Reviews

Jackdaw by KJ Charles

kathrinpassig's review

3.0

Falls irgendwer hier manchmal denkt "Kathrin, lies doch nicht immer nur Liebesromane mit Magie", es geht nicht anders, weil ich parallel versuche, Unangenehmes zu lesen. In dem Fall die Autobiografie von Angela Davis, die superinteressant ist, aber halt kein Vergnügen.

agravereader's review against another edition

4.75

I wasn't expecting to care about characters more than Lucien and Steph, but I came to care about Ben and Jonah just as much if not more? Love to hate to tentative allyship to love.. oh, I loved this. Jonah's innocence despite all the "wrong" he's done and how he just wants to keep Ben safe and make him happy above anything/everything melted my heart completely.. I loved the cameos and the townspeople and just everything about this. What a delight.

a_reader_obsessed's review

4.0

4 Magpie Universe Stars!

It’s safe to say that I will and would read anything from the wonderful world of A Charm of Magpies, and this certainly didn’t disappoint. Taking place shortly after [b:Flight of Magpies|34715224|Flight of Magpies (A Charm of Magpies, #3)|K.J. Charles|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1490704733l/34715224._SY75_.jpg|40856427] ends, this focuses on the wiley criminal (but not evil) windwalker Jonah Pastern, and how he became a person of interest for justiciar Stephan and the formidable Lord Crane.

Though Jonah aided and abetted some terrible awful magical adversaries, he was basically coerced into doing so, and this goes back and forth in time showing how Jonah got blackmailed. He had good intentions and that reason was saving his lover, policeman Ben from being murdered. Jonah unknowingly betrayed Ben, causing him to lose everything, and now Ben is driven to bring Jonah to justice, quickly learning that things are not simply black and white, good and bad, innocent and guilty.

This is a story about redemption and forgiveness and starting over. This is a harsh world that barely tolerates magic, let alone MM, which makes Jonah and Ben’s journey that much more difficult.

Overall, engagingly angsty and so fulfilling. For me, Charles can basically do no wrong with her Magpie universe, and it was the proverbial icing on the cake revisiting Stephan and Crane along with faithful Merrick and fiesty Jenny. Though this broke my heart several times over, it ultimately filled me with a lot of happiness. If you don’t know about this series, I urge you to start with [b:The Magpie Lord|34715150|The Magpie Lord (A Charm of Magpies, #1)|K.J. Charles|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1490703800l/34715150._SY75_.jpg|24803707]. This is fantastic gritty historical magical swoony stuff!

coffeeintherain's review

4.0

3.5 stars

kasessoms's review

5.0

Best in the series. I almost cried! 

thegreatmanda's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

My favorite thing about this book was also my favorite thing about The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen; the betrayal and heartbreak and break-up are dealt with early in the first act, rather than the third. In this novel, there’s also less external plot than in the other KJ Charles books I’ve read. The major events from Flight of Magpies are still in play here, emotional aftermath needing to be dealt with, leaving the story open for these men to get to know one another, in many ways for the first time. Their relationship is in a very dark place at the beginning of this story, and it’s deeply rewarding to experience their journey as they find their way to mutual understanding and something like home.

Favorite Quotes:

Of course Jonah was not callous or uncaring. He never had been. Ben had made him into a monster in his mind, because it had kept him sane to do so, but this was the reality: a deeply flawed man, a thief, a coward who ran away. 

“There’s a train going west at half past nine. We'll sneak onto it and go where it takes us, and go somewhere else from there, and stop when we’ve gone as far as we can. And I promise I don’t expect you to forgive me, or anything else. But I’m so tired of not being with you. Come with me. Please?”
“We’re not good for each other,” Ben repeated, mostly to himself. He had to hold on to that, he knew, though he wasn’t sure why anymore, or what it meant.
“Perhaps not,” Jonah said. “But we’re not doing very well apart.”

“Jesus Christ, Ben, my Ben, what happened? What did they do to you? Come on, lover. With me. We’re going together.”

“But I couldn’t. That’s the point. I was too afraid to trust you, and you paid for it. Nobody’s ever cared more about me than about what I can do, and I couldn’t bear to find out if you were different. I was afraid to look.”

“Someone should have helped him,” Ben said. “You take a child, or a man down on his luck, and give him no help, just kicks, and make it so that any way he turns breaks the law, and then tell him he’s a criminal. It’s not right. That’s not how it should be.”

danceswithbugs's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.75

braincell4rent's review

5.0

Despite the fact that absolutely loved this book, I must say I got most of the Magpie Lord´s third book spoiled (my own fault, I knew where I was going; I´m actually a pro at not reading things in order). So that´s why I wanted to begin with this review warning people not to be like me and read things properly.

This story contains some of my fav things:

- A delinquent protagonist who really is not that bad as it seems
- A lot of misunderstandments that maybe (probably) could get the protagonists in jail (or worse)
- A cozy (wait, can I describe this as cozy?) travel to the countryside in order to take a holid... I mean, run away from the police.

It´s all very well thought, you see.
And if you also like to read plots fantasy plots where one of the main characters has powers, you´re in the perfect place.

babyjay's review

adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is tucked into a weird spot in the magpie world, the plot mostly is stand alone except for the parts you have to have read 3 books to understand. But at the end of it, it’s a book about two idiots in love despite how much their circumstances want to tear them apart. 
Jonah is a mess of a practitioner who’s fallen assbackwards through life and survived by the skin of his teeth. When he met Ben he thought he could bury his messiness under the guise of being a regular shmegular guy. He could not. 
Jonah’s betrayal takes everything from Ben except for his white hot rage. Unfortunately Ben isn’t a cop anymore, he’s a marked criminal with no money and nothing but the desire for revenge to fuel him. Only that fuel is short lived and when it runs out, Jonah is his only friend. 
They find their way back to each other while running from their problems only it turns out hiding in a boat hole is exactly where they’ve always wanted to be. 

rainbowobsidian's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0