Book Review: Hawthorn
Book: Hawthorn
Author: Carol Goodman
Genre: Young Adult/Fiction/Fantasy/Romance
Summary: All Avaline Hall wants is to enjoy her senior year at Blythewood Academy, the boarding school where she's been trained to defend humankind from forces of dark magic. But when Ava is shown a glimpse into the future in the enchanted Blythe Wood, she discovers that the evil Judicus van Drood is rallying nations into a war that seems destined to destroy both the human and faerie worlds. Only Ava and her allies have a chance at stopping van Drood, but how many must die in the process? And how can Ava and the boy she loves be together when everything around them is falling apart? -Viking, 2015.
Did I say I was tired of finishing Young Adult trilogies? I lied. I have one more to write about.
Picking up from the last book, Ava is beginning her senior year. After she gets lost inside a special artifact in the Blythe Wood, she and Helen get a glimpse of the frightening future van Drood has in store for them. Determined to prevent it from coming to pass, Ava and her friends set out to keep van Drood from achieving his goals.
The plot was actually a great way to wrap everything up. Goodman combines the genres of fantasy and historical fiction in order to create a finale that grips you until the end. Since the story is taking place in the early 20th century, she weaves actual historical events in with her fictional ones.
She doesn't drag anything out. She lays down the stakes and gets Ava and her friends on the case immediately. It's a very satisfying series of events and it got scary and tense at times too. Ava and Helen are really admirable, but Helen shines especially brightly in this last story. She's come a long way since the first book.
Goodman even managed to get me to sympathize with the villain for a few pages. van Drood is clearly ruthless and unworthy of forgiveness, but that doesn't mean you can't pity him either.
For romance fans, there's plenty of that as well. Ava and Raven are as loving as ever and Helen has her share of beaus too.
The only thing I wasn't a huge fan of was the ending. It was left a little too ambiguous for my taste, but it was satisfying in every other respect, so I can live with it.
I give Hawthorn an A.
~*~
Please support the author by buying the book or by borrowing it from a friend or your local library.
Thanks for reading!
