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skylerreads28's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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? No
4.0
I love the way Maggie Stiefvater writes. Listening to this book felt like coming home in such a beautiful way. Ronan Lynch is one of my favorite characters so reading a book that’s mostly from his POV was everything I could ever ask for. All three of the Lynch brothers are enigmas and everything I learn about them simultaneously makes absolute sense and absolute no sense. Long story short please read The Raven Cycle and then come read this.
blurrypetals's review against another edition
3.0
I have never been so upset to rate something a 3 before in my life, but I didn't feel like I could rate it a 4 and it definitely wasn't a 5. When I first heard this trilogy was going to be a thing, Stiefavter kept referring to it as "the Ronan series." Because of this, I expected this to continue Ronan Lynch's story as well as Opal's, Adam's, Declan's, and Matthew's.
Instead, in true spinoff fashion, only about 25%-30% of this book is dedicated to Ronan, 15% to Declan, and the rest to brand new characters who I, unfortunately, could not give less of a fuck about. I was really willing to give the new characters a chance, but after the halfway mark hit and I was not invested in anything anyone besides Ronan was up to, I knew Stiefvater had failed to make me care.
Last year, Alexandra Bracken wrote a spinoff-sequel not unlike this to her The Darkest Minds trilogy, The Darkest Legacy, where we follow a character well known to readers of the original series, Suzume, as she goes on a new journey to save and visit old characters with two brand new characters as her companions. This beautifully folds us into getting to know the new characters while also letting us get a taste of the characters we've already known and loved.
Some may disagree that Call Down the Hawk fails to do this, but unfortunately I felt a huge disconnect between our known characters and our new characters. By the time they do start to interact, it feels so low inconsequential I didn't care anymore. The whole book was such a slog and it made me sad.
The reason this isn't a total failure is because of the Ronan bits of the book, though. Those were the times when I truly felt at home, like I was reading a new book that took place after my favorite completed series. I was actually really excited when the book opened with the Lynch family trip so Ronan could go see Adam, but that whole part was over so quickly I barely got to enjoy it. The same goes for Adam's visit for Ronan's birthday: it was lovely, but it wasn't enough.
Although disappointed, I'm hopeful the next book will be better. Fingers crossed, gang.
Instead, in true spinoff fashion, only about 25%-30% of this book is dedicated to Ronan, 15% to Declan, and the rest to brand new characters who I, unfortunately, could not give less of a fuck about. I was really willing to give the new characters a chance, but after the halfway mark hit and I was not invested in anything anyone besides Ronan was up to, I knew Stiefvater had failed to make me care.
Last year, Alexandra Bracken wrote a spinoff-sequel not unlike this to her The Darkest Minds trilogy, The Darkest Legacy, where we follow a character well known to readers of the original series, Suzume, as she goes on a new journey to save and visit old characters with two brand new characters as her companions. This beautifully folds us into getting to know the new characters while also letting us get a taste of the characters we've already known and loved.
Some may disagree that Call Down the Hawk fails to do this, but unfortunately I felt a huge disconnect between our known characters and our new characters. By the time they do start to interact, it feels so low inconsequential I didn't care anymore. The whole book was such a slog and it made me sad.
The reason this isn't a total failure is because of the Ronan bits of the book, though. Those were the times when I truly felt at home, like I was reading a new book that took place after my favorite completed series. I was actually really excited when the book opened with the Lynch family trip so Ronan could go see Adam, but that whole part was over so quickly I barely got to enjoy it. The same goes for Adam's visit for Ronan's birthday: it was lovely, but it wasn't enough.
Although disappointed, I'm hopeful the next book will be better. Fingers crossed, gang.
pachec_oh_no's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
3.5
This was not what I was expecting it to be. I don't know what I was expecting. Perhaps an expansion of the magical world we only glimpsed in the Raven Cycle, which we are given. Perhaps more lore around the Lynches, which we are given. Perhaps more dreamers, which we are given.
What I definitely didn't expect, however, was a vast covert conspiracy to hunt down every dreamer across the globe and exterminate them in the name of saving the world from utter dreamed destruction. That definitely felt a little left-fieldy to me.
We know from the last book of the Raven Cycle that there's a wider world and market for the dreamers than the sleepy town of Henrietta. Greenmantle and Henry's mother are only two players in a much larger game of dream things. The Fairy Market felt like a really good expansion of it... but because Declan just has the skills and tools needed to get into that world, it felt a little too easy to find through Ronan's eyes. Then again, he's not really paying attention to what Declan is doing, so going along and just finding himself in places like that isn't wholly unbelievable.
I don't know if I like Hennessy. I do like Jordan. I don't like Declan, which sucks because he's a main character now. It took Ronan nearly 85% of the book to stop being a wet mop about his life and get back to being his bastard self. Him coaching Hennesey through her dreaming was a great callback to his interactions with Kavinsky in the Dream Thieves. I liked that.
I have no clue what's going to happen in any given scene, and that isn't necessarily a good thing. At least Stiefvater isn't one to kill characters or throw twists just for shock value. Still, I feel as I often do about sequels: the world has gotten a little too big. The story has escaped the boundaries of its beginnings, and without those boundaries to maintain the structure of the story, things are a little wonky. We've left the security of Henrietta. We no longer have the rich sense of place, and in a story where time is nebulous and circling, having Stiefvater's richly detailed town was essential to understanding the story. Henrietta was as much a character as Cabeswater. Monmouth and Fox Way were near-tangible places readers could anchor to over multiple books. It set the scene. It held us down.
Now, however, we're adrift. Ronan is going every which way, I never know where Hennesey is going, and I have no clue what the significance of Matthew's dazed walks is because I don't know the Virginian geography to know how far he was walking. We've lost an essential element to the world of the Raven Boys. And in a way, that is fitting because they are not raven boys anymore. They're graduated, they're gone. Scattered. But it also means that I am not attached to anything that's happening anymore, and that is sad.
Also the use of metaphor is becoming incredibly tiring. I remember feeling this way in BLLB and TRK also, but it's getting annoying again.
What I definitely didn't expect, however, was a vast covert conspiracy to hunt down every dreamer across the globe and exterminate them in the name of saving the world from utter dreamed destruction. That definitely felt a little left-fieldy to me.
We know from the last book of the Raven Cycle that there's a wider world and market for the dreamers than the sleepy town of Henrietta. Greenmantle and Henry's mother are only two players in a much larger game of dream things. The Fairy Market felt like a really good expansion of it... but because Declan just has the skills and tools needed to get into that world, it felt a little too easy to find through Ronan's eyes. Then again, he's not really paying attention to what Declan is doing, so going along and just finding himself in places like that isn't wholly unbelievable.
I don't know if I like Hennessy. I do like Jordan. I don't like Declan, which sucks because he's a main character now. It took Ronan nearly 85% of the book to stop being a wet mop about his life and get back to being his bastard self. Him coaching Hennesey through her dreaming was a great callback to his interactions with Kavinsky in the Dream Thieves. I liked that.
I have no clue what's going to happen in any given scene, and that isn't necessarily a good thing. At least Stiefvater isn't one to kill characters or throw twists just for shock value. Still, I feel as I often do about sequels: the world has gotten a little too big. The story has escaped the boundaries of its beginnings, and without those boundaries to maintain the structure of the story, things are a little wonky. We've left the security of Henrietta. We no longer have the rich sense of place, and in a story where time is nebulous and circling, having Stiefvater's richly detailed town was essential to understanding the story. Henrietta was as much a character as Cabeswater. Monmouth and Fox Way were near-tangible places readers could anchor to over multiple books. It set the scene. It held us down.
Now, however, we're adrift. Ronan is going every which way, I never know where Hennesey is going, and I have no clue what the significance of Matthew's dazed walks is because I don't know the Virginian geography to know how far he was walking. We've lost an essential element to the world of the Raven Boys. And in a way, that is fitting because they are not raven boys anymore. They're graduated, they're gone. Scattered. But it also means that I am not attached to anything that's happening anymore, and that is sad.
Also the use of metaphor is becoming incredibly tiring. I remember feeling this way in BLLB and TRK also, but it's getting annoying again.
nicotyne's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
imsarame's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
3.0
radiance_01's review against another edition
4.0
It's evident how much Maggie Stiefvater's writing has evolved from the original Raven Cycle books, and Call Down The Hawk provides a much more grittier, adult progression from her previous series.
It has elements of the best of her writing in it, and the increased focus on the Dreamers has worked splendidly in this book, and Ronan's evolution from flailing dreamer to teacher of Hennessy was a lovely arc, whilst Ronan was coached in turn by a Dreamer akin to a god.
There's always downsides, and unfortunately one of them is the aspect of the Moderators. In and of themselves, they are an interesting faction, but Carmen Farooq-Lane proves to be a difficult character to follow, support, for despite knowing she doesn't want to do what she believes needs to be done, and having plenty of time to turn away, she still continues on her path of Moderation. It makes her hard to like, and makes Hennessy and Ronan's POVs all the brighter.
Even still, it is a marked improvement on Raven Cycle, and leaves you yearning for more (of at least two of the three) in the next book.
It has elements of the best of her writing in it, and the increased focus on the Dreamers has worked splendidly in this book, and Ronan's evolution from flailing dreamer to teacher of Hennessy was a lovely arc, whilst Ronan was coached in turn by a Dreamer akin to a god.
There's always downsides, and unfortunately one of them is the aspect of the Moderators. In and of themselves, they are an interesting faction, but Carmen Farooq-Lane proves to be a difficult character to follow, support, for despite knowing she doesn't want to do what she believes needs to be done, and having plenty of time to turn away, she still continues on her path of Moderation. It makes her hard to like, and makes Hennessy and Ronan's POVs all the brighter.
Even still, it is a marked improvement on Raven Cycle, and leaves you yearning for more (of at least two of the three) in the next book.
lovelyliv's review against another edition
4.0
what is happening!? being the oldest sibling is hard enough but declan lynch is dealing with a lot :(
raggedyann's review against another edition
2.75
Please more adam. Please less butchering of ronan. PLEASE MORE GANSEY!
nhukeiznekem's review against another edition
5.0
truly life changing, but goddamn can’t the lynch boys ever be happy