On a Dark Wing by Jordan Dane

Book:  On a Dark Wing

Author:  Jordan Dane

Publisher:  Harlequin Teen

Date:  December 27, 2011

Source:  Publisher and Netgalley

My grade:  A-

The choices I had made led to the moment when fate took over. I would learn a lesson I wasn't prepared for. And Death would be my willing teacher.

Five years ago, Abbey Chandler cheated Death. She survived a horrific car accident, but her "lucky" break came at the expense of her mother's life and changed everything. After she crossed paths with Death—by taking the hand of an ethereal boy made of clouds and sky—she would never be normal again.

Now she's the target of Death's ravens and an innocent boy's life is on the line. When Nate Holden—Abbey's secret crush—starts to climb Alaska's Denali, the Angel of Death stalks him because of her.
And Abbey finds out the hard way that Death never forgets.

My Review

Wow!  What a whirlwind of a read!  I would not have said that if you had asked about this book in the first chapter, but it doesn’t take long before you can’t put the book down.  This book had me biting my nails, waiting to see how it would turn out.  I mean, I was hoping for the best, but the author had me convinced that it might not turn out as I hoped.

The beginning of this book is a little confusing.  It takes a while for all the pieces to start coming together, so if you are reading it and it feels a little disjointed or even disorienting, don’t give up!  All the threads and storylines eventually make sense.

I like the way the author narrated this from so many points of view.  Even though Abbey is the main voice, it was interesting to hear from the other characters as well.  I also like this author’s take on Death as a character.  I mean, we’ve seen plenty of angels, fey, werewolves, vampires and witches, but it’s hard to create a sympathetic character from the Grim Reaper!  But Jordan Dane manages to do that.  In the end, I felt my heartstrings tug for Death!

Another thing I like is how Abbey and Tanner are not the most beautiful, perfect kids.  Tanner is in a wheelchair and Abbey is slightly overweight.  The way the author portrays this, it doesn’t feel as if she’s creating token characters.  It feels real and it was refreshing to see not-so-perfect leading characters. 
I liked watching all the characters grow and change as a result of the story.  Even though there was a huge supernatural twist in the form of Death as a character, the novel still had a very contemporary realistic feel to it.  I found that the guy I was rooting for at the beginning was not the guy I rooted for at the end and just like Abbey, I found myself seeing things differently by the end of the book.  It’s really cool to me when I can get inside a character’s head that way.

There is one thing that I'm not crazy about and that is the cover.  Now, I love buff guys with wings as much as the next person, but this cover is a little too "cheesy bodice-ripper romance" for me.  I don't want a cover that would make me embarrassed in public! : )

My grade for this book is an A-.  I took off points because it IS so disjointed at the beginning.  But I’m glad that I stuck with it and read it through to the end.

Thanks to Harlequin Teen and Netgalley for providing a copy of this book to review.