Review: On A Dark Wing by Jordan Dane - Juhina

Title: On A Dark Wing

Author: Jordan Dane

Publication date: December 27, 2011

Genre(s): Young Adult (Paranormal, Angels)

Publisher: HarlequinTeen

Source: eArc via NetGalley 

Pages: 384

"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 forgets.

When I first read the synopsis of On A Dark Wing I honestly didn’t know what to expect, and 100 pages in, I also didn’t know what the book was about. Don’t get me wrong,  after the initial slow start of the book, it gets VERY exciting and thrilling and I honestly wasn’t able to put it down. 

The story is mainly centered around Abbey Chandler, Abbey lost her mother 5 years ago, and she blames herself, there is some guilt she can’t clearly explain but she feels that she cheated her mom by living and her dying. Abbey is considered a weirdo, a loner. She only has one friend, who is in a wheelchair due to an accident he survived when he was 12. She however pines and fantasizes over Nate Holden, who we only know as a guy who loves mountain climbing, and his dream is to climb mount. Denali. Nate was a big part of this book but I honestly didn’t know anything about him, I would have really liked if I knew more about his character, but throughout the whole book I only knew him as Abbey’s crush. 

There is a twist in the romance in the story, *spoiler* We all know how much Abbey is in love with Nate and I was rooting for both of them, but towards the end Abbey somehow comes to the conclusion that who she truly loves is actually her friend, and Nate was just an infatuation, I don’t know why the author switched sides, since both showed no interest in each other, but at the end it was a cute romance, I only wished it developed earlier in the book. 

Death has always remembered Abbey from the time he went to collect her mother’s soul when the car accident occurred when she was ten years old. By using Nate, he wanted to get closer to her; you could say he wanted a chance at humanity, but because of his selfishness he is risking the lives of both Nate and Abbey. This is where Nate’s climbing experience turns to a nightmare and Abbey has to finally confront her guilt she had pent up for the last five years.
I really enjoyed Nate’s POV, especially him trying to survive and save his friend when they both got avalanched. I still didn’t learn anything about him, but it was interesting to read about. Abbey was frustrating at the beginning, especially the relationship with her dad, but I get why she treated him that way, she still had to resolve her guilt and problems. I’m glad they finally opened up to each other, while this wasn’t the happily ever after ending, they were on the road to getting there.

Overall the book was slow at the beginning but when the questions I had finally start to get answered, and lives were on the line, I couldn’t put the book down. The book was full on mysterious, creepy, and thrilling at the end. Even though I had some issues with it, overall it was enjoyable and gave me the shivers!

Needs some fine tuning, but overall its catchy!