On a Dark Wing
By Jordan Dane

Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: January 1, 2012
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Jordan Dane’s Website
Source: NetGalley

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 stalks him because of her.

And Abbey finds out the hard way that Death never forgets.

Goodreads Summary

*****

Abbey’s mother died in a car accident five years ago and she’s been blaming herself every day since then. Her relationship with her dad is strained at best, she’s living in Loserville at school and she’s developed a fixation on Nate, an unattainable boy. The one totally normal relationship she has is with her best friend Tanner, a cute guy in a wheelchair.

Nate is planning a dangerous trip up Denali right as the anniversary of Abbey’s mother approaches and she and her father head to their cabin in Healy. With death and guilt on her mind, the single crow that seems to have been watching over her lately turns into a flock – and Abbey finds out that Death has been watching her, learning what she likes and wants to have life, even at the expense of someone else’s.

In a way, there are three separate stories running here, all very different, and I like the way Dane writes all of them for the most part. Back at home, Tanner is dealing with some bullying targeted at him and Abbey as well as keeping track of Nate and Denali because of his own interest in climbing. On Denali, there’s the story of Nate, his friend Josh and then their families when the climb goes wrong. Then in Healy, there’s Abbey, her father and Death. The story is told various alternating perspectives, Abbey’s first person POV, Nate and Tanner’s third. I was going to say I really liked Nate’s but then again, I really liked Tanner’s too. The sections with Nate on Denali were very powerful and if there had been a better way to weave him into the book, I’d have liked to see more of his character. I liked his family, especially his little sister.

Tanner was also a special character, one that I was glad to see more of as the story gained momentum near the end. He was sweet and funny and it was interesting the way his being in a wheelchair was worked into the story without it ever really being an issue. I can’t say that I always “got” Abbey but I think so much of what she did was driven by her grief and self-directed anger, maybe I wasn’t supposed to always figure her out. She did some unhealthy things which I would think is normal for someone who blames themselves for something monumental but she did a number of things when Death showed his face that I can’t imagine a fifteen-year old doing.

I’ve always liked the concept of Death itself as an entity (Jackie Morse Kessler does a great job of this in her Riders of the Apocalypse series), so I was intrigued by Dane’s take on it. I definitely like her idea – that Death can remember a soul that it didn’t get to take and has the ability to stalk it and try to experience things through it. There were some questions I wanted answered – why hadn’t Death done this before? Why only Abbey, surely there had been others? How could Death be ageless but now know certain things?  When Death expressed almost child-like emotions, I think I understood it the most.

My Summary: On a Dark Wing is a nicely told story about love, loss, guilt, obsession, forgiveness and friendship. I liked the majority of the story’s puzzle pieces, although they didn’t necessarily always fit well together for me, mostly because I just didn’t always understand Abbey. Dane is a talented author who writes with beautiful imagery and she made the story worth reading.

My Rating: B-

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