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February 21, 2019

The Falconer by Dana Czapnik | Review

This post may include Amazon links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Novel Visits' Review of The Falconer by Dana Czapnik

The Falconer by Dana Czapnik
Publisher: Atria Books
Release Date: January 29, 2019
Length: 274 pages
Amazon

{A Bit of Backstory}

Single Sentence Summary

Lucy Adler, at 17 she’s a champion basketball player, a bright girl worried starting college, and a vulnerable young woman secretly in love with the boy who’s been her best friend since preschool.

From the Publisher

“New York, 1993. Seventeen-year-old Lucy Adler, a street-smart, trash-talking baller, is often the only girl on the public courts. At turns quixotic and cynical, insecure and self-possessed, Lucy is in unrequited love with her best friend and pick-up teammate Percy, scion to a prominent New York family who insists he wishes to resist upper crust fate….”

The Draw
  • I love coming-of-age stories and hadn’t read one in a very long time.
  • New York City setting
  • Came highly recommended from Catherine at The Gilmore Guide to Books.

{My Thoughts}

What Worked For Me

The Writing, the Writing, the Writing! – Yes, it was that good. I marked so many passages, and could easily of marked many more. Dana Czapnik dug deep inside Lucy imbuing her with so much humanity and wisdom. Even in slower parts of the story, the writing propels you forward, knowing there will be more pearls in another page or two.

“It’s good to be a little lonely. It reminds you of the importance of other people. A person too comfortable in loneliness loses touch with the wonderful things. Laughing alone in a room should always be tinged with a bit of sadness. But a little bit of loneliness serves another purpose too. It’s a good reminder of the small piece of land that is yourself.”

A Girl to Love – I adored everything about Lucy Alder. She was such a rich, multi-layered character: a tremendous basketball player, a sort of social outcast, a friend, a daughter, and a girl with a fragile heart that she was willing to let be broken.

“I ought not to imbue a ball with so much magic, but when I’m holding one I go from Lucy Alder, invisible girl – lowercase I, lowercase g – to Lucy Adler, Warrior Goddess of Manhattan, Island of Many Hills. The court is my phone booth. I am transformed.”

Lucy shares her passion for basketball with Percy, her best friend and the boy her heart longs for.

“…but mostly I like talking to him. Because the world rains arrows and honey whenever he’s near me. Painful and sweet.”

You know it’s not going to end well for Lucy where Percy’s concerned. She turns a blind-eye to Percy’s callous treatment of girls, until he turned on her. Her pain was palpable.

No Melodrama – I so appreciated that with everything Lucy goes through in the months of The Falconer, Czapnik never allowed her story to get overly emotional or to take ridiculous turns. Bad things happened, but Lucy largely took it in stride. She viewed life almost as an observer and I liked her all the more for that. A smart girl, Lucy could see that heartbreak and change were a part of life that everyone goes through. She became a girl to admire.

“I didn’t get a happy ending. But nothing really tragic or even vaguely sad happened either. The universe didn’t punish me for having sex with a guy I knew was a jerk. There wasn’t a loaded consequence. Nothing grand or important came of it. I fell in love with a boy, and he didn’t love me back, and that’s pretty much the whole story.”

It’s not. There’s so much more.

What Didn’t

Slow At Times – For me the story occasionally went on rather random bird walks. They typically showed something about Lucy’s thoughts, but still felt a bit haphazard and not always needed. As I mentioned earlier, Czapnik’s fabulous writing easily moved me through these parts.

{The Final Assessment}

Lucy Alder is a girl you can’t help but love and feel proud of. She is all of us. All women. We’ve been there and we understand. Watching Lucy’s heartbreak and growth is a little bit of a stroll down memory lane. My coming-of-age story, your coming-of-age story, they’re each different, but not that different from Lucy’s. Bravo Dana Czapnik! Grade: B+ 

If you liked this book you might also enjoy:
  • Marlena by Julie Buntin – A troubled teen moves to a new area, where her older, much wilder neighbor takes her under her wing. (my review)
  • White Fur by Jardine Libaire – An intense rich boy/poor girl love story also set in NYC. (my review)

Disclosure: There are Amazon Associate links included within this post.

