“Black Bird of the Gallows” by Meg Kassel sounded new. It sounded like I hadn’t heard the story before and it could have something to offer that every YA Paranormal Fiction author had previously left out. The synopsis sounded creepy. The cover was gorgeous. I was disappointed.

     Angie Dovage is a normal girl with a sad backstory who is living with her dad in a wealthy neighborhood. She’s still coming to terms with her drug-addicted mother’s death, but she knows the environment she was raised in was an unhealthy one, so she is grateful that her dad got her out of it.
Enter Reece Fernandez, the harbinger of death who travels from disaster to disaster, feeding off of the energy of the dead. Angie may be excited about her new, attractive neighbor, but his presence means a disaster is about to occur in her town. Angie knows something paranormal is going on, but every time she tries to get Reece to explain, he doesn’t.

     Not only are countless people about to die in Angie’s Pennsylvania town, but a being known as a Beekeeper has begun stalking Angie. The Beekeeper was told by some all-powerful magical beings that he can end his curse of living forever if he convinces Reece to take the curse instead. He believes if he threatens Angie, who Reece cares for, Reece will do anything to save her. The Beekeeper sicks his psychosis-inducing bees on Angie and even goes as far as kidnapping her to get Reece to accept the Beekeeper curse.

     Page one of this book was a delight. The main character was funny, shameful and admittedly relatable. She also had a compelling backstory that I’d never heard before. Despite growing up in a van with her drug-addicted mother, Angie turned out to be pretty normal.

     The beginning of the book was interesting. Kassel had created a world and a concept that were new to me. I like the idea of the harbingers of death chasing catastrophes because that’s how they survive.

     I love the created feeling of impending doom that Angie feels as it grows closer to the time for catastrophe. She doesn’t know what’s going to happen, but she wants to save her friends and her father. Even the Beekeeper adds an element of suspense. These details kept me reading.

     Unfortunately, I found the book confusing at times. The writing could have been much better. I sometimes had to reread sentences, but they could have been written more clearly. Kassel also included details that didn’t seem relevant to me, and the things that I found relevant often went unexplained.
The end of this novel felt like the author wrote herself into a corner, so she had to make up a ridiculous ending to finish everything. None of the intricacies that conclude the main conflict were mentioned previously. It felt like everything was made up on the spot.

     Without giving away any details, Angie prevails and everything works out perfectly. It’s awfully convenient that the people closest to Angie don’t suffer the same way that other characters do. Angie and her friends are all exceptions to the rules, and they’re the only ones who seem to walk away unscathed.

     If there were going to be a second book, I would forgive everything as long as the wrongs committed in the first were made right. As far as I know, this will not have a sequel, so I am reserving my right to be bitter about it.

     There is, however, a companion book in the works. “Keeper of the Bees” is set to release in Sep. 2018. It tells the tale of a Beekeeper who falls in love with a girl who is supposed to be stung by his bees. This sounds horribly tropey and predictable, so I think I’m going to pass.
As far as “Black Bird of the Gallows” goes, I’d steer clear of this catastrophe.