#Jackdaw Review

[seeker-ophelia]

Ive never shared Jackdaw on here before but I've been a fan of him before I even knew who Caitie and Kala were. And Jackie, you've done it again.

[oswincoleman]

Some more information about Jackdaw!

Jenna Coleman plays "Bo", who is Jack Dawson's (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) ex-girlfriend. That is quite funny, coming right after Wilderness!

[kavohh707]

2024 - Bird year in review - part 4.

Corvids! My crows and the rooks will get their own posts, but I had so many nice corvid encounters with other corvids this year, so I think they deserve their own post.

There are the corvids of South of Portugal the red-billed chough and the Iberian magpie. Strangely there were no crows anywhere in the Algarve.

And the corvids of my neighborhood, the Eurasian jay, the jackdaw and of course the Eurasian magpie.

All of these are rather shy, so I am quite happy if they let me come close enough to take a good picture.

[ojcobsessed]

I think I’m gonna cry after reading review. I’m so happy for him! Is movie isle a random site or reputable? A good review is good review but I wanna understand how hyped I should be. I can’t wait to see this film. Hopefully it won’t vanish into obscurity.

Thank you btw for all your updates! I always look forward to it ☺️

you're so welcome and i'm so happy people enjoy my silly little hobby about blogging about this man's career!!

as of right now jackdaw is 100% fresh on rotten tomatoes with 8 verified reviews which is pretty impressive but almost every review praises oliver's performance.

[adventuresinbiologysection]

Finished The biology of Peatlands , John jeglum. ISBN: 0198528728

And Crow by Boria sax, ISBN: 1861891946

The first talked about how peat lands formed and the statistics of how the are affected by the world around them, and how they affect the world. It covered what it wants to and does it thoroughly

The later spoke on people relations to corvids around the world and through time. It's a good read, even if it did have some common misconceptions of the time of things not relating to corvids. And kept referring to all native American people as Indians, not out of disrespect but that was the word you used at the time (2003)

[reviews-sky-1]

New book review!

The Jackdaw by Achilles Cools (De kauw)

Link

[wearethekat]

December Book Reviews: The Uses of Illicit Art by Wendy Palmer

I picked this book up on recommendation by author KJ Charles, who has excellent taste as always. In an alt-Victorian universe, Kit Whitely has an unfortunate magic talent for locks and doors, making him a hot item in London's criminal underworld. On top of all these troubles, the bureau in London that regulates magic has a price out on his head—setting Kit on a collision path with huge, jovial bounty hunter Alexander, who is determined to drag him back to London whether Kit wants to or not.

This was an absolutely fantastic self-pub title that unfortunately does not have the beautiful, unique cover it deserves. I'm glad my attention was drawn to this title through a review, otherwise I might not have picked it up. The Uses of Illicit Art was a propulsively paced queer historical romance with some fantastically written characters. The central dynamic is Kit's romance with Alexander—the uncatchable guy who can escape any cage and open any lock vs the guy who can read your direct intentions, locked in an endless cunning cycle of thief vs bounty hunter. (Apparently you can escape the guy who reads your intentions by very loudly mentally intending xxx rated pornography, such that it masks your other intentions.) The side characters were also lovely, and depicted in more depth than is typical for romance novels—Alexander's trans sister who has her own revenge scheme, Kit's best friend, even Alexander's prickly older brother, who makes a brief appearance.

Very catchy and absolutely charming. I was spiritually lying on the floor and kicking my legs in the air with delight the whole way. A must-read if you liked Freya Marske's A Power Unbound or KJ Charles' Jackdaw—run, don't walk. I for one am going to read the author's entire backlist as soon as possible.

[holdmymallowsweet]

Hello there 👋

I hope you're having a wonderful day! You might recognize my screen name, I go by TheaCreativity on AO3 and recently left a comment on the amazing Richard Jackdaw one shot you wrote 😊

I thought I'd send you a separate message on Tumblr to say "Hi, I'm Thea!" as well as offering my support for the upcoming Jackdaw part 2 story you have planned 🥰 In the notes of your current story you had mentioned that English wasn't your first language. Trust me when I say - WOW! I never would have guessed; not only did you create a beautifully poetic narrative, but all technical aspects of your writing were on point ❤️

Although I genuinely feel your work is flawless 🙏 if you ever find yourself wanting someone to chat ideas with or review a story for plot flow/word choice/technical writing aspects prior to publishing, please know that I would be happy to volunteer! 🙋‍♀️ I am not an expert by any means, but I edit and beta read for a few fellow creators in the community and I always appreciate it when they do the same for me 🥰

It's so much fun having others in the HL fandom to discuss things with, such as story ideas, plot devices, character arcs and dynamics, theories, etc. ✨ While I enjoy interacting with the fandom, I personally find the larger Discord servers overwhelming and prefer chatting one on one or in small groups 😅 Every creator has their own process though, and what works for some may not work for others.

If you ever want to chat, please feel free to reach out anytime ☺️ I can't wait to read your other works!!

Cheers,

~Thea

Oh you are just the sweetest soul. I already recognized you from when you wrote me comments on my longfic a while ago, and btw, I love your icon over at ao3. I don't know who that girl is or which movie or show she's from, but looking at her sparks an immense amount of joy 🤣

Here's the thing about my English: My dna is 100% pretzel and I never lived anywhere except in or just outside Munich. I've never even been to an English speaking country (unless you want to count a one week trip to Singapore). I've consumed most of my entertainment in English since I was 16 - 17, and after 10+ years (yes, I'm old) I'm actually pretty sure I understand the language flawlessly. But then started writing and wanted to be active in the fandom after HL came out, and I realised that passively understanding and actively finding the words to express yourself are two very different things, and I was suddenly horribly self conscious about my English.

I've since gotten over it, and it's even been a while since I mentioned it in my author's notes. Sometimes native speakers word things a bit awkwardly or don't know what a random obscure word means either, it's not the end of the world. English capitalization will always elude me, but the occasional improper capitalization never ruined a fic for anyone (I hope).

Thank you a million times for your support and your kind words ❤️

I really want to try to write better and more consistently this year, and to hear that someone appreciates my writing really makes me want to try my best to make it happen.

And please tell me who that girl in your ao3 icon is, because I love her.

[bookshelvesandtealeaves]

✨ SERIES REVIEW ✨

A Charm of Magpies by KJ Charles

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

The Magpie Lord: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

A Case of Possession: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Flight of Magpies: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[instagram]

This was SUCH a fun series. I absolutely love a Victorian crime thriller, so add in a queer romance and some magic and I’m 100% sold.

Lucien and Stephen were both such wonderful characters. They’re both interesting and stubborn and so different from each other yet so similar, too. I loved how much we got to know about them and their pasts over the course of these books and I especially loved their relationship. I loved that for two whole books in this series, they’re a couple - it’s really fun to read about an established relationship and I often forget that.

I’m obsessed with the magpie motif’s, especially when it comes to the tattoos. The imagery there is just beautiful.

One of my favourite traits in a character is when they immediately apologise for snapping or being rude or awful or whatever. When there’s not a moments hesitation. They just apologise then and there and back down because they instantly know they’ve behaved poorly. And when the other person just knows, just gets it, just understands that it was an emotional response and not a personal attack. *chef’s kiss* KJ Charles does this so well.

The side characters in this are all brilliant. They’re so much fun and such full, vibrant characters all with pasts of their own that we get glimpses of.

I definitely need to read the Jackdaw series soon!

[rjzimmerman]

Elections Matter - and not just here. (Bill McKibben's Substack, "The Crucial Years."

