Hawksong

Rating:
Summary: The Best Yet! Can't wait till the next one!
Review: I have read all of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' books. This is the best one I have read of hers. She takes you into a new and exciting adventure. It also has that love interest in there too which makes it even better. I can't wait till the next book. I wish they would bump up the date release because I just can't wait.

Rating:
Summary: not good
Review: It seems that Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' writing gets worse with each book. My favorite of her books is 'Demon in my View', and 'Hawksong', by far, is the worst I've seen yet. She spent little time describing anything, and when she did acually describe it, I still couldn't picture it in my mind. The storyline was bland and linear, and the ending was horrible.
I would not recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: An Encompassing Tale for Teenagers by a Teenager
Review: Amelia Atwater-Rhodes was just thirteen when she wrote her first novel, "In the Forests of The Night". Hawksong is her greatest work and first novel that strays from a plot involving vampires and witches.
"Hawksong" is the story of a two feuding kingdoms. The Cobriana kingdom is all serpent; while the Shardae kingdom is all bird. The only similarity between the peoples is that they are all human but have the ability to morph into an animal, either snake or bird.
After ages of warring with the serpents and the lost of numerous family members, Danica Shardae, heir to the bird kingdom, decides that she has had enough. The serpent heir, Zane Cobriana, has come to the same decision or so he claims.
In a desperate effort to end the bloodshed, Danica marries Zane Cobriana, a man she fears more than death. Their hasty marriage not only joins two people but two peoples, who have spent hundreds of years loatheing one another. Not all the kingdoms' peoples want the peace and are desperately attempting to destroy it and the opposing side's leader.
Separating their time between the two kingdoms, the pair pretend to be in love in one kingdom and to only be married to end the war in the other; all the while Zane tries to gain Danica's trust for some mysterious reason of his own.
This novel was mature and well written for such a young author. Her only weakness is in her limited descriptions.

Rating:
Summary: Who knew hawks and snakes worked so well together?!
Review: I picked up this book on a long trip, not expecting much more than a way to pass long hours driving---I got a serious surprise! This novel turned out to be one of the best books I've ever read...and I read a lot. The main character,Danica, the last in the royal line of the hawks, is strong in the reserved way of her people (whom she loves). It is because she loves her people that she agrees to marry Zane, heir to the throne of the hated serpents *Oh no, anything but that!*. The match ends an ancient war, but the two still struggle to resolve the differences between their people and themselves, as well as dodge a few attempts on their lives. The characters are all deliciously real and complex, jumping off the pages. Atwater-Rhodes made an alternate world appealing as anyone possibly could. I absolutely love this book!!

Rating:
Summary: Hawks and Snakes
Review: I LOVE this book! I have read several other of Atwater-Rhodes books, but this is by far WAY better than the others. It is filled with romance, a lot of details about the two main character's daily lives, and even a bit of politics, which I am not usually interested in, but it was worked into the story well. I especially love the details. It's like you are right there with them in their world.

Danica, the soon-to-be queen of the avian sahpeshifters (hawks), and Zane, soon-to-be king of his people, the deadly serpents, both agree that the war that has been raging between the two nations for hundreds of years needs to be put to a stop. But how? When a mediator for the two royal families suggest that Danica and Zane marry to create peace, both sides find this outrageous. Then, the two young shapeshifters realize that this is their only option. They realize the task will not be an easy one--to convince both peoples that the two rulers are in love, and trust each other, when in reality, Danica is scared silly of Zane and his deadly serpent eyes and passionate nature. Will Zane and Danica pull this off? Find out by buying this book and reading it--trust me, you'll want to buy it, so you can read it over and over...

Rating:
Summary: Take me in, tender woman, sighed the snake
Review: In light of the current marketing blitz of young adult authors (ala "Eragon" and "Secret of the Stones") it's useful to remember that the existence of authors barely out of childhood is not a new occurrence. Perhaps the best example of this is the highly readable and talented Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. Born in 1984 (you do the math) her first book was published when she was a mere slip of a lass of thirteen years. With "Hawksong" she's reached the wise old age of nineteen, though you'd never know it from reading the book. Atwater-Rhodes is prone to over-formal sentences, familiar if limited plots, and sometimes stock characters but "Hawksong" withstands these criticisms and remains interesting and (in its way) original reading.

It's like Romeo and Juliet. Only in this case, Romeo hates Juliet, Juliet fears Romeo, and the two are only getting together for political reasons. Danica is the last surviving heir to her people's throne. As an Avian, she and her people have the ability to transform into various winged fowl, sometimes completely and sometimes only by half. They have been at war longer than they know with the Serpiente people. Led by Zane Cobriana, these are the Avians' snake enemies. In a desperate effort to create a new peace in the land, Zane and Danica decide to wed, thereby creating a political marriage between their warring tribes. The trouble is, of course, that these two can't stand one another. Also, it's clear that a centuries-long war isn't about to end just because two optimistic kids decide to dedicate their lives to it. To make the peace survive this new pair must address dissent, learn to appreciate one another, and sniff out the assassins that keep attempting to kill them.

