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A review by skcobb
The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young
3.0
Thank you to Adrienne Young and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Overall, I gave this book 3 stars. I really really REALLY wanted to give it more, but unfortunately many areas of The Girl the Sea Gave Back fell flat for me. I loved Sky In the Deep, and because of that, I had really high expectations for TGTSGB. I've consistently listed it as one of my most anticipated releases for the fall, so I think part of my issue may have been unfounded expectations.
There are some things I really DID enjoy about this book: Young's writing style is gorgeous and she does a beautiful job of describing situations. She is also masterful at fight scenes and these epic battles she likes to incorporate. I also enjoyed the cameos we see from Eelyn, Fiske, Iri and other characters from Sky In the Deep.
Unfortunately these items didn't completely make up for the fact that I had a very difficult time connecting with any of the characters. There was very little differentiation between Tova's voice and Halvard's voice, which made the flow difficult to follow, since chapters alternated between the two. There was also surprisingly little action throughout the book, with only one or two big scenes throughout to draw you in. We spend a large portion of the book wondering about Tova's origins, and while we do get some answers, many items are just glossed over, or dumped on the reader at once. There was very little interaction between Tova and Halvard. Their relationship could be great be we get very few scenes with both characters on the page.
Overall, I do think that this is a good novel as a companion to Sky in the Deep, but just did not connect with it the way I hoped to. If you are a fan of character driven books, mystic characters, or books with a historical or viking vibe, this may be a good book for you to pick up.
Overall, I gave this book 3 stars. I really really REALLY wanted to give it more, but unfortunately many areas of The Girl the Sea Gave Back fell flat for me. I loved Sky In the Deep, and because of that, I had really high expectations for TGTSGB. I've consistently listed it as one of my most anticipated releases for the fall, so I think part of my issue may have been unfounded expectations.
There are some things I really DID enjoy about this book: Young's writing style is gorgeous and she does a beautiful job of describing situations. She is also masterful at fight scenes and these epic battles she likes to incorporate. I also enjoyed the cameos we see from Eelyn, Fiske, Iri and other characters from Sky In the Deep.
Unfortunately these items didn't completely make up for the fact that I had a very difficult time connecting with any of the characters. There was very little differentiation between Tova's voice and Halvard's voice, which made the flow difficult to follow, since chapters alternated between the two. There was also surprisingly little action throughout the book, with only one or two big scenes throughout to draw you in. We spend a large portion of the book wondering about Tova's origins, and while we do get some answers, many items are just glossed over, or dumped on the reader at once. There was very little interaction between Tova and Halvard. Their relationship could be great be we get very few scenes with both characters on the page.
Overall, I do think that this is a good novel as a companion to Sky in the Deep, but just did not connect with it the way I hoped to. If you are a fan of character driven books, mystic characters, or books with a historical or viking vibe, this may be a good book for you to pick up.