Scan barcode
A review by dembury
Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater
4.0
A review in bulletpoints:
THE GOOD!
*Stiefvater's writing style remains one of my favorites - it's weirdly sharp but lyrical, and very distinct. It fits the tone of this book perfectly! Along this line, I read this book partially on audiobook and partially in print, and ended up liking the print version more. I don't think the audiobook narrator does enough justice to Stiefvater's beautiful writing!
*All the Ronan & Adam moments, ESPECIALLY the motorcycle one :3
*I thought Hennessy and her girls were a fabulous addition to the story and ended up really enjoying their POVs. The girls teaming up with the Lynch brothers at different points made for some incredibly dynamic reading and I'm looking forwards to seeing more of them!
*Matthew has leapt to the top of my Favorite Stiefvater Characters list because of this book: his story is incredibly interesting to me, and since we don't have a POV of his I'm even more intrigued to learn more about him. I have the feeling Matthew has a much bigger part to play in all this' my prediction is that he will develop some powers sometime in the second Dreamer book.
*The expansion of the Dreamers & the presence of the Fairy Market. I loved seeing the Stiefvater build the lore of this world and establish a little better idea of the difference in Dreamers, how common they are, what they can do, etc. It wasn't a lot, but what we did get coupled with the Fairy Market really helped establish the world she has built and what the magic is like.
THE MEH
*I ended up hardly caring about Faroooq-Lane. The Visionaries she dealt with were more interesting than she was, but because we have to read about them from her point, I think these portions of the book dragged. I just have like, ZERO emotion towards her. She's not even interesting enough to be boring, she's just...THERE.
*Adam lying about his dad/childhood to his friends? Someone else pointed this out to me, but Adam's lie really never comes up again, and it feels wayyyyy out of character for him. It was nice to see him developing new friends, but that's kinda marred from how he lied to them.
*The ending was a little too fast for my taste. It was super fast-paced and felt rushed, especially the literal last two pages (minor spoiler) when those characters are like, "Oop, let's blind the bad guys with some light and float away downriver! Peace out!" Like I said, it felt all too sudden and was just a tad bit of a letdown.
THE BAD (PSA this has nothing to do with the book itself and doesn't affect my enjoyment of it, I just want to add my two cents lol)
*The only "bad" thing about this book is the UGLY American cover?! If I hadn't already read The Raven Cycle and gotten invested in this world, I honestly wouldn't have even wanted to pick this book up. I don't judge a book fully by its cover - I'm just saying this one isn't appealing at all. The UK cover is wayyyyyy better, and when I buy this book it's gonna be that edition that I get. ;)
However, all in all, "Call Down the Hawk" was a thoroughly entertaining read and I'm excited to be back in this world. Maggie really has a way with words; I was unsure about if I wanted to read this right away but within the first few chapters I got pulled in and was enjoying it! It's got me well and truly excited for the second book :D
THE GOOD!
*Stiefvater's writing style remains one of my favorites - it's weirdly sharp but lyrical, and very distinct. It fits the tone of this book perfectly! Along this line, I read this book partially on audiobook and partially in print, and ended up liking the print version more. I don't think the audiobook narrator does enough justice to Stiefvater's beautiful writing!
*All the Ronan & Adam moments, ESPECIALLY the motorcycle one :3
*I thought Hennessy and her girls were a fabulous addition to the story and ended up really enjoying their POVs. The girls teaming up with the Lynch brothers at different points made for some incredibly dynamic reading and I'm looking forwards to seeing more of them!
*Matthew has leapt to the top of my Favorite Stiefvater Characters list because of this book: his story is incredibly interesting to me, and since we don't have a POV of his I'm even more intrigued to learn more about him. I have the feeling Matthew has a much bigger part to play in all this' my prediction is that he will develop some powers sometime in the second Dreamer book.
*The expansion of the Dreamers & the presence of the Fairy Market. I loved seeing the Stiefvater build the lore of this world and establish a little better idea of the difference in Dreamers, how common they are, what they can do, etc. It wasn't a lot, but what we did get coupled with the Fairy Market really helped establish the world she has built and what the magic is like.
THE MEH
*I ended up hardly caring about Faroooq-Lane. The Visionaries she dealt with were more interesting than she was, but because we have to read about them from her point, I think these portions of the book dragged. I just have like, ZERO emotion towards her. She's not even interesting enough to be boring, she's just...THERE.
*Adam lying about his dad/childhood to his friends? Someone else pointed this out to me, but Adam's lie really never comes up again, and it feels wayyyyy out of character for him. It was nice to see him developing new friends, but that's kinda marred from how he lied to them.
*The ending was a little too fast for my taste. It was super fast-paced and felt rushed, especially the literal last two pages (minor spoiler) when those characters are like, "Oop, let's blind the bad guys with some light and float away downriver! Peace out!" Like I said, it felt all too sudden and was just a tad bit of a letdown.
THE BAD (PSA this has nothing to do with the book itself and doesn't affect my enjoyment of it, I just want to add my two cents lol)
*The only "bad" thing about this book is the UGLY American cover?! If I hadn't already read The Raven Cycle and gotten invested in this world, I honestly wouldn't have even wanted to pick this book up. I don't judge a book fully by its cover - I'm just saying this one isn't appealing at all. The UK cover is wayyyyyy better, and when I buy this book it's gonna be that edition that I get. ;)
However, all in all, "Call Down the Hawk" was a thoroughly entertaining read and I'm excited to be back in this world. Maggie really has a way with words; I was unsure about if I wanted to read this right away but within the first few chapters I got pulled in and was enjoying it! It's got me well and truly excited for the second book :D