The Girl the Sea gave back is a coming of age story about the quest for self-identity and fate. Tova and Halvard are bound by fate to each other, one to figure out her true purpose and self, and the other as a fledgling leader trying to find his place among his people. The prose was atmospheric and lush, as Adrienne Young always does. There's all sorts of twists and betrayals that make this book an pleasurable experience. My only complaint was that I wanted more Tova/Halvard scenes, but that is just a preference thing. Overall, this is a good book and a great companion novel to Sky in the Deep.

I was very excited for this book, but unfortunately found myself DNFing about halfway through. I gave it my best shot, but I simply couldn't get through. The writing is beautiful, but the story does not seem to advance. Every time I thought it was getting somewhere, there would be a POV shift and the story would rewind and I'd be reading about the same exact thing, but from a different POV.

I was not able to connect with any of the characters, and I had a difficult time understanding anyone's motivations.

I really wanted to love this book, but it simply was not for me. I'm sure other people will enjoy it, especially if they prefer prose over action. Personally, I prefer more action in the books I read, but I know other people love prose more.

Nice story, beautiful character.
Battle's scene are perfect.
The only problem is the ending because it' a little confused...maybe i need another chapter.

I received a free copy for an honest review.

The Girl Who Gave the Sea Back was quite slow-paced for a YA adventure/fantasy YA book. It’s not like it was slow only at the beginning of the book either, the entire book is progressing so slowly I feel everything was going in slow motion.

The fact that this book had so many different time jumps COMBINED with all the different alternative perspectives made this slow pace even worst, and it really ruined the reading experience and making this book almost intolerable to read.

Even at over half of the book, when so much was "at stake" and how dire the story-line is, I feel completely disconnected from the storyline and characters. That was when I realized that I could care less and this book and how much the book truly bored me.

I understand that the different time jumps and the alternative perspectives are there to make the writing style less "flat" and more ambiguous, as well as strengthening the layer of suspense and revelation to initially unanswered questions. But when it's done too much (in my opinion that's exactly what happened with this book), you completely lose the audience.

This is why you shouldn't "switch around" too much during the process of telling a story - connections, involvement, and "care" can't stick like that.

It's a shame that this book was such a disappointment, it's like I can see the effort but truly cannot connect with it.

The Girl the Sea Gave Back was a fun, action-packed Viking story. I had a great time reading this book and while there were moments that I felt were a little more boring or uninteresting, for the most part, it is just fun to read and it moves fast. I thought the ending was abrupt and confusing, it seemed like there was another chapter that was supposed to come next that just wasn't there and I didn't like that but this world is fun to be in. I think the author does a great job writing the battle scenes, they are brutal and full of action and those are definitely some of my favorite parts.

( 3.5 Stars )

The love I have for Adrienne Young's Sky in the Deep is overwhelming. I've been obsessively reading updates about The Girl the Sea Gave Back and couldn't wait to read it, hoping for just a little more of that dreamy magic.

This wasn't a sequel, which I am thankful for. I thought SITD ended on a good note that didn't warrant more exploration. But I did like how this wove things from the first book into it, and I was thrilled to revisit that world through the eyes of a new character, Tova, who I found very intriguing. She didn't strike me with the same fierceness as Eelyn in SITD, but her story was interesting and as a character I wanted to follow her and watch her grow. I was curious to see where this story would go and what full potential Tova had.

The story jumps around in time a lot, which usually doesn't bother me, but in this story I found it interrupted the flow. It seemed almost like a filler tactic to add some substance in during moments where the characters were gearing up for something... getting ready for a journey or for a war, moments that seemed to border on dragging... and these flashbacks mostly just repeated information that had already been mentioned, going into more detail but not really adding anything new to it. It seemed like wasted time that just didn't do anything to add to the overall story.

After seeing where everything ended up, it felt to me like there was one story that someone decided to split into two books, but the first part of the story didn’t have enough substance for a book on its own, so they added in these flashback moments to give more substance. Looking back at the book as a whole, nothing really happened. There were a few battle scenes, which were well described and blood riddled, but aside from that, it was just a lot of walking to villages and talking about the past.

The characters and their clans were super interesting, but I don't think the story dove deep enough into them to allow those interesting parts to enrich the story. The flashbacks could have done this, but they focused more on the events of the past that had already been mentioned, not anything actually about the clans or their history. I feel like this would have been a lot stronger if this book were more condensed and the story fully played out.

That said, I did really enjoy how the book ended and I absolutely want to see where things go from here. But as the first installment, there were a lot of elements that set it up to be a very interesting and great book, but I don't think it fully delivered. I do, however, think that whatever follows will be what I was looking for in this book. I can’t wait to read the next one. I adore this world and these characters and Adrienne Young.

When I requested this book, I didn't realize it was a companion to "Sky in the Deep." Perhaps I would've felt differently about this book if I'd read the other one.

