The Black Air - Jennifer Lane - ★★★.¾

AUTHOR: Jennifer Lane

GENRE: YA Mystery.

RATING: 3.75 stars.

In a Nutshell: An atmospheric YA novel with toxic friendships and witchy histories. Takes a bit too long to get going. Pretty good overall, though it could have used some elements even better.

Story Synopsis:

Long Byrne is a town with a dark history. 400 years ago, two sixteen-year-old girls Rose Ackroyd and Jane Hollingworth were declared “witches” and hanged.

To commemorate the grim occasion, the college Cate attends is planning to put up a play about the girls. As a farm girl who loves to write and is passionate about the topic of witches, Cate immediately signs up as the scriptwriter, with her talented best friend Tawny auditioning for an acting part. But when new student Bryony also gets an acting part and becomes too close to Tawny, Cate begins to question her intentions. Add in some strange, inexplicable occurrences, and Cate isn’t sure whom to trust, including her own senses.

The story comes to us in the first person perspective of Cate, with some witchy excerpts from books about Long Byrne at the end of most chapters.

Bookish Yays:

😍 I loved the setting of Long Byrne, with its dark history of witch killings and its current obsession with witchy lore. The atmosphere of the small town, especially of its mysterious moors, is written vividly. 

😍 There are four young girls at the helm of this story: Cate, Tawny, Bryony, and Tawny’s younger sister Robyn. Each of these is a layered character (surprisingly so for a YA novel) and isn’t portrayed as flawless. They have their charms and their shortcomings. 

😍 The plot is also good, with the intermingling of the past and the present coming out well through the play and the players. 

😍 The story covers several tough themes such as depression, toxic friendships, parental issues, grief, and suicide. Most of the themes aren’t written over the top. The topic is raised, but the hints are subtle. For instance, we get a sense of one character’s depression only much later without realising the reason for her eating issues. Her mental deterioration is such that we don’t know if her trauma is causing her situational reaction, or vice versa, or if it is a vicious loop feeding into each other. Nicely done!

😍 The author’s note at the end is quite interesting. I loved how she used the book as a way of resolving her own issues. Read it to know more.

Bookish Mixed Bags:

😐 There are minor supernatural elements scattered throughout the story, but the actual witchy content comes up only in the final quarter. I wish the eerie stuff had receiving more prominence in the plot. The main story is more about friendship struggles than anything else. Though this is handled well, it is not what I read the story for.

😐 There seem to be some Sapphic feelings between Cate and Tawny, at least from Cate’s side. Though this is hinted, it is never explored. I am not sure why the clues were provided in the first place if they weren’t intended to be brought out in the open even until the end. However, the play handled this topic well. 

Bookish Nays:

😟 As is typical for a YA novel, all the adults in the book are idiots. No parent or teacher is shown as having much understanding or empathy until the final “group hug” resolution. I am really fed up of this approach. YA novels shouldn’t establish a breach between adults and its younger readers, but rather, ensure that its readers know that they can (usually) rely on adults for guidance when needed. This self-centred, “lone warrior” approach doesn’t benefit anyone. Moreover, the character detailing of the adults is quite incomplete. We never know why/how Cate’s dad remarried, or why he allows his college-going daughter to handle the whole farm on her own when he was the one who wanted to move there, or why her mom did what she did. This further alienates the adult characters from the readers.

(And please, ‘No one over forty should wear skin-tight anything.’ – Ouch! Judgemental much?)

😟 For a story with so much potential for thoughts and action, the pacing is really slow. Most of the book goes in the build-up. The final 25% or so is the only one where we actually see great action. But this is also not perfect, as the resolution is too quick and too easy. Moreover, one particular thread is left unfinished. I am not sure if this is because of an intended sequel, but it left me disappointed. 

All in all, despite some scope for finetuning, this is still a pretty interesting YA story. It is a great attempt for a debut work, with its atmosphere and storyline being the highlights.

Recommended to YA mystery readers who would love a dash of witchy paranormal added to a dark plot with intense themes. That said, the themes and some of the incidents are too intense for younger YAs. The presence of cuss words also makes it a red flag for the younger YA segment. Only for the 16+ age group, then.

My thanks to UCLan Publishing and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Black Air”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.