Hawthorn

Blythewood #3

by Carol Goodman

A world on the brink of war.

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?

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Magic, Paranormal, Romance

416 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2015

About the author

Carol Goodman is the author of The Lake of Dead Languages, The Seduction of Water, which won the Hammett Prize, The Widow's House, which won the Mary Higgins Clark Award and The Night Visitors, which won the Mary Higgins Clark Award. She is also the co-author, with her husband Lee Slonimsky, of the Watchtower fantasy trilogy. Her work has appeared in such journals as The Greensboro Review, Literal Latte, The Midwest Quarterly, and Other Voices. After graduation from Vassar College, where she majored in Latin, she taught Latin for several years in Austin, Texas. She then received an M.F.A. in fiction from the New School University. Goodman currently teaches literature and writing at The New School and SUNY New Paltz and lives with her family in the Hudson Valley.

Reviews

[Maluhia · Rating 1 out of 5]

God this was a struggle. I really loved Blythewood, and after the lukewarm experience that was Ravencliffe, I had hoped that Hawthorn would be the redemption novel and a perfect conclusion. Nope, nope, and more nope. The writing was just awful, characters were muddled and the plot? What happened to the plot? Copious time travel which does nothing for interest or excitement, stupid relationships and enough love triangles to form a terribly complicated flow chart, Raven<-Ava<->Nathan<->Helen<->Marlin->nameless girl lost in the woods and Bellows<->Daisy<->Appleby. Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?!? These characters can't commit to anything! boring tiresome villian, so many dumb decisions, Icing on the cake was Nathan betrays Ava to save Helen? Yeah that worked out real well, hero-boy! and throwing out thinly veiled details from Harry Potter? "The hope-eaters are a particular kind of shadow that sucks every bit of hope out of the person it attaches to." Me, yelling at book: "YOU MEAN DEMENTORS?!" I cannot believe I made it to page 250 because reading this book has been like an exercise in migraine dissection. I can't do it anymore. This 'verse had so much potential going for it. Maybe a better editor might have saved this story by weaving all those stray threads into something cohesive. :(

[Aubry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm quite confused with the ending.

WARNING!! [Spoilers ahead!]

















Will Raven be going to fairie with his parents?

Or is he going to bid his farewells since he's not going OR are they all going home for the night because they're all staying?


But then, Ava's father did mention that she made the right decision by choosing love.

So I guess that means Ava's going wherever he goes.

And since the story ended with Ava and her friends talking about creating their own magic in the human world, I guess that means AVA & RAVEN ARE STAYING TOGETHER!!

So I guess that's it! (Gosh, I'm too daft sometimes).

Well, in case I was wrong, I'll just assume that Raven stayed back, that way I won't feel too dejected if Raven did decide to go off into fairie and Ava decides to stay behind (although that's unlikely to happen) since Ava did say that she'll go wherever he goes.


So I guess all my worrying was all for nothing! jeez

[Kristiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oke, ending buku ini tidak seperti yang kuharapkan. Tapi ceritanya tetap bagus. Dan aku lebih suka cerita buku terakhir ini dibanding dua pendahulunya.

[Laura]

The first book was excellent, and the second was a bit melodramatic. I remember enjoying the magical feel of the series and high stakes, heart-pounding action, and appreciated the lack of triangles. But I barely made it 20% in (plus skimming the remainder and reading the end) when I noticed that the only thing Ava was interested in was the love lives of everyone around her. My interest waned. Maybe that was important to other readers, but not for me. Goodman's writing is still lush and beautiful - I think I'll read her adult books instead.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series was really good! I especially liked the way the author blended real historical events with the happenings in the books. I thought that was really interesting and creative. I was happy with how the trilogy ended as well. I thought it was done really well. I definitely would recommend this trilogy!

[~*Ellie*~ (Taylor's Version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this sequel. It was an amazing conclusion that had me hooked all the way through. The only bit I didn’t love was a very passionate kiss but other than that😍

[Punkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't thrilled with the ending. I liked some of the magic. Always team raven. I'm left feeling kind of blah. Politics and war are never my thing.

[meghann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate it when this happens. I LURVED the first book in this series. The second was different, but still good. This one... just... no. And I paid for the hardcover of this instead of waiting for paperback. Le sigh.



