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bamboo_zled's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jkumei's review against another edition
to come back to once Ive reread TRC and reimmersed myself in that world - potentially
leafblade's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not the same as when I first read the raven cycle and Ronan is not the same he was in the raven cycle. I've always hated that by the raven king, the found family that Maggie spent four books developing just kind of drifts away? They're still texting and stuff, but old Gansey would've floored the gas pedal as soon as he found out Ronan was in trouble and he could do something to help. He didn't do that. Ronan didn't ask. We've all grown up which is very sad.
emilierw238's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
i love the authors writing style so much and these books are so so entertaining. there were some plot things here or there that were a lil confusing and or seemed unfinished but that could also be forgivable bc this is obv planned to be a series. scenes with the irish girl (forget her name) was a bit of a slog but jordan and hennessy grew on me so much they’re great
soramun's review against another edition
4.0
I was a bit indecisive about how I would rate this story because it's been a rough couple of years when it comes to reading for me. I felt it wasn't fair to rate it too low since I was in a bad place while reading it and it took a long time to finish. But, even with all that been going on, I still found this story very enjoyable. It felt a lot different from the other stories I've read from Stiefvater. It was a lot more similar to The Raven Boys, obviously, since the main character (Ronan) is from those stories, but it's not like her other book (which I adored), All the Crooked Saints.
This book had so much surrealism, and I sometimes felt like with everything going on in it, it would be such a great television series if done right. The main characters, Ronan, Declan, Hennessy and Jordan, and Farooq-Lane are all interesting characters. Stiefvater loves stories with a lot of characters and moving parts, but unfortunately, this story just didn't flow together well for me. I loved the aspect of dreams, and it was fun to see some of the characters deal with manifesting things from their dreams. But, so many things were happening that could have been removed. Though I liked Farooq-Lane, I don't think her storyline was necessary. At least not for this first story. Her partner's character seemed a lot more interesting, and I think it would have been cool to see his view of the world.
Overall, I think this first book was just, okay. It set up the rest of the series fine, but there was a lot of confusing storylines that took away from the amazing creativity involved. I had fun learning more about Ronan and his family life for sure. I look forward to reading the second story.
This book had so much surrealism, and I sometimes felt like with everything going on in it, it would be such a great television series if done right. The main characters, Ronan, Declan, Hennessy and Jordan, and Farooq-Lane are all interesting characters. Stiefvater loves stories with a lot of characters and moving parts, but unfortunately, this story just didn't flow together well for me. I loved the aspect of dreams, and it was fun to see some of the characters deal with manifesting things from their dreams. But, so many things were happening that could have been removed. Though I liked Farooq-Lane, I don't think her storyline was necessary. At least not for this first story. Her partner's character seemed a lot more interesting, and I think it would have been cool to see his view of the world.
Overall, I think this first book was just, okay. It set up the rest of the series fine, but there was a lot of confusing storylines that took away from the amazing creativity involved. I had fun learning more about Ronan and his family life for sure. I look forward to reading the second story.
hamg's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
greenleafbooks's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book. It did a good job of bringing back Ronan in a way that felt exciting and new with his struggles and pain that he has to go through with his friends being gone and Adam being away at college. I also thoroughly enjoyed the new characters that were introduced especially Hennessy and Jordan. Hennessy was particularly interesting since she struggled with making copies of herself one of them being Jordan, having the knowledge that they would all die along with her was very sad to watch her grapple with. Overall I just felt for all of the characters in the book. They're all going through various struggles and you really just want them to be okay and to succeed. Another character that was interesting was Declan. Especially how he had kept himself very reserved and lied frequently and to see his walls break down towards the end through how he meets Jordan and dealing with Matthew finding out he's a dream is interesting to watch play out and personally Declan really grew on me. A few complaints I had with this book were when Bryde was revealed at the end which I found to be a bit anti-climatic and that Adam wasn't in it very much(I know he's in college and I'm happy for him but I still missed him so much, as well as the rest of the gang). Although there were few Adam and Ronan moments in the book, they were still very well and beautifully done. In conclusion, I really enjoyed this book and am happy to be back in the Raven Cycle world.
dembury's review against another edition
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
jkneebone's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Call Down the Hawk is the first book in the sequel series to The Raven Cycle, but it is definitely it's own entity. Framed as being a story about the Lynch brothers, we get POVs from both Ronan (happier and stronger in his dreaming, but also restricted because of it to living at the Barns, not able to move to Boston with Adam) and Declan (terrified for his brothers' safety and making himself as boring as possible to hide, no matter how little he actually wants to). We are also introduced to another dreamer, Hennessy, an artist who suffers from a recurring nightmare from which she brings back copies of herself, and Jordan, the oldest of those copies, who loves Hennessy but longs for the life she could live if she didn't share a face with six other girls.
