Butcher and Blackbird

I had picked up and put down so many books to try to get me out of the hold that Xaden and Violet had me in. When I tell you I DEVOURED this book. It was a quick one day read for me that I had picked up on a whim on a Target trip. I had seen TikToks and Facebook posts about it raving about it, but I have been led astray by TikTok in the past so I was hesitant to read it. I started it while getting a pedicure and I knew it was gonna be good when I was getting annoyed by the texts I was receiving. 

Butcher and Blackbird is a dark romantic comedy, heavy on the dark. The list of trigger warnings is long and a little terrifying if you’re on the fence. To be honest, I didn’t even read the trigger warnings until I saw a post on Facebook about them, but don’t let the trigger warnings deter you; they make the book seem FAR more dark than it actually is. Don’t get me wrong, the book is DEFINITELY not for everyone, but if you’re on the fence due to the trigger warnings, at least give it a try. 

The dynamic between Sloane and Rowan is fantastic. Sloane is a shy and introverted data analyst and Rowan is a renowned chef. They find commonality in their shared passion for their extracurricular activities of ridding the world of terrible people. They’re killers with a conscience who find themselves hunting the same person. Rowan saves Sloane from a sticky situation and they decide to enter into a friendly competition. The winner of the competition gets dibs on the ultimate kill. 

This book had some of my favorite tropes: friends to lovers, grumpy/sunshine, and he falls first. I liked that it wasn’t a typical male grumpy, female sunshine trope; the trope was gender swapped with the FMC being the grumpy one. I’m sure there are PLENTY of female grumpy characters, but (at least in my opinion) it’s more often that the male is the grumpy one. 

I loved the touch of the publisher to include a QR code that links to a playlist. I’m someone that always has to have something on in the background (I currently am watching Criminal Minds for the umpteenth time as I write this) so to include the link to the playlist was a nice touch. The playlist also aligned pretty solidly with an average speed. The only times I fell behind was when I kept getting distracted by my phone or my cats. 

I truly couldn’t put this book down and I would recommend it a dozen times over; in fact, I already have to several of my friends. If its on your TBR, bump it to the top, and if you’ve been hesitating about reading it, then pull the trigger and thank me later. 

Drop your favorite lines from the book and let me know if there’s any books you specifically want me to review! 

Stay thirsty, my friends

Get the book:

Amazon (kindle) – https://amzn.to/3xnsRYt 

Amazon (paperback) – https://amzn.to/3U4WB5k 

Amazon (audiobook) – https://amzn.to/43LKI7D