On A Dark Wing

Title:  On A Dark Wing

Author:  Jordan Dane

Genre:  Young Adult

Publisher:  Harlequin/Harlequin Teen

Format:  NetGalley/Kindle

Release Date:  December 27, 2011

After surviving a horrific car accident that claimed her mother’s life, Abbey Chandler believes she will never be normal. Touching the hand of a beautiful boy—one made up of the clouds and sky—changed her life forever. Now the Angel of Death is using Abbey’s secret crush, Nate, to get to her.  And Nate will pay the price.

On A Dark Wing begins with a car accident and a death, shown to the reader in a flashback. Abbey Chandler survived a terrifying car accident at age ten, an accident that claimed the life of her mother. Abbey has carried that guilt for five years, and it has changed her life. Her relationship with her father is practically non-existent and very strained. She is an oddball at school; her only friend is the wheelchair bond Tanner Lange and her secret crush, Nate Holden, doesn’t even know she exists. Things only get worse when Tanner discovers awful pictures of Abbey posted on a website. Abbey decides to escape town, and possible humiliation, by accompanying her father on his yearly trek to their cabin. Meanwhile, Nate, his father and his best friend set out to climb Denali, an intimidating mountain towering above the skies of Alaska. It is there, on that mountain, that events are set in motion that will change everyone’s life forever. Death’s fascination with Abbey will bring Nate to the brink of death and beyond.

I am kind of on the fence about this book. It had an interesting plot, original and thought-provoking. I felt like it had a lot of potential, but it really didn’t grab my interest like I had hoped. There were some aspects I liked. On A Dark Wing is told from varying points of view. The primary point of view is Abbey’s, told in first person. Other aspects of the story are told from a third-person viewpoint—Nate, Tanner, and Nate’s mother and father. My initial reaction was that this might be confusing, but it worked surprisingly well, giving us a part of the story that Abbey would not have known or been able to tell. I liked the Dane’s message as well:  the reality of a crush.  I also enjoyed Tanner, he was a very refreshing character. Unfortunately, I felt like the other characters were cardboard caricatures, stock and uninteresting. Nate was the typical popular pretty boy, every girl’s dream, Brittany (I think that is her name) was the typical mean girl and Abbey was the typical misunderstood weirdo. I couldn’t find enough about Abbey to fascinate me or compel me to care a great deal about her. Also, this book had a “never-ending” ending. Every time I thought it was over, well, it wasn’t. It just went on way too long.  Let’s just say I was disappointed with the majority of this story.

So, to sum it up, I really didn’t enjoy this book as much as I had hoped I would. It had amazing potential, but unfortunately it didn’t live up to it.

My grade for On A Dark Wing: