From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Raven Boys, a mesmerizing story of dreams and desires, death and destiny. The dreamers walk among us . . . and so do the dreamed. Those who dream cannot stop dreaming – they can only try to control it. Those who are dreamed cannot have their own lives – they will sleep forever if their dreamers die.And then there are those who are drawn to the … those who are drawn to the dreamers. To use them. To trap them. To kill them before their dreams destroy us all.Ronan Lynch is a dreamer. He can pull both curiosities and catastrophes out of his dreams and into his compromised reality.Jordan Hennessy is a thief. The closer she comes to the dream object she is after, the more inextricably she becomes tied to it.Carmen Farooq-Lane is a hunter. Her brother was a dreamer . . . and a killer. She has seen what dreaming can do to a person. And she has seen the damage that dreamers can do. But that is nothing compared to the destruction that is about to be unleashed. . . .
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“This is going to be a story about the Lynch brothers. There were three of them, and if you didn’t like one, try another, because the Lynch brother others found too sour or too sweet might be just to your taste.”
After impatiently anticipating this book for almost two years, I finally finished it last week and have taken the days since to try and organize my thoughts into actual coherent sentences. Reader, I was unsuccessful. I don’t even know where to start. I remember reading a tweet from Maggie a while back that talked about how different this series is from The Raven Cycle and man, she wasn’t lying. This book was a complete departure from its predecessors, but I still ended up loving it with my whole heart.
Trying to describe this story to others has been next to impossible. For a while I used the term “slow burn” for the plot, but that got confusing because everyone thought I was talking about romance. Then I tried using the word “suspense,” but that didn’t really fit either. Now I just stammer a lot and say phrases like “low key intense.” This book was way more mature than The Raven Cycle and hovered in a limbo space between young-adult and regular fiction, which I really loved. Ronan is older, his problems are older, I’m older… So it was really great seeing that reflected in the text. But as a reader, I was VERY aware that this was a book about dreamers. I mean, literally ANYTHING is possible in this universe and that created a low level of tension and anxiety that hummed deep beneath the surface of the plot. I had to read this in short bursts over a longer period of time just to give myself mental breaks.
By the time I reached the end, I was actually really sad it was over. I just wanted to wrap myself in a little *Call Down the Hawk* cocoon and never come out again.
Ronan Lynch has got to be one of my favorite fictional characters—hell, maybe my absolute favorite—and I ADORED being inside his brain like this and seeing him at the center of his own story. I can’t entirely put my finger on what it is about him that I love so much, but I feel like him and I see the world in very similar ways. And if you had told me at the end of The Raven Boys that one day I would want to lay my life on the line for Declan Lynch’s happiness, I would have LAUGHED and referred you to my therapist. Yet HERE WE ARE. As the oldest, Declan has been taking care of his two younger brothers the best he can—HE’S TRYING HIS BEST AND DESERVES THE WORLD OKAY?!? Seeing his interactions with Matthew did something mushy and gross to my heart.
And OF COURSE Maggie Stiefvater was masterful in her atmospheric prose and the way she framed this story. I spent the first half of this book in a state of carefully constructed confusion that unraveled so well as the plot progressed. All of the separate puzzle pieces only come together by the very very last page and GOD DANG IT I need the next book. It’s obvious that the story arc over the entire trilogy is going to be epic and I’m so excited to see where this crazy ride goes.
By the way, if anyone out there is concerned about reading The Raven Cycle before reading this, you don’t have to. Seriously, you don’t. I feel like a lot of authors falsely promise that these days. But I was actually shocked at how independent this book operates away from its predecessors. I think you’ll have a deeper appreciation for the story and characters if you read The Raven Cycle first, but they definitely aren’t required.
**FINAL WORD**
This book is indescribably good. If you loved The Raven Cycle, or if you haven’t and are looking for a new brand of fantasy, this book is on another level. It’s slower paced, but somehow doubly intense and I loved every friggin’ second. BOOK TWO PLEASE.
If Freaking Awesome Badassery had a nom de plume it would be Maggie Stiefvater. She has a way of leading you down the rabbit hole with a tempting trail of well placed, prickly yet succulent literary breadcrumbs. Then when she has you firmly in her grasp… enticed and ensnared…BAM… you’re bludgeoned over the head with verbal magnificence and dazzled with Lynch brothers and Apocalypse fearing Dreamer hunters and psychics and more.
