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Questa storia ci porta a Edimburgo nel 1844, città ben diversa dalla realtà; un mix di stile steampunk, con invenzioni sorprendenti e pericolose leggende folkloristiche.
Aileana, una giovane debuttante in società conduce una doppia vita, uccidendo creature magiche assassine. Una di quelle fate uccise sua madre davanti ai suoi occhi e da quel giorno la sua vita cambiò completamente. Dopo la morte di sua madre, incontra Kiaran, un essere misterioso che la sostiene e la allena per affrontare il mondo fatato in modo che possa vendicarsi.
Con una narrazione in prima persona dal punto di vista di Aileana, The Falconer è pieno di tutto ciò che mi piace in un young adult: azione, fantasia e romanticismo, con molta tensione tra i protagonisti che matura lentamente fino a quando non esplode.
Mi sono piaciuti tutti i personaggi. Aileana è forte, coraggiosa, un po' sarcastica, nonostante le sue debolezze. Ha un amico folletto che vive nel suo armadio, Derrick che dà un tocco di umorismo nei momenti difficili. Kiaran, fa parte di una razza di fate molto potente, è misterioso e nasconde molti segreti. Aileana e Kiaran completano bene la storia, e sono certa che regaleranno belle emozioni.

«Lo sapevo fin dal giorno che ti ho tirato fuori di quel fiume.»
«Che cosa?»
«Che per me saresti sempre stata una sfida.»

L'autrice ha saputo creare una storia per niente noiosa. Ti cattura rapidamente poiché è pieno di azione e mistero in ogni capitolo, il che ti fa venire voglia di saperne di più.

2 persone l'hanno trovato utile

Folklore, romance e azione

clarylovesbooks

Recensito in Italia il 27 agosto 2018

Non capisco perchè questa serie sia così sottovalutata e non abbia più popolarità. Io stessa ne sono venuta a conoscenza solo qualche settimana fa. Ha davvero tutto quello che si può volere in un libro fantasy: bellissime ambientazioni (parliamo della Scozia dell'Ottocento), una storia coinvolgente e scorrevolissima, azione, e una bellissima storia d'amore. Kiaran è da mozzare il fiato, e ho apprezzato molto anche la protagonista Aileana: una ragazza forte e indipendente, che non tollera le restrizioni e le regole a cui sono soggette le donne del tempo. La consiglio assolutamente, e spero di continuare a leggere il resto della serie al più presto!

4 persone l'hanno trovato utile

Azione, romance e fate malefiche

B.

Recensito in Italia il 18 giugno 2018

Protagonista badass e ambientazione meravigliosa, per non parlare della copertina! Ci sono azione, romance e fate malefiche. Promette un seguito avvincente!

Una persona l'ha trovato utile

Le CE italiane dovrebbero ripubblicarla

Bart

Condizioni perfette

Recensito in Italia il 10 settembre 2021

Ottima lettura

Recensito in Italia il 19 maggio 2017

Questa serie merita di essere pubblicizzata anche in Italia, davvero non sapete cosa vi state perdendo! Aileana è fantastica, Kieran è da perdere la testa e la trama è piena di azione e romance (sviluppata benissimo)! In ogni caso, preparatevi al cliffhanger mozzafiato.

6 persone l'hanno trovato utile

Francesca A tavola coi libri

Recensione a cura del blog atavolacoilibri.com

Recensito in Italia il 22 agosto 2018

Ingredienti irreali e personaggi del mondo fatato costituiscono da sempre un patrimonio invidiabile dello spettacolo della Scozia, Elizabeth May lo fa suo e ne parla nel libro con una magistrale penna, in grado di saltare tra i due mondi e farci sognare ad occhi aperti seduti davanti ad un caminetto scoppiettante mentre fuori la finestra, la luna illumina le alte torri del castello della città.

Aileana è il ponte tra questi due mondi. Di giorno combatte l’etichetta e il buon costume come figlia di un potente aristocratico, adempiendo ai suoi doveri di giovane Lady, facendo falsi sorrisi e stando dietro a norme che la impongono ubidiente e interessata unicamente al matrimonio. Di notte però, la questione cambia e le gonne con merletti vengono sostituiti da una tenuta da combattimento. Perché Kam nasconde un grande segreto, un segreto di cui lei stessa conosce poco la natura e che promette di scombinarle ancora di più la vita. Alla sola vista delle stelle, Aileana combatte le creature fatate; le stesse che si servono dell’anima degli umani per continuare a vivere. Aiutata da Kieran, un faire irresistibile, distaccato, senza emozioni, Kam tra un affondo e maestose esplosioni, imparerà la forza del suo potere e le conseguenze che scaturiscono da esso. Scoprirà che cosa vuol dire essere una Falconer.

Come il mio amore incondizionato per la serie Outlander dimostra, sono sempre stata ammaliata dalla Scozia, ma in particolare da quell’alone di mistero che aleggia nei racconti di quelle terre. A maggior ragione, non è passata inosservata la storia della May. Quest’eroina con il corpetto, anticonvenzionale e per niente disposta a sottomettersi a retrogradi pregiudizi o abitudini. Una giovane donna che conosce le sue paure e vuole vincerle a tuti i costi, che usa la propria intelligenza e propensione per le invenzioni, come le sue miglior doti e arme di battaglia. Un cuore temerario che sembra addolcirsi in determinate occasioni: in particolare quando a guardarla sono due occhi fatati di un guerriero senza amore. Per sua natura Kieran non è incline ai sentimentalismi. Eppure in quella corazza di forti muscoli e animo severo, nasconde un ragazzo con troppi segreti e una lealtà verso una ragazza che per la prima volta, considera una sua pari e un grande nemico allo stesso tempo. Di lui conosceremo poco in questo libro, non si svela molto, tuttavia bramerete le sue scene e i battibecchi con Aileana. Una coppia che fa scintille senza saperlo, che è una goduria leggere.

Pochi ma ben definiti personaggi faranno da compagnia ai due protagonisti, ognuno con delle proprie caratteristiche ben definite, ognuno che lascia il proprio segno e che avrete voglia di rincontrare nei prossimi libri. Dalla migliore amica al mondo fatato, considerate questo libro come solo punto di partenza. Il seguito ci riserverà tante nuove sorprese.

Non inaspettato – perché di lui si leggono solo belle recensioni – ma comunque sorprendente, The falconer si dimostra già dal primo colpo di scena, l’inizio di una di quelle serie che non ha pretese nell’essere irresistibile, ma lo è comunque. E si crogiola in questa adorazione del tutto meritata.

2 persone l'hanno trovato utile

Alexiskami

Niente di speciale

Recensito in Italia il 18 agosto 2023

La copertina è molto bella, ma la storia non è niente di che. Forse poteva essere più interessante quando è uscito diversi anni fa, ma è la solita eroina con un passato tragico che non è come le altre, una specie di triangolo amoroso, un love interest morally grey. Non mi è dispiaciuto il lato steampunk, ma ho letto di meglio.

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Le recensioni migliori da altri paesi

Raye

Perfect condition

Recensito in Canada il 9 agosto 2019

New book in perfect condition... Looking forward to reading

Book hoarder

What's to say? Amazing !

Recensito in India il 8 luglio 2018

This series is my baby. And I love it.
Can I have one derrick please? That faery is tha bomb.
The characters are great. The plot amazing.
Everything. is. Great. Okay?
4 stars. Would've given it a 5 if I could get Derrick for myself.

Carina's Books

This book is amazing. I enjoyed it so much both times I read it.

Recensito negli Stati Uniti il 25 maggio 2014

Ever since I first read this book in April last year I have wanted to re-read it. Yet I would not let myself until I could read the sequel as well, which I can finally do now. Because oh my. The ending of The Falconer is the cruelest cliffhanger. Which I adore so much. I loved re-reading this book. I was nervous about it, because I feared I wouldn't love it just as much as the first time I read it. But I did. And I might have loved it more. Sigh. This book is amazing. And such a fast read too. I couldn't put it down.

I do not know what to say about it, though. My mind is going a bit blank. I'm busy remembering that evil ending, lol. But I will think of something. Like those gorgeous covers. They are stunning. This time I read the UK paperback, and I adore it. Fits so well with the plot. And oh, I must mention that I adore the author. Elizabeth is all kinds of kind and amazing and awesome. I simply cannot wait to read more books by her. She's the best. I'm so glad that I get to read The Vanishing Throne tomorrow. So excited to start.

There is so much about this book that I love. I love that it is told from the point of view of Aileana. She is fierce. And amazing. I loved how she wanted vengeance after her mom got murdered by a faery a year ago. I love how she trained to kill them, how none of her friends know about it. I love how she fights. How angry she is. Though I love that she gets more soft near the end of the book. I just loved her the most. She's brave and sweet and kind and fierce. Also, her dad is the worst. I did not like him.

