Butcher & Blackbird

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapter 7

Chapters 8-11

Chapters 12-16

Chapters 17-21

Chapter 22-Bonus Chapter

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Background

Genre Context: Dark Romance

Dark Romance is a sub-genre of Romance that explores aspects of what can go wrong in romantic and sexual relationships. Often, Dark Romance novels combine elements of love stories with elements of horror stories and/or psychological thrillers. Other times, Dark Romance novels may not contain horror or thriller elements, but still explore the “dark side” of love or attraction, including topics like stalking, domestic violence, revenge, obsession, financial troubles, secrecy and dishonesty, forbidden love, love triangles, abductions or kidnappings, dominance and submission, murky consent situations, and infidelity. Many Dark Romances feature protagonists who are murderers, assassins, criminals, or paranormal beings—characters whose jobs, hobbies, or identities cause their romantic endeavors to become complex, taboo, and/or potentially dangerous. Some Dark Romance novels feature an innocent heroine who falls in love with a Byronic hero (or antihero), but more recent iterations of the genre also include heroines who are Byronic heroes in their own right. Contemporary Dark Romance novels often feature complex, multidimensional characters who have a tender, loving side as well as a “dark” side.

Despite Dark Romance’s exploration of the darker side of love and attraction, these novels still typically follow the convention of the romance genre as a whole and end with two main characters getting together, either through marriage or the establishment of a relationship. However, despite the union of the protagonists, the endings of Dark Romance novels are not always entirely “happy” and may be more complex. The protagonists may or may not find redemption through love, and they may or may not have a “good” or “healthy” relationship. In Butcher & Blackbird, for example, Sloane and Rowan do not renounce their criminal or violent activities after getting together romantically. However, both protagonists do grow, change, and heal to some degree through their love and acceptance of each other.

Other examples of Dark Romance novels include 50 Shades of Grey by E. L. James (2011), Corrupt by Penelope Douglas (2015), The Sweetest Oblivion by Danielle Lori (2018), Haunting Adeline by H. D. Carlton (2021), Hooked by Emily McIntire (2021), A Shadow in the Reaping by Brynne Weaver (2021), and Black Sheep by Alexa Harlowe and Brynne Weaver (2022).

Cultural Context: BookTok and Viral Books

Butcher & Blackbird skyrocketed in popularity in 2023 after it went viral on BookTok. BookTok is a literary subcommunity on the social media app TikTok where readers share videos that review or promote books. Some authors use BookTok to promote their own books, and publishers sometimes sponsor popular BookTokers to publicize or review specific books. Promoting books on BookTok can lead to an increase in sales, especially for books that go viral on the platform. BookTok has been especially useful for self-published authors and authors published by small or independent presses that do not have major marketing departments. Some authors have even earned publishing contracts for their unpublished works thanks to sharing their content on BookTok. However, large and mainstream publishers also use BookTok to market their books. BookTok has become so influential in determining which books become popular that many bookstores, including Barnes & Noble, have incorporated tables devoted to viral TikTok books into their merchandise displays.

BookTok has a disproportionate number of women creators and younger creators, which has resulted in extra promotion for books and genres that are favored by these demographics. In particular, the New Adult, Romance, and Dark Romance genres have enjoyed an increased degree of popularity thanks to BookTok. BookTokers often share videos about books they enjoyed and want to recommend to others, but they also sometimes share videos about books that shocked them. For this reason, some books rise in popularity not because BookTokers love them, but because they are so outrageous, controversial, or bizarre that they spark conversation online. Dark Romance novels such as Butcher & Blackbird are often full of taboos and shocking content, so this may be part of the reason why the genre has taken off. Other Dark Romance novels that have gone viral on BookTok include Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (2011), Wanderlust by Skye Warren (2013), The Risk by S. T. Abby (2016), The Maddest Obsession by Danielle Lori (2019), Credence by Penelope Douglas (2020), and Twisted Love by Ana Huang (2021).