Yesterday Ed Milliband, the new Labour Energy Secretary, yesterday announced that the government would not back the companies that want to develop two huge new North Sea oilfields. This takes a bit of explanation, so bear with me. Oil giants Shell and Equinor want to develop the vast Jackdaw and Rosebank oil fields. The Tory government backed these projects, even though it led former energy secretary Chris Skidmore to resign from the party. In June, a court ruled that the environmental review for the projects was insufficient, because, crucially, the companies had failed to account for the emissions not just from the oil wells themselves, but from the eventual combustion of that oil in cars around the world. These so-called Scope 3 emissions are obviously the key problem with new gas and oil projects, but the industry has worked hard to keep them off the table—and after the court ruling the then-Tory government announced they would back those companies in court. Now the new sheriff, veteran environmentalist Milliband, has said no. 

The fight isn’t over—the companies are appealing the court rulings. But here’s my prediction: this will be one of the first large oilfields that humans decide to leave in the ground because of climate concerns.

I say this because Labour has just won its massive majority, and can now govern for as much as five years before they have to face the voters again. Let’s say they don’t call a new election along the way and govern until 2029; with the massive growth in renewable energy now firmly underway, I don’t think that there will be the appetite among financiers for new oil fields then. They’ll certainly try—as Desmog Blog points out today, a leading candidate for the new head of the beleaguered Tory party, Tom Tugendhat, has been merrily collecting money from various oil interests and is plumping for new North Sea drilling. But I think that by the time he or someone likes him returns to 10 Downing Street, the moment will have passed.

[waterdeep-weavemoss]

One hand on the wheel and the other reviewing his calculations, Gale looks steadfast and dashing in the early morning glow. His long overcoat whips about his calves in the wind, his hair buffeted to and fro. It hardly seems enough to keep him warm, given the way he keeps his shirt open to his sternum.

Gale’s startled when Doe comes bounding up the stairs to him, nearly dropping the logbook in his freehand at the sight. Tara, perched on his shoulders, flares her wings out wide, chirruping a greeting. The sailing master’s greeting, a tired half smile, falters at her words.

“You what?” His eyes go wide. “You- I-”

Gale hesitates, brown eyes darting between Doe and Astarion who trails after her. She looks positively eager at this prospect. A cambion? To help him? A literal gods-damned devil?

His mouth works, half-formed syllables caught in his throat and the back of his tongue as he tries to find any set of coherent words to explain. Gale’s mark throbs painfully, flaring with light - and this time the logbook does fall from his hand, clattering onto the deck as his hand raises to clutch at his chest.

He manages to steel himself against the surge to look up at her, his expression twisted into a panicked grimace, his eyes backlit a soft green.

“Lass,” he starts, shaking his head with trepidation, “I don’t know that a devil’s going to have any answers for my particular problem. It’s not exactly a warlock’s pact...”

Gale’s eyes flit to Astarion as he straightens with the ebb of the discomfort. His hand still rubs against the center of the mark, even as he rolls his shoulders to try and loosen the tension further. There’s a deeper sort of pain in his expression - more than just the physical. That, at least, softens when he turns his gaze back to Doe.

“I trust you to gather information - believe me, I do,” Gale starts hesitantly. “But you don’t need to put yourself in so much danger for me. Especially...especially not for me.”

-G.D.

'Too late.' Her tone is nonchalant, but her anxious fingers are braiding and coiling sections of her hair into buns on the top of her head. She whistles for the jackdaw, feeling his weight land softly on her shoulder. 'I'll be in a whole heap of trouble if we don't show up. I know it's not a warlock pact, but it's got to be close enough, right? Who else am I going to ask? We should use everything at our disposal- and that's what I mean, Gale. He likes me right now, and while that's the case I'm going to leverage that weakness. We have Faust because he wanted to spy on us. Call it payback.'

Her eyes are steely. She wants revenge, to claw back something from her and Raphael's last encounter. He's not going to use me up like he does every other poor bastard he gets his claws into.

