ksinclair04 's review for:

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

4.0

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this is a beautifully written book. while the overarching theme of the book is grief, i think this book is also about the deep, emotional and psychological bonds that can form between humans and animals - at several points throughout the book helen feels as if she's "becoming" a hawk; that the boundaries between her and mabel, civilization and wildness, are blurry. the arc of how helen copes with her father's death, and the deep sadness, self-destruction, and occasional selfishness that it brings, is honestly, painfully portrayed. the parallel with TH White, while interesting at first, got a bit old/boring after a while. also, i knew nothing about falconry before reading this book, and it is fascinating!