We also learn that there is a group called the Moderators who are trying to eliminated dreamers, who they call Zeds, from existence. Moderators work with Visionaries, who help them find both Zeds and other Visionaries; all of the Visionaries are convinced that a dreamer is going to bring on the end of the world. We get a POV as well from Carmen Farooq-Lane, a businesswoman-turned-Moderator with a personal investment in eliminating Zeds, even as she begins to question the Moderators methods.
I was hesitant to pick up Call Down the Hawk because, although I loved The Raven Cycle, I found it ultimately unsatisfying as a trilogy (the end of book 4 was not good imo). I didn't want to go into another Maggie Stiefvater series without knowing if the same thing would happen. But then I got into an audiobook slump, and I knew the audiobook for Call Down the Hawk would be excellent (it's the same person who did TRC, truly one of the best narrators I've experienced), so here we are.
This was a really good read. Maggie Stiefvater excels at beautiful language and compelling characters, and this book has both in spades. The prose is so unique and thoughtful, alternating between vivid descriptions and pithy dialogue, it's simply a delight to read. The characters in The Raven Cycle were my favorite part of the series, and that continues here - not just the characters we already knew, but all the new ones who get introduced as well. I love the slightly more balanced Ronan we met in this book, and I can't believe that Stiefvater got me feeling sorry for Declan - Declan! - just a few chapters into this book. I loved the dynamic between Hennessy and Jordan; Jordan might be my favorite new character of the series. Carmen Farooq-Lane's sections were a bit harder to get through, partially because she is currently a Bad Guy, but I have a feeling she isn't going to stay that way for long.
All that being said, I didn't feel there was much actual plot to this book - it mostly felt like a lot of set-up, further world-building and introduction of new characters, to carry us into book two. Despite some intense things happening, the stakes felt pretty low until the very end of the book, and it didn't feel like anything was resolved at the end, even for a temporary pause - I still have a lot of questions because so many things were introduced, and none of them were answered. So I remain slightly concerned about how the series is going to come together, but I'm not opposed to a series opener that is mostly world-building - I will definitely be reading book 2.
Call Down the Hawk reads less like YA than TRC did, for me, because even though most of the characters are still teenagers, they're acting like adults - I mean, Declan has always been a mini adult, and is technically 21(?) at this point, but Hennessy and Ronan are living on their own and doing what they want despite being 18/19 - plus there are new characters introduced, like Farooq-Lane, who are fully adults. That being said, despite some cursing (it is about Ronan Lynch after all) and violence, there's nothing to make this inappropriate for a high school audience.
We also learn that there is a group called the Moderators who are trying to eliminated dreamers, who they call Zeds, from existence. Moderators work with Visionaries, who help them find both Zeds and other Visionaries; all of the Visionaries are convinced that a dreamer is going to bring on the end of the world. We get a POV as well from Carmen Farooq-Lane, a businesswoman-turned-Moderator with a personal investment in eliminating Zeds, even as she begins to question the Moderators methods.
I was hesitant to pick up Call Down the Hawk because, although I loved The Raven Cycle, I found it ultimately unsatisfying as a trilogy (the end of book 4 was not good imo). I didn't want to go into another Maggie Stiefvater series without knowing if the same thing would happen. But then I got into an audiobook slump, and I knew the audiobook for Call Down the Hawk would be excellent (it's the same person who did TRC, truly one of the best narrators I've experienced), so here we are.
This was a really good read. Maggie Stiefvater excels at beautiful language and compelling characters, and this book has both in spades. The prose is so unique and thoughtful, alternating between vivid descriptions and pithy dialogue, it's simply a delight to read. The characters in The Raven Cycle were my favorite part of the series, and that continues here - not just the characters we already knew, but all the new ones who get introduced as well. I love the slightly more balanced Ronan we met in this book, and I can't believe that Stiefvater got me feeling sorry for Declan - Declan! - just a few chapters into this book. I loved the dynamic between Hennessy and Jordan; Jordan might be my favorite new character of the series. Carmen Farooq-Lane's sections were a bit harder to get through, partially because she is currently a Bad Guy, but I have a feeling she isn't going to stay that way for long.
All that being said, I didn't feel there was much actual plot to this book - it mostly felt like a lot of set-up, further world-building and introduction of new characters, to carry us into book two. Despite some intense things happening, the stakes felt pretty low until the very end of the book, and it didn't feel like anything was resolved at the end, even for a temporary pause - I still have a lot of questions because so many things were introduced, and none of them were answered. So I remain slightly concerned about how the series is going to come together, but I'm not opposed to a series opener that is mostly world-building - I will definitely be reading book 2.
Call Down the Hawk reads less like YA than TRC did, for me, because even though most of the characters are still teenagers, they're acting like adults - I mean, Declan has always been a mini adult, and is technically 21(?) at this point, but Hennessy and Ronan are living on their own and doing what they want despite being 18/19 - plus there are new characters introduced, like Farooq-Lane, who are fully adults. That being said, despite some cursing (it is about Ronan Lynch after all) and violence, there's nothing to make this inappropriate for a high school audience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence