Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

21 reviews

ashenlar's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

The author's relationship with birds and rural England/nature tied together with her relationship with her dad and her emotions around his death make for a powerful memoir reflecting on grief and depression - a tough, emotional read but incredibly rewarding with beautiful, precise prose

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, and Death

mountain_adventures's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad slow-paced

2.0

This book meanders through grief,  T.H. White's life, and falconry. While I have an interest in falconry, I struggled to connect with the author. I really wanted to read more about her personal journey with Maybel over T.H. White's life and her judgement of him while glossing over her own life.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

hfleur's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and War

rcsreads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

3.5

It's part memoir, part about hawks and part a biography of T.H. White. The writing is beautifu,  and I liked how it dealt with grief. On the other hand, Hawking seems incredibly cruel to the animals and T.H. White sounds like a horrible person!

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Animal death, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Injury/Injury detail

sshabein's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

An outstandingly good memoir-mixed-with-history about hawks, yes, but also grief and loneliness. I had meant to read this for a long time, but it's probably for the best that I read it much further away from my own father's death. I could enjoy the book without it wrecking me, though there's something to be said for a book that wrecks you too.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Death of parent

r_lumbrix's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Animal death, and Death of parent

mandkips's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Mental illness, Animal cruelty, and Death

Minor: Blood

youngsk's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Mental illness, Death of parent, and Homophobia

ehmannky's review against another edition

informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

It's weird because there's so much going on in this book and I feel like it shouldn't really work as well as it does. Because it's about falconry, it's about T.H. White, it's about goshawks and creating a bond with nature that is respectful, it's about one woman's specific journey to coping with the sudden and traumatic loss of her father. And it shouldn't work, but the overarching theme of grief really just ties everything together. 

There were parts (especially some of the falconry parts) where I felt myself just sort of skimming, but then they'd be followed by moments of grief I felt were so relatable that I had to put my book down for a moment before I could continue reading. It's a lovely book, and I recommend it to others who are grieving but are put off by the overwhelmingly Christian religious grief-coping books. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, and Death of parent

amberinbookland's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Animal death