The disappearance of a mysterious high school student who was supposedly having an affair with a beloved teacher turns a small town on its head in The Blackbird Season.

Another must read by Kate Moretti!

This is the first Kate Moretti book that I have read and I am not disappointed! It was reminiscent of where I grew up because of the small town vibe and how important sports are to the town.

This book was a great read with an amazing plot that was well developed along with the characters!

I will definitely be picking up another one of her books!

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for the early release copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

I’ll admit that this book kept my interest for the most part, but overall the plot was bland and ridiculous, and I didn’t love it. I forgot I read it until I was going through my Goodreads list in preparation for this post. I’m definitely rounding up stars on this one.

I would give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars

This books is more literary mystery than thriller but definitely pulls you into the story with it's interesting premise.

I found the constant time jumps between chapters could be a littler jarring but overall I enjoyed the mystery. I did guess the outcome of the mystery but the story was still enjoyable.

My favourite part of this story by far was when one female character called out another female character on her girl on girl hate.

Not what I expected- but really fell into this book once I got hooked. Moretti has done it again! I was left guessing throughout who was truly responsible and the twists didn’t disappoint.

What an atmospheric book! From the cover, to the setting, to the prose, it felt dark, heavy, and delicious. I loved the setting in small town, rural Pennsylvania. It was the perfect place for all of the creepy, disturbing events to unfold. I'll definitely be looking for more books from Kate Moretti!

Interesting and nicely written, kept me entertained throughout the evening.

A perfect atmospheric winter mystery. This has different aspects to the story that are part of a narrative by each character. A affair , a school scandal and a shocking incident all blend perfectly. I loved the deepening mystery through each part of the story. Very well done . A highly recommended read.

Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read this book. This was an interesting psychological thriller. The book was well-written,and would read more books by this author

I received a free ARC from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. As a teacher who works with students with Autism, I thought I would love this book. However, it fell short. There were too many references to ABA therapy making it sound like a tried and true therapy, when the verdict is still out.

Nate is a well loved high school teacher who has close relationships with his students that has led to his inside information. He has an adoring wife, Alicia, and son with autism. One of his students, Lucia, goes missing and the town suspects foul play by the town's favorite teacher. Even Alicia kicks him out of the house. When she kicks him out of the house their son's behaviors increase as does the town's suspicions about Nate's relations with Lucia. One friend and fellow teacher stands by Nate's side and continues to father inside information from her students to figure out what really happened to Lucia.

I've been in a total fall reading mood lately and this book hit the mark just right. The cover is very fall-like, the story gives a fall vibe and the tone is mysterious with a tad bit of eeriness. There was quite a bit I liked about this story that tells the story of a maybe scandalous relationship between a student and teacher and the mystery of that same student that goes missing.

This story is told in alternating perspectives. We get perspectives from Nate, Alecia (Nate's wife), Bridget (another teacher and Nate's friend), as well as Lucia (the student). There were perspectives that I preferred over others. Lucia's was the one I most preferred but I think that's because I was hunting for clues while reading her perspective. Alecia was hard to read at times, she isn't a very likable character, and I wonder if she was purposefully written that way. At times, mostly within Alecia and Bridget's perspectives the writing felt a little bit convoluted. It felt mundane. The characters minds seemed to go on ramblings that didn't matter to the overall story arc. The same with their thoughts. I felt that this story was definitely more of a character driven story than a plot driven one. This barrier I met could have been on my end, I was expecting something thrilling and fast paced and found something that was character and description rich. It didn't drive me away from the story, but rather just had me speed reading through a few sections.

The plot was mostly character driven, but the twists weren't something that I really saw coming. There was a depth to the story I didn't expect either. There was a play with magic and witches as Lucia is called/referred to as a witch by classmates and some of the town. The blackbirds and birds falling from the sky in death (Not a spoiler - it's in the synopsis :)) added kind of an eerie side to the story. An eerie side that I really enjoyed, it made the story feel multidimensional with all these different layers that I had fun finding out along the way.

Overall, I highly recommend this read for the fall. It's full of a mysterious, and eerie atmosphere coupled with characters that keep you guessing throughout the book. While it's not the most suspenseful, Moretti does tell a tale of intrigue that keeps you turning pages until the very end.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it. It was one of those books I didn't want to put down (especially towards the end). The story was told from alternating viewpoints of Nate, Alecia, Bridget, and Lucia.

Nate and Alecia's marriage has been a little rocky lately. He's a teacher at the high school and the town sweetheart - you won't find many who don't like Nate. Alecia is struggling at home and devoted to helping their autistic son. Sometimes she feels as though Nate cares more about his students than his own son.

Bridget, who is close friends with Nate and Alecia, is reeling over the loss of her husband. She also works at the high school with Nate and has concern over a particular student of hers, Lucia.

