One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow: A Novel

I'm not going to give a review of the plot since a great many people have already done that. Instead I'm going to say this:This is not a fast paced book. There's not a lot of dialogue in this book. There's not a lot of action in this book. What there is, is a story, told the way you might hear it from a seanchaí or a bard. It's flowing prose, full of descriptions that are meant to allow the the reader to imagine themselves in the time and the place and to allow him or her to feel what the characters are feeling. It's not a book you're going to zip through in a couple of days of reading. It's a book to savor, to stop to ponder a turn of phrase, or to take the time to build the setting in your minds eye.It's a spiritual story, but not a religious one. It's a story of loss, pain, hate, love, life, death, and redemption.

I thought this book would never end. It was agonizing. And such a disappointment because I loved her last book! This was a platform for her atheist views, a mockery of Christian faith. Pinned Christians as blind sheep, with confused morals.I guess some could say it was lyrical or beautiful.... But I thought it repetitive and too descript (think Hemmingway). Just a matter of personal preference on that aspect. I gave 3 stars instead of 2 only because it has more literary value than pop fiction. But I did not enjoy it much at all.

A wonderful tale about the circle of life and death and the interconnectedness of all living things told in beautiful sometimes breathtaking prose. Easily one of the best books I've read this year.

20% into this story I was thinking "5 stars". Then, very SLOWLY, things started getting very SLOW. Two pages to wash the dishes, eight pages to walk from the house to the river, four pages to decide what to cook...and so on. By the last quarter of the book I was flipping though the pages (and missing very little, plot-wise). The book consisted mainly of a character thinking to themselves, with very little spoken dialog. Try to imaging your thoughts of a single day being put in writing. I would bore MYSELF to tears! The characters, themselves, were very well defined, and the story unique and interesting. But all of this together, would not have me saying, "You have got to read this". But if you love verbosity, go for it.

I bought this book knowing that I like the author's writing. Ragged Edge of Night was one of my favorite recent reads. This is even better.All four main characters were extremely well-developed, and the author gives an almost spiritual view of the landscape through the character of Beulah. Actually, through the character of Beulah the landscape of Wyoming is a fifth main character, and one who has a lot of action in the story.I particularly enjoyed the afterword, where the author explained that this, yet again, was based on a family story. I'm glad she realizes how lucky she is that her family has such interesting stories, because most of us aren't that fortunate.Highly recommended.

Was way too wordy for me. It made the story drag on too long. Didn't like the time spent at the dead fathers grave.

About a quarter of the way through this book I just wanted to scream enough already! By that I mean enough with the long flowery descriptions. The characters were wonderful, the storyline was very good... but the way she would take a page to describe something that could’ve been done in a sentence was maddening. I understand she was trying to make it sound poetic but after a while it just got annoying. That’s why only three stars.

A delightful journey . I only meant to read for an hour but it turned into the entire evening. Memories of farmland in the Idaho potato belt , 65 years ago, were brought forth with amazing clarity.

What an unusual story. I thought i wouldn't enjoy it at all . How wrong could i be, i loved it. So different and unusual but interesting, sad, beautiful and so well written. You dont just read it, you live it. i wish there were more books like this on. Thank you olivia hawker.

This book was beautifully written, I enjoyed it very much, but for me it went on for about 100 pages too many, there were constant repeats of where the characters were and what they were doing, which after a while just seemed to be padding the book out, and I became bored at times with the over flowery descriptions, which I just skipped, which is something I hate to do, but I would read the author again, the subject matter was very original and I learned a lot of interesting facts about prairie life, should I ever want to take it up!

My first review after having read a lot of ripping yarns and some reasonably well written ones too. But this is what I have been looking for – superb writing. A book of substance. I have to focus on the American (USA) aspect in this novel as there are so many echoes of other great US writers – and this book is all the better for it. If you like Steinbeck, Conroy, McCarthy, Faulkner perhaps, then you may well enjoy Blackbird and Hawker’s prose. The character of the people, the character of the landscape and the character of the animals, flora and fauna is superbly observed. I felt I was there as a real time observer of events. It is a hard read in places yet full of the resilience of the human spirit. A novel you are likely to remember. A masterpiece.

Fabulous, evocative writing that grasps the times superbly. The plot is what let’s this down. It’s a bit drawn out. That said, I enjoyed reading the book and found parts quite mesmerising. The author is certainly talented and it makes a change to read actual literature.Two farmsteads, in a remote part of the prairies and the two families, occupying them are the focal point of the storyline.An affair between the husband/father of one family and the wife/parent of the other has catastrophic results. What follows is an in depth look at how the families cope with the ‘fall out’ and the oncoming bitter winter.I generally choose thrillers or murder mysteries but on occasion, enjoy books such as this. I would recommend the book, for the writing alone.

I very rarely pay for fiction by authors I haven’t read before but when I saw this book on the Kindle bestsellers list a few weeks ago I made an exception after reading a short excerpt. Making an exception was most definitely worth it as this novel is exceptionally well written. I find it hard to imagine that I’ll read equal or better fiction this year. Olivia Hawker’s feel for and ability with language is outstanding and I could have enjoyed reading the book for that reason alone. The author really is a true natural talent when it comes to putting words on a page, and the beauty of her prose blew me away. If she doesn’t start winning literary awards before too long, there must be something wrong with the system.However, it wasn’t just the gorgeous writing that I enjoyed, but the story itself pulled me in. It is told from the points of view of the four main characters, and Ms Hawker uses each successive chapter to build the plot as well as to show us each character’s take and attitude to the events. It is quite a slow-moving book, but I really didn’t want it to end. The subject and the way that the author handles some aspects in particular are quite unique. I can truthfully say that although I have read books which take place in similar settings, I have never read anything like this before. On top of all that, when I reached the end, I discovered that the novel is loosely based on some of the author’s ancestors which give an added twist. With beautiful writing, interesting characters, and an unusual story this book was bound to be a winner in my opinion. My only disappointment is that, so far, Olivia Hawker has only written one other book. I imagine that we’ll be seeing a lot more of her in the future though.