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Um, HELLO abrupt ending?!
My wonderful friend Gretchen got this for me for Christmas, and yes I'm just getting to it now, but overall it was a surprisingly good read.
Aileana was a great heroine and I felt her strength and motivation as genuine. Her inner monologues can be overdramatic, but being the woman she is in the 19th century world she is in I thought her many struggles were handled as I would have expected her to.
I also surprisingly liked the steam-punk aspects of the book. I thought they fit in very well without being glaringly thrust in or overly complicated. Normally I'm not attracted to fantasy involving fae. For some reason fae just doesn't do it for me. I admit that I appreciate the subtleness of the fae aspects in this book. And the fact that they're more like how they most likely are in real lore – tricky, evil, monster-like, etc. Still... I still can't say whether even these positives are enough to make me NEED to read more.
Kiaran is the perfect tortured LI that many other dark-fantasy male characters wish they were. Gavin felt a lot more random, but I'm going to assume he plays more of a role in the next books. Derrick is a little cutie and I kind of wish I had one of him.
But, uh, yeah... that ending was the most random ending I've ever seen. More like an ending to a tv show with "Next time, on the thrilling finale..." Ha! As May's debut, I'd say this was a success. Those who enjoy fae fantasy would definitely like it.
My wonderful friend Gretchen got this for me for Christmas, and yes I'm just getting to it now, but overall it was a surprisingly good read.
Aileana was a great heroine and I felt her strength and motivation as genuine. Her inner monologues can be overdramatic, but being the woman she is in the 19th century world she is in I thought her many struggles were handled as I would have expected her to.
I also surprisingly liked the steam-punk aspects of the book. I thought they fit in very well without being glaringly thrust in or overly complicated. Normally I'm not attracted to fantasy involving fae. For some reason fae just doesn't do it for me. I admit that I appreciate the subtleness of the fae aspects in this book. And the fact that they're more like how they most likely are in real lore – tricky, evil, monster-like, etc. Still... I still can't say whether even these positives are enough to make me NEED to read more.
Kiaran is the perfect tortured LI that many other dark-fantasy male characters wish they were. Gavin felt a lot more random, but I'm going to assume he plays more of a role in the next books. Derrick is a little cutie and I kind of wish I had one of him.
But, uh, yeah... that ending was the most random ending I've ever seen. More like an ending to a tv show with "Next time, on the thrilling finale..." Ha! As May's debut, I'd say this was a success. Those who enjoy fae fantasy would definitely like it.
If I have to listen to one more monologue about how Kam is not like other girls bc she likes to hunt and stab things and that dresses are not for her, I will scream
Innamorata! Ammetto che il fatto che parlasse di fate/fae/seelie, figura che ultimamente mi sembra un po' abusata nei fantasy mi ha sempre messo reticenza nell'iniziare la serie. Tuttavia convinta da una serie di recensioni positive ho deciso di darci un'opportunità e menomale! Ambientato nell'Edimburgo del 1800, si rifa al folclore scozzese cosa che ho apprezzato in più il tocco steampunk lo ha un po' diversificato dal gruppo. Lady Aileana la nostra protagonista l'ho veramente apprezzata: tosta, intelligente (infatti fabbrica un sacco di invenzioni particolari) ma a suo modo fragile: è mossa da un grosso sentimento di vendetta per la morte di sua madre avvenuta per mano di una fata, e questa rabbia e dolore in un certo senso la comandano tanto che la caccia alle fate è quasi una dipendenza per lei. Poi abbiamo Kiaran, una fata di razza decisamente potente e un traditore della sua specie in quanto non è altro che l'istruttore ammazza seelie di Aileana; è un personaggio misterioso e tutto da scoprire che mi ha affascinata. Inoltre la ship ragazzi mi è piaciuta! Infine abbiamo il nostro Derrick un pixie sarcastico e fastidioso che vive nell'armadio di Aileana e che farebbe qualsiasi cosa per un barattolo di miele e beh che dire?! Voglio anche io un Derrick nell'armadio! La trama è attiva, di presentazione questo è certo ma ti tiene incollata alle pagine anche grazie allo stile della May. E non parliamo del finale...cliffhanger totale!
The Falconer è tra le serie della mia adolescenza che più ho adorato ma questa riscrittura in stile NA l’ho adorata ancora di più
Oh my god, you cannot end your book in the middle of the climax. I'm not saying that in a "wow, great cliffhanger, now I have to read the next one!" kind of way. I'm saying that in a you pulled the cheapest trick anyone can pull trying to get me to read the next one and it is not okay. It didn't make me want to read the next one. It just made me angry. It made me so angry I just want to take away stars simply because of the fact that you ended your book in the middle of the climax.
:/
The rest of the book was pretty average. I really like Gavin, and I even came to like Aileana and Kiaran after a while, though her narration had kind of an obnoxious voice and her bloodlust was way hyperbolized. Like it wasn't even potent or intense, it was just like... what. There was no real sense of tension, and the whole world was just randomly steampunk for no reason? Like here, have a mechanized tea service and a personal ornithopter. No explanation of when this diverged from our reality. If it had just been Aileana making her own things, that would have been fine, but apparently the whole society is accustomed to tea dispensers and personal steampunk-spider first-aid kits.
Also, I'm not really sure why they're called Falconers. At one point, Aileana (am I even spelling that right?) even asks, and Kiaran's just like 'they used to have falcons, that's it.' There is not a single falcon in this entire book. They are not even mentioned more than that one time. I'm fairly certain Elizabeth May was just like 'oh hey, that's a cool Gaelic word. What, it means falconer? Ehh... I'll run with it.'
It wasn't badly-written or unenjoyable (I did find the second half quite pleasant), but it wasn't particularly memorable either.
:/
The rest of the book was pretty average. I really like Gavin, and I even came to like Aileana and Kiaran after a while, though her narration had kind of an obnoxious voice and her bloodlust was way hyperbolized. Like it wasn't even potent or intense, it was just like... what. There was no real sense of tension, and the whole world was just randomly steampunk for no reason? Like here, have a mechanized tea service and a personal ornithopter. No explanation of when this diverged from our reality. If it had just been Aileana making her own things, that would have been fine, but apparently the whole society is accustomed to tea dispensers and personal steampunk-spider first-aid kits.
Also, I'm not really sure why they're called Falconers. At one point, Aileana (am I even spelling that right?) even asks, and Kiaran's just like 'they used to have falcons, that's it.' There is not a single falcon in this entire book. They are not even mentioned more than that one time. I'm fairly certain Elizabeth May was just like 'oh hey, that's a cool Gaelic word. What, it means falconer? Ehh... I'll run with it.'
It wasn't badly-written or unenjoyable (I did find the second half quite pleasant), but it wasn't particularly memorable either.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Worst cliffhanger I've ever read. It was like the author just stopped in the middle of the chapter and thought this was a place to end it. It's not like an episode of a TV show where you can see what happens next week. You're going to have to wait a year, and it really isn't even worth the wait.
Nope. This book has me annoyed now. I started to get invested again and the end is a complete cliffhanger. Like a cliffhanger of proportions that is pretty awful.
Yes the series is all out but I'm not okay with the ending happening like that.
Yes the series is all out but I'm not okay with the ending happening like that.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes