My thoughts on The Scald Crow (Beyond the Faerie Rath Book 1) by Hanna Park

The Scald Crow
(Beyond the Faerie Rath Book 1) 
By Hanna Park

Publication Date: 26th May 2025

Publisher: Baisong Press

Print Length: 260 Pages

Genre: Fantasy / Romance

Calla left her life behind, haunted by a curse she cannot control. She seeks refuge in the land of a thousand hellos, Ireland, for a fresh start—a place where no one knows who or what she is.

Colm fled from Clonmara seven long years ago, but now it’s his father’s birthday, and the clan has gathered to celebrate the ould one. Each day brings back the memories that ruined him.

Saoirse dwells in the shadows of a lost love, unwilling to move on and unable to forget. The crystals say one thing, but the cold, hard truth tells another.

Ciarán walked away from the woman he loved for the fun, for the craic. He didn’t realize that one rash decision would impact the lives of so many, least of all his own.

Four broken hearts, brought together by the thread of love.

Universal Buy Link

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cover Art: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.

The story follows Calla, who inherits a property in Ireland, possibly from her biological father. After being fired and wanting a way out of her life, she decides to go and claim it, hoping for a fresh start. At first, everything seems fairly normal, but it doesn’t take long before things start to feel a bit strange. Small details don’t quite add up, moments feel slightly off, and there’s this underlying sense that something else is going on beneath it all. The book doesn’t rush to explain anything, which I actually liked—it makes you pay attention.

There’s also a strong romance running through the story. Calla and Colm don’t have a slow build-up—it’s more immediate than that. There’s a clear pull between them from the start, and it only gets more intense as the story goes on. Some of their connection plays out in these dreamlike moments, which makes it feel a bit surreal at times, and when they’re actually together, it can feel quite impulsive and hard to ignore. It adds another layer to the story, especially because it never feels entirely simple or straightforward.

I found it quite a slow read, and that won’t be for everyone. The author really builds a picture up of the background, which I kind of liked, but again, it would not be for everyone.

The ending definitely doesn’t wrap everything up. It finishes on a bit of a cliffhanger, clearly setting things up for the next book. I don't usually like endings to not be resolved, but for this book, I will make the exception.

I began my writing career in the pre-dawn of a winter morning while my husband snored like a train. We could call my husband the catalyst. If it weren’t for him, I would never have gone to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee, feed the cat, and sit on the loveseat in front of the fire. It was there, in those moments of wondrous quiet, that I did something I had never thought possible. I opened my laptop, and while the coffee went cold, I wrote a story. My husband had no idea that these sojourns to the loveseat in front of the fire would become a daily occurrence, that writing would become an obsession, but the cat knew. She knows everything.

I write stories that make you laugh, make you cry, and make you love. Thank you, friends, for reading!

In the beginning, there was an empty page.

I am a writer who lives in Muskoka, Canada, with a husband who snores, a hungry cat, and an almost perfect canine––he’s an adorable little shit.

Website

Instagram

Facebook

BookBub

Goodreads

Tour Schedule