Little Black Bird by Anna Kirchner
Release Day: June 20, 2020
Contact: contact@bproudpr.com
www.bproudpr.com
Publisher: Gurt Dog Press
https://gurtdogpress.com
Series: Little Black Bird #1
Genre: LGBTQIA+ YA Urban Fantasy
(Own voices representation)
Content Warnings: Sexual assault, internalized acephobia, violence, alcohol, murder, kidnapping/abduction
Cover Artist: Karolina Wucke http://instagram.com/wucke.illustration
Preorder here:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1025434https://www.amazon.com/Little-Black-Bird-Anna-Kirchner-ebook/dp/B086YZ4543/
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/little-black-bird-anna-kirchner/1137122603
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53102834-little-black-birdLittle Black Bird, by Anna Kirchner @rattletheshelves , is an Urban Fantasy novel released by @gurtdogpress on June 20th.
It follows Wiktoria as she discovers that magic is real and sorcerers are living hidden in her Polish hometown. This realisation leads her to question the origins of the strange abilities that have plagued her since she was a child. She finds herself battling both sorcerers and demons alike, with only her friends and a strange boy she seems to share her dreams with.
Little Black Bird is the start of a new series that is heavily inspired by Anna’s native Polish folklore. The book has questioning/asexual representation.
The gorgeous cover of Little Black Bird is made by Karolina Wucke , @wucke.illustration
Synopsis for Little Black Bird:
Magic is dying out, but it will not disappear without a fight.
Wiktoria is a seventeen year old with a secret: she has psychic powers. Her uncontrollable telekinesis hurts her and others, setting fires and throwing objects in the air, no matter how hard she tries to hold it back. All she wants to have is a peaceful, average life, but it’s difficult when you’ve been cursed to destroy the magical world.
Her carefully maintained facade of normality starts to unravel when she’s hunted down by local sorcerers and their Guardian, and accused of unleashing banished demons back into the human realm. When a murder shakes up the magical community, everyone agrees that the only way to save the world is to kill Wiktoria.
Her only ally is a boy who can read her mind, shares her dreams and makes her question her sexuality. Together, they face mythical creatures and uncover ancient legends, and they soon realize that there is no such thing as simply good or evil. Whether they break the curse or allow it to fulfil its destiny, the magical world will be forever changed.
Little Black Bird is a tale of trust, friendship and family, and what it means to discover one’s true path.
Excerpt:
I hadn’t always been like this.
When I was seven, I’d tried to impress my classmates with my abilities. It was the beginning of the first grade and we’d been learning to write “A” when I’d made a vase with flowers levitate. I don’t know what had been going on in the head of seven-year-old Wiktoria.
Had I seriously thought that telekinesis is cool? That I could use it like that, without payment? That kids would take to difference kindly? That they’d want to be my friends? Of course, no one had thought it was cool.
The children and our teacher had freaked out, and I’d fainted from the strain of using my abilities. The rest I’d overheard in the hushed whispers of my parents. They were the only ones to believe what had happened that day because they knew what I could do. The vase had fallen down and everyone got wet. A few children were scratched with the pieces of glass. Nobody had ever linked the incident to me but I think our teacher had lost her job and we’d moved to another city to start over. No one had ever said that it’d been my fault.
My parents had made the move sound reasonable: “Mummy’s got a better job,” “You’ll get to spend more time with Kari and Rafi,” “Grandma is sad and lonely, she needs us to be with her.” We packed up and left. The guilt of a seven-year-old is time-constrained and, even though my grandma used to terrify me, I’d been excited to see my cousins more often.
We’d transformed the move into an adventure and no one had ever mentioned my abilities—apart from grandma, but it’d been years since she’d succumbed to lung cancer. We kept our lives grounded deep in the mundane the best we could as I’d learned to contain my abnormality.
It all changed with the appearance of my stalker.
My review:
This book was definitely a surprise for me. I don't even remember the last time I read YA book or m/f, but I thought I give it a try bacause the blurb said it has asexual rep.
And I'm happy that I gave it a chance, although I almost put it aside because I couldn't get into the right mindspace for this book. After all i'm more than happy that I read it because holy hell, it was really good!
It was really YA, all the settings and being in a girl's mind was a bit different from my usual reads, but I liked being in Wiktoria/Redhead/Little Fox 's head. She was an interesting and great character. She was exactly what you want from a 16/17 years old girl while trying to figure out the world and her life with possible love in her future.
Artur was a very good character too, I really liked him. He was cute with all the caring and cuddles he wanted to give to his little fox. I loved them together while they were trying to figure out everything around and between them.
I said I wanted to DNF it, and let me tell you why; I missed the asexual side of the story. And the blurb doesn't said it will be 'possible love' or 'soul mate' between the two main character, it said friendship, and I wanted exactly that, friends only. So I was torn apart when it turned out the book will be more focused on their love relationship then I can possibly handle.
But I was wrong. I loved Artur and Wiki together. And although I missed the ace rep, it turned out quite well! First I thought it would be Wiki who is ace, but after a while I knew that wasn't the case.
I really loved reading this book and it was much better then I thought it would be - to my biggest surprise. I'm really happy that I read this story, and after that killer cliffhanger... come ON! I want book two right now!
Highly recommend this book!
Enter the release tour giveaway for the chance to win one of two copies of LITTLE BLACK BIRD by Anna Kirchner!
To enter: Follow @rattletheshelves & @gurtdogpress on Instagram and tag 2 friends in the comments of any of the hosts photos. Winners will be chosen with randomiser on June 26th.
Prizes: One winner will win a paperback copy of Little Black Bird (EU only!) and one winner will win a e-book copy of Little Black Bird (International).
About the Author:
Anna grew up in Poland and lived in a number of countries before settling in Sweden. She spends more time in imaginary worlds than in the real one. She grew up on a mixture of Polish legends and original Grimm fairy tales, which she channels into fiction. She’s a proud Hufflepuff and a dog lover. She is easiest to find on her Instagram, where she talks about books and goes into queer-feminist rants.
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