A compelling mystery! I was immediately intrigued when I read the synopsis for this book, and I grabbed it on Netgalley ASAP. Thousands of blackbirds dropping dead? A missing teen? An affair with a school teacher? I mean, seriously, need I say more?

This one is a slow burn, but the wait for the drama to pick up was well worth it! I would consider it more of a suspense novel than a psychological thriller, but either way, it was excellent. The writing sets a wonderfully atmospheric and creepy setting, the characters kept me guessing until the end (I never really knew who to trust), and the mystery unraveled at the perfect pace! I really appreciated that each character had his or her own story and own perspective. I thought the relationships were handled incredibly well, especially as relates to having a special needs child. So many mysteries I've read recently treat the plot as primary and the characters as secondary, but this story took the opposite route, and I adored having these complex characters at the center of the tale.

In a sea of domestic thrillers (on the surge since Gone Girl, not that I'm complaining because I love them!), The Blackbird Season offers something fresh and different. And I absolutely enjoyed it.

Interesting characters, dysfunctional though they are. I really wanted to love this, but unfortunately I didn't connect to the characters or care what happened to them. I didn't hate this book, and I may try to reread it again at a different time. Maybe my timing was just off.

The Blackbird Season is the first mystery/thriller novel I've read, or at least that I can think of. This story takes place in Mount Oanoke, a small town in Pennsylvania. It is one of those small towns where everyone pretty much grew up with each other and they basically know everything about each other's lives. So imagine living in this small town where the only exciting thing to do is gossip and suddenly one day a thousand birds fall from the sky. However, that news is quickly disregarded when Nate Winters, high school teacher and baseball coach, is accused of having an affair with one of his students.

Early on I was drawn into the story. There was already a sense of what the story was going to be about based on the synopsis that's given. When the book opens up we are following Nate after what's already been revealed in the description then goes back to a previous point, leaving the reader to speculate what lead up to him being where was in the beginning. I really enjoyed this format because as more things were revealed I was able to form my own opinions while trying to figure out what actually happened and who was involved.

As can be expected with anything I read, there are things I didn't like. My main problem was the characters! I found that I didn't like most (if not all) of the characters. Every single character that was introduced had become complacent in their life and was unhappy. Instead of doing things that could improve their lives they only did things that made themselves and their families even more miserable. I'm sure they were meant to be unlikable characters but it's hard for me to stay engaged in a story when I don't like the people I'm reading about. It didn't help that I felt parts of the story weren't really important to the story line I was most interested in.

It was interesting to see the dynamics of Mount Oanoke and how everything changed throughout the book. Everyone pretends like their life is perfect and nothing is wrong even when everyone knows so much about each other. Nate was so well loved by most people in their community and I was surprised to see how quickly people turned on him when the accusation of the affair with his student came out. I was gripped by the mystery of Lucia's disappearance and everything that occurred after that. I had guesses of who might be involved but I wasn't completely sure until it was revealed. The Blackbird Season was a pretty solid mystery/thriller and I now want to check out more.

*An ARC of this book was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

Read this one if you like your murder mysteries with minimal murder mystery and maximum plodding divorce drama between two people who apparently never liked each other to begin with.

There were a couple interesting characters in this book, enough to keep me going on to the end. Lucia had depth, the mix of overwhelming insecurity and resolute arrogance that often afflicts teenagers. Bridget as the grieving young widow was also pretty layered, a sympathetic teacher feeling guilty for getting so wrapped up in her own despair that she's afraid she missed something important with her students. The rest of the characters are schtick and pastiche. They ranged from boring and forgettable to painfully obvious, every one flat as a board.

Not in my top ten for the year.

