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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2019 in Review

Hello Everyone and Happy (almost) New Year! 2019 is pretty much over and its been quite the year. As I look back on the last 12 months, I've been thinking a lot about the books I've read. So, let's talk about all of the books I read in 2019 and what my thoughts were.

First, what are the books that I read?

Anomaly by Jessica Gilliland

Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

The Body in Question by Jill Ciment

Bone Quarry by K.D. McNiven

Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Days of Rock & Roll by Kelly Holm

Dune by Frank Herbert

Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert

Feathers and Fae by Crystal L. Kirkham

In A Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

The Mechanoid Cries Within by Brock T.I. Penner

Nightmare Escapade by Waylon Piercy

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

The Power by Naomi Alderman

The Scarred God by Neil Beynon

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

Facts and Figures:

In 2019, I read and reviewed 20 books and one short story. My breakdown of how I rated them is below:

Overall, 2019 was  a pretty good year. (I did round scores for this chart, since in a lot of my reviews, I give decimal scores and not whole numbers.)   I somewhat enjoyed the majority of books that I read and thoroughly enjoyed more than I expected to.

I read a number of different genres as well. 8 thrillers, 2 horror, 3 fantasy, 3 literary/general fiction, four science fiction and one non-fiction. While my experience shows that I'm not the biggest fan of thrillers, reading so many did help me figure that out and I'm willing to, one day, give the genre another chance possibly.

Best and Worst

The best book I read in 2019 overall was Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow. This was also the only non-fiction book I read. The best fiction book I read was Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson. The two runner-ups for fiction were Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens and Dune by Frank Herbert. The worst book I read was The Body In Question by Jill Ciment.

Overall, 2019 wasn't a bad year for me reading-wise. Bring on 2020.

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Catch and Kill

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators is a 2019 nonfiction book by Ronan Farrow. It chronicles his investigation into sexual harassment and assault claims against Harvey Weinstein, which broke in October 2017. It also depicts the attempts by Weinstein and his allies to prevent the story from ever seeing the light of day. Farrow published the story in The New Yorker and the publication shared the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service with The New York Times for the story. The term “catch and kill” refers to the practice of disreputable news sources, usually tabloids, buying the rights to a particular story, “catch”, in order to bury it, “kill”, on behalf of a third party.

Many reviews label this book as “part spy thriller, part investigative journalism piece” and that description is rather apt. Farrow effortlessly blends events he experienced with testimonies about things happening behind the scenes and things behind the scenes read similar to a spy thriller. In what began as a story about the allegations surrounding one man, Farrow unknowingly found himself entrenched in a plot to hide the truth and uncovered a network of “fixers” from high-powered attorneys to ex-spies all trying to bury the story. If not for Farrow and his producer’s determination to tell this story, it would’ve been buried, as many earlier accounts and charges against Weinstein were.

While the Harvey Weinstein expose, and its connection to the #MeToo movement, are enough to get someone interested in the subject of the book, it’s the behind-the-scenes events that made me continue reading. Because Catch and Kill isn’t just about Harvey Weinstein or his victims. It’s also about the people at NBC, the network Farrow was working at when he started his investigation, who tried to kill the story. It’s about the network of private investigators, lawyers and businessmen trying to interfere with the investigation and find some weak spot, or blackmail material, to make him drop the investigation. And, its about the tidal wave of stories, many so similar to the stories told by Weinstein’s victims, that have been printed and told since.  

I personally found it fascinating, in a sad and somewhat troubling way, the lengths that were gone to in order to try and stop the story from breaking. Initially, hearing that NBC tried to prevent the story’s release sounds ludicrous, but as Farrow outlines the timeline of events, the cover-up becomes less surprising and more saddening. It’s saddening that a news organization bowed to the external pressure Weinstein’s team put on them. It’s disturbing the incidents NBC was keeping under wraps internally due to the predator in question being a popular morning show host. It’s also frustrating hearing about how “everyone knew” what was going on, but until the story gained attention, only the victims were willing to say anything. 

Catch and Kill is a difficult book to read. It’s very hard to read the accounts of Weinstein’s victims without feeling some kind of emotion. When I was discussing the book with someone, I described it as the following: this book makes you mad, but in the best kind of way. This is a tale that’s supposed to make you angry, supposed to make you want things to change, and it does. Farrow deserves all of the praise he’s received for this book, not just from a journalistic perspective, but also from a technical one. The story is well-structured, well-paced and draws the reader in in a way that few other nonfiction books seem capable of. While I’d definitely say this book is not for everyone, I’d recommend it to anyone even thinking of giving it a try.

Rating: 4.9 stars

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Nothing to See Here

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Nothing to See Here is a 2019 novel by Kevin Wilson. It was published in October of 2019 by Ecco, an imprint of Harper Collins. It became a New York Times Bestseller and was named a Best Boom of the Year by New York Time Book Review, The Washington Post, People and several other newspapers and magazines. The novel can be purchased here from Bookshop.org.