All hell starts to break loose in this quiet town when one day thousands of birds inexplicably fall out of the sky, dead when they hit the ground. Coverage of the event leads to a reporter witnessing Lucia and Nate in front of a motel in an embrace. What comes next are allegations of an affair between a teacher and a student, suspicions and doubts, and Lucia's mysterious disappearance. Who is telling the truth? Who can you trust?

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This was a great read and I enjoyed it! I'm looking forward to reading more of Kate Moretti's titles.

DNF- it sounded like an interesting story, but I just couldn't get into it :(

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview this ARC of The Blackbird Season.

Lucia, a white blonde HS enigma is missing after a vicious rumor has started at her school. Did she have an affair with her teacher? And is her teacher to blame for her disappearance. Told by several different perspectives, Lucia, her friend Taylor, the teacher Nate, his wife Alecia, and Alecia's friend Bridget, we learn the truth of what really happened to Lucia.

I really like books like this. It moved just a bit slow for my taste, but it was very interesting to watch it unravel. I felt like I had plenty of time to acquaint myself with the characters and really care what happened to them. Good plot development. Overall fun read.

Blackbird Season hooked me from the start. I loved the varying perspectives, and the characters were interesting---real, quirky, gritty. I loved the character development, and Kate Moretti did an excellent job of keeping me guessing. The perspective of Alecia, as a wife and mother, was particularly realistic. Overall, a read that I couldn't put down. Can't wait to read The Vanishing Season next.

“There was a missing piece. Something that no one knew.”

I read my first book by Kate Moretti last year. You can see my review of THE VANISHING YEAR here. I really enjoyed her writing style and have been highly anticipating reading THE BLACKBIRD SEASON since the release was announced. When Atria Books reached out to me about reading an advanced copy, you bet I jumped at the opportunity! I started it as soon as I possibly could. Spoiler Alert: I LOVED IT!!!

“She felt like she had a flimsy, tenuous grip on the truth. The she had all the pieces, and still couldn’t assemble the puzzle.”

Shrouded in mystery, secrets lies and betrayal. THE BLACKBIRD SEASON is a book that explores relationships, family, friends, loss and heartache. The unthinkable has happened. A student has gone missing, with suspicious circumstances surrounding her disappearance. Nate, the most beloved teacher at Mt. Oanoke High is suspect #1. All signs point to Nate. But things aren’t always as they appear.

“The breakdown of a marriage happens almost in phases, almost imperceptibly,”

THE BLACKBIRD SEASON is told in multiple points of view and points in time. I loved that we got to see so many sides of this story. It made me feel like I had insider information on what was really happening. I did find myself needing to flip back a chapter sometimes to determine when I was in the storyline. Even though I often found the timeline hard to track, I really enjoyed this story. The ending threw me. I was not expecting that to be the way things played out. I also feel like I was left with a few unanswered questions. But that’s life, right? We don’t get all the answers.

“What she didn’t know then, but she knew now, was that sometimes beginnings and endings feel the same.”

To sum up my thoughts: this was a captivating tale and I look forward to more work by Kate Moretti. I love her writing style. This book is not an edge of your seat thriller, but there was lots of suspense. The characters and story will pull you in and keep you coming back for more. If you’re a fan of a good mystery with an ending you may not see coming, I highly recommend you pick this one up.

“Her dreams were never big, yet somehow not quite small enough to accomplish.”

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I thought this book was good. Not great, not bad...just good. It didn't pull me in and keep me up turning page after page until I was done, but it wasn't a book I had to force myself to sit and read to until the end. The story was good and the way it unfolded was good but I just wasn't incredibly impressed. I would recommend it though-It is definitely a book worth reading. Just don't expect to get through it start to finish in one sitting. But there's enough pull it will make you want to pick it up and keep reading.

This was an interesting psychological thriller. I enjoyed how it was told from alternating POVs. The book was well-written, but lacked a ‘wow factor’.

I will be completely honest, I picked this book solely from the cover. The spooky and mysterious cover dragged me to it right away. I had a feeling that this would be a good one. 

The beginning of this book will leave you with a sense of "what is going to happen next". From the last page of the prologue, I was hooked. There was something fishy going on, and there is a wonder of what will go on in the following chapters. Or will you have to wait until the end? 

The characters were interesting to say the least. My favorite character had to be Alecia. My mother is a special education teacher so I see the struggles that an autistic child and their mother has to go through. I feel like the author did a phenomenal job with making both characters real and relatable. All of the characters really developed, especially Bridget. Bridget was another character that I really felt that connected well with the reader. There were times where I feel like I would have to go back and read because there are four different characters going on at the same time, but that's okay sometimes. Each character gave more to this story. 

There was a lot of book that was answered, but there was a lot also left unanswered. There were interesting things about this because I liked the fact that I could think about what could've happened. This is where Kate Moretti did a great job making this not only a mystery, but a psychological thriller as well.

Overall, this book was very good. Kate Moretti's writing style is absolutely something I can get into with other stories of hers. I think I will take the time to pick another one of hers up!

I read this for my bookclub and I really enjoyed it. This was a great, creepy fall read and I will be reading more of Moretti's books.