Everything about this one just seemed to rub me the wrong way. Ava gets a glimpse of the future and the world has been destroyed and most of her friends and family have died horrible deaths. She gets the chance to go back and stop this. Yay. So she has a few weeks to figure out how to save the world, but what is her first thought? LURRRRRVE. She's worried she hurt hot guy's feelings and if she ruined their relationship. THE WORLD IS GOING TO END IF YOU DON'T STOP A SPECIFIC EVENT FROM HAPPENING IN A FEW WEEKS. There ain't no time for this shit! Here's a bit of my review of book two:

"One of the things I liked about this series was the lack of a lurve triangle."

There are like five fucking love triangles/squares/dodecahedrons in this book. I just can't.



Ava used to be this kick-ass character, but she spends her time in this book worried about lurve and which guys her friends lurve and how the rejected guys will feel. The second to last chapter of the book just lists how and when most of the characters die, which makes me wonder what the point of everything was. Then the last chapter came out of nowhere and didn't even make sense. I legit don't really know what happened to the remaining characters.



I love this author, and I will continue to read her books. She's written one of my favorite books, so my expectations are up there. This one was just a mess for me, especially with how much I enjoyed the other books in this series.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

what can I say... Book 3 was awesome...
Ava and her friend Helen go into the Blythe Wood near Faerie by request of Gillie to check some things out... they end up getting chased and fall down a hole... which leads them to one of the broken vessels... they meat one of the guardians that has been guarding the vessel... when they get out of the hole they found that they were down there too long because when they get out they find there school in ruins. Reason being the hole was next to Faerie and time is a bit different there...
Helen and Ava meet up with Gillie and Marlon and eventually find there way back to there time with a special watch made by Raven.. Raven held the door open to Faerie for Helen and Ava to return back to his time... and in the turn of events it all ready 9 months later and school is out.... this harmed Raven because it was like he made time stand still for himself for the one he loved... Ava....
Ava and Helen tell everybody of Blythewood of what they saw and they have to stop Jude van Drood from his evil plot to destroy all of man kind... there is a big war but Ava and all of her human friends and the Darklings along with the faerie work together to defeat van Drood ... many men fell in the war after Ava defeated van Drood... the war went on for 2.5 years after van Drood was defeated....
Yea for Ava.. she is the Phoenix who saved the day...
all in all...
I loved how the story ends...

[Letta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hawthorn by Carol Goodman was a total letdown after I read the previous two books. In my opinion, this is a 2.5 star rated book. The first book was solid and a well thought through story, which, of course, needed to have a sequel. When I read the second book, I knew it was my favorite. I usually hate second books in series, but Ravencliffe was an exception. It was also well thought through, but it had twists and interesting plot lines added to it, which really intrigued me. I was looking forward to reading this book, and of course, I had high expectations from it, but then I read it and was really disappointed. One of the main emotions that was conjured throughout this book is confusion. I read through this book 2-3 times and still didn't understand what was really happening, and how it ended. I attempted to put this book down multiple times, but couldn't because I was so attached to the characters. When I got to the end, I was most confused and upset by it. I wasn't sure how it ended.

SPOILERS

Did the main character leave Earth, or did she stay and protect it? Did the love interest leave and go to a different world with his family? What truly happened to the bad guy?
These were all questions I kept on pondering after I read this serious letdown of a book. I would not really recommend this book to anyone, but if there is someone who is wondering about how this series ends, then be my guest.

[Ami · Rating 2 out of 5]

Everything in this book felt overly hasty: the plot, the climax, the conclusion, the romance. It was all hurriedly done with little preplanning or organizing beforehand. Loose ends were conveniently tied up, dastardly villains were surprisingly easy to vanquish, and jilted lovers quickly found solace in the arms of former (yet never mentioned previously) sweethearts.
And speaking of jilted lovers- holy love triangles Batman! I have never personally known one person who was involved in a love triangle and yet every. single. character. in this novel has two (or more) love interests hovering nearby. Ava, Nathan, Helen, Marlin, Mr. Bellows, Daisy, Miss Sharp... oy with the poodles already Ms. Goodman, make it stop!
Frankly the entire novel was a vast disappointment. The premise and original idea was so intriguing and then the finale was just a bungled mess of cliches, exploited historical scenes, and disillusionment.
Blah. I wanted this book to be much better than it was and now I'm left with book regret.

[Jessica Medved · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished this today - I was not in love but I also did not hate it - hence the 3 stars.
I felt like there was a HUGE gap between the last book and the current book. I felt like I missed a whole year of the girl's lives and was so lost questioning if I had read the last book because they skipped from sophomore to senior year? Or maybe I just don't understand the year structure at Blythewood.