The novel tells the story of Lillian, a young woman who works a dead-end job when she’s suddenly contacted by a close friend from her old boarding school Madison. Despite having not seen her for ten years, Madison reaches out to Lillian asking for help with her stepchildren who will soon be coming to live with the family. Lillian agrees to be the children’s caretaker and its only after agreeing to take the position that she learns the twins have a strange affliction- whenever they become upset or angry, they catch fire. Despite the strangeness of the situation, Lillian and the twins begin to trust each other and stay cool, but the machinations of Madison’s politician husband may ruin everything.

The story is, when boiled down to its basic elements, a family drama wrapped up in a story of magical realism. As a result, as with most family dramas, there aren’t an abundance of characters. There are only five or six characters that are seen often enough and given enough personality to warrant discussing. Lillian is the point-of-view character and at the beginning, she’s directionless. She has a dead-end job, a dead-end life and it seems like she agrees to Madison’s proposal because she doesn’t have a reason not to. Once the twins enter the picture, her interactions with them start to show the reader the person she really is. She’s also, seemingly, the only person in the story who isn’t overly perturbed by the situation. The twins are 10-year-olds Bessie and Roland, and they’re actually pretty sweet kids. When I read the blurb for Nothing to See Here, I was expecting the “kids who catch fire when they get upset” characters to behave sort of like Draco Malfoy. I thought I’d hate them; they’d be complete brats who use their gift to terrorize any nanny, teacher or authority figure who told them “no”. Instead, they’re just lost children. They both have issues they need to work through, mostly focused on their mother’s death and their father abandoning them when he divorced their mother, but from almost the first time they appear, it’s clear that the twins are just as scared of their abilities as anyone else. Madison is Lillian’s old friend and Bessie and Roland’s stepmother. She appears to be the perfect wife for a Senator and lives the perfect life. I won’t lie, I hate Madison. I was supposed to hate her. Madison is a character that’s all about appearance and meeting expectations. She went to a prestigious boarding school, because she came from a wealthy family; she went to an elite college because that’s what was expected of her; she married a politician and had an adorable, well-behaved son because that’s exactly what she was supposed to do. Everything she does in the story is about making sure that the family’s image, and her husband’s political ambitions, don’t run into any roadblocks. The twins need to be kept out of sight, with no one aware of their abilities, because it could cause the Senator some unneeded press coverage. Lastly, there is the Senator, Jasper Roberts. He’s a Senator, one who could become the next Secretary of State and by far, the closest thing this story has to a true villain. He’s a complete and total jerk and that’s the nicest way I can say it. if Madison’s main focus is split between the family’s image and Jasper’s ambitions, then his is solely on his political aspirations. He’s decided he going to become the next Secretary of State, and no one, not even his children, are going to get in the way of that. When first introduced, he just seems like an arrogant man, a stereotypical politician who talks a lot but means nothing, As the story progresses, you realize that Jasper only cares about Jasper. He divorced the twins’ mother and decided to pretend like they didn’t even exist and weren’t related to him anymore. He barely interacts with any other characters for much of the story, but when he does appear, I want to crawl into the book and deck him in the face. As I said, he cast of characters is very small.

Nothing to See Here is by far the funniest book I’ve read om 2019. Wilson does an excellent job of mixing humor into a story that would otherwise be a very somber, or downright tragic one. Rather than avoid illuminating the weirdness of the characters or the bizarreness of the situation they’re in, he leans into it, which not only makes the story unique, but compels the reader to keep turning the page. The characters are quirky and strange and the narrative embraces that before using the humor to hit the reader in a way they didn’t see coming. The plot is original in a way no other book I’ve read this year is. Wilson’s skills as a writer must be commended, as not many could take such a strange concept and make it work so effortlessly.

While I did enjoy the book overall, I did feel slightly let down by the ending. I was happy to see that the twins and Lillian all ended up in a situation that was good for them. The resolution of what should happen with the twins was the best possible outcome that the story could have. It was as close to a “happy ending” as one could hope for. The thing that disappointed me were the lack of consequences for other characters though. Jasper never gets what he deserves. Neither does Madison for that matter. They face some consequences, but not as many or as severe as I would’ve liked. While I couldn’t find a smug satisfaction at how Jasper and Madison’s storylines ended, they do reflect the most realistic outcomes. In the real world, a Senator and his wife would get off the hook with little to no real consequences. Still, I would’ve liked at least one of them to be hurt a little more by the result of their own actions. My disappointment at the conclusion is probably a sign of Wilson capturing the real world so effective. Things aren’t wrapped up neatly in a nice little bow, regardless of how much we want them to be.

