in one sitting it always a good sign. I definitely have expectations for the next book, but this was a good first look into Maddy's world.


3.5 stars