Monday, January 6, 2020

The Girl the Sea Gave Back

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The Girl the Sea Gave Back is a 2019 young adult fantasy novel by Adrienne Young. It was published by Wednesday books. It is part of the same series as Sky in the Deep, but reading Sky in the Deep prior to this novel is not necessary to understanding it. In the interest of full disclosure, I didn’t read Sky in the Deep prior to this novel, so please keep that in mind for this review. The novel can be purchased here from Bookshop.org.

The novel follows Tova who has lived among the Svell people after being found washed ashore in their lands as a child. She is a Truthtongue, able to read portents and see in the future, which is a gift the Svell have used to their advantage for years. With two nearby clans joining together, the chieftain of the Svell looks to Tova to advise them on what course of action to take. By looking into the future, she sets into motion a series of events that could change everything. The conflict could give Tova the one thing she thought she’d never have again- a home.

The Girl the Sea Gave Back doesn’t have one protagonist but two. Tova is a Truthtongue and half of the novel follows her story. The other main character is Halvard, the man who will be the next chieftain of the Nadhir people. The Nadhir are the group the Svell are debating whether to go to war with or not. Switching between Tova and Halvard’s perspective, the conflict between the two group draws the pair close together and it’s clear from early on that the two share a connection. Given that I would describe the story as being more plot-driven than character-driven, there’s not a lot I can say about Tova or Halvard. Halvard is a young man, only 18, who is unexpectedly called to lead his people in the midst of a crisis. He wants to lead his people in the best way he can, but has no idea how to do that. Tova is an outsider who has always wanted a place to belong but has never found it. Despite her abilities making her valuable to the Svell, a number of them want her dead and believe her to be cursed. As expected, Tova finds a place to belong over the course of the story and Halvard learns how to lead his people.

Aside from the two main characters, there are a few others worth mentioning, most of whom are Svell. Jorrund is a Tala, a religious figure, of the Svell. He was the person who found Tova as a child. While there are moments where its clear he cares about his surrogate daughter, one starts to wonder if he cares about her or the power her abilities give him the more the story progresses. Vigdis is one of the tribal leaders of the Svell and becomes the new chieftain after the old one, his brother, is killed early in the book. He’s the villain of the story, being responsible for both the main conflict, the war between the two peoples, and the inner conflict Tova feels throughout the story. There are a number of friends and mentors Halvard has, but the most interesting of which is Kjeld, who is one of the Kyrr. The Kyrr are another tribe that live on the headlands of the sea, while the other tribes live along fjords and the coasts. Tova is also one of the Kyrr, although she remembers very little of her homeland, as she was found by the Svell at the age of six. She believed they had cast her out and left her to die. The two Kyrr meeting in the midst of this conflict pushes Tova further in her journey of self-discovery and changes the tide of the war.

One of the central themes of the book, and most consistent one, revolves around destiny. Tova is perhaps the only character who fully understands how fate works, given that she can see the future. Everyone else, especially the Svell, are under the impression that nothing is destined to happen, even as events she predicts come to pass. An interesting pattern I noticed was the unspoken idea of self-fulfilling prophecies. In telling the Svell the future she sees in her omens, is she causing it to change or would things always turn out this way? This idea is something she struggles with in the middle of the book when she believes that her casting stones, the way she sees the future, about whether war is wise led to the destruction of an entire village. She believes her reading caused the destruction, while it could be argued that it was the Svell’s leadership’s actions that are responsible. The connection between Halvard and Tova is hinted to be as a result of destiny. When she looks into her own future, she sees him and this causes her to seek him out to understand why.

The story is told mostly in first person from Tova and Halvard’s alternating perspectives. The prologue and a few chapters that take place in the past are told from the third person perspective and give insight on both narrators’ childhoods and events that shaped who they are. I’m normally not a fan of alternating perspectives because, more often than not, I think that they don’t serve a purpose. I often see alternating POVs being used to serve a plot twist rather than something that serves the plot itself. Alternating perspectives are effective in this story because Young doesn’t just show events from two different perspectives, but also provides extra context along the way. Being told from only one perspective would make the story feel a little disjointed and the climax wouldn’t make as much sense.

I found the story and the world enjoyable. The clans are inspired by Viking history from what I can tell and it shows. Young does an excellent job weaving the story together and explaining aspects of the world without making it seem like too much or too little. Each clan felt unique, as did their way of life and beliefs. It was the most enjoyable coming of age story, and self-discovery story, that I’ve read in a while. And, while certain aspects of the plot are a little predictable, I liked the risks the author was willing to take. The Girl the Sea Gave Back isn’t a story where only specific character archetypes die. it’s not a story that’s entirely black and white and the gray area leads to some interesting character dynamics and changes to the plot. Characters you’d think are one-dimensional actually have quite a bit of depth and characters who appear trustworthy turn out not to be.

One thing I wish there had been more of was explanation about the Kyrr. There is a scene at the very beginning of the book, showing how Tova ended up in the Svell village, but aside from that not much about that group is explained until the very end, and even then, it’s not much. I suppose the reason for this could be to keep the Kyrr as mysterious as possible. Depending on which character is describing the Kyrr, they’re either demons or this strange, almost mystical race that no one knows much about. Another critique I have is the pacing of the story. The main conflict between the Svell and Nadhir is concluded in the span of about 10-20 pages and the way it was resolved felt a tiny bit forced to me. If the ending went on for a little longer, or the closing events felt less contrived, I would’ve enjoyed the story a lot more.

The Girl the Sea Gave Back is a book that I found by random chance. I picked it up on a whim due to both the title, which intrigued me, and the cover art which is beautiful. I was happy to discover that the story within its pages more than met my expectations. It’s not a perfect book, but better than I expected it to be. The fantasy aspect doesn’t make the story too difficult to follow, making it an ideal choice for someone looking to start reading fantasy. It’s also a novel that is easy to read quickly, once the first few chapters are over and the story truly starts. I would recommend and I plan on reading the author’s first book that takes place in this world.

Rating: 3.9 stars

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