The summary portrays Tova as the lead, but it was sometimes hard to tell that from the story. She wasn't as strong or developed as I'd anticipated. I felt that something was missing the whole time, and that may have been because I hadn't read the prior book. But, even still, the book just felt incomplete in various ways, making it feel choppy and confusing at times.

This book was a book that I was really looking forward to that really honestly let me down. I cannot remember the last time I read a book in which the plot crawled so slowly in a way that left me so intensely bored. This entire book could have been no more than a few chapters without losing much at all. It would make a decent 45-minute episode of a tv show.

Tova and Halvard were interesting enough main characters but they were both surrounded by far too many side characters that I couldn't keep track of and just left me a little more confused. I genuinely feel like if this book was half the length and involved far less moping/ruminating in the forest, it would have made a fine novella. But this just didn't work at its current length.

I enjoyed Sky in the Deep and looked forward to returning to this world, but I really struggled to get into this one. While I found Tova's character and story intriguing, I could have done without Halvard's character. This book left more to be desired. I gave this book 3 stars because I appreciated Tova's story.

I i haven’t read any of Adrienne’s books before, but even still II had high expectatives for liking this one due to the hype surrounding it, but it wasn't to be. I didn't connect to the characters, the writing got me lost sometimes with the time jumps and I felt like the plot wasn't exactly clear.

There are two main characters from rival clans: Tova, who comes from another clan and is hated on the clan she is now because she is a fortune teller and they basically fear it and hate it; and Halvard, someone from the Rikki clan who I hear is from the previous book who is now all an adult.

They find themselves in the middle of a war between their clans but they also refuse to kill each other because there is something going on between them. Tolva felt it more than Halvard did, certainly, but by the time things progressed it fell flat. So basically nothing happened there.

I truly did want to love this book and I’m sad that it wasn’t for me, though I’m sure many out there will love it!

I enjoyed reading this companion to Sky in the Deep.

In this book, we follow Tova, who is a Truthtongue, who can see what will happen in the future. She has lived among the Svell ever since she washed ashore, who thinks she is a curse brought upon them because of the markings on her skin and where she came from. The story also follows Halvard, who is trying to keep the peace between his people and the people that Tova has been living among.

I love the setting of this book and returning to this world again. Sadly, we don't see so much of the main characters from the original book but I did like to see what happened to Halvard. It was great to see different clans in this world and learning about their differences. This expanded upon it so much and was so entertaining to read.

Tova's story is so intriguing, especially learning the pieces of her past. She's a character I really enjoyed. Halvard is a familiar character because of the first book. Now, we get to see him ten years later and what has happened to the Aska and the Riki since the events of the last book. I loved returning to this world again, especially in a companion novel.

*Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of the book for an honest review. Also, thank you to Goodreads for my copy of the book. *

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free Advanced Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have to admit that I was extremely excited about The Girl the Sea Gave Back. From the moment I saw the cover, I just knew that I had to have it because yes I'm superficial and the cover is gorgeous. Unfortunately, that's the best compliment that I can give TGTSGB. Trust me, it pains me to say this.

This is the first time I’ve read anything by the author Adrienne Young and I’ll be honest in saying that, unfortunately, it didn’t live up to the hype that’d I’d created in my mind. I've heard mixed things about The Sky in the Deep, but I decided that since this was a new book and story that I would give it a try and decide for myself. I'll admit that I didn't read The Sky in the Deep and I'm not sure if that's why I didn't enjoy this or not, even though it seems to be a standalone book. There is some character overlap, from what I understand, so maybe there is mythology overlap as well.

The premise of the story is intriguing enough; a girl living with a people who aren’t her own, torn between what she knows and what fate has in store for her. War is brewing around her and only she has the knowledge of what to do next. Sounds interesting right? Unfortunately for me, the delivery was pretty confusing and the mythology was lacking. It was hard for me to understand everything that was going on and how the different tribes related to one another. The Svell, The Kyrr and the Nadhir's conflict wasn't quite explained in a way that I understood. Now granted, as I said, I haven't read The Sky in the Deep, so this could be a flaw of my own design. Still, I decided not to let that bother me and go on with the story.

There were way too many characters introduced and after awhile they all just became jumbled together. Keeping them and their motives straight became a bit too much. Some characters were mentioned and clearly from the original story, so I didn't try to worry about that too much, but the new characters that were introduced in relation to the actual plot just didn't seem to be developed enough. I couldn’t connect with any of them, including the two main characters and the story honestly seemed to drag along. I kept pushing, hoping that I would connect with the plot and story itself, but unfortunately it never came. Despite finishing the story, it just wasn’t interesting to me.

