From Adrienne Young, New York Times bestselling author of Sky in the Deep, comes her new gut-wrenching epic The Girl the Sea Gave Back. For as long as she can remember, Tova has lived among the Svell, the people who found her washed ashore as a child and use her for her gift as a Truthtongue. Her own home and clan are long-faded memories, but the sacred symbols and staves inked over every inch … sacred symbols and staves inked over every inch of her skin mark her as one who can cast the rune stones and see into the future. She has found a fragile place among those who fear her, but when two clans to the east bury their age-old blood feud and join together as one, her world is dangerously close to collapse.
For the first time in generations, the leaders of the Svell are divided. Should they maintain peace or go to war with the allied clans to protect their newfound power? And when their chieftain looks to Tova to cast the stones, she sets into motion a series of events that will not only change the landscape of the mainland forever but will give her something she believed she could never have again–a home.
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The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young is the most anticipated sequel to Sky in the Deep. Getting immersed back into the world of Vikings and ancient Gods was everything!
The story takes place ten years after Sky in the Deep. We meet new characters and see beloved characters again. Right away Adrienne will sweep you up into an adrenaline fueled rush and action packed moments. The battles were brutal and I was constantly on the edge of my seat.
Tova is a Truthtongue of the Kyrr clan, this mystical tribe that is tattooed in markings. A Truthtongue is a type of seer who uses stones with runes to see into the past, present, and future. This makes Tova a very powerful and feared person.
There were a couple reasons I decided to rate it 4 stars. First, the storyline started off slow. The excitement not really picking up until the half way mark. Then we have the possible connection between Tova and Halvard. The potential for a romance to blossom was there and it ended abruptly!! Adrienne definitely teased us readers in the romantic aspect of the novel.
Overall, I enjoyed this title immensely! I will be reading all of Adrienne’s words and I’m hoping there is another book in this series. I’ll always need need more of these characters!
The battles were brutal and awesome
Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was a bit slow to begin but it had to be with the background information. Though I did not read Sky in the Deep prior to this one and didn’t feel that I had to. I ended up truly loving this book, but it reminded me quite a bit of Vikings on the History channel and Halvard was an awful lot like young Ragnar Lothbrok. I can only hope he stays that way.
The story was about Tova who was found at six years old on the shore by a surrogate father, Jorrund. She was in a funeral boat that was partially burned out and it was obviously to him that she was a kyrr truthtongue which is a seer of sorts that uses stones like runes and reads them. He decides to use this to his political advantage and tells her that she was a sacrifice to the gods by her people. She grew up thinking that. The Svell whom she lived with hated her for being the messenger of bad things. They treated her like the things she saw where her fault even though they were the ones that would ask for the readings, mostly during dire situations or in times of war.
The battle scenes were brutal and like the Vikings TV show they were extremely detailed so that was another thing that reminded me of the same. But I was loving it. Tova tries to do what is right and nobody wants to let her, and nobody ever stands up for her. Though when it comes down to the major battle there is a scene where I found myself crying, then cheering out loud. It was an awesome moment. There were a few of those in this book. I love a lot of action.
This is the most amazing book I have ever read I love it and I recommend lots of other people read it by the way I’m two years old
Norse mytology and great characters
The Girl the Sea Gave Back is a letdown as far as Viking lore goes. That is not to say that it is terrible but rather dull as Young failed and creating engaging characters. Tova is a stiff and stoic character. Sometimes authors can make that working to their advantage. However, here it failed. Nothing is engaging about Tova as far as her narrative goes. Her voice, the tensions surrounding her and the world that she lives in it not captivating. It is easy to pity the character, but it is hard to empathize with or root for her. She is just a name on a page and not strong enough to drive the story forward.
Now Tova has a special gift for she can read the runes and see the future. This is the part of the story that is engaging. However, the fault of the story the tension surrounding her ability to see the future brings out another Viking tribe and the demise of those who have harbored her for her gift. Her visions create strife within the tribe itself as well as with another tribe, ultimately leading to war. This brings in another perspective while giving the novel more scope; his voice is also not very captivating.
Now, the pacing of the novel falters as well. It has a slow beginning, and the flashbacks take the reader out of the story. The flashbacks do not work with how the build-up of the story. They break up the flow and progression of the story by going back and forth in a non-linear way. It does help to build up the character dynamics, but the unsteady momentum does not allow the reader to connect to the character in any way.
