Butcher and Blackbird
Table of Contents
Butcher and Blackbird
Butcher and Blackbird is the latest novel to be checked off my to be read list. It is book one in a three part series from author Brynne Weaver.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never heard of Brynne Weaver until I saw Butcher and Blackbird as a book recommendation. I really liked the cover and the title. It’s kinda like eating with your eyes first. That is the start of being drawn into a book too.
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“You could make so much money as a cat litter influencer on Instagram.”
Brynne Weaver, Butcher and Blackbird
Have you read Butcher and Blackbird? Come on in and let me tell you about it!
About Butcher and Blackbird
“And I know the lies I told her are the most dangerous kind, because I weaponized her real insecurities. Even if I only said them to save her, cuts like those still run deep and heal slowly.”
Brynne Weaver, Butcher and Blackbird
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?
Thoughts on Butcher and Blackbird
“There’s a beat of silence. Thorsten and I stare at the man sleeping on a bed of salad with a thinly-sliced rare human steak hanging out of his mouth.”
Brynne Weaver, Butcher and Blackbird
I love the fact this book combines murder and romance. More authors and books should do this! I want serial killers falling in love. Or maybe a serial killer falling in love with their victim. I never knew I wanted a dark romantic comedy before picking up Butcher and Blackbird. But now I want it so much more.
At first I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into. It had a very young adult feel to it when I started, and I didn’t expect to enjoy it, or have high hopes for it. But I kept reading… and kept reading some more. Until I was done with the book, in one single day.
I ended up devouring the book, and loving it. Every time I thought it was over, it just kept getting better and better. At the twenty percent mark, it felt like the book should be over, and I honestly wondered how Brynne Weaver was going to stretch this into a full novel, or if it would be nothing but filler after this. But that wasn’t the case! It was amazing.
Brynne Weaver’s descriptions were graphic, gorey, and gave me plenty of interesting images in my head. Some will stick with me for a while. But it was descriptive without being wordy and overdoing it. She paints a very clear picture with her words.
I found myself laughing at times, and also really wanting a happy ending. Which Butcher and Blackbird delivers on the happy ending! Some books aren’t meant to have happy endings, but this one did and it is exactly what I wanted to see happen.
I didn’t realize this was a series when I started it, so of course, I had to pick up the second book, Leather and Lark to read next. I’m now impatiently waiting for Scythe and Sparrow to be released. The three part series reminds me of many that Nora Roberts has written, where we see a family of siblings, and each book is dedicated to one sibling. In this case it was Rowan, and the next one, Lachlan, and the third about Fionn.
Much the same way that Nora Roberts does, we see glimpses of all the characters in each book, so we get to know all of them along the way. But this is way more modern and interesting than anything Nora Roberts has done. But if you like that specific style of writing in a trilogy, you’ll like this one too. This also means that I want to read all three books in the trilogy, because I’m already invested in the characters and wanting to know more about their stories as I go.
Spoiler alert, you may never want to eat orzo pasta or ice cream again after reading this book. Our two main characters are total psychopaths, but also have some deeper emotions that most of us can relate to. Insecurities, the feeling of being unlovable, closing ourselves off as a defense mechanism, and much more. It wasn’t super deep, like I didn’t learn anything new or life changing, but it was definitely deeper than I was expecting from this kind of book.
It’s also intriguing how the main characters are normal. Rowan is a chef and owns two restaurants, and Sloane works a totally normal and somewhat mundane job as well. But then they also hunt serial killers as a hobby.
I loved how they turned hunting other serial killers into a competition. Which is totally something my husband and I do with mundane things, so I understood the competitive nature of wanting to win over someone you care about.
Final Thoughts on Butcher and Blackbird
“Small talk is usually easier for me when I’m hunting, because I have a purpose, a plan to lure someone in. I find it hard to relate to people when I know they’re not shitbags who deserve to be relieved of their eyes.”
Brynne Weaver, Butcher and Blackbird
I’m calling Butcher and Blackbird a five star read, because it surprised me how much I enjoyed it. I wasn’t expecting that. But I literally couldn’t put it down. I gave my husband full permission to go play video games for longer than normal yesterday while I was busy reading.
Now I am headed to read Leather and Lark, which features Sloane’s best friend, Lark, as one of the main characters. She seemed like the perfect best friend in this one, so I’m excited to learn more about her and see if that vibe stays the same.
It is definitely a five star read for me because I’ve already bought the audiobook version for my wife and the Kindle version for my best friend. Now I’m here to tell you that you need to read Butcher and Blackbird as well! It is much different than anything else I’ve read in the past, and definitely worth the time to read.
Discussion
Have you read Butcher and Blackbird or any other writing from author Brynne Weaver? Are you a fan? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
About the Author
Brynne is a fan of velociraptors, the Alien movies (well, most of them), red wine, and wild adventures. She can relate nearly anything you say to a line from the movie Hot Fuzz. She has been trying unsuccessfully for years to convince her husband that they should acquire a pet mink to add to their menagerie of animals (what could possibly go wrong with that plan?!).
When not busy writing, Brynne can be found with her husband and son on their family farm in NS, Canada, or enjoying her other passions which include riding horses, reading, motorcycling, and spending time with family and friends around a raclette and a bottle of wine.
Purchasing Butcher and Blackbird
If you are interested in buying the paperback version of Butcher and Blackbird, click here.
For the hardcover version, click here.
Click here for the Kindle version.
Click here for my favorite Kindle I currently own.
More From Brynne Weaver
Did you enjoy my review of Butcher and Blackbird? Need another great Brynne Weaver novel to read? Here are my favorites!
Butcher and Blackbird
Scythe and Sparrow
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