Book Review: On a Dark Wing by Jordan Dane

On a Dark Wing by Jordan Dane

Paperback, 384 pages

Published December 27th 2011 by Harlequin Teen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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 THOUGHTS:

     January is Netgalley month for me, and this is my first read of the month and the year. So, I’m really happy to have finished one book! haha. (I really don’t know why I read so slowly these days, I just had too much to do!). Anyway, one step at a time.

     On a Dark Wing is set on Alaska, I’ve never been to Alaska but from reading this book, I felt the temperature dropping with every page that I turn. The story narrates alternatively between the main characters Abbey, Nate and Tanner. At first I still didn’t get the story and where it was going, especially since the summary provided only touched the surface of the story, but it was good enough. As I went through, I felt like I delved more into their world. I could literally feel the cold environment, and the cold ambience of how Abbey treated her father. As I’ve suffered loss of a parent too, I can very much relate to Abbey’s feelings. The way her emotions were conveyed and described were exactly how one would feel in her situation, in short, Jordan Dane stuck to reality and she nailed it.  (I actually felt like a very deep person while reading the book, since it talked much about not-your-everyday kind of topics). If you view it from another perspective, Abbey was distancing herself from her dad, and she admitted that. She placed herself in a made-up world of fantasy with her crush Nate. And later on through Abbey, we will discover the negative consequences of her obsession with Nate.

     Speaking of characters, though Abbey is the main one, I loved Tanner. He’s the sweet and dependable best friend of Abbey. Though paralyzed from waist down, I really admire him. His attitude reflects of a perfect friend. Agreeing into doing something without demanding any explanations, instead he trusted that Abbey will explain later on. He’s like this superman best friend who rescues you without asking too and without expectations. ;) Abbey on the other side is honest to herself, but we see more of her good side on the second half of the story. Death was someone you wouldn’t expect him to be. The idea of giving death an image like how Jordan Dane described him is really unexpected. You’ll find more as you read on. Though this is a fiction, I kinda like how death was presented, in a really uncanny way, i guess the supernatural part was acceptable. I think the book has a horror touch in it, not for the faint-hearted.

     I liked how fast-paced things were going on the side of Nate. As he told mountaineering stuff I actually am not a fan of, but he made it really interesting. The author is good at making something (like mountaineering and super complicated computer geek stuff) still easy to understand and interesting to read about.

    Overall, I like the distinctive story of the novel. The topic is touchy and difficult to write about but Jordan Dane managed it well. Good job! :)

Now onto my next read!

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