'I'm not doing this for you.' A lie. 'I'm doing it for me.' Her hair lifts on the strengthening wind- she can feel her anger in it. The whip of her hair into her eyes rips a growl of frustration from her. She draws her dagger and hacks at it, sending dark tresses to the deck and looking back to Gale with jagged tendrils across her forehead. 'We need to go,' she implores. 'Gale.' She grits her teeth against tears, draws at the anger to galvanise her instead. 'I was drunk and injured and angry. He took advantage. He doesn't get to do that to me twice. Do you understand me?'

[aurorawest]

Reading update

Conned by Kim Fielding - 4.25/5 stars

Odder Still by DN Bryn - 3/5 stars

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig - 4/5 stars

Ended up enjoying this one a lot more than I thought I would. Definitely one of those philosophical-books-masquerading-as-fantasy books, but it was well written and the message resonated with me.

A Draught of Ash and Wine by Kristin Jacques - 3.75/5 stars

Draakenwood by Jordan L Hawk - 5/5 stars

This may have been the first in the series that I handed a 5 star rating to. Not that the rest of the series isn't really good, but this one stood out to me as being really REALLY good.

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr - 5/5 stars

Another one that I enjoyed WAY more than I thought I would. I normally don't go for books that do the whole characters-connected-through-time-by-the-same-story trope, but this one was very well done. The characters in the different time periods definitely played to things I love. The fact that it was unexpectedly queer was also such a nice surprise. This book is heavy going, and I wouldn't say it's exactly happy, but it's hopeful. A hyped book that was actually worth the hype.

Blyde and Pearce by Kim Fielding - 3.5/5 stars

Bring Me Home by Annabeth Albert - 3.75/5 stars

Jackdaw by KJ Charles - 5/5 stars

AHHHHHH omg omg. Oh this book. Ripped my heart out and stomped on it, then tenderly mended it. Ben and Jonah are one of the sweetest couples Charles has ever written. Maybe the sweetest? (considering there's a very dubcon-y sex scene at the beginning, this may seem like a strange thing to say, but really). I actually far and away preferred them to the main couple in the original Charm of Magpies trilogy. To be completely honest, I like all the Charm of Magpies World books better than the original trilogy, haha.

The Rest of the Story by Tal Bauer - 4.25/5 stars

Fool Hearts by Emmy Sanders - 3.75/5 stars

Shadows of the Lost by Maxym M Martineau - DNF at pg 60

Actually not a bad book at all, but it was too dependent on the author's previous series, which I didn't have any interest in reading.

The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro - DNF at pg 26

All the Right Notes by Dominic Lim - 5/5 stars

Lovely, funny book that had lots of music and cooking. It's told in a split time period structure which I thought worked really well.

Witch King by Martha Wells - 5/5 stars

I LOVED this book. I love Kai so so much. He's total blorbo material, so I'm honestly surprised this book isn't bigger on tumblr. The worldbuilding was immaculate, really interesting, and very refreshing in that it was very central Asia inspired. You don't see Fantasy Asian Steppe Cultures very much, so that was really cool. This is another one that is told with a split time period, and Wells did a really good job of tying the events of the past and the present chapters together thematically.

I really really really want a sequel.

And Then He Sang a Lullaby by Ani Kayode Somtochukwu - 4/5 stars

One of the reviews of this book said it had a very didactic ending, which I 100% agree with...but it was very well-written and worth a read. It takes place in Nigeria and is about two gay boys who eventually meet in college. It's not a happy book; don't be fooled by the blurb that makes it sound like a romance.

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley - 5/5 stars (reread)

You guys all know how I feel about Natasha Pulley.

The Master of Samar by Melissa Scott - 3.5/5 stars

Unnatural by Joanna Chambers - 5/5 stars

Fence: Disarmed by Sarah Rees Brennan - 5/5 stars

This book was so cute. Aiden and Harvard both finally pull their heads out of their asses. One of the unexpected joys of these novels is the relationship between Seiji and his father. It's really sweet.

I would fund Sarah Rees Brennan to continue writing Fence novels.