I really enjoyed this story! Told in alternating view points and time by Nate, Bridget, Alecia (in my ARC but seeing Alicia posted in other places) and Lucia, the story kept my interest and the mystery was not one I was quick to figure out . High school teacher and coach Nate is caring and loves being involved in the lives of his students, but when rumors of an affair between he and Lucia begin to circulate things become difficult for Nate. The day the starling fall to the ground is a turning point for the action in this story and makes for a great cover/title to the book. While Nate is dealing with the rumors around him, his wife, Alecia is dealing with her emotions and struggles with their son who has special needs. Alecia has given up her identity and is spending all of her time trying to make things better for her son. The strain of his issues has impacted her relationship with her husband and the infidelity rumors make things much worse. Bridget is a friend to the couple and works with Nate. She isn't sure of what is true and is trying to be a supportive friend but has been emotionally checked out the past year after the loss of her husband. Bridget needs to find her way back to herself to discover the truth. Lucia is the object of the rumors and a character who has a lot more going on than meets the eye. Overall I really enjoyed this story and the mystery of what was truth. Well written and I look forward to more by Kate Moretti!

3.5 stars. I found this to be fairly interesting and disappointing at the same time. The characters are well developed and the story moved along, but kind of at a slower pace. I didn't find it to be "sinister" or "haunting". It was a decent read about small-town people. Nate, the coach and prime suspect in the disappearance of a troubled teen, is a bit creepy in the way he interacts with the students. I don't think in real-life that would be allowed, so it was hard to get past. However, as I said, it is still a decent read.

**Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley in exchange of an honest review.**

I found this book to be a little hard to get into at first, and I can't put my finger on why. All I know is that each character, although very well developed, was unlikable to me. All four main characters had a lot that they were going through, but I didn't really find myself rooting for anyone. It made me less excited to read. Going into this book I expected it to be chilling and suspenseful, but I didn't really feel too much of the "suspense" part. I was excited enough to find out what happened and read till the end, but it wasn't a gripping-the-book-while-sitting-at-the-edge-of-my-seat kind of a suspense. Although the story did pick up for me during the second half, there seemed to be a few things that were left unanswered. Yes, I do understand why and what the author was going for, and I do respect her choice to do so, but I personally would have liked a tad more. On the positive side, I thought the pacing of this book was fantastic. Even though I had a hard time getting into it, I can't deny that the fast pace of events was one of the things that kept me going. The creepy vibe throughout the book is also a positive for me, especially with it being so close to fall, it fit right into the season. I also liked reading Alecia's point of view and the day-to-day happenings with a child with autism. Another positive for me was the twist at the end of this book. It did feel a little rushed, but I didn't see it coming. Like at all. The whole time I thought I had it figured out, but nope! I was wrong. I always enjoy alternating viewpoints in a book, and this was no exception. Overall, I liked this book, but I'm not sure that I loved it. I do however, love the title and the cover!

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33607349-the-blackbird-season" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="The Blackbird Season" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490857986m/33607349.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33607349-the-blackbird-season">The Blackbird Season</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6533463.Kate_Moretti">Kate Moretti</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1970829580">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Thank you NetGalley for an ebook copy of The Blackbird Season.<br /><br />The book was a little slow to start but was thrilled when it picked up. The writing and descriptions are so wonderfully done. I love how Kate Moretti wrote from different points of view from the characters (Nate, Lucia, Alecia and Bridget. The Blackbird Season is written with great suspense.

The was just an OK read for me. While the mystery was developed well I found the outcome to be disappointingly predictable. Each chapter of the book was told from a different POV (three of four in all) and each chapter jumped time periods - 3 weeks before the incident, then 2 days after, then back months before and so on. I found it confusing and then a bit tiring given the length of the book.

Unfortunately this book was not a winner for me. I didn't care for the story all that much and it lacked intrigue. Did not feel at all like a thriller. There wasn't anything original in the plot and the characters were irritating. They all lacked relatability - especially Nate. Would not recommend this one to a friend.

The day the Blackbirds fell from the sky. That's how time is measured in this story. Either before the birds or after. A small town is stunned when a shower of blackbirds fall from the sky dead one day. No way could it have prepared them for the soon to be scandal of a teacher sleeping with a student. Nate tries to be an involved teacher so his students know they can talk to him freely but when rumors start spreading that he may have gotten too involved with a student and all sorts of relationships are tested. Luckily, his friend Bridget is there to get to the bottom of everything and save a town from self destructing.

