The Girl The Sea Gave Back- book review

Hello all! 

It’s time for mass celebration, because I actually remembered that Wednesday is blogging day. 

Today I’m going to review The Girl The Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young. I just finished it last night, and I’m just a little bit lost on what I’m supposed to do with myself now. 

This is the companion novel to Sky in The Deep. It takes place in the same world, with many of the same characters, but ten years later. Here is the blurb. 

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 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.

I’m going to give this book four stars. 

The story was there. I loved the twists and turns it went on, and the characters were great. What the blurb doesn’t tell is that we actually get to be in Halvard’s (Fiske’s younger brother) point of view for half of the book. It was an interesting dynamic and I loved how distinct the two voices were. Tova’s perspective was full of eloquent words, deep analogies, and nature references, where Halvard’s voice was much more straightforward and to the point. It was very fun seeing the different details each of them picked up as important. 

I thought the plot worked really well, especially the big twist right at the end. Really there were only a couple minor things holding this book back from being a five star for me, and maybe they’re just personal preference. 

It was a little bit harder to read. Besides having alternating viewpoints, it also jumped around to different years and places, so I had to slow down and pay attention a bit more to where I was. It made sense though. There was no head-hopping or anything that heinous, just a different style that I had to think about a little more to comprehend what was going on. 

Some of the things with world-building confused me. I know she probably didn’t have the idea for this book while writing Sky in the Deep, but there were aspects of the magic and culture that were never mentioned in Sky, and yet everyone knew them in this book. It just felt a little disconnected, because a lot of it was never explained through the eyes of a character who was just learning these things, so I didn’t really understand it all. 

I had one issue with Tova, in that her excuse for the whole book was that she didn’t know these bad things were going to happen. Which was odd to me, because the instant the Svell wanted her to cast the stones, I knew what outcome they wanted, and I knew they were going to act on it and kill people. I don’t really see how she couldn’t have known that. If there would have been just a line or thought as she was casting the stones to clear up her confusion about it, it would have been much more believable. 

This probably seems like a negative review, but I promise, it’s not. All of these things were actually very minor in the grand scheme of the story. The plot and characters all came together nicely, and I was thrilled to get to see a bit of Fiske and Eelyn again (even though it wasn’t nearly enough. Never enough Fiske). 

It was fun to be in characters heads who weren’t battle thirsty. One thing that was so gripping about Sky was that everyone was after blood. The Girl The Sea Gave Back takes that same culture, but flips it to a different perspective, and that gives the whole book a fresh, yet familiar atmosphere that was super fun to read.

As far as content goes, there wasn’t much. Nothing sexual at all, no language, and very little detailed, gruesome violence. They fight, sure, but there weren’t many gritty details. Like with Sky, there is talk about gods and prayers and sacrifices. I personally don’t mind as long as it’s in a world that isn’t our own, but for others who disagree, know it’s in there. “The gods” actually play a much more active role in this book than they did in Sky, which was a bit odd to read, but it worked out. Other than that the book was squeaky clean. 

Hopefully this review hasn’t scared you off from reading the book. It was good. It was worth the read, and I’ll be reading it again. The main issue was I went in with preconceived notions based on what Sky in the Deep had been like. The Girl The Sea Gave Back is a totally different style and angle, and once I came to grips with that I was able to plow through the book and love every second of it. Give it a try! 

Have you read Sky in the Deep or The Girl The Sea Gave Back? What did you think? What good books have you read lately? I need a cure for a book hangover.