I adored getting to know Aileana's few friends. Like the very lovely Catherine. I hope there is more of her in the sequel. I thought she was an awesome friend. And I want to know more about her, please. She also has a brother, Gavin. They were all great friends. Some things happen. It may seem like a love triangle will form, but it does not, not even one bit. So I'm not worried about that in the next book. Okay, a little worried, but trying not to be. I did like Gavin a lot too. He was a great friend as well.

Then there was that very cute and tiny pixie, Derrick. Whom lives in Aileana's dressing room. He was all kinds of adorable. I love his love for honey. I adore their friendship, and how he wishes to protect her. He was pretty sweet. I just, I liked reading about Aileana's life. The time the book is set in, with so much historical things, like being improper and getting ruined. It was fun to read about. I loved it lots. Though hated how some talked about her. Hmph. Not okay. Mostly I just love this book a lot. So good.

<i>I close my eyes and - just this once, in my ill state - I allow myself to briefly take comfort in his touch, the way his fingertips linger along my spine. I begin to understand why people seek intimacy, why they long for it. Why it compels them to forget every awful, destructive memory they've ever had.</i>

There is this other boy. Kiaran. And I adore reading about him. He is a faery. And more than two thousand years old. Ack. Yet he is the cutest. And I ship him and Aileana the most. Though he has a lot of secrets. And he's not good at sharing them. And he can be a bit mean sometimes, yet also charming. I adored him the most. And I loved their friendship. And seeing her fall for him. It was so cute. They have been fighting together for a year. And I loved that. They fit together so well. Sigh. I love it lots.

The Falconer is all kinds of exciting. And I'm not sure how else to describe it. There is a lot of killing of faeries. And I loved it a lot. It was thrilling to read about. I loved getting to know Aileana so much. She's the best. And I loved her relationship with everyone around her. Except with her dad. Hmph. I'm worried how that will work out in the sequel. I hope he will be better. Fingers crossed for that. I loved how this book is in the past, yet not the past as I know it. I just adored the steampunk of it. It was so well done.

There is so much about this book. And I could probably write a lot more about it. But I will not. I just wish to say that I adored it so much. And I'm so glad that I re-read it. Because The Falconer is amazing. Such a stunning book. Small romance, yet so perfect. There are faeries. They are awesome and brutal. I loved reading every moment of this book. And I simply cannot wait to read more about these characters. Yet I'm worried. Eeek. But the most excited too. Have you read this precious book yet? If not, you must.

---

I first read this book on April 25th 2014. See my review here: http://carinabooks.blogspot.no/2014/04/review-falconer-by-elizabeth-may.html
I read this book for the second time on December 7th 2015. See my book recommendation here: http://carinabooks.blogspot.no/2015/12/book-recommendation-falconer-by.html

3 persone l'hanno trovato utile

Yulivee

Great, but the end ... can't wait for the next book!

Recensito in Germania il 8 maggio 2015

I simply loved this book.

The story is thrilling, the world is fascinating, but the best part are the characters. Each of them has its role, its development, its challenges, its features that the reader loves and also hates. Nobody is good, nobody is bad. Everybody suffers from something, has to struggle with its past or its decisions. They are so authentic I could truely feel with them.

Furthermore, I liked the discussions and the sarcasm that leaven the story from time to time and make me laugh. Sometimes the fightings could be shorter but this is a matter of taste.

The end is sudden, hence I am so excited, I want to read book 2, now!

Thank you, Elizabeth May, for the great book, but please, don't let us wait so long for the next one!

Leontiy

A stunning debut with massive scope

Recensito nel Regno Unito il 6 novembre 2013

Review originally posted at Jet Black Ink:

The Falconer, by Elizabeth May, is probably my second or third favourite book of the whole year. It's difficult enough to force my whirling fanboying thoughts into one cohesive vein in order to review the book, rather than talking myself in circles about just how perfect this book was. Yep, I said perfect. Some people don't like to throw it around so casually, but I'm not one of them. As much as I am easily pleased by fantasy, I have very specific tastes that I tend to stick with most of the time, explaining why I don't often happen across a book I don't like much. But this, this is perfect.

Lady Aileana Kameron is the heir to her family's name and fortune and much is expected of her. She is willing to give it, after all, she is quite content to attend assemblies and wear pretty dresses. That is until her mother is murdered by a faery her life changes.

