Thank you Walker Books for this book in exchange for an honest review

Synopsis:

Agatha is a Hawk, brave and fierce, who protects her people by patrolling the high walls of their island home. She is proud of her job, though some in her clan whisper that it is meant to keep her out of the way because of the condition she was born with.Jaime, thoughtful and anxious, is an Angler, but he hates the sea. Worse, he’s been chosen for a duty that the clan hasn’t required for generations: to marry. The elders won’t say why they have promised him to a girl in a neighboring clan, but there are rumors of approaching danger.When disaster strikes and the clan is kidnapped, it is up to Agatha and Jaime to travel across the haunted mainland of Scotia to Norveg, with help along the way from a clan of nomadic Highland bull riders and the many animals who are drawn to Agatha’s extraordinary gift of communication. Thrilling and dark yet rich with humor and compassion, this is the first book in the Shadow Skye trilogy, written by a wonderful new voice in fantasy and introducing a welcome new kind of hero

Review:

You have to love a good middle grade read where the main character as a child, speaks like a child! I cannot stress this enough, how many 15 years olds are a calking thesaurus? Hardly any, so I never understand why children under the age of 15 are written and sound as though they are adults.

The opening scene of the book is a brutal battle that has you interesting keen to find out more and read on. But let’s face it any book that opens with a battle scene has me hook, line and sinker!

Agatha is 15 years old and sounds like a 15 year old, you never find yourself questioning her age as the story progresses and it is also relatable for the younger readers that read this book. For a character that is so young, Agatha is bold and adventurous but yet innocent. No one in her village wants her around, not even when she offers assistance or friendship. She is thought of as a black smear of the clan, one that they consistently wish would disappear. The hatred that Agatha faces, engages you to be on her side and want to keep reading to find out how she can one day be loved and appreciated.

While the side characters weren’t as interesting as Agatha, the Island of Skye was extremely interesting. I wanted to learn more about this island and how the clan figures out challenges together.

While there are other POV, I have to admit I didn’t look forward to reading them, I wanted the attention to be solely from Agatha’s point of view. Not that there was anything wrong with the other POV, they were well written and each POV was written differently and you could pick that the ages ranged from the POV of these children. And I’m not saying I hated them, I just much preferred Agatha’s story to be heard, just a person preference, that’s all.

Though there are dark aspect of this book, it isn’t one to stop your child or younger human to stop from reading this. It has a Viking feel about it with the battles and the clan mentality that would be sure to have any middle grade reader hooked from the start.

Overall this well paced and delightfully written book was well worth the read. But we all know that I am a sucker for blue books and The Good Hawk was no exeption.

Rating: 4/5

Publisher: Walker Books

ISBN: 9781406385854