It's nice to read a kind of anti-love story once in a while. Atwater-Rhodes also has the wit to write a realistic enough war without making Zane/Danica's solution instant and tidy. War's a messy business, and some of the most convincing moments in the book come when Danica must face potential mutiny in her hepped-up-ready-to-fight recruits and soldiers. The love story that slowly emerges between the two heroes is slow but, sadly, a little predictable. I found myself, oddly enough, comparing it constantly to the story of Beauty and the Beast (another tale where the girl fears the man and then comes to love him). It was disappointing to say to one's self "I wonder when the moment will come when one has to nurse the other back to health" and then actually see it occur. None of this to degrade Atwater-Rhodes's work, however. Though the book, as I've said earlier, is somewhat repetitive and familiar, it's still an interesting read. The author has filled it full with little touches and interesting ideas. The Serpiente, for example, are (despite what you may think) very touch oriented and warm to one another in their society. Emotional creatures, if you will. The Avian, on the other hand, do not touch and are particularly aloof and formal. It was Atwater-Rhodes's intelligence that told her to make her heroine (and narrator) come from the cool collected side and not the warm emotional one. By extension, the book is far more interesting.

It must be particularly frustrating to all the terrible fantasy authors out there that someone like Amelia Atwater-Rhodes has accomplished, prior to the ancient age of 21, what they themselves have been unable to attain. Which is to say, she writes good fantasy. Not particularly original or deep fantasy, but fantasy with enough reality and interesting ideas that it's worth your while to read. "Hawksong" is a fun dive into an entirely different world. It won't knock your socks off but it'll give you pause and win your respect. I went into the book hoping it wouldn't make me cringe due to the writing. Not only didn't I cringe, but it won my respect. An interesting creation.


Rating:
Summary: Hawksong
Review: Hawksong is the first of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes's books I've ever read, but it won't be the last. I thought the book was amazing. The storyline was great, I couldn't put it down (I read it in two days, that's how good it is). The message the story conveys is also amazing. They're just trying to do what they think and feel is right. The characters are like real, with real flaws and strong points, and their in a realistic world. The plot was rather Romeo and Juliet, but it also has a science-fiction/fantasy sort of twist to it. I can't really tell you much, or else that would give it away but I'm deffinently going to read Snakecharm, and her other books as soon as I have time.

Rating:
Summary: I loved it!
Review: Ok. Amelia At-water Rhodes is my all-time fav. author. She is my role model.My goal is to be a teen author just like her anyway. So far i think this is her BEST book. She just got even better every time she wrote a new book. Trust me if you read her books in the order she wrote them. You'll notice the improvement. I read Hawksong four times in a row and each time I discovered something new.
It's about:
Shiftshapers: people who can transform in to animals. Sorta like anamorphs exept I never read those books. Well anyway.

Zane: can turn into a Cobra. Heir to the royal Serpiente thrown.

Danica: can turn into a golden hawk. Heir to the avian thrown.

OK these two races are complete ememies. The war has been going on for years. For so long the people forgot it's perpose. Now they fight to avenge their loved ones that got killed in the war their currently fighting in.

Well finally Zane wants to talk and fix the problem I mean come on think about it if it keeps going like this the two races can fight each other to extiction. So they end with the concusion of making the two races one...by marrying each other and interbreeding. This is a big sacrefice because they don't love each other.

So Zane and Danica have to pretend they love each other inorder to convince their people that they have overcome their differences and fell in love. But they don't even trust each other. Danica thinks that Zane will kill her. Because that is all he needs to do to solve this because she is the only avian heir left.

Danica and Zane think that the problem is solved but there are some people who are willing to betray their king or queen inorder to stop this arrangement that seems ridiculous. Their are betraying eyes everywhere.....some that may even no their little secret.

Let me ask you this though.....what happens when they do find love....with each other......

There will be unexpected deaths....and twists nd turns ...you won't expect..........

Read this book....and I garantee you will love it.....

Just to let you know there is a sequal: Snakecharm......that came out on the 28 of Sept!~!!!!!


Rating:
Summary: No vampires, but still a great book
Review: I many liked Amelia for her vampire books,(I really like books about vampires)but when I read this, it seems Amelia has moved past the vampires and has used her writing style to create an interesting story. I has a bit of a Romeo/Juliet theme to it(lots of family rivalries) but with many different twists. I recommend this book to those who enjoy Amelia's writing, but do not hold a strong interest in vampires.

Rating:
Summary: Characters? What characters?
Review: I feel that as Atwater continues writing, the worst she gets. Especially since you begin to realize that she recycles characters more often that not. This one was even more so disappointing than the previous... how many? I've lost count.

The main character Danica: Oh, I'm such a damsel in distress because I have to marry a wonderfully sexy guy and I can't tell if he's manipulating me or not.
The main character Zane: Oh... I'm sexy.
Which doesn't say much, really, since ALL of Atwater's main male characters have to be sexy.

The plot was completely soap-opera-like. I don't want to love you. I have to love you. I need to marry you. My family doesn't approve. We don't have a choice. Blah blah blaaaaah. The characters were just as they stated: "I'm a good guy, and I end up staying as the good guy." "I'm a bad guy, and, well... I end up wanting to kill you. Imagine that." They were one-dimensional, no twists, no nothing. The plot ran straight forward without stopping to wonder whether it was a good idea to or not.

But! My friend loves sap and she loved this book. If you love sap, you will love this book. =)