The Good Hawk (Shadow Skye Series, book 1)

By Joseph Elliott

Blurb: 
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: 
This book felt like it was wrote by a really young child! I managed the first half no problem, it was quite fast paced and felt like I was making huge progress but then I don't know what happened. I just started to get sick of it and it just really got on my nerves.

So this book is based on the Isle of Skye, I'm not too sure where, the names of the countries aren't spelled correctly. Maybe it's because it is the old language or something as it is based in the past.

There are two main characters in this book Agatha and Jaime. There are clans on the Isle of Skye and they each have different tasks, Jaime is a angler and Agatha was a Hawk (a person who keeps guard from the walls to protect the island).

Agatha discovers more about her anger and how to control it and she also learns the powers of her speaking to animals throughout the book.

Jaime is the first from the clan to ever get married I think or at least it has been a very long time. They've made this agreement with another clan to marry so they can share things but it turns sour. I won't go into much detail about this as you discover more throughout the book. 

They start this whole journey on the sea to do an important task. The writing is not very descriptive at all throughout the whole of the book, so you can't really imagine what the place is like. Each task that has been done by either of the main characters feels like it is being described by a child.

When you put the writing aside and the lack of description for the scenes and battles, the story is quite unique and different but everything else just puts it down sadly. It really was not a book for myself as it almost put me in a reading slump and I've not been in one since last year, so I'm pleased it is over and I'm back at reading again. But I sadly will not be carrying on with this trilogy. 

Maybe this book will get a higher rating from a person who this book is really aimed at which is middle grade students.

Favourite Character: Jaime

Read: 02/04/20 - 09/04/20

1 star out of 5

Written by Sammie