I did like the main event in this book but I felt like we could have gotten to it quicker - the beginning half of this DRAGGED on! I struggled to read the beginning because it was so slow! But pretty much half way through the book it picked up and got more exciting - but the beginning half could have been way pared down.

I was not a huge fan of the end - it was just SO RUSHED.
But again - I did not hate it.

[Amethyst · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was pretty much as good as the others. I still think Ravencliffe surpassed it by a lot, but the storyline and the Carol Goodman writing style that I love is still there. I was kind of disappointed at the end, though, because I know that Ava and Raven had a future together, because she said so, but then WTF?! They just ended it talking about Helen, Ava, and Daisy, no Raven really mentioned. I still really loved it though, you should definitely read it if you loved the other two books :)

[Rebecca Ferber · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first two books, but wasn't as into this one. The historical fiction backdrop of the first book was the Triangle fire, while the second book incorporated Coney Island. I found both of those scenes to be interesting, while still giving the characters plenty of room to live and grow. This book launched into WWI and I just thought it was too much for the author to handle effectively. She spent a lot of time explaining why key events in WWI happened as a result of her character's actions and I just couldn't suspend my disbelief long enough to get into it.

[Jeff Raymond]

I gave up on this one about a quarter of the way in. I loved the first book, didn't care as much for the second, and the third basically makes the second unimportant with an early plot point, and doesn't seem to recover. While I've been hard on poor follow-ups in different YA trilogies in the past, the nosedive in quality that this series took, especially given its starting point, is nothing short of baffling to me on a whole.

Hugely disappointed.

[B.B.]

December 1st is so far away!!!!

[Dyani Garcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a whole, I loved this trilogy. How did I miss this when it was printing?! Anywho, the first two books, I absolutely loved! The historical aspects of it - really scratched my history nerd brain. For me, personally, it allowed me to really delve into the stories. With that being said, I want to review this last book.

This book was a bit slow in certain parts, but I paid no mind. Life in itself can feel that way at times. Overall, it was goods there were some parts that made me literally eye roll. One of them was toward the middle/end. Where Ava couldn’t comprehend a giant could exist?! Seriously?! You think it’s just a story!! After everything you’ve experienced these last previous books. You’re half fae for Pete’s sake! You have literal wings, but a giant? That’s where you draw the line?!! And that wasn’t only time. There was a few more times like this. I believe when Manon was tell her the story about the castle. Like, girl. You see tenebre, but you can’t believe this story?! lol, definitely triggered me 😂 how could someone have such a narrow mind view of the world and possible other creatures on this planet when you literally have a bird for a father. Make it make sense!

Also, the love square thing with Marlin, Helen, Nathan, and Louisa… I mean, talk about messy! Most love triangles alone are. But also adding in Ava. I feel like Nathan just couldn’t get over Ava. Very weird.

The Ending!!!!! Oh my God! Personally, for me, this is why the book only got 3 stars. The ending felt very rushed. Especially with all the time jumping. Thankfully, I’m used to time stuff, so I was able to follow along. Bummed that Rupert didn’t get his happy ending with Daisy. I mean, honestly out of the 3 girls. Daisy’s love portion always felt abstract and not very appealing. To me, she should have ended up with Rupert. It seemed like she really didn’t even like Appleby. Especially when you consider all the flirting she was doing with Rupert while was technically engaged! But what really disappointed me, was Ava and Raven’s ending. All of that building and yearning from book one. To see it fizzle like that. Like a candle burning then dropped in water. I mean, they never get married?! Are you serious, and after all of that. Raven didn’t have the balls to ask her again. He could go through all that war, keep the faerie door open for her. But can’t ask her a question. One that he rushingly asked her the book prior?! She told him when they talked about it that she’d say yes if he asked again. They even lived in Paris for GOODNESS sake’s! And she’s just cool with being unmarried the entire time. I’m sorry, but let’s be realistic. The book ends in 1920. Absolutely no way that was that socially acceptable- any where, Paris or the States. He just walks away with his parents not even Ava. I mean what the actual heck! And the girls and it like that?!! Listen, I put a lot of effort reading these 3 books and it just ends like that!!!!! I don’t like open endings. It’s so vague, and just upsets everyone. I know you can’t make everyone happy. But that! Absolutely not! So many reviews mention the lackluster ending.
But it really just doesn’t seem to express the utter disappointment after reading all of those pages. It just left me so bewildered, so much effort went into these books. And you just end it with the loosest bow ever.