Books like this make me so thankful to be out of high school. The author did an amazing job of writing these high school characters. Alecia the wife doesn't have time to worry about Nate because she's is dealing with their autistic son and can't decide if she believes Nate's side or not. Bridget the widowed friend, who is also a teacher tries to get to the bottom of it all and dives deep into the demented minds of these small town high schoolers. It was a very good suspenseful mystery type book. I wasn't sure if I should believe Nate or not and it was a lot of back and forth in my mind.

I want to thank Netgalley for offering this book. This in no way influenced my review of this book.

I enjoyed this character driven novel from four different points of view. It was a slow unraveling mystery thriller that many will enjoy.

When thousands of black birds fall from the sky in a small Pennsylvania town, there are many questions, many conspiracies and ultimately one answer. No one in the town knows why the birds fell, but they all have some ideas, and it’s not pretty. With the town “witch” in question, could the townspeople finally get their answer? The Blackbird Season by Kate Moretti is suspenseful, scandalous and raw.

Lucia is sixteen years old, and she’s always been a little strange. There’s something mysterious about her, something dark and ominous that hangs over her head, and when she accuses a local teacher and baseball coach Nate Winters, of sexual assault, things start to get even more strange.

When Lucia disappears, the police can only point their fingers in one direction, and that’s at Nate. While the scandal has run rampant through the town, Nate swears by his innocence, and that he was only trying to help Lucia get away from her abusive father, and into a motel, so that she could be safe. He promises his wife that he has had nothing to do with the girl, but Alecia, his wife, isn’t so sure who she trusts anymore.

One of the things that I loved about this book, is that you just don’t know how all of the things connect, until the pieces start to fall into place one by one, little by little you get a glimpse of the real story, but until then you are about as clueless as the people of the town. How do the blackbirds connect to the scandal? Will Nate be acquitted of his charges? From the author of The Vanishing Year comes another truly spellbinding tale, perfect for the fall season. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars, you won’t put it down until you figure out the truth. I received this book from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.

The Blackbird Season by Kate Moretti was a lovely surprise.This is the first book of Moretti's that I have read and I found it spellbinding!

A small town in Pennsylvania...troubled since the mill shut down 10 years ago...too many towns like that these days. A generation ago the world was a different place with father's having good industrial jobs. A thriving middle class. Now, things seem hopeless in a small town where the only way out is an education...or baseball scholarship. A sleepy town...until the birds started falling from the sky and everything changed.

Teacher and baseball coach Nate Winters is beloved by all. But how quickly that turns when everyone suspects him of having an affair with a troubled student Lucia. And she has disappeared...is she dead...has she run away...

I loved all the twists and turns and I enjoyed the layers being peeled away as the truth is revealed.

Great read. Highly recommend The Blackbird Season.

I wasn't all the way sure what to expect from this book, but I was pulled in quickly. The idea of three different points of view to share the story added a depth and well-roundedness that I wasn't expecting and though I had a feeling about some of the secrets, there were several that made absolute sense once the book was finished, but that I couldn't figure out. I like the characters very much (except the ones who are jerks. But I'm not supposed to like them, right?)

Though the stars don't suggest this, my single complaint is the frequency of f-words. Totally the author's prerogative but I got a little tired of how often they showed up - they felt more in line with certain characters than with others, and it is a word that is jarring for me to read.

The Blackbird Season is an intriguing, twisted, and keep you guessing story. I am hooked on books that have a teenager theme to them. I have raised two teenage girls (I guess I still am raising them) and love when a book is true to the teenage world. Kate Moretti understands the drama, the friendship circles, and the boy/girl relationships of being a teenager. She makes the characters realistic to the real world. There is cattiness between the girls, there is bragging between the boys, and there is competition in the relationships between the boys and girls. All of this is stuff that I have seen with my own teenagers.

