Review: Hawk & Sparrow by Anana Gray

Hawk & Sparrow by Ayana Gray
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC and ALC of this book via Netgalley all opinions are my own.

This follows Vesper, an ambitious female reporter in an age when women are still breaking into the working world.  Vesper is invited to attend and report on the happenings of a high society gala when the unimaginable happens.  The guest of honor is found murdered after revealing an invention that could change the lives of everyone.  In this world, those with sorcery live in luxury but they must study for many years to learn the language that allows them to use magic.  This new machine will bring sorcery to those without magic.  The host of the event happens to be a sorcerer and the main suspect.  Valuing Vesper's investigative prowess, Max hires her to help prove his innocence. 

I enjoyed parts of this book, but overall I felt underwhelmed.  The pacing was too slow and the romance didn't work for me.  There wasn't much chemistry between Vesper and Max, but they love each other by the end.  Perhaps that was intentional and appropriate given the time period this is set in, but I needed more emotion and tension from them.  Vesper constantly talks about Tom, the owner of the paper who took her in when she was orphaned and gave her a place to stay and a job, but we never get to know this  father figure who is so important to her.  I did enjoy the investigation and the mystery part of the plot.

I enjoyed the social commentary that the magic machine drew parallels between today's use of AI without checks and balances.  Max brings up the years of study he had to go through to understand the consequences and nuance of using the magical language, without understanding it can cause great harm.  Today we have AI that spits out hallucinations and makes up information that people take as truth.  Without boundaries and smart people to guide it, AI can also cause great harm.  There is also quite a bit of social commentary about the class system in place and gender discrimination.

While this wasn't for me, I think this will be great for younger readers or readers who are looking for a fun magical mystery.

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