A review by robdawgreads
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

emotional informative slow-paced

2.0

⭐⭐ This wasn't what I was expecting but it was well written. I thought it would be an interesting nonfiction book about hawks but instead it is a memoir of a woman dealing with the death of her father, writing a book report, learning falconry, and identifying with a hawk held in captivity. The first portion and throughout the rest of the book, MacDonald dissects a book on Goshawks by T.H. White and provides a psychoanalysis of the author and the book's contents. This made the book feel like a rehashed academic paper set into the context of MacDonald's memoir. This was not my jam. I think one of the biggest issues I had with the book was that she kept on comparing her own behavior (after the death of her father experiencing depression and antisocial behavior) to the hawk and never once mentioned that the hawk is being held in captivity and is not in its natural setting. Maybe that's the point she was trying to make? If so, it did not come off like that. I love the cover but this one will not be staying on my forever shelf.