While there are teenagers in this book there are also adult stories. The story of a teacher who may over step his teaching boundaries when it comes to his students, the story of a marriage that is being tested with coming to terms and learning a new life after having an autistic son, and there is the story of friendships being tested. It was interesting to see who stuck by who and who came to who’s defense in their times of need.

I am a huge Kate Moretti fan and am always excited when she has a new book coming out. The Blackbird Season is amazing! I cannot wait to discuss this one with my fellow book readers. Pick up your own copy and fall into the wonderful words.

The Blackbird Season by Kate Moretti gets 3.5 stars from me. This is my first exposure to Ms. Moretti's work, and I found it an enjoyable one.

This suspense novel centers around the small town of Oanoke, PA, which has been slowly dying since the mill shut down years ago. It is told through four viewpoints, Nate, a well-respected teacher/coach; Alecia, his wife; Bridget, co-worker of Nate's and best-friend of Alecia; and Lucia, a troubled 18 year old student.

Moretti makes each of these characters come alive through details of their thoughts, fears, hopes and failings.

Time in the little town is marked by BBF (before the birds fell) and ABF (after the birds fell). Thousands of black birds fell dead from the sky one day in April 2015. Everyone takes it as a dark omen, but of what? Within a few weeks, the whole town is turned upside down by scandal when one of the reporters sent to cover the dead birds story finds Nate and Lucia in a compromising position. In small towns, your reputation makes or breaks you, and Nate suddenly finds himself discredited, without a job, and losing his family. Things get far worse when the girl goes missing and he is named as the last one to see her and the prime suspect in her disappearance.

We not only get to view the lives of the four main characters, but through them, other townspeople and students as well. I don't want to spoil your read by telling more, but small towns are not always quiet and peaceful, and there is enough bad behavior here to keep things interesting and cause more than Nate to be disgraced.

I found the book suspenseful, but in a slow, quiet way. Like a fire which starts with a small spark, you soon find it growing and becoming more mesmerizing.

I will be reading more of Kate Moretti's books.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for allowing me to read an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

By now you’ve heard the buzz about Kate Moretti’s newest novel, and it’s true; this is one you shouldn’t miss. Lucky me, I read it free thanks to Net Galley and Atria Books. This book is for sale today.

Nate Winters is in big trouble. He’s the math teacher; he’s the coach; he’s everyone’s favorite guy in this small Pennsylvania town. “They all think he’s God. He’s like the God of Mt. Oanoke.” He has charisma, and he makes you feel as if you are the only person in the world when his eyes latch onto you. But Nate has relied on his charm too heavily and pushed the envelope a bit too far, and now all hell is breaking loose.

Alecia, his wife, is miserable. She is home almost all of the time with their autistic preschooler. Gabe makes progress, but oh so slowly. Not the private tutor, not the special horse camp, nothing, nothing, nothing will get him ready for a mainstreamed kindergarten class. His mom has tried her hardest, and goodness knows she can’t take her eyes off him for a minute; he’s a danger to himself in no time at all, fearless, reckless, and without the filters that children usually develop. His communications skills are nowhere near that of other children his age. Poor Alecia is a nervous wreck, and his father screens the whole thing out by being gone, gone, gone.

I want to smack that man.

When the reporter turns up with a photograph of Nate embracing high school student Lucia Hamm, Alecia learns just how few boundaries Nate has honored. He has social media accounts, priding himself on knowing all of the social issues that his students are thinking about in class. He follows them. He meets them away from school, away from their families. And when Lucia goes missing, everyone wonders if Nate is behind it. The town is polarized between those that call Lucia “That poor girl” and those in Nate’s camp, who warn against undue haste. Alecia isn’t entirely sure what to think. Best thing to do, she figures, is to go back in the house with Gabe and close the door…and have Nate go elsewhere. Just for now.

The things that set this mystery apart are its déjà vu settings, each rendered so well that I feel as if I have already been there; its impressive character development and allegory; and a credible ending that is surprising, yet doesn’t cheat the reader. I checked Moretti’s author blurb three times because I couldn’t believe she had not taught public high school; authors never get this right, but Moretti does. I admire her bang on facility for developing teen characters internally and externally, and for giving them voice. Moretti has done good work before, but this book advances her work into the realm of literary mystery.