Nothing to See Here is an inventive, hilarious story. It stands out as one of the best books I’ve read this year. I found the premise very refreshing and I could’ve read another 200 pages and still wanted more. Kevin Wilson weaved a unique, relatable story while also keeping it grounded enough to appeal to many different types of people. I’d recommend any fan of literary fiction or magical realism get it a read.

Rating: 4.8 stars

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Bone Quarry

Bone Quarry is a 2019 science fiction and thriller novel by K.D. McNiven. It was self-published in November of 2019. I was provided with an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The story follows a team of marine researchers trying to discover why a number of dead fish are washing ashore off the coast of Brazil. On their first dive to collect water and coral samples, they discover what looks like an underground graveyard heaped with bones, both human and animal alike. After calling in a paleontologist to investigate their findings, the team discovers they might be dealing with a dinosaur believed to be extinct for millions of years. The research trip soon turns into a quest for survival as they find their lives threatened both in and out of the water.

Bone Quarry was a book I found myself somewhat disappointed in. This story could very easily be a good, strong thriller, with just enough sci-fi to explain how the events of the plot could happen. Unfortunately, it waffled on both fronts. There isn’t a great deal of science in this science fiction story and based on my limited knowledge of the scientific fields shown in this story, there wasn’t enough research done. Additionally, for a thriller, it stops being very thrilling early on. About 30% of the way through the story, the reader is shown the person responsible for the creation and care of the animals responsible for the underwater graveyard. From that point, it isn’t difficult to figure out where the story is going to go and what’s going to happen in the end. It’s your classic evil scientists vs. good scientists battle. The problem with this reveal happening so early is that it really slows the plot down. By this point, the reader already knows what the animal is, and now we know who’s responsible, so the middle part of the novel, where the team is looking for proof and runs into more trouble, falls flat. It starts to get boring as the research team sets up traps and cameras to catch the animals in action and the shady scientist tries to keep them from digging further. Additionally, the search for evidence about the dinosaurs is taking place at the same time that the research team is still trying to figure out why a bunch of fish are dying. Meaning that, in at least one part, the dinosaur hunt is sidelined in favor of trying to find the source of the fish deaths. It’s jarring and I feel like, if they’d found the answer to the fish mystery, and then the plot became about the dinosaur, it would flow a lot better.

The characters themselves aren’t overly interesting and the reason for that becomes obvious the further into the book you read. Meg, the dive team leader and main character, and Rourke, the paleontologist they call in regarding their findings, are the only ones that have any real development or somewhat consistent behavior. A good deal of the “character moments” are very straightforward scenes of people talking about whatever event just occurred and how they’re going to find answers. Dialogue is necessary for storytelling, but a lot of it feels flat. Certain characters will flip-flop their feelings on the situation from one page to the next and almost no indication of why is given. As an example, as things get more dangerous, one character, Jayden, keeps insisting that he needs to come along with the others as they investigate, but there’s never any real motive given as to why. As for the antagonists in this story, they’re entirely one-dimensional. There’s the scientist that’s fascinated by this horrifying animal, one who regrets how things turned out and that people have died, but is in too deep to stop now and lastly, the shady businessman providing the money. Their interactions are all cliché, their arcs conclude in the most predictable way possible and I spent a number of pages thinking “get on with it”. Speaking of characters and character dynamics, Bone Quarry has an aspect that’s really not needed in this type of story, and that’s a romantic subplot. Meg happens to be Rourke’s ex-wife and in between trying out outrun a man-eating dinosaur, they start to reconnect, which just felt unnecessary and tacked on. Not every story needs a romance, especially if it adds almost nothing to the plot.

While I have some criticism of the story, it isn’t all bad. The cover design is mesmerizing. The tension of the story, up until the mad scientist reveal, did create a sense of suspense. I’m of the opinion that, had the reveal happened later in the book, I might’ve liked it better. I appreciated the attempt to give very detailed and accurate descriptions, even if it didn’t always work out. Another thing I liked was that the “creature feature” aspect of the plot wasn’t the reason why the team went to the Amazon in the first place. The dinosaur running around Brazil wasn’t the reason dead fish were washing up on the beach. I know this might not seem like an important detail, but I would’ve been annoyed if the dinosaurs were somehow responsible for both the dead humans and the dying fish population. McNiven clearly was passionate about this story, but there were a few things that need adjusting in order for it to read well.

Bone Quarry is an average book, but it had a lot of potential. There were just too many story elements missing, or introduced too early to keep the reader engaged. Thrillers are meant to be thrilling, but this one lost my interest about a third of the way through it. The author clearly has a passion for this type of story, but there’s a lot that could be improved upon. There was potential for a story similar to Lake Placid here, but by revealing too much too early, the story as a whole began to fall apart and fall flat. It’s a fun read, if you’re willing to not get too invested and just go along for the ride.

Rating: 2.7 stars

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