Admittedly, the last fifteen chapters of the novel are fast-paced and differ from the previous chapters in the novel. Those last fifteen chapters are invigorating and action-packed. While the character development still is not strong enough, and the dynamics feel slightly forced, the ending does make the novel worthwhile.
I have never read a book like this. The plot was very orginal. I was hanging onto every word. 4 stars
Although The Girl The Sea Gave Back can be read as a standalone, I think I would have liked it better had I read Sky In The Deep first. I say this because I had a difficult time becoming acquainted with this world, and some cameos from past characters are presented, not that I understood, though. I absolutely love the cover art. The writing is lovely and smooth, and the story is truly unique. I’m sorry to say I just didn’t connect with the world or the characters. It’s slow going, and I had to really make myself read this book because I got bored. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this book like I expected I would. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.
I was excited to read The Girl the Sea Gave Back. Every review I read about this book painted it as a fantastic read. So, I went into this book with high expectations. I am happy to say that The Girl the Sea Gave Back lived up to those expectations. It was a fantastic read!!
The plotline for The Girl the Sea Gave Back was interesting. Tova was found in the wreckage of a funeral boat by a Svell holy man. Recognized as a Truthtongue by she is taken to the nearby Svell village. There, she is used to read runes for the leader of the Svell. Things change for her when two rival clans merge into one. Forced to read the runes, what Tova sees will change her life. People will die, and Tova will realize that she can have the one thing that she wants the most: a home.
The plotline for The Girl the Sea Gave Back was fast-paced and well written. I have a love/hate relationship with fast-paced books. I love them because the book zips along. I don’t like them because sometimes, there are plotlines that get overlooked. Which didn’t happen here.
I loved how the author had the tribes modeled after the Vikings. The tribes weren’t exactly like the Vikings, but there were enough similarities that I had pause at points and tell myself, “This is a fantasy book. Not real life.” The two essential things that stood out to me were the Tova reading the runes and the funeral boat in the prologue.
I liked Tova and man, did I feel bad for her at points in the book. What she went through was awful. The Svell hated her because she was a Kyrr Truthtongue, but they used her too. I couldn’t even imagine growing up under that type of hatred. She read the stones that told the Svell that they needed to battle Nadhir, which sets her on course to meet with Halvard. I also liked that Tova was conflicted about her rune reading. She wanted to please the leader, but at the same time, she didn’t want to cause death. I found her connection to Halvard to be interesting. I do wish that more had been explained about why she was connected to him. Something other than he was her destiny. Because I’ll tell you, it did confuse me.
The Girl the Sea Gave Back is a bloody book. There are quite a few battles between the Svell and the Nadhir. I liked that the author didn’t hold anything back when it came to describing the battles. I am not at all affected by blood and violence in a book. But some people are.
There is no romance in The Girl the Sea Gave Back. I can’t tell you all the last time I read a young adult book that didn’t have a romance. I loved it!! There was a hint of it between Tova and Halvard but it didn’t get beyond a hint.
I do wish that Tova’s background had been released sooner. I would have understood certain parts of the book better. I didn’t put two and two together until the middle of the book. And even then, it took me a while to realize who Tova was.
The Girl the Sea Gave Back is not a stand-alone book. I read it as one and was left wondering about several things mentioned in the book. Relationships and how the Nadhir were brought together were the main ones. Read Sky in the Deep before reading The Girl the Sea Gave Back.
The end of The Girl the Sea Gave Back was interesting. The way individual storylines were ended made me wonder if there will be another book in this world. I hope so because I enjoyed it. I hope that there will be more focus on the Kyrr if there is.
The girl the sea gave back is the first book of Adrienne Young that i was reading. Its a spin off of her other book Sky in the deep but it can be read as a standalone.
For as long as she can remember, Tova have always been an outcast.She’s living among the Svell, the people that have found her ashore when she was a kid and use her for her gift as a Truthtongue. She barely remember the clan she was born into. The sacred symbols and staves inked in her skin mark her as someone who can cast rune stones and see into the future. Most of the people in the Svell fear her. And when two of the easterns clans join together as one her world is close to collapse.
I found it really good. Maybe had a bit of hard time getting into it. Don’t know if it would have been different if I have read Sky in the deep first to get familiar with some of the caracters.
