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A review by flowerwineandbooks
Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk
3.0
I actually read this as an audio book, which is probably what helped me finish it. I found it a slightly better story than Wolk's "Wolf Hollow," though I still wouldn't really classify it as historical fiction.
The characters were all very likeable. The setting was beautifully described, but in a way that I would rather listen to than read myself. I enjoyed the suspenseful scenes in this novel better than her previous book, but they did all seem to blend together. The story is peppered with scenes that carry just as much weight and suspense as the scenes before and after, and I feel as though it makes the final chase a little less exciting. It felt like everything was happening all over again constantly.
I have to say, I didn't really like the part with the sailor Crow thought was her brother Jason, and I can't really explain why. It's not that I wanted a "happy ending" and for her to find her brother right there with the shipwreck. Maybe the whole long lost brother story arc was just too much added on? The whole time Osh is telling her that she "knows" things inside her. So why would the writer choose to have her be so cruelly wrong about this sailor? Although, I appreciate how her brother's story influences her to donate some of her treasure to various orphanages.
I did very much like Crow's adopted father, the character Osh! I felt for him every time he and Crow would argue about what she wanted to find; her REAL family. I could tell his love for her was so pure, especially in the context of all that he had lost that we don't know about.
My other favorite character was the island of Penikese. An island, so hated for the sick people (lepers) it had sheltered. And island full of so much mystery that it never boasted about. An island with a memory, and clues to Crow's past. The island she came from and that watched her wash ashore somewhere else while it remained ostracized. A place people hated and chose to ignore because of what they had known to have inhabited it, yet only chose to acknowledge it when they had something to gain. Even Crow.
Human beings are so cruel when they are fearful, to just sanction off groups of people they don't want to understand. It has happened all over history, and is still happening right now. Penikese must have so much empathy for the pain it witnessed, and I'm very glad it called Crow toward it.
The characters were all very likeable. The setting was beautifully described, but in a way that I would rather listen to than read myself. I enjoyed the suspenseful scenes in this novel better than her previous book, but they did all seem to blend together. The story is peppered with scenes that carry just as much weight and suspense as the scenes before and after, and I feel as though it makes the final chase a little less exciting. It felt like everything was happening all over again constantly.
I have to say, I didn't really like the part with the sailor Crow thought was her brother Jason, and I can't really explain why. It's not that I wanted a "happy ending" and for her to find her brother right there with the shipwreck. Maybe the whole long lost brother story arc was just too much added on? The whole time Osh is telling her that she "knows" things inside her. So why would the writer choose to have her be so cruelly wrong about this sailor? Although, I appreciate how her brother's story influences her to donate some of her treasure to various orphanages.
I did very much like Crow's adopted father, the character Osh! I felt for him every time he and Crow would argue about what she wanted to find; her REAL family. I could tell his love for her was so pure, especially in the context of all that he had lost that we don't know about.
My other favorite character was the island of Penikese. An island, so hated for the sick people (lepers) it had sheltered. And island full of so much mystery that it never boasted about. An island with a memory, and clues to Crow's past. The island she came from and that watched her wash ashore somewhere else while it remained ostracized. A place people hated and chose to ignore because of what they had known to have inhabited it, yet only chose to acknowledge it when they had something to gain. Even Crow.
Human beings are so cruel when they are fearful, to just sanction off groups of people they don't want to understand. It has happened all over history, and is still happening right now. Penikese must have so much empathy for the pain it witnessed, and I'm very glad it called Crow toward it.