This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaway

I don't read much fiction and was dismayed when I saw it was in the present tense. I need not have worried since Paint the bird caught my attention from the beginning. It is the story of a female African American clergyperson, two painters, a homosexual couple and their son, along with the son's birth mother. And a fascinating story it is, especially since one of the main characters (Yago) died a few days before the novel's start. And the title adds to the fascination as well.

The author has named her chapters after colors used in paint. As a stitcher, I could not transfer the color to DMC floss numbers. (And from experience, I know that a painter sees off white as what I would call a mocha brown. I have the woodwork to prove it!) So I could not see how the colors related to the story.

I found myself trying to decide what denomination Sarah serves. She describes herself as mainline, not Baptist. She is called a pastor, which is used in the Lutheran and Presbyterian churches as well as many independent churches, but definitely not the Episcopal Church, which is the church of the surviving spouse in the novel. However, in the end, this fact didn't matter at all. ( )

I can only say that it was disappointing to read a book that had so much potential and fell short. ( )

This is a delightfully strange book. You can hate it and like it at the same time.

Upon finishing, I thought immediately that this is not really a novel. It is a great "elevator speech" to a good novel. (For thse of you who don't know the term, an "elevator speech" is a concise way of getting a selling point about yourself or your idea to someone else. Scenario: You want to work in a big firm and on the way to the elevator, you encounter the CEO of the company and you will both be on the elevator. How do you convince him you are good for the job you want? Or, you are in the elevator with a publisher. How do you convince him/her that your work should be published, all within the span of an elevator ride?)

Georgeann Packard does, in my opinion, a fantastic job of putting characters together that would not normally encounter each other. She does make good use of the fact that New York City, Brooklyn and Long Island are the backdrops, so in a way, "anything goes."

However, these unlikely characters needed a lot of fleshing out. They were a little empty. Which is sad, too, because a little more development of the characters would have made you care more about them.

As it stands: older woman preacher meets older artist, they sleep together about an hour later, the next day they go to his gay son's wake (she, by the way, is now wearing his ex-wife's dress). Artist, Darby, did not have a good relationship with son or his son's partner but is tied to them by a sweetheart of a little boy they have adopted. Regrets about the son, Yago. Yago is dead but is also a ghost. Yeah, a ghost. Throw in a situation where artist Darby beats up a guy in a bar, which causes a bottle to be broken and scars his grandson's face (nothing serious) and another where the good reverend attacks a boy. Darby's ex-wife is a free spirit, who likes to sleep around with men and women.

Like I said, elevator speech.

Again, the characters need fleshing out. The story itself is good. In fact, it is so "out there", that it would work nicely. Sadly, this is a very good story that could have been a phenomenal story.

I hate to say this but this is a good "first draft. Perhaps, her next work will include more detail into the lives of her characters.

Ms. Packard, I will say this, I can see myself becoming a fan of your work as it develops. When GREAT execution comes to match your GREAT ideas, your work will be magnificent! ( )

We have an unlikely set of characters here. There is black woman reverend, a father, Darby, who has never dealt with his feelings towards his homosexual son, the son’s partner and the mother of the homosexual couple’s child. Reverend Sara is obviously a lost soul she is having a one night stand with the father. Oh, and also Yago the HIV infected dead son who is a ghost in the story. Sounds pretty strange don’t you think. It is weirdly interesting. An interplay of clashing ideals and values. Whose are right whose are wrong? Where is all this going?

I kept wondering what message the author was trying to convey with this story. I am not sure even now what the point was. Alejandra is the mother of Yago. She tells Sara to “Put a bird there, be the bird. Soar above it all.” Alejandra is talking to Sara about the place in her dreams and how colorful it is. I think that she is talking about being yourself and letting go and making up who you want to be as you go along. That it is okay to be unique and be yourself. You are the bird. Paint the Bird is Yago’s story of who he is and the chapters are the colors that make up the bird. In each chapter we learn about the people in Yago’s life and they reveal pieces of Yago to us. Through out the book Darby learns who his son really was and becomes closer to his grandson and his son’s husband. He starts to bond with them.

I have to say that I think that this is one of the strangest books that I have ever read. I almost didn’t finish it. I really don’t recommend this one. It is not really my kind of book. When I read I want to be entertained and escape reality. This book is not one that I would normally chose. I could not connect with it. This book is not for everyone. It contains homosexuality and some situations that might be disturbing for some people. I give this book 2 out of 5 stars. ( )

The writing in this book, style wise, was beautiful. The way of structuring sentences was rather appealing and entertaining. My biggest problem with the book was following the flow of the storyline. The basic premise and the writing style was gorgeous but it was hard to follow the storyline because the storyline was done out in a way that honestly wasn’t that cohesive. A few times I had to pause in reading to make sure I knew exactly what was supposed to be going on. If the plotting out of where the chapters were put was done a little better then the book would have been more enjoyable. ( )