Genuinely, like thats it?!! If it wasn’t almost 4 am and I didn’t read it on my kindle. I’d throw my book so hard and fast! Like ugh!!!





Imagine me ending it like that?! Yeah, wild right?! Absolutely not, no thank you! Just stick with your head canon for the ending like me and you’ll be good.

[Joy Jenkins · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a terrible book! Yes, some might see it as fun and full of twists and turns but when it comes down to it, it still was completely terrible.

Let me explain.
Though the first one was decent, the second fairly good, this one decided to jump off the tracks and make no sense.

Through the book the author just threw in solutions to problems with magic without ever explaining or without any set up for those magical principles to ever be part of the world!!

Seriously here’s a list of things that weren’t set up or explained:
The veil of shadows
The blue paint
The fact that metal brings out the shadows
Helen traveling into Van Drood’s dreams
Nathan having shadows or not
The girl who can weave a magic veil
What the eff the magic veil does
Ava and Nathan traveling through Helen’s dreams just by holding her hand
Raven not proposing again but Ava just fine with that (IN HER TIME SHE WOULD NOT BE COOL WITH THAT)
What happened to the giant
Why Van Drood’s shadows can suddenly work on dead soldiers
The fact that Van Drood can control the weather all of a sudden
Spring Jack and where he even came from
Ava having visions of the future
Ava’s wings able to burst into flames
Why when Van Drood was gone in Paris Ava didn’t just take Helen away
What the frick a ‘pair-bond’ is and whether Ava and Raven have it! (It’s never mentioned after that one time)
How the Hawthorn boys managed get an army to the castle

Those are just the ones I remember off the top of my head. I just have one thing to say to all that WHERE WAS THIS AUTHOR’S EDITOR!! HOW DID NO ONE SEE THESE MASSIVE PLOT HOLES?!?

Seriously, it was completed ridiculous and I only managed to get through it cause I was super bored and lacking for LITERALLY anything better to read!

[Mickala · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading Blythwood and Ravencliff I have night hopes for this book. Sadly it did not compare to its amazing predecessors. I’m not quite sure what happened to this book, but it didn’t even feel like it was apart of the same series. The plot (or lack there of) took a turn that I did not expect or care for. I was excited to see where the story was going after the end of Ravencliff, sadly all we got was an all over the place mess. The plot was all over the place and at page 30 I was quickly losing hope that this book would be the conclusion I wanted.
The characters all completely changed for the worst. Nothing the characters did or said matched the characters from the previous books that I grew to love. And everyone was apart of a love triangle. It’s bad enough when a book has one love triangle for the main characters, but to have one for every character in the book was just too much for me.
Then we have the ending, if you can call it that. It felt so rushed and left me confused. We aren’t sure what actually happened to our characters. It’s never stated what choice each character made in the end, where did they choose to live? I mean I don’t mind an open ended ending, but it feels like I missed something. I reread the last few pages several times looking for the answers I missed, because it reads as if we should know what they decided.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5 stars) This is the third book in the series. Ava has returned for her senior year, and is contemplating what she wants to do next with her life. While out on patrol, she and Helen encounter a guardian of one of the vessels used to store the shadows and evil. They must find the one vessel that remains unbroken to protect it from Van Drood. But when they return to their world, much time has passed, and the world has been devastated by the Great War, but one that has been supported by the shadows to utter destruction and hopelessness. They are offered a key back through a gift from Raven, held for them for many years by Ghillie. As they return, the hunt is on to try to find the remaining two vessels and to try to stop the war. But Van Drood has been planning for a long time and catches Ava and Helen in a trap for which there seems no escape. It will take all of their skills and inspiration to try to find a way to stop Van Drood but it will require great danger and sacrifice.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read this series two times already but it has been a couple of years so I decided to read the series for the third time. A major reason for rereading this series is because I enjoyed the romance and the plot of the story, but I do have to say that I am not really satisfied with the ending of the book. ***Spoiler Alert*** The ending was very sad and confusing. At first, it seems like Raven and Avaline will be staying together, but like 5 pages later they are not. The whole series overall was a bit confusing after starting the second book. There were terms that were not defined and there were major time skips in the story. However overall the series was good. To make myself feel better I will pretend that Raven and Avaline will unite after Avaline passes away in the human world and is carried into Faerie where they both are young-looking and live happily ever after.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so excited to finally finish this series since I LOVED Blythewood so much. That first book was really great, and the second was alright. This one though....yeah. It missed the mark and it missed it by a mile. The strange time-jumps just never seemed to fit, and trying to work in a lot of history was sort of silly at times. While the first book, and even the second, did alright with historical facts and settings this one just didn't.

For an ending it wasn't very satisfactory. Especially the literal very end. They mention Raven going on with his parents....but where did he go!? Did he stay? Did he go to faerie? Sort of confusing and a whole lot bizarre. I don't know, I like Carol Goodman but this was not great.

[Abbey Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok, so I only liked this one. I loved the first, the second was good but not quite as good, and this one.... just okay. It felt like she tried to put way too much into a single book, and lots of things felt very deus-ex-machina-ish. There wasn't as much character development, just action action action and so fast that we didn't have time to savor any of it. It felt like she tried to fit at least 2 books into this one. Plus, so little of it was actually at Blythewood! One of the things I loved about the first two was the school itself, and this one gives us like a single chapter of lah-dee-dah it's our last year and then BAM everything is gone. This one was just a bit of a mess, not gonna lie. A disappointing end, with so much left un-explained. harrumph!

[Carissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is disappointed to say that finishing left me feeling unsatisfied with the ending, especially after investing in the series and the many unanswered questions. I suppose it wasn't bad, but it wasn't what I would have wanted. Still, I read it to the end so for that it will get an average rating.

And I will add, the most disappointed part, is that the solutions to many of her problems kept being pointed out to Ava, and she never grabbed on to them. Luck got her what she wanted, and that is also incredibly disappointing.

[Melissa Veracruz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, if only I could like the ending at all. What was so amazing and worthwhile in the first two books felt nearly extinguished in the last. All that work, all that build up, and what I get is a goodbye scene in the end. I’m basically certain the guy gets the girl, but I mean, it’s a hair on the vague side... And with him being all angsty about staying, you gotta hope for Ava’s happiness. Anyway, too much to say without being the spoilingest spoiler. Not happy with the ending the way it was left. Wah.

[Jaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

The conclusion to a thrilling trilogy about an early 1910's girl's boarding school in the USA, that seeks to keep an international threat from destroying the world as we know it. Filled with faeries, friendships, romance, and tears, this series is amazing.

I wasn't ready to say goodbye.

As an aside, I have seen multiple people say they felt this book lacked the romance of the earlier books. I feel the opposite. I feel like it was much more romantic than the first books, but through sacrificial and understanding love.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

It pains me to give this 2 stars. I absolutely LOVE Carol Goodman and I really liked the premise of the series and enjoyed my experience with the first two books. However, Hawthorn was so disjointed and felt like it was written 15 years after Ravencliffe with little more than a cursory review of the previous texts. There was YET ANOTHER, and completely unnecessary, love triangle. The last couple chapters felt like a mad dash to wrap everything up before the last page and the ending was strange and a bit confusing.

All this book does for me is complete the series.

[Anya Zhang · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this series from the very beginning to the very end. When I read the last sentence, I was sad that this world that I had to come to know of came to an end. I have the suspicion that the version of this book that I got from the library was missing its last ten pages, and that bothers me. So exactly what did I think of this specific book? I liked the fast-pacing of it, especially how it started right off with its action. But I definitely liked the second book better. Overall, it was a great read!

[Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

9/10. Third books in a trilogy are usually my least favorite in the series because they are normally the darkest and this is no exception. However, I love this book wholeheartedly. Even though I have read this book before, I absolutely didn't remember the beginning of this book and a lot of the events. Everything about this book feels so real and deep. Personally, I felt that the major climax was a bit rushed and should have been explored a bit more. The ending and loss due to war made me cry which always screams amazing book to me. I highly recommend!

[Nyx · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did like the story and it is a good read but I really disliked the ending. While the story was good I honestly kept reading to see what became of Raven and Ava but it's kinda just left hanging in the end. I don't see any talk about a 4th book. So it feels like everything abruptly ended. What happens to Ava and Raven or at least Ava. Does she stay with Raven, does she go Faire, stay with friends, stay in the woods or in Paris with Raven? It feels like I have to make a lot of assumptions to get an ending.