Caught up in a vicious rage, Aileana is determined to exact revenge upon the creatures who haunt and hunt Scotland. She is skilled and deadly and beautiful and intelligent--she is precisely the kind of heroine we need. She also has her softer sides and is not dismissive of men, their help, or friendship. She is a realistic young woman and a pure pleasure to accompany on her journey of vengeance and self-discovery.16046550

Prior to reading The Falconer, I noticed May Tweeting about her character's PTSD. This piqued my interest and I wanted nothing more than to jump in and enjoy. The way Aileana's PTSD manifests and rules her is a perfect demonstration of a writer doing their research: nothing about Aileana's trauma is staged or ill-executed. In fact, it gave her a layer of personality that was both exiting and touching to read. Exciting, because it adds both an inner and outer conflict that does, at times, rule the story, guiding her actions through rage and frustration; touching, because the vulnerability it reveals within Aileana is deep and real. What she witnessed was horrific and through her flashbacks and memories, we experience it, too. The writing is exceptional.

What I liked best about The Falconer was how the romance was threaded into the main plot. Affection is built through tension and the varying encounters between Kiaran and Aileana. He is fae and she should hate him, mistrust him to the core, and certainly not ally with him. Yet... she does not hate him, trusts him in her own way, and allies with him every night when they hunt together. May does an excellent job of showing the different kinds of mythic faery and revealing the exciting parts of Scottish folklore. I was fairly clued up about the faeries encountered, through extensive research on Irish folklore and faeries, and many kinds of fae cross over. I loved that. Everything felt authentic. The fae are monsters; they are beautiful and cold; they are small and impish. Many depictions of the fae swing either one way or the other: monsters that go bump in the night, or alluring elf-like (Tolkien's elves, not wee pixies) creatures who are beautiful and perfect. May shows both sides of the fae and this creates layer upon layer of story and plot and an insight into the setting and world. Reading about Scotland instead of one of the many overused settings for historical urban fantasy was ideal. I adore the wealth of Gaelic mythology--Scottish or Irish, it doesn't matter.

The setting is certainly an alternative vision of Scotland for the time, with various inventions and electricity of a basic sort. People have, as people are wont to do with anything historical with machines etc, dubbed it steampunk. I actually hate the term. If there is no steam it not steampunk. This feels more like clockwork-punk, or gear-punk, or brass/copper-punk (except how on earth Lady Aileana could be classed as `punk' is beyond me. The original term of cyberpunk, which gave the "punk" suffix to settings, referred to a sense of `low life, hi-tech'. So to randomly attach `punk' to an idea is pointless.), even though that setting still doesn't quite hit it. May's reimagined Scotland is rich with vision and scope and Aileana's contributions of inventions and science should not automatically afford the `punk' suffix. I'm waffling (bee in bonnet over the `steampunk' thing); I'll stop. Regardless of term, May invites you to a richly alternative version of Scotland that is vibrant, dark and filled with the proper society of its time versus the chaos the faeries secretly wreak. The balance is perfect between Aileana's life as a noble lady and her night time escapades hunting her mother's murderer--and whichever faery gets in her way in the meantime.

I couldn't put this book down. Not only is the cover gorgeous, but the writing is sharp and beautiful and full of emotion that grabs and sucks you into Aileana's world. I have no complaints, no niggles, nothing. I cannot find a single fault. No, really.

There is something about this book that sets it apart from other YA novels with a strong female lead. Most YA seems to feature a female protagonist (I can count on one hand the books I've read with a teenage boy instead of a teenage girl) so it takes something special for a protagonist to really stand out for me. Aileana is on a pedestal. The fact that May does not take away her protagonist's need to blend into society and to act the lady when on ceremony makes for a realistic presentation of a young girl with a conflicted heart. She does not throw off her pretty dresses and rush headlong into a new life of swords and faerie-hunting. She does not try to become strong by becoming more "male", like many characters in her place often do. Aileana remains who and what she is, true to herself. From a feminist perspective (yep, boys can be feminists, too *waves flag*) Aileana is so right a character it hurts.

The Falconer was exciting and moreish and, and, and--

Perfect. It ended so suddenly, with so fabulous a cliffhanger that I wanted to take a plane to Scotland (it's quicker than the car) and hammer on May's door until she surrendered at least the first chapter of the manuscript for the sequel. Not in a creepy, stalker kind of way, though... More in a `this was practically my favourite book of the year' kind of way.

It has actually been difficult to write a good review for this book, because so many of my thoughts when compiling an opinion generally become a garble of fanboying uselessness. I want more books like this; I want more Elizabeth May. She's smart and funny and writes like an angel--bit of a writer-crush here? Yep, I think so.

Una persona l'ha trovato utile