There are many wonderful things here like Nuance. There are onion-like layers of intricacies within this pièce de résistance… mottled subplots within plots that’ll have you scratching your head and wondering where in the hell is this story going? There are characters that are multifaceted hues of Gray, just the way I like them. They are so deliciously complex you won’t be certain which side of them will show up to any given scenario, keeping you on your toes. There are doppelgangers, secret societies, magical markets & artifacts. Most of the time I was wondering where in God’s green Earth were we being led? I laughed. I cursed aloud “Holy Hell in a Handbasket” (PG version). I wondered how one person can imagine all the slip-n-slidey, turny twisty bits (plus freaky horror dreams), BUT there are most certainly twisty bits aplenty! Plot twists worthy of M. Knight Shyamalan’s respect.
true fact: in my house he is known, affectionately, as M. Knight Shama- lama-ding-dong. He was dubbed this by my daughter who has yet to watch any of his movies BUT after eavesdropping on the adults one night (and because she thinks everything that comes to her mind and out of her mouth is automatically gold… which, in this case it was)… she blessed us with her 2 cents … here it was born, here it stuck, and here it shall stay… but I digress.
There were other types of depth to the book as well. There was suspense, and intrigue and a plethora of confusion (in a good way). You’ll be kept guessing the entire read (on multiple fronts) and for the most part, things will begin to click but don’t expect to fully know what’s going on and where things are headed. With one question answered, 2 more pop up.
Speaking of dark brooding enigmas… you were thinking about him right? Am I right?? Do you love Ronan as much as I do? Silly question, how could you not? But just when you think you couldn’t love Ronan any more, Call Down the Hawk has come along to correct your folly. I found myself following the subtle trails of this complex plot and they led straight to my smitten heart AND do you know what I found there hermetically sealed and stuck with an impervious layer of sticky stuff (that’s definitely the technical term)? I found Ronan Lynch (and Adam of course but this book didn’t really feature him much) Gorilla Glued with glittery embellishments and bells and ribbons… Ronan would absolutely detest it YET there it was… and there he was… and there they all were (both old friends and new ones) and there they all shall live for forever and a day in a big heaping mess of veneration.
Remember that humor I spoke about earlier? Well, it was subtle and it elicited pure expressions of joy from me. It was the type of humor that crescendos from quiet appreciation —> school girl giggles —> laughing so loud even a train full of jaded NYers stop their busy, mind your own business mottoed, lives to look over at me with unbridled curiosity… hoping to find something funny enough to bring a little joy, a little mirth to brighten up their robotic 9-5 lives…. praying that the bubble of happiness I now radiate… personify… exude, will at least expand to incorporate them and at best grow to include the whole damn cynical World.
Sorry for the extreme runon. When Life happens, it often happens in long drawn out runons and I just report what I see BUT, I also digress… again.
Anyway, back to the goods…
One of the best parts of the book was that we also got to be better acquainted with the Lynch Brothers Trio and man-oh-man let me tell you just how broken, resilient, beautific, humanly flawed and how perfectly imperfect they all were. There’s a Lynch brother flavor for every type of reader and one for any bipolar mood swing you might have and one for the most eclectic of admirers. Our foray into the lives of the Lynch brothers 3 was so much better than in the Raven Cycle that I even found myself commiserating with/swooning over Declan … D-Bag… Mr. Boring… Zippy Shoes or whatever name you assign him (I vote for Zippy Shoes). Each brother believed himself to be the “fake” brother… the fuckup… the black hole, deep dark void, infinitly blackest of black sheep of the family. Who’s right? Who will be the Lynch family’s downfall? Who will survive and come out the other end still intact and emotionally unscathed? Will any? All? None? Can anyone truly claim to be able to accomplish that feat as they traverse Life in all of its fickle glory? Who knows? I have my theories although with THAT ending no one besides Mrs. Maggie can say for certain and she’s not telling… for now.
You know what IS telling? I preordered this a la Amazon Kindle (not a paid for endorsement) and after gobbling it up in record time in print… errrr digital, I still bought the Audiobook from Audible (also not a paid endorsement) as well. It was SO worth having both forms because narrating it in your own head using your own cadence, tempo and tone is a vastly different experience than listening to another person’s perspective, their inflections, their rendition of how each character, piece of dialogue and the overall essence of the book should be portrayed. It feels like you’re experiencing a whole new book that feels familiar but doesn’t convey as such.
What it all boiled down to was this, Call Down the Hawk’s accolades are 100% deserved in any format. I loved Maggie Steifvater before this gem and I’m relieved to report that she has most assuredly not disappointed this time around!! Although it’s apparent that I’m a bit biased, I admit that I’d pay to read her take on anything (even a farmer’s almanac), especially if it’s set in this World with these Characters with this gorgeously creative, poignant writing and honey sweet narration.
