Blackbirds

I don't even know how to talk about this. I fucking love this book.

Blackbirds is a bit like a mashup. And I love mashups. There's Tarantino's blood, sex and gore, but brought down from cartoonish to something that's both gritty and surreal at the same time, a bit like Cronenberg. There's something like Carrie in Miriam's history, and the two ill-paired assassins reminded me of Jennifer Lynch's Surveillance (and I just realized I spoiled you for that movie if you haven't seen it, but I'm pretty that sure I am the only person on the planet that absolutely loved it, so it's probably no loss on your part). The villain is reminiscent of too many creepy white gangsters, from the European accent to his pastel Miami Vice suits, and I wanted to be mad about how stereotypical he was except that he was used so well I didn't care. The dialogue is like the self-deprecating, slightly metatextual quips of Joss Whedon, but with the dial turned up to completely obscene. I love profanity and even I thought at moments, “Who talks like this? And more importantly, who talks like this without getting punched in the face or arrested every week?” Miriam does, apparently, and if you read Chuck Wendig's website you'll know where she gets it from.

Being in Miriam's head is an experience that oscillates from a balls-out adrenaline rush to a worm-ridden disquiet. Miriam is a bad ass, but she is also a woman that's being eaten from the inside out by her past, her ability and an overwhelming self-hatred that manifests in the worst possible situations. She's haunted by graphic, ugly dreams, where every little corner of her mind seems to want to attack her and tear her to pieces. She roams constantly, picking the pockets of the dead she sees coming until she's finally tangled up with two men - one a noble-hearted and naive truck driver who she immediately adores, and the other a young, perpetually grinning con artist who is remarkably like herself, so it shouldn't be much of a surprise that she loathes him, but keeps having sex with him. Their relationship is profoundly icky but unlike cough other books that would gladly pair a vulnerable female character with an arrogant, coercive male and make you believe its true love, the ick-factor here is clearly intentional. Just keep in mind - there isn't anyone who gets out of this story unscathed.

I love the flow of this story, the way it balances between the road trip aspects and a narrative plot that never feels aimless. I love how to it wraps us, I love the characters, and I love that there is going to be more. And then of course, I love the violence and messiness of it, and how comfortable and honest it feels to have a character that is just as fucked up as she seems, so much that it oozes out of her pores. I want more books like this.

(ARC provided by NetGalley.com)