Reviews

The Marsh King's Daughter by Karen Dionne

airron's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

devonadelle's review against another edition

adventurous reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

kat_0013's review against another edition

4.0

This was a really quick read! I finished it in one day and haven’t done that in a long time.
As other reviews stated, some of the hunting scenes are disgusting and I skimmed past them because animals :(

kpeerman1's review

2.0

Y'all,

This book was boring.

The story line had a chance to be interesting but the author just missed the mark with her writing. It also seemed like the author kept repeating things she had already said and it wasn't anything that needed extra emphasis added to it. It was as if she were trying to fill space to reach her page quota or something.

I don't know. Maybe it was too soon for me to read another marsh story after reading Where the Crawdads Sing. They were completely unrelated story lines but similar enough that it matters that this author just can't write as well as Delia Owens (at least in this particular instance). I feel hateful saying it was boring because, I mean, what have I written? Nothing.

Anyways, you may enjoy this book if you're into stories about kidnappings, some suspense or deluded half-Native American, narcissistic antagonists.

mollyjordan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a hard read for me and kept me up at night. I doubt I could stomach another book by this author. 
Solid writing, but too much brutality on every level for me.

creaseinthespinebooks's review

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

mrspenningalovesbooks's review against another edition

4.0

If you like psychological thrillers and Michigander allusions, this is your book! It was a perfect jump-into-fall season. I loved the POV of a woman who is the product of an abducted mother and a narcissist father. The flashbacks show how she grew up not knowing of her situation and only knowing isolation in the U.P. Present time shows her father has escaped from prison, a place she put him in, and she goes out to find him, knowing the methods to track him from his own teaching. It is all tied to a gothic fairytale, the Marsh King’s Daughter, by Hans Christian Andersen.

aliao15's review

4.0

4.5 ✨

rachaeldamms's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

readers_pov's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

 ✒️ In this book the most interesting part is the relationships and the psychology of the characters involved. And so is how they change - the story is half a growth-story of the MC and half a psychological thriller. Often simultaneously both. I would also like to raise up the fact that the description of their lifestyle at the marsh made a big impact on me, I found it all fascinating.   

✒️ This book is written in the same style as a dual-pov story would, except that both povs are the MC's own - one is herself when she was a child, and the other is her current adult self. This alternative storytelling is written splendidly - it's engaging, informative and contemplative. What I do want to slightly critisize is that the pov of her childhood self is clearly dominating the story, leaving the adult MC more unknown to the reader. 

✒️ What really fascinates me about this book is the FMC's relationship with her father - the villain of the story. Clearly, she doesn't despise him. She should, the society, her mother, her husband, everyone is adamant the the only feelings she could have towards her father should be hatred. That is the socially acceptable stance. Instead everything implies that she actually adores still him. Her rational side understands that she should treat her father the way society wants, but her thoughts and behaviour all indicate that she can't. But, as her father's daughter, she's trained to be a survivor. She has and will continue to survive in the society and adapt to her surroundings, for the sake of her own family. 

✒️ All of the events taking place in the marsh and the MC's past are addictive and interesting. I just couldn't stop reading of her life. But when the pov switched to her adult self, it seemed to be lacking in depth. Somehow it felt that the heart of the story was and stayed in the past, and the present was just for tying up loose ends, for the sake of giving an ending to the story. 

✒️ Also funny little bonus, it depicted Finnish second- or third-generation immigrants. Some had Finnish surnames and even the Finnish pronunciation got a sentence dedicated to it, despite the center of the story being on Native American/Indian heritage, when it came to the important characters. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Minor: Animal death, Murder, and Animal cruelty