Review: On a Dark Wing

On a Dark Wing by Jordan Dane
Release Date ~ December 27, 2011
Harlequin Teen
ISBN13: 9780373210411

Goodreads Synopsis:
"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 is with him because of her.
Abbey finds out the hard way that Death never forgets.

This ended up being a complete surprise of a book for me; but such a neat YA read! I think people are really going to appreciate the unique plot this one has, and the fact that it's a stand alone novel as well!

1. Unpredictable twists:
   
   While I was reading, I was so curious about what was going to happen and I was having a hard time trying to predict what I thought would happen- well, I was wrong. There aren't very many books out there that I can say this about, so Jordan Dane earns points for being able to do this successfully. And I was really pleased with how nicely Jordan tied things up in the end.
2. Admirable characters:
   
   There were so many different characters I liked in this book; especially that the teens all had parents who were involved and active in their lives in one way or another. I especially liked reading about Nate's parents, who I thought were so wonderful! I'd kind of like them to adopt me. Nate and Tanner ended up being two of my favourite characters, because they were such real, all-around great guys. Abbey is a lucky girl to know these two, just putting it out there.

Abbey, on the other hand, was a different story. I had a hard time getting past how annoying she was; she was hyper-obsessed over her crush, and not in a typical YA way. In a creepy, stalker kind of way. It just isn't normal, and I was so fed up with her.

And I wasn't thrilled by the way she narrated; perhaps it was just the way it was written, but it was noticeable during the first few chapters that there seemed to be too many bad jokes and puns. Once or twice, they would have been cute or clever but they overwhelmed the text.

There also wasn't as much explanation regarding the background and reasons for what happened, which would have been nice towards the end. It wasn't mythology I was familiar with and it was so interesting to read about, but it felt like it was lacking some of that extra information to really pull it all together.