Now, who exactly is this Will Patton guy you might ask? I’m so glad you did! He is the same voice that gave life to the Raven Cycle series and if you know even a little bit about me you’ll know how I fawn over and covet all things Raven Cycle especially its characters. Gansey, Blue, Adam, Ronan et al are family now… no, better than that they are indelibly etched into my soul (cue dramatic music) and it’s partially due to Patton’s performances. He was born to embody these books! His voice is haunting and lilting. It can be crooning, comforting and capricious as hell. Just when you are one with the ebb and flow… WHAM… it’s now all sorts of razor sharp edges and gravel on fire.
You might be wondering if it is necessary to read The Raven Cycle series beforehand. Personally, if you started here, I feel it would keep you from picking up on some subtle nuances and semi-critical background info BUT it is not imperative. Mrs. Stiefvater gives just enough backstory to keep you from needing a rescue party. For me, I believe that having prior insight into this universe helped make things more tangible, relatable and definitely more enjoyable. So take that as you may.
And that ending… it has an ending (duh) but you know the sort… the kind that ramps up the cardiac BPM… offers the promise of answers and peace of mind but delivers emotional scars and (forgivable) disappointment. I loved it but I want, I crave, I NEED answers… STAT!!
Overall:
This was an extremely addictive timesuck (in the best possible way). With highest marks for Mrs. Stiefvater for acing the Trifecta of Awesomeness (Writing Quality + Character Development + World Building). My only gripe was with the ending. The last few pages felt more like a sheer drop off a steep cliff instead of a drawn out, suspense laden Cliffhanger. I’m not a huge fan of even the tamest of Cliffys but thankfully this one wasn’t torturous. The rest made me want to climb the tallest NYC fire escape and scream my ardent adoration at the top of my lungs (into the smoggy night) until my breath gave out, my throat dried up and the neighbors started yelling out of their windows… a la West Side Story style… for me to “Shut the hell up already”… ahhhh, now that’s the good stuff right there. If a book leaves you breathless, hoarse and recieving police citations for noise pollution and disturbing the peace, then it’s a keeper… AND this one’s undeniably a keeper… grab one asap! I can’t wait to see… hear… read what you think.
Aside:
I wholeheartedly apologize for the brain farting mental tangents. Both the hard copy and Audiobook held me completely captive the entire time so please don’t take my squirreling mind as an indication of a sloppy, wandering narrative because it’s probably just my age showing or the beginnings of insanity… oh well… both sound fatal but neither are Mrs. Stiefvater’s fault.
If you love Ronan Lynch, and wished The Raven Cycle was more like him (not just had more of him, but was more like him) then this is the right book.
In a new trilogy that ties into the Raven Cycle books, Ronan Lynch and Adam Parrish are back. So are Ronan’s brothers, Matthew and Declan. Here, we focus on the dreamers and the dreamed. Dreamers who must control their dreaming. And those items or even people they have brought back from their dreams. For a person who has been dreamed will sleep forever if their dreamer should die. There are also are those who hunt the dreamers. Their desire is to destroy all dreamers, convinced that doing so can stop the end of the world. In Call Down the Hawk, we have Ronan, a dreamer; Jordan Hennessy, who was dreamed; and Carmen Farooq-Lane, a hunter. Their paths are about to cross.
This is a magical read that creates an amazing world of dreamers, dreamed, and hunters. Be prepared for words like Zeds and Visionaries. Be prepared for beauty and fantasy and terror. The story feels familiar in many ways, as we have the Lynch family, and glimpses of Adam. We get so much more of Declan and Matthew–and this story does the amazing job of making Declan seem like a real human being. We see Ronan and Adam together (though not enough, in my opinion).
But mostly we hear from Declan, Ronan, Jordan Hennessy, Carmen, and a few others. Somehow, their entangled webs weave together and you become lost in this story. It’s a sort of breathless and beautiful one, and now I’ll just be waiting impatiently for the next book.
I loved The Raven Cycle, so I knew I was going to love this, but I could not have predicted where it was going.
This book was super interesting. I love the idea of being able to dream things into existence but I never really thought about the drawbacks. There was a lot of action going on in this book and a lot of mystery behind who Bryde is and how they are going to solve their problems. There is a lot more that still needs to be discovered since our main characters still haven’t figured out the extent of their powers and how to escape those that are trying to kill them. Can’t wait for Mister Impossible.
Yet another amazing book from a very talented author. I took my time reading it because I wanted to make sure I savored it and, as usual, didn’t want it to be over. I will say there’s a moment that on my kindle lined up with the bottom of a page just right to make things even more tense, even more desperate, and I may have burst into tears. Kudos to my kindle for making it an even more poignant moment!