Dreamers were born to dream. Ronan Lynch inherited the dreamer quality, the ability to pull objects out of dreams, from his deceased father. Now that he's dropped out of High School and the hunt for Glendower from The Raven Cycle is over, he spends his days alone tending to what his father left behind. Until another mysterious dreamer by the name of Bryde reaches out to him in his dreams, causing him to meet Jordan Hennessy in the real world, who is yet another dreamer cursed with the same nightmare every time she dreams. Meanwhile, an organization known as the Moderators has been formed to hunt and kill dreamers (also referred to as Zeds) after discovering from the Visionaries that a dreamer will be the cause of the world's end. As Ronan embarks on a new journey with stakes higher than ever before, he must use everything he's learned about being a dreamer over the years to play a so-called game with the faceless Bryde, survive the monster haunting Jordan's dreams, and run from the Moderators hunting him down. This was of course an amazing start to the sequel series of The Raven Cycle, but it definitely had a totally different vibe to it than the first series. The overall tone and mood to this first book was much darker than Raven Cycle, which is not at all a bad thing. In fact, I loved this difference. I can't wait to keep reading the series, as I really feel the stage has been set with this one for the famous Stiefvater plot twists to start coming in. ( )

4.5! Slow to start but definitely worth it in the end ( )

I admit to some scepticism upon hearing that Maggie Stiefvater was writing a whole trilogy about Ronan, probably my least favourite Raven Boy. Still, I really enjoyed [b:The Raven Boys|17675462|The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1)|Maggie Stiefvater|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573508485l/17675462._SY75_.jpg|18970934] series and word on the street about ‘Call Down the Hawk’ was good, so I gave it a try. Lo and behold, it was great! The tone is a little different to the Raven Boys, as the characters are not teenagers anymore. Ronan is probably the main character, but he has a strong supporting cast of new and old faces, in addition to fascinating world-building details. As a lucid dreamer myself sometimes, I have a particular fondness for dreaming-based superpowers. In ‘Call Down the Hawk’, the impact of these powers on the Lynch family is explored in much more detail. Ronan, it turns out, is an even better character with his determinedly normal brother Declan as a foil. Adam is busy being at Harvard through most of the book, however the sequence of Ronan visiting him is poignant and beautifully observed. Of course Adam has reinvented himself as someone without a tragic family background. Their romance is extremely lovely and makes a nice counterpoint to the horror elements.

While I found the Raven Boys series involving and delightful, they were rather dominated by male characters. I mean, the clue is in the title. ‘Call Down the Hawk’ gives narrative point of view to several new female characters, one a dreamer and another a hunter. Both are distinctive, striking, and tangled up in the intriguing supernatural world-building. What I’d forgotten about the Raven Boys series, and indeed YA series in general, is that they will end on damn cliffhangers. I started reading the Raven Boys series when there were already three books to it, so didn’t experience too much of this frustration. Sadly, I must now wait to find out what happens next in the Dreamer trilogy. Outstanding questions include: how are Adam’s psychic powers linked to all this? Why is Niall’s dream-double still awake after Niall’s death? Is the double actually the original?? Who is Aurora’s original and what’s going on with her? Why is the Lace _targeting Henessy? What’s up with this fire apocalypse business? What's the deal with Bryde - is he part of the Lynch family? When is Farooq-Lane going to go (more) rogue? Will Matthew be OK? Are they all going to be OK? Yes, I’m invested. My initial doubt that Ronan and his dream shenanigans merited a trilogy has been fully assuaged. ( )

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 ( )

10/10 ( )