I have now read a grand total of two dark romances. The first was so utterly shit that I didn’t attempt the genre again for a few years. While it was a very popular book, it was not at all appealing, and afterward I wasn’t sure what were hallmarks of the genre and what was just bad writing. I see now how wrong I was. It was plain bad writing. Butcher and Blackbird is the second one I’ve read. I realise it is on the lighter side of dark, but darker than an ordinary contemporary certainly.
What surprised me the most about reading a dark romance is not the things I assumed would take me aback, like sexual assault or violence, but how incredibly vulnerable reading this book made me feel. It really felt like some of my most deep-seated, primal needs were brought out into the light and spoken to directly. Things that I had long ago forgotten about or dealt with. I almost want to submit this review anonymously because to speak about Butcher and Blackbird is to allow myself to be really seen – which is scary.
Rowan and Sloane are serial killers who avenge the deaths of innocents by murdering serial killers. They meet by chance at a murder scene gone wrong and from there have an annual murder competition. Of course it is also a romance, so they fall in love. Rowan is reckless and falls in love quickly. It takes Sloane a long time to make peace with falling in love with Rowan.
Rowan is passionate about his career (being a chef and restaurateur) and murdering bad people. Sloane doesn’t have the same career ambition as Rowan. She’s an artist that has been stifled by her childhood. She’s more focused on wondering if she’s lovable or not. She only has one friend and she isn’t at all close to her family. Both Rowan and Sloane had terrible experiences in childhood. Despite Sloane’s insecurities, she’s a dangerous killer herself, but she still needs rescuing (from physical danger, but also emotionally) by Rowan. As I write this now a few days after finishing the book, I’m confused by how much I enjoyed the damsel-in-distress stuff. There is evidently still an insecure little girl somewhere inside me that wants to be adored, protected and cherished and saved from Bad Stuff.
My primary sticking point was the plot arc. I do not know if it is just the way dark romances are structured or if it was just this book (please let me know in the comments) but at around 75% in, things had resolved. They were in love and happy. But there was 25% of the book to go?
Turns out the bleak moment was a moment of danger that required the unleashing of some murderous tendencies. THEN they were happy. While the groundwork for the dangerous moment had been set, it still took me by surprise. It somehow made the story feel uneven.
They were 100% happy, so why did something need to go wrong? Did they need to prove their love again through overcoming something dangerous?
This puzzled me.
As to my secret tendencies, the possessive love Rowan has for Sloane spoke to me. I could feel myself reacting on an elemental level to the overwhelming possessiveness, the rough sex, the murderous tendencies. But once the book was done and I returned to my normal life, I was genuinely puzzled by the impact those things had on me while I was reading.
Reading Butcher and Blackbird has made me even more curious about the genre, and where my limits are in terms of content warnings. I was truly absorbed into the plot and also by my reaction to the characters and their dynamic. I shall certainly be reading more dark romance. It’s fascinating to me how this book affected me while I was reading it.
Am I alone in experiencing dark romances like this? Is your experience with them different?
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