Reviews

The Falconer by Elizabeth May

lisakey's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

lara_bookella's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Ho appena finito il primo libro della trilogia e devo dire che mi è piaciuto molto! Era da un sacco che non leggevo un fantasy in cui la parte fantastica, la trama, il mistero e l’azione fossero più importanti dei bicipiti della parte maschile. Sarà perché questo libro è uscito dieci anni fa! Personalmente ho apprezzato molto la dose di romanticismo in questa storia: c’è - perché se manca ne sento la mancanza - ma è lì, defilata, a fare un piacevole contorno. Mi ha ricordato tantissimo le atmosfere di Buffy, e la cosa ha deposto decisamente a suo favore... c’era persino una versione “fatesca” di Angel!

Solo una cosa mi ha sconvolto: il finale. Cioè chiunque l’abbia letto fino a pochi mesi fa si è dovuta tenere il fiato sospeso per dieci anni perché non avevano mai tradotto i seguiti in italiano? Ma siamo seri? Bisognerebbe introdurre un reato specifico per queste cose!!!! 

(E comunque Derrick mio personaggio preferito di tutto il libro 🧚‍♂️)

eireen's review against another edition

3.0

“Aoram dhuit.”
“I will worship thee.”

Bagi Aileana Kameron menjadi seorang wanita yang cantik, kaya, dan pintar terbukti tidak membuatnya bahagia. Mimpi-mimpi yang dulu ia bangun hancur ketika ia melihat ibunya dibunuh oleh Baobhan Sith, seorang faery yang memiliki kekuatan telephatic. Semenjak itu, Aileana menyadari bahwa faery itu nyata dan menyaksikan ibunya terbunuh membuat ia haus akan balas dendam. Ia pun berlatih membunuh faery dengan dibantu oleh Kiaran MacKay, seorang Daoine Sith, bagian dari ras faery terkuat. Aileana mengira dengan usahanya membunuh faery jahat setiap malam dan membalas dendam kematian ibunya akan membuat ia bahagia suatu saat nanti. Tapi apa benar semudah itu ia balas dendam? Apakah semudah itu ia menemukan arah tujuan hidupnya yang sesungguhnya?

Kalau hanya membaca sinopsisnya saja, sebenarnya cerita The Falconer karya Elizabeth May ini cukup menjanjikan. Bukan sekedar menceritakan tentang faery hunter dan legenda Scottish, buku ini juga kental dengan kehidupan wanita pada abad ke 19, Victorian era. Dan yang membuat cerita in lebih menarik adalah adanya unsur steampunk. Jadi jangan bayangkan pemburu faery tradisional yang hanya bermodalkan pisau, pedang, atau senjata tradisional lainnya. Aileana si pemeran utama dalam buku ini termasuk seorang inventor yang hobi menciptakan pistol, bomb, canon, menggunakan teknologi semacamnya yang bisa digunakan untuk membunuh faery.

Memang dari segi karakter, perkembangan karakternya termasuk lambat dan terlalu banyak ‘rahasia’ di antara para karakternya. Jadi mungkin untuk pembaca yang lebih suka cerita dengan fase cepat, bisa keburu bosen nebak-nebak ada apa dengan masa lalu para masing-masing karakter ini. Tapi kalau aku menurutku, ini terbalaskan dengan adanya action sepanjang cerita. Tapi walau suka dengan penyajian action di buku ini, sayangnya aku malah kurang berasa klik dengan kedua tokoh utama di cerita ini. FYI, karakter favoritku di buku ini malah Derrick, si pixie kecil teman baik Aileana. Dia berhasil membuat cerita ini jauh lebih berwarna (dear author, please don’t kill him).

Satu lagi kekurangan dari buku ini adalah endingnya yang super gantung. Memang cliffhanger itu hal normal tapi cliffhanger di buku ini benar-benar seperti cerita yang sedang ngalir tapi diputus begitu saja di tengah jalan. Sampai sempat bingung sendiri ini benar-benar ceritanya usai di sini atau halamannya ada yang kurang. Tapi ternyata memang begitu adanya. But it’s okay. Tandanya memang harus lanjut ke buku kedua. :) Semoga di buku berikutnya bisa lebih ‘nyambung’ sama para karakter utama dan beberapa hal yang masih belum jelas di buku pertama bisa jadi lebih jelas di buku selanjutnya.

heatherlovesreading's review against another edition

4.0

If you don't like cliffhangers, don't read this book lol. I HAVE TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. this was a very entertaining book, with great world building. I loved the interplay in faerie lore, real world places, history, and steampunk all interwoven seamlessly into one story. It's made all the better that I've spend time in Edinburgh and can picture many of the places May describes in the story.

Hopefully book two is as good as this one!

sara_2103's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

jessicaalexander95's review against another edition

4.0

This is just such a fun premise. I love the Scottish fairy magic it was amazing.

The ending was a gut punch

themanfromdelmonte's review against another edition

3.0

It took me to about page 80 before I realised that a story about a lone vigiliante, who's good with gadgets, and is hunting the killer of her parent, sounded oddly familiar. That's right, Aileana is a steampunk Batman! (It was the bat wings on her ornithopter that gave it away)
The writing gets better the further it goes on and is occasionally very good. What lets it down is a touch of breathlessness. The second book will be the decider as the plot hasn't reallly got its hooks into me.

bookswithmaddi's review against another edition

3.0

{ 3.5 stars }

I'm honestly so torn by this book. My instinct tells me this is a three star read, it's not nothing particularly special but definitely has unique redeemable qualities. However, I think this book just cured me of my slump. I have been absolutely DRAGGING through books recently and I was able to read this one in about three sittings.

This book definitely falls short in quite a few places. I feel like the world building was definitely lacking. I don't understand exactly how Kam and Kiaran are able to murder these faeries and have no one question them. Like do they just see people flailing their bodies at invisible monsters??

I felt kind of the same was about the characters, I found all of them pretty two dimensional besides Kam. Gavin had the personality of a slice of bread, and I feel like Derrick was just their for the attempt at comedic relief although I found him incomprehensibly annoying.

The last two chapters or so I had no idea what was going on. It was just kind of a blur and I had to read the last chapter like three times to grasp how the book even ended. And even after that, I'm still not 100% sure I know what happened.

Despite all of that I did enjoy the book. It had historical fiction elements in it which of course I can't help but love. I loved the heroine and thought she was incredibly well fleshed out. I also really enjoyed how it dipped into Scottish lore and adapted pieces of Scottish culture into the book.

This book was well-paced and a quick fun read. I will probably continue with the series in the future and hopefully the following books will continue to keep my interest!

vampsnaily's review against another edition

I liked the premise, but I think it was too young adult for me. I think I would’ve really liked this when I was in high school, but the main character was hard to connect with as an adult. Might pick it up again later.

booktrovert04's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

3.0