A review by shdnx
Hawksong by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Did not finish book.
I had high hopes for this book: there is so much potential in the world and story outlined by the summary. Instead, all I got was the typical story of "forbidden love". *yawn*

The world imagined by the author is definitely colorful, but I feel it's unreasonable (unrealistic). For example, if the leaders of both parties in the war feel that they don't want the war, then how the earth did they manage to drag it out for hundreds of years? Also, no leaders in any war ever believe their own propaganda of "hate the enemy". That would be just silly.

Or consider the opposing forces: hawk shapeshifters, who can fly, versus snake shapeshifters with superior ground combat abilities. I can't see how the hawks could not win this war. The hawks' mobility is far superior to that of the snakes, which is a very major factor in winning a war. The snakes may be superior in a one-to-one combat, but they can't be everywhere at once. That means that they are forced to only defend, which is a losing position.

I could list all the other things that just don't make sense, but there's no point. The basic idea behind the book is okay, but in no way original. The implementation is also far from outstanding - at least, as far as I can tell. I have not finished the book, but I doubt the rest would be significantly different.

Such a disappointment. I really should have known better than to get my hopes up.