Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater Review

Title: Call Down the Hawk

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Age Group: Teen/Young Adult

Genre: Fantasy

Series: The Dreamer Trilogy, book one

Star Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

                I borrowed this book from my local library and reviewed it.

                Okay, so I just finished this book last night and I’m still so emotional. This is going to sound crazy fangirly, but whatever, here we go. There aren’t enough words in the English language to describe just how much I love and have missed Maggie Stiefvater’s writing. The Raven Cycle is one of my all-time favorite series, and once I found out that one of my favorite Raven Boys, Ronan Lynch and his family, got the spotlight in Call Down the Hawk, I was so excited! I was lucky enough to receive my library’s first copy, and as soon as I was finished with Supernova, I dove in. This book is dark, weird, lyrical and surprising; I loved it so much. It might be one of my favorites of Stiefvater’s entire body of work. I loved this weird, strange book, but most of all, this book made me realize just how much I love the brothers Lynch. This is the second book of 2020 for me, and I loved every crazy, insane moment of it. One of my favorites of the year, and I can’t wait for the next two books!

                Ronan Lynch has always known that he and his family have been different. Left alone at the Barns after his boyfriend, Adam Parrish, goes to start college at Harvard, Ronan soon discovers that the world his late, also dreaming father inhabited hides dark, dangerous secrets, some of them about Ronan himself and his brothers. But when he meets another dreamer, the mysterious Hennessey, Ronan begins to realize that there is a war raging, dreams and destiny are crashing together, and unknown forces are working behind the scenes to make sure that the Dreamers stay hidden. But Ronan must decide if he will become the hero everyone wants him to be, or turn his back on his loved ones…

                I loved, loved, loved this book. The Raven Cycle is one of my die-hard, deserted island series; I wish I had it in my own collection, and reading this book felt like nothing less than coming home. It made me so emotional that there were several times where I had to put the book down to cry. I’ve missed these characters so much; it felt like I was being welcomed back into an old group of dear, loving friends. The pacing was breakneck, and I immediately felt at home with Ronan and his brothers. The prose was dark, lyrical, and per Maggie’s signature, confusing; there were times when I had to go back and reread to make sure I really understood it. But she puts her signature magic into this new trilogy, and one of my favorite parts of the novel was the way that the Lynches’ dreaming was explained. I also adored the characters, old and new, but especially Hennessey and the girls, Bryde, and the Visionaries and Zeds. I don’t want to say too much about the plot; it’s confusing, tangled, but best experienced blind; the better to keep the surprises under wraps! The bottom line: Weird, dark, surprising and funny, I loved Call Down the Hawk! I can’t wait for more from this new trilogy! Next on deck: Cursed by Frank Miller and Thomas Wheeler!