3.5 stars rounded up

I enjoyed this, but I felt like the cadence was strange. Parts of it felt really rushed where other parts felt like they dragged on. I loved the premise though and the story itself was really good! ( )

Aaron Holbrook returns to his childhood home where his aunt died mysteriously after twenty years hoping to find some solace in the face of his grief. But something has other plans. I had trouble following who was who in this. I’m not sure why -- maybe I just wasn’t reading closely enough. A nephew is haunted by his childhood enough to try to make amends by coming home.
( )

The beginning of this book was quite intense and had me hooked right away. Aaron never knew his parents. He was raised by his aunt until the horrible day he lost her. At that time he was whisked away from his friends, and his childhood girlfriend never to return or contact them again...until another tragedy sends him home to Holbrook house. Aaron is in a terrible state of mind, and the fact that his childhood home is now considered the local haunted house by the towns people doesn't help matters any. He really is not a believer in ghosts or hauntings, but something has been waiting a very long time for Aaron to come home. I enjoyed this book though I can't say it blew me away like the previous work I read by this author "Brother" ( )

My experience with ‘The Bird Eater’ was very similar to that with the other book of Ahlborn’s I’ve read, ‘Seed’, at times it’s great but it doesn’t quite hang together somehow. The two books have similar themes, in both the central adult male character is confronting terrible, supernatural, events from their childhood. They share strengths too, both have nicely drawn, believable characters and genuinely creepy moments. In particular the first chapter of ‘The Bird Eater’ is incredible strong and would almost work as a short story in its own right. But like ‘Seed’ there was an undefinable something missing in this book that prevented me from loving it. I’m definitely going to keep reading Ahlborn though, because when she’s good, she’s great. ( )

Overall, I can see Ahlborn growing as an author, though she seems to revisit a lot of themes from previous novels in this one. The guy that runs from a bad situation into a new residence that he intends to clean up ([b:The Neighbors|15787063|The Neighbors|Ania Ahlborn|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344130927s/15787063.jpg|21506564]), the two lovers who split when they were much younger and find each other again ([b:The Shuddering|17327053|The Shuddering|Ania Ahlborn|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1365893475s/17327053.jpg|24023317]), as well as the ambiguous evil from the past ([b:Seed|11422798|Seed|Ania Ahlborn|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1305997493s/11422798.jpg|16356035]).

The thing is, Ahlborn's a good enough author that, even when she's plundering her own stuff, she twists it into new and interesting shapes.

I guess the only reason I gave this one a three-star was simply because I didn't learn to love Aaron enough to care that deeply about him. I felt like the character building in this story was adequate, but not quite enough. Not up to Ahlborn's usual standards.

And the only other complaint was with the character names. It gets a little dicey holding an Aaron, an Eric, an Evangeline (aka Evan), and an Edith straight in your mind as you go through the story. ( )