Omens of Doom

Expected Publication: December 27th, 2011
On A Dark Wing
By: Jordan Dane
HarlequinTeen
ISBN-13: 9780373210411


"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 forget.

Review

   Abbey is obsessed with Nate Holden, but as her best friend Tanner likes to remind her he doesn't know she even exists.  So when Abbey goes out of town for the weekend with her Dad to their cabin to remember her Mom on what was her birthday, she doesn't think it will make much of a difference.  But she has noticed some strange things lately, these creepy ravens that have been watching her.  Also, Abbey is struggling with the guilt of knowing it was her fault that they were on the road the day of the crash that her Mom died in - oh yeah, she died too.  The only difference is that death let her go and she'd never figured out why.  Abbey is an outcast because of her Dad being an undertaker and she's considered a weirdo.  Right before she leaves town a website is posted, GoFarkYourself.com, that has cruel and explicit photoshopped pictures of her and her paralyzed best friend Tanner.  Nate is on his way to a climb of Mount Denali with his Dad and his friend Josh.  He's been waiting for this for years, but he's been having uneasy feelings and bad dreams.  He's scared something will go wrong.  Death reaches out to Abbey while posessing Nate's body so she'll trust him.  Death also longs to feel humanity once more and no longer wants to collect souls.  But posessing Nate comes at a price and that price just might be Nate's life.  Can Abbey save him before it's too late?  Are they really meant to be together or is it just a crush?  I liked this book in some ways and not at all in others.  It was really hard to relate to Abbey though, because her obsession with Nate came across as creepily unhealthy.  It was almost like that of a stalker objectifying the person they're after.  Also, she acted like a brat a lot of the time toward her Dad as if she was the only one suffering from her Mom's death.  Tanner was awesome, but I felt like Abbey took him for granted and I didn't understand what he saw in her.  I will commend her for being awesome enough not to ditch him when he became paralyzed the way his other friends did.  Nate was pretty one-dimensional and I felt like all I really knew about him was his name and that he liked mountain climbing.  I finished it because I wanted my answers and to see how it ended, not because I cared about anyone in the book all that much.  It was okay, but definitely NOT my cup of tea. 

VERDICT:  2/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money was exchanged for this review. The expected publication of this book is December 27th, 2011.*