Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater

25 reviews

nevermoregothic's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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gear3232's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I like the new characters introduced, although I was sad we didn’t see much of Adam, Blue, and Gansey. I also love that we get to see Declan’s POV and personality clearly now. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book and for a while I couldn’t tell were it was going, but the writing was as masterful as always and I look forward to the rest of the books! 

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trintrin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

I think this is genuinely the most fun I've had reading a sequel series. Sequel series are always in that weird grey area of scratching the same itch that only your favourite characters from the main series could, but also either risk going overboard with additional world-building, new characters, and plot devices, or risk going stale with same old characters, and same old world. This book hits a sweet, sweet spot. 

I was kinda indecisive seeing this is gonna be about Ronan (and by extension, Adam, who would obviously be a major part of his life) because Ronan Lynch is my absolute favourite character and I do not want to tarnish the perfect image I have of him in my head. I didn't know what other adventures little old Henrietta offered, seeing that the quest for Glendower is over, I didn't know what the focus is going to be in Ronan and Adam's relationship, seeing as he would've gone to college. But, boy, oh, boy, did the Lynch brothers deliver. 

The Characters

Sure, this book doesn't have the ride-or-die friendships like the Gangsey, but it does have interesting characters. Absolutely head over heels in love with Jordan and Hennessy, I would sacrifice myself to the ley-line to protect these girls. DECLAN LYNCH!! I knew he would pull through, always had faith in him. Someone needs to give this boy a hug, some warm cocoa, and peace. Also, fuck Niall Lynch. I used to think he wasn't that bad, just a very absent father, but good lord. A very interesting side to Matthew which I didn't even consider was possible. Hopefully we get to see more of that. Still kinda lukewarm on Farooq-Lane. Interesting character, certainly, just not sure how much I like her. Parsifal
, too soon, my boy, too soon
. Bryde, the ever-mysterious Bryde. Excited to get to know him better. Lilliana too, I have high hopes for her. 

The Plot

The plot is darker than TRC, which is expected considering four teenagers going on a hunt for a dead Welsh King is going to be more on the friendshipy-adventurous side, while organisations that hunt down dreamers and dreams would be significantly darker and grittier. The world is much bigger than a small, rural town in Virginia, whaddayaknow. Especially when you throw the Lynches into the equation, as it's both about their messed up family history and narrated by them. The introduction of new characters was perfect, the pacing was perfect, the development of both the plot and the characters was perfect, the unexpected
Mór Ó Corra
plot-twist which I totally should've seen coming was perfect, Stiefvater's beautiful writing in all her glory was perfect, all in all, perfect. :D

Should you read this if you loved The Raven Cycle?

I would say it depends on which part of TRC you loved. TRC had a good plot, but the phenomenal characters were what carried the series. Whereas, this series has incredible characters, but the amazing plot is the focus. Fair warning though, there's little to nothing of Gansey, Blue and Noah, and only crumbs of Adam, if that's what you're looking for. If Ronan, Chainsaw, Orphan-Girl, Matthew, Declan, and the Lynch family history mystery with some cool new characters sounds like your thing, definitely give it a try!

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booksandstardust's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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readwithria's review

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mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Call Down the Hawk is a good book that I just don’t have any strong feelings about. I don’t even have that much to say about it, honestly. It was fine, and I neither liked it nor disliked it.

I feel I am not this book’s intended audience. I like a plot heavy book with a goal of some kind, and this ain’t that. I like my books to be medium to fast paced, and this book is slow and methodical. I like when the choices the protagonist makes impact the plot, and this book felt very reactionary. None of these things are bad things, they’re just not what I prefer.

I did really enjoy Declan Lynch, which was a pleasant surprise! Jordan was also a wonderful addition to the world.

I honestly don’t know if I’m going to keep reading this series. Right now I feel like I’d rather read a Wikipedia article (mostly so I can figure out what the actual plot is, because I don’t really know).

This was a book, and I didn’t dislike it, but honestly I just don’t care about it. 3 stars.

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toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was a reread and wow I love this book it was so good. Super excited to read the next two right afterwards. Just absolutely love the writing and complexity of the characters, as well as Will Patton as the narrator in the audiobook is just fantastic.

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scrubsandbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-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

This was a reread for me since I had read this when it first came out and then I didn't read it again and the other two books had already come out.

I loved it then, I still love it now. Jordan and Hennessy are amazing additions to this one, I loved reading more about both Declan and Matthew, I even thoroughly enjoyed reading about Declan and Jordan's budding relationship which was a complete surprise to me. My favorite aspect of this was the relationships between siblings which seems to be my reader wheelhouse when it comes to series books.

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keen's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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


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elizmoe's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

if there’s one thing maggie stiefvater is gonna do, it’s give me explicitly queer urban fantasy with intriguing conflict set in locations I have hiked numerous times. and i cannot get enough of it!!! 
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ronan was the perfect character to center the spin-off on for obvious plotting reasons (the fact that Dreaming as a magic thing was only part of the conflict of The Raven Cycle kind of blows my mind and also makes me very happy it gets more page time in this trilogy), and also because i intensely needed more gay irish catholic goth shit in my life.

as for the new characters, jordan/hennessy is so compelling to me. art/forgery and also forging of the self…i don’t even have anything intelligent to say i just really really enjoy that storyline.
not too crazy about carmen at the moment but i am intrigued to see where the trilogy takes her, as i’m certain her slightly boring/by the books/singly motivated personality is nothing more than a set up.

also, making me feel something about declan besides disinterest or disparagement? an absolutely insane feat. hats off to you, Maggie, for writing the most annoying antagonist for Ronan only to turn around and deftly justify his garbage personality and make him someone truly empathetic. no one is doing it like her!!!

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