This is book is by one of my favorite authors Adrienne Young. She is an incredible writer who creates amazing characters in this perfect world. I’ve been waiting for this book since the preorder was first available, and I was not disappointed. It is a spectacular book that deserves all of the hype it gets!!
Boy, oh fucking boy, was this a hard read for me. I’m really, really not the kind of gal to DNF books, but making my way through this book felt like I was trying to pull myself out of slow sinking quick sand.
For one, I’ll point out the obvious that many of my fellow reviewers agree with, this book is sooooOoOo s l o w. You hit the 25% percent mark AND YOU STILL DON’T HAVE A PLOT. I feel almost as if the author confused plot with setting. Like she introduces the nations/clans, and where each nation/clan stands in her world…. and that’s it. That’s what the story is about. And listen, I love a good power-struggle story as much as the next girl, but if your focus is JUST struggling powers, then you NEED to have the characters make up for the lack of a structured storyline.
And the characters were headache inducing bland porridge. For one, the two MAIN characters completed blended together. I had to scroll back to the first page of chapters SO many times just to see which character I was dealing with because honest to god I couldn’t tell. Pair that with the fact that this book had just this MASSIVE entourage of side characters with difficult names, I could NOT keep track of anything. I literally felt so stupid at some parts because I would be like “wait WHO’S Espen again?? Oh shit he’s the LEADER of the clan??? OH that’s why the characters are making a big deal of his death”. In a story about struggle-for-power-clans YOU WOULD THINK that by the 50% mark I would be able to identify the leaders, right?
And feeling stupid while trying to read a book is definitely not a good feeling to have.
Let me take a deep breath and y’all about the writing; actually, let me take some more ibuprofen before I get into it.
The timeline on this story was completely fucked. As Doctor Who would put it, it was genuinely a “A big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff” of a mess. It would always take me a minute to see where we were in the timeline every time we jumped to a different scene. It’s like we go from Halvard’s POV and see his experience, and then jump back in time and retell the experience through Tova’s eyes. And it was NOT smooth transitions; it feels like when you get up too fast, and your vision tunnels as your body adapts to the sudden change. You’re CONSTANTLY jumping back in time if that makes sense. I mean if you read the story, you’ll understand. It always goes something along the lines of:
Halvard: *experiences beginning, middle, end of battle*
[one chapter later]
Tova: *launch back in time and experience SAME battle again through Tova’s eyes*
Which is a fine and dandy way of writing, I appreciate the ambition, but it has to be done EFFECTIVELY. In this story, I could never tell where we were in time. I’d sit back and be like, “wait is this the same day? Is this yesterday? Didn’t he already die? Are we seeing this again or is this a different character?”
I ended up DNFing this book at the 70% percent mark. I hope everyone who’s disappointed can understand, after reading this review, how this book was just not a good match for me. Like a toxic relationship, it drained my energy cause I was constantly trying to figure out what messages it was trying to send me.
One of my most disappointed reads of 2019, what a shame that such a beautiful cover was wasted :/
thank you Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the Advanced Readers Copy nonetheless!
Three and a half
Don’t you just love that cover ? Sadly for some reason the story doesn’t actually fulfil its potential. If you’ve read Sky in the Deep than you will have already met Halvard, who is a young warrior destined to become Chieftain of his Clan . Halvard has overcome so much to be who he is but the one thing he’s sure about is that he wants peace for his people and not war as no one truly benefits from it.
Tova was rescued as a small child and taken in by a Clan that both despise and fear her. Her ability to connect with the Spinners and see the future has so far kept her alive but a huge betrayal within the Svell Clan leads her to make choices with disastrous results !
If you are hoping for a romance you will sadly be disappointed as this felt more like a precursor to what could be a relationship between Tova and Halvard. I very much enjoyed the portrayal of these Norse peoples and thought that the author did a sterling job of portraying how it’s so easy to blame others for your own mistakes and actions. Tova was treated abysmally but there was a tiny glimmer of compassion from an unexpected quarter that truly warmed my heart but then bam instantly the darker tone returned.
I’m sad to say that ultimately this felt unfinished and as much as I appreciated the possibilities of the ending I did feel let down. I guess I just wanted more information, more answers particularly about Tova and her strange connection to Halvard. What I did enjoy were the strong family ties within this world and look forward to reading more about these characters.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair