REVIEW: Hawksong by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

            Danica Shardae is an avian shapeshifter, and the golden hawk’s form in which she takes to the sky is as natural to her as the human one that graces her on land. The only thing more familiar to her is war: It has raged between her people and the serpiente for so long, no one can remember how the fighting began. As heir to the avian throne, she’ll do anything in her power to stop this war—even accept Zane Cobriana, the terrifying leader of her kind’s greatest enemy, as her pair bond and make the two royal families one.

            Trust. It is all Zane asks of Danica—and all they ask of their people—but it may be more than she can give.

            Along with Tithe by Holly Black, Hawksong by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes prove to be my all-time favorite books. I don’t reread a lot of books (I find the act silly when there are so many new books that come out every day and plenty more old ones I have yet to read), but I do reread these ones and have many times.

            The thing that draws me back to Hawksong time and time again is partly the characters and partly the premise. Danica is a strong princess not afraid to get her gown a little bloodstained and her crown a little bent. She’s determined to stop the war between her people and her rival, at any cost. This is a characteristic that I absolutely admire. It’s a simple betrothal sort of tale which was really popular back in the early 2000s, but there’s so much more depth because of the premise and the characters.

            At its core, Hawksong is a love story, and getting to see the development of that pure love between the main characters is really what sets this story apart from others in the young adult world. A lot of YA books rely on love of the star-crossed destiny sort, but this book offers up something much more real with a slow burn. Danica never really sees when she falls in love with Zane and neither does the reader. Its just a natural love story set in the middle of a war-ravaged world where two nations have very little trust in the other. But they trust their leaders, and its very interesting to see two nations try to mend after being at war with each other for so long.

            This book is definitely underrated. There are so many great things in this book that really pertain to our world now. We are currently at war with another nation and that has caused much distrust, and I think this book really sheds a lot of real-world lessons that were pertinent in 2004 and still are twelve years later. So yes, it may appear to be a silly love story to some, but it is way more than that. This book will always be one of my favorites and I encourage everyone to read it.

XOXO Tia