Review: Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

Series: The Ruinous Love Trilogy #1

Publication date: October 23rd, 2023

Pages: 355

Spice:🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Synopsis:

"I want to ruin her so that she's mine, my beautiful disaster. My wild creature. My goddess of chaos."

The viral TikTok friends-to-lovers dark romantic comedy full of murder, chaos, and sizzling chemistry--unlike anything you've read before.

Every serial killer needs a friend.

Every game must have a winner.

When a chance encounter sparks an unlikely bond between rival murderers Sloane and Rowan, they find something elusive--the friendship of two like-minded, pitch-black souls who just happen to enjoy killing other serial killers.

From small-town West Virginia to upscale California, and from downtown Boston to rural Texas, the two hunters collide in an annual game of blood and suffering, one that pits them against the most dangerous monsters in the country.

But as their friendship develops into something more, the restless ghosts left in their wake are only a few steps behind, ready to claim more than just their newfound love.

Can Rowan and Sloane dig themselves out of a game of graves?

Or have they finally met their match?

Tropes:

• Golden retriever x black cat
• He falls first
• Touch him/her and die
• Friends to lovers
• Forced proximity
• One bed

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Story:

The story is the most quirky dark romance I have ever read. In a lot of the scenes you squirm a bit watching what the characters are doing and how they formed their connection. Two serial killers who cross paths with each other and admire each other's work so heavily that they make a competition out of it. They meet up once a year and kill someone together. They normally pick other killers so their moral compasses aren't entirely skewed. We follow them as they start to become more than just two killers with something to prove to each other. It was astounding how the author was able to make moments in the book actually comical. How can someone be so skilled with their story creation that they can make characters who seem to have no souls feel so relatable? It creates a confusion in the readers as to whether they should really be condoning the things that Sloane and Rowan are doing but being unable to break away from absolutely loving them at their core. The story flows like a slow-burn with twists and turns nobody would see coming. Masterfully done, Ms. Weaver!

Characters:

• Sloane - Sloane was the stoic black cat the Rowan's golden retriever energy completely. She was dark and twisted with making art out of her murders. She wants to evoke emotions in her kills and she does just that with Rowan. She is a perfectionist and is the one trying desperately to keep a wall up between her and Rowan. But who could resist a man who would take in a lobotomized zombie they stumble across just because Sloane finds him to be an innocent victim of the person they hunted together. She likes to pretend she doesn't have a heart locked away in her chest but it shows in some of her actions. As a person with black cat energy, I loved Sloane.

• Rowan - Rowan was an absolute laugh riot. His little teasing comments and the shenanigans he found herself in (i.e. accidental cannibalism) made me double over laughing while reading. It was his personality that made me want to shake Sloane and shove her toward him when she tried desperately to keep him at arm's length. He was determined to wait her out even if it took literal years to win her over. He became fiercely protective and it's always unnerving when you see a golden retriever shift into a rottweiler when someone they care about is threatened. I think he was the best counterpart to Sloane and would have never shipped her with anyone but him.

Writing:

With the subject matter of the story it could very easily make people too squeamish to read the book entirely. But Brynne Weaver counteracted all those harsh scenes with dashes of humor that broke through the tension and made the entire scene a little more palatable. If she hadn't chosen that strategy I think this book would have likely died an unfortunate death like so many other pitch black romance books that are whispered about the shadows but never become widely known. She made two characters who were morally corrupt but made them fascinating to watch. 

Overall:

There are those books that you read that you would give anything to go back and reread with fresh eyes all over again. This is one of those books for me. Even as I write this review, I am contemplating a reread because I absolutely miss the characters! Stellar read and highly recommended.