One word of warning: in order to heighten suspense, the point of view jumps between four characters, and it also jumps around in time. Those that ignore chapter headings are going to be confused. That’s why those headings are there.

The Blackbird Season is the perfect Halloween book, and teens will want to read it too—but read it yourself before dropping it onto the classroom shelf. It will doubtless excite controversy.

Highly recommended to those that love the genre and that relish good writing.

The characters from The Blackbird Season were dysfunctional but interesting. However, none of the characters pulled me into their lives and made me root for them. I guess if I had to choose one, Bridget would be the saving grace.

The Blackbird Season starts with the fall of a thousand starlings on the high-school baseball field. The little town of Mt. Oanake, P.A. is the setting for this grim occurrence. This coincides with the shocking news that a beloved teacher was having an affair with a student.

Nate Winters is married. His wife Alicia is a stay at home mom who takes care of their autistic child. Nate is the teacher in question. He's known for befriending his students and following them on social media. He takes particular interest in Lucia Hamm, a student who comes from a broken family.

Alicia is the frustrated wife. She's not working any longer and it's solely dedicated to her son. She's frustrated with Nate for not helping out. She's frustrated with how her life turns out. She was hoping for more. When Nate is accused, Alicia can't defend him. She has her own doubts.

Bridget Harris is Lucia's teacher. She's best friends with Nate and she is the only one who thinks he's not guilty. Bridget, a recent widow, knows she can't let it go despite not liking Lucia very much.

Lucia Hamm comes from a broken home. Her father is gone and her brother is an abusive junkie. Her only outlet is writing her thoughts and reading tarot cards. Her situation at school is not any better. She's bullied and called a witch.

It was hard to like Nate. He crossed so many lines a teacher shouldn't. He made mistake after mistake and when Lucia disappears, he didn't help himself by lying.

Lucia had a tough life but she contributed to her own school drama. There is one situation where she had all my sympathy but for the most part, I didn't like her.

My biggest problem was with Alicia. She was so frustrated with her own life that she never gave Nate the benefit of the doubt. She was first to write him off. Shameful, really.

Like I said earlier, Bridget was the saving grace. She was nice and was the only one looking for the truth.

I would categorize The Blackbird Season as a mystery more than a psychological thriller.

Cliffhanger: No

3.5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Atria via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

From my blog: Always With a Book:

My thoughts: After reading Kate Moretti's last book, The Vanishing Year, I knew I had found an author I would keep reading. Her psychological thrillers have just that little something extra to set them apart - and believe me when I say you won't be able to think of anything else once you start reading them. I was completely entranced with this one and couldn't put it down until I finished it!

This book is chilling and haunting and I think what truly sets it apart is the way it's told. Being narrated by four different points of view and moving back and forth in time - all from the point of reference of when the birds fell - it's eerie to say the least! There are so many things going on that it will make your head spin, but at the same time, it totally sucks you in.

Between the birds falling out of the sky and the scandal between the student and teacher, it's hard to know what is really going on. What caused the thousands of birds to fall dead from the sky? Did Nate really have an affair with his student? This book takes on these questions and so much more. It tackles the bonds of a marriage and just how far a couple is willing to trust the other. It tackles friendship and the limits one friend is willing to go for another friend. It also tackles community bonds and just how strong those alliances actually are.

As the book progresses, I found my opinion on Nate's innocence changing. With each bit of new information given, oftentimes by the other narrators, this change would occur. But it was also the change of narrators that added so much life to this book. So much character development happens, yet we also see just how complex the relationships are amongst the different characters. And it is the different points of view that allow this to happen - we find out a lot about Nate from the other narrators.

I loved that the ending isn't quite what you would expect...I was really thrown by it and loved that I didn't see it coming. This book is full of surprises - both good and bad, and it kept me captivated from start to finish! I found it to be a good, slow-burning mystery and cannot wait to see what comes next from this talented author!!!