Filed Under: By Title, Coming-of-Age, Literary Fiction Tagged With: 2019, Atria Books, Book Recommendations, Book Review, Grade B




Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Katie says

    February 21, 2019 at 5:27 am

    ooh, this sounds so good! Off to see if my library has it yet….

    Reply
    • Susie says

      February 24, 2019 at 6:40 pm

      Great! Let me know if it works for you.

      Reply
  2. renee says

    February 21, 2019 at 4:24 pm

    This book wasn’t on my radar but your review has made me really want to try this! I love the coming of age and NYC angles, also it’s out of my comfort zone which I like:)

    Reply
    • Susie says

      February 24, 2019 at 6:41 pm

      Sometimes getting out of your comfort zone can be a very good thing. The sports angle on this one was out of mine.

      Reply
  3. Madeline says

    February 21, 2019 at 6:46 pm

    This was in my “no” column and probably staying there. Had lunch with a trusted book friend Monday and she DNF’d. Any correlation with White Fur adds to my immediate dislike. “Coming of Age” is a tough genre. Easily lapses into YA, which I can like but adds issues. Even the quotes you cite are a little on the overwrought side for me.

    Vanilla/chocolate. That’s how the world works.

    Lovely review and I’m glad you enjoyed.

    Reply
    • Susie says

      February 24, 2019 at 6:43 pm

      I love coming-of-age stories and this one was really unique. We will just need to differ on this one.

      Reply
  4. Jan says

    February 21, 2019 at 9:43 pm

    Susie,. this book has not been on my radar, and I don’t always like teenage protagonists but your review does have me intrigued. Terrific review.

    Reply
    • Susie says

      February 24, 2019 at 6:44 pm

      Thanks, Jan. If you get a lull in your reading, you might try it. Catherine really liked it, too.

      Reply
  5. Sarah's Book Shelves says

    February 22, 2019 at 4:27 am

    I’m going to just have to bite the bullet and buy it…it’s still not at either of my 2 libraries. 🙁

    Reply
    • Susie says

      February 24, 2019 at 6:45 pm

      I’m not 100% you’ll like this one, so you might want to wait a little bit. It could go either way. You’ll like the athlete and the writing, but it does slow down at times.

      Reply
  6. susan says

    February 22, 2019 at 2:00 pm

    I just got a copy from the library …. so I’m keen to start it. Lucy seems like a cool cat … so I had to get it.

    Reply
    • Susie says

      February 24, 2019 at 6:46 pm

      Excellent. I can’t wait to hear what you think.

      Reply
  7. Allison | Mind Joggle says

    February 25, 2019 at 1:59 pm

    I’m listening to this right now and it’s not going very well. I think the narrator is a big part of it, but I know I’m also missing some great prose, and my mind is wandering a bit during some of Lucy’s internal monologues. I’m considering DNFing the audio and trying to get the printed version at some point.

    It also doesn’t help that I was reading On the Come Up at the same time–two different teens with different passions, but On the Come Up is propulsive and this one a little more wandering. I think I’m willing to give it a second chance if I can get a copy, though.

    Reply
    • Susie says

      February 25, 2019 at 9:08 pm

      Honestly Allison, I’m not surprised to hear The Falconer isn’t working for you on audio. I think it would be a tough one to listen to. As I said, most of it was great, but there were some parts where it sort of drifted and I think that would be hard for listening to.

      On the other hand, I listened to The Hate U Give and loved it on audio where the narrator was fantastic. I think it’s the same young woman for On the Come Up. I’m sort of holding back until I hear more people’s thoughts on this one, but if I go for it, I think I’ll listen to it.

      Reply
  8. Catherine says

    March 5, 2019 at 10:58 am

    I’m so glad you liked this one! The ‘honey and arrows’ lines is one of the best I have ever read.

    Reply

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Welcome to Novel Visits! I’m Susie and reading is my passion. Join me for new novel reviews, musing on all things books, and much more.

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