The Archive Undying - 2/5 stars

[anotheruserwithnoname]

This is a bit late but I just came across this mixed review of Jenna Coleman's stage play from last year. I'm posting it as it has a couple of photos of her on stage that I haven't seen before.

Mixed reviews or no, I'm still a little salty at the fact we never got a National Theatre Live stream of this, so it is lost media. I'm also in year 3 of waiting to be able to see Klokkenluider and they don't seem to be interested in releasing Jackdaw properly over here. It's a tough time to be a Canadian Jenna Coleman fan. At least Sandman S2 and The Jetty should be viewable over here (I'm gambling on Canada's version of the BBC First cable network picking up The Jetty since it's a BBC One production).

[ojcobsessed]

i'm so happy people enjoy my silly little hobby about blogging about this man's career

Thank you so much! I was being nosy on Letterboxd and there are good reviews there too, only 43 so far). Excited to see the movie…hopefully it will play in my area

oh very cool, thanks for pointing that out too! the letterboxd reviews have a lot of spoilers but they're mostly very favorable if anyone is curous to see:

[mybeingthere]

John Kelly has been described variously as an awkward bugger (Fergal Gaynor, 2007) and a free radical (Guangzhou Triennale, 2008), and whilst these observations are no doubt true his awkward radical behaviour leads to some interesting results.

John Kelly was born in 1965. His father, from Cork, and mother from Bristol, the family immigrated to Australia the same year. Due to his birth, heritage and circumstance John now holds three passports and therefore is an Englishman, an Australian and an Irishman. Kelly has lived in all three countries and for the past two decades has resided in west Cork, Ireland. His work has been collected into the Yale Center for British Art, USA, the National Gallery of Australia, the Crawford Gallery, Ireland and the Guangdong Museum in Guangzhou China, MONA, Tasmania, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales, etc.

In 1985 Kelly obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts Painting) from RMIT University, Melbourne, where he also completed his Masters of Arts in 1995. As a winner of the 1995 Anne & Gordon Samstag International Visual Arts Scholarship, he travelled to London to study as an Affiliate Student at the Slade School of Art from 1996 to 1997.

As a painter, sculptor and printmaker Kelly engages across mediums and also writes, having written for Art Monthly (Australia & UK) and Circa magazine (Ireland), The Jackdaw (London) and Daily review (Australia). In 2017 he was nominated for a Walkley Award for Arts Journalism.

[kjcamilli]

I Am Princess X

Cherie Priest

Illustrated by Kali Ciesemier 

May has had very few friends throughout her life, with the exception of Libby, who she met through their joint creativity with sidewalk chalk. Libby’s initial drawing spawned a series of written adventures about the character–Princess X–that both girls worked on together. They were the best of friends until Libby and her mom drowned, and all the written adventures were lost to Libby’s dad’s moving and carelessness. May knows her best friend is dead, but when she finds out that a webcomic about Princess X is online, she can’t help but hope that there’s something she doesn’t know. This story follows May’s quest to prove that her friend isn’t actually dead by following subtle clues in the online story within a story. The art that goes along with the fictional webcomic is beautiful and will appeal to readers who enjoy graphic novels but might be looking for something more text-heavy. Both a mystery and an adventure set in a realistic contemporary setting, this book can appeal to a wide variety of readers, although it does deal with some heavier topics such as death and grief, kidnapping, race, and divorce and other family issues, along with a few swears that make it solidly for young adult readers. The characters are compelling, from May, a stubborn but sometimes insecure teen who goes out of her way to find the truth, and Patrick, a morally gray hacker with a tendency to get in over his head, to Libby, a traumatized artist with a knack for finding her way out of some sticky situations, and Jackdaw, an outcast genius known for taking in runaways. Readers will likely find themselves drawn to the characters as well as captivated by the complex plot as May works to find her friend and put their mysterious villain behind bars. 

BIBLIO: 2015, Scholastic Books, Ages 12+, $7.99.

REVIEWER: Katherine Camilli  

FORMAT: Traditional and Graphic Novel

ISBN: 9780545907316