Now while I didn't personally enjoy this story, that doesn't mean you will. I went into this excited about the potential of Viking lore, but this wasn't the trip into Viking land that I expected. If you're a fan of Adrienne Young's first book, I would say definitely give this a try. I may have been disappointed by the disjointedness and unable to connect to it or the writing style, but I'm sure someone will be able to enjoy it. Despite my love for the cover, I just won't be bringing myself to by this for my personal library or others.

The Girl the Sea Gave Back is quick and ends with obvious room for future installments without being a cliffhanger per se.

Tova is a Kyrr who lives with the Svell people as a fortune teller of sorts, reviled by those who help her. Halvard is the chieftain in training for his people, on the brink of war with the Svell.

The book alternates between first person passages for Tova and Halvard indicating present action and third person omniscient for past action sequences, which creates a jarring if informative experience.

The characters feel distinct and believable, and the action sequences are engaging. It’s a nice Viking life book for a quick read.

*I was given a copy of this via Net Galley for my honest review*

4.5 stars, to be fair.

I love Adrienne's writing! She knows how to weave a tale that you can seriously get lost in. I was under the impression that this book was a standalone, however it feels kind of like a distant sequel to her first novel, Sky in the Deep (which is also phenomenal and highly recommended!).

Regardless, it felt so good to be back in this world that she so masterfully created and a welcome change to all the contemporary I've been reading through the summer. It will be on heck of a way to start the fall season, with another epic fantasy from Adrienne Young.

I thoroughly enjoyed this latest by Adrienne Young and was pleasantly surprised that it expanded the story of Halvard, whose character I fell in love with in the first book. Although it didn't quite have the same level of stakes as the first, the writing is so lyrical and enthralling that I found myself underlining delicious words to savor and finding myself swept into the story and frustrated whenever I had to put the book down to do "real life". Very much looking forward to the next one!

The Girl The Sea Gave Back is a thrilling and sweeping fantasy, with magic, fates, wars, betrayal and destiny, all linked together through two young people who wield the power to change their people’s futures.

I did not realise this was the second book in a series when I started reading it. I had not previously read the first book, Sky In The Deep, which is set ten years prior to The Girl The Sea Gave Back. Fortunately, The Girl The Sea Gave Back is a complete story in its own right, and while there are apparently some character and setting crossovers, both books can be read as standalones.

Tova is an outcast. She lives with the Svell people, casting the stones and reading the fates for them but she is not accepted as one of them, living in isolation. She isn’t sure why her own people cast her out and knows her home with the Svell is tentative at best. When the Svell leadership is rocked by conflict and betrayal and Tova casts the stones that spell destruction for the Svell, she becomes entangled in the beginnings of a bloody war with the united clans to the East. But Tova is linked with a young leader from the Eastern clans and together, though working separately, they have the power to change the future.

I loved the setting of The Girl The Sea Gave Back. I love mythology and Nordic landscapes in fantasy books, so it was a pleasure to read and I know many of our library readers will be keen to get their hands on this book. While, despite the looming war and the race for information and safety, there isn’t a lot of action that drives the plot. Instead, intrigue and the switching perspectives of the two main characters is what kept me riveted to the story. The writing style is beautiful and matches the magnificence of the setting and bond between clans-people.

Tova’s past is a mystery, her future equally unknown. Halvard has been chosen as the next leader of his clan. He too is unsure about the future, especially with the threat the Svell pose. Tova and Halvard connect mainly through brief moments in perilous situations and Tova’s gift of casting the stones. Theirs is a fated connection and the romance that blossoms between them is one that holds so much promise for the future.

I am greatly looking forward to reading Sky In The Deep and any future books that are set in the same, richly crafted world.

The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.

Adrienne Young has done it again! I can't get enough of her Viking fantasy novels. They're wonderful and enthralling and have the most badass women in fiction, ever.

Fair warning, this book can be quite brutal. The author makes it very clear that absolutely anyone can die at any time. So many of your favorite characters will not make it until the end. That
is just the brutality of war. One clan has learned to grow past it, to no longer want it - and another, with a power-hungry leader, want to take the opportunity to rule. After the events of Sky In the Deep, the newly merged tribes know war is the last thing they want - but they know how to fight.

Halvard, the cute little brother from book one, has done a serious glow up. Ten years later and he's tagged to be the next chief of the clan, a boy raised in peace to despise war. The book follows his growth as he learns to accept his new role and lead his people through a time no one wants for anyone. It is a heavy burden and he must learn not to shoulder it alone.

But the Girl the Sea Gave Back is Tova, the other protagonist of this book, and she's a mystery even to herself. An outcast in the Svell clan for being a Kyrr, she also has the ability to read runes and see the future. But what she can't she is her own beginnings. This mismatch of identity and basically abuse at the hands of the people who sheltered her drives her growth in this novel. But Tova's personal story almost takes a step back as we explore the greater story of immident war. The question that arises then is: what role does fate play in our lives? Is everything set in (rune) stone? Is war inevitable or inadmissible?

I absolutely loved how we returned to the world of Eelyn and Fiske but saw a completely different side of it. Old favorites return and we see how the end of their war has changed them. How people grow during times of peace. How a peaceful people prepares for a war they do not want. How, on the other side, power corrupts.

It's even stronger than Sky in the Deep. I loved it so much!

THANK YOU so much to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me an advanced copy of this wonderful book!!

This was incredible follow-up companion novel to [book:Sky in the Deep|34726469]!! Adrienne Young once again proves herself and incredible story-teller!

The Girl the Sea Gave Back begins it's story 10 years after the events of Sky In the Deep but is an entirely separate story with new characters. (Although we do get some small cameos from our favorite characters!) Our main character, Tova, was found on the shores of the sea when she was a small child with no memory, lots of tattoos, and the ability to see the future. Obviously, add in the viking battles and lores and we have the workings for a cool story!

If you were a fan of Sky In the Deep then you definitely want to pick this one up on September 3rd!!

This will be a spoiler free review and potentially a bit rant-y, so bear with me. I also want to thank NetGalley for providing a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I want to start this off by saying, I did not read Sky in the Deep and I also did not realize that this book is a sequel/companion novel to it. I thought it was just a new fantasy by the same author. I definitely don’t think you need to have read Sky in the Deep to read The Girl the Sea Gave Back The author summarizes and recounts in brief detail what happened in the first book, to give enough context – i.e. there was a long time feud between two clans, they fought, there were some demon-ish hordes they also fought against and it united them. (That’s super brief and definitely not wholly accurate, but you should get the point).

This book unfortunately fell short for me. When Sky in the Deep came out I wasn’t really interested in reading it, and I can’t say I’m any more interested now. There was a brief moment towards the start of the book that I was contemplating reading it, but not after how this one ended. This wasn’t a bad book per se, but I felt kind of lost and confused through the whole thing. It was hard for me to picture the world, the characters, the whole plot felt rushed and almost like we were dropped into the middle of the story…and I guess in some ways I was.

I was just left with this overwhelming feeling of meh, it could’ve been better. Maybe my expectations were unreasonably high from 1) not having read Sky in the Deep and 2) the raving reviews I’d heard about her debut. I guess on some level I expected this to be some amazing Nordic inspired fantasy, and it just wasn’t.

The time jumps that happened in this book are probably my biggest complaint besides the unbelievable romance (which I’ll get to in a moment). If done correctly (and to me, in this case, they were not) should benefit the plot, add to it, giving necessary bits of information crucial to the plot. So, other than some not so crucial backstory, they served no purpose to otherwise pull me from the main narrative. Every single time there was a time jump into the past to divulge some teeny aspect of one of the main character’s pasts, I was pulled from the story. It was annoying and more than once it made me want to stop reading. It took me days to finish this book, and I kind of had to force myself to finish it.

And the ‘romance’ between Halvard and Tova, I hated it. I’m all here for “fated to be together” but I didn’t buy it for one second. It felt too forced, and definitely not enough time passed for even “fated feelings” to happen. Feeling an inexplicable pull? I scoff.

Also, I didn’t even expect there to be a love interest, let alone a male point of view. Based on the synopsis, I thought the book would be about Tova learning who she is, and what her purpose is. While, yes she does these things, it feels rushed and cheap? I think the synopsis sells this book as something it's not, and that's a problem. The book I imagine in my head after reading the synopsis, is not the one I read.

And maybe this is explained in Sky in the Deep but the weirdly close relationship between Halvard and Eelyn? For someone who inexplicably drawn to the Kyrr Girl (Tova) he's got a weirdly close bond and it came across as he liked her more than "just friends/family". I definitely acknowledge that I might just be missing a part from Sky in the Deep, but it just felt weird.

And Halvard, let’s talk about him for a second. Not a fan. He felt more like a little kid pretending to be a mature adult than, actually being a mature (or slightly mature) adult. I get not wanting to accept mantels, and filling someone’s shoes when you don’t feel like you’re ready, but he just felt not ready. At all. The fact that he ends up in the position he ends up in at the end of the book, and everyone is like, super fine with it, just makes no sense! In a world were status is determined by strength and power, and Halvard has yet to even fight in a battle, and he’s chosen for that position. I scoff again. I don’t buy it.

AND the ending was way too happily ever after. I get it, fate and all that, but COME ON. Literally every character, well the ones who mattered, got what they wanted, whether it was to survive, or die, or be with who they want. Only the antagonist’s got what they deserved.

Ugh.

I think this book would have either 1) benefitted from being a little longer, so there is more time with the characters, so the stakes feel higher, and 2) some more editing to make the story a little more seamless and make the time jumps not so jarring. I wanted to desperately like this book. It sounded so good, but honestly fell so short. I think my rating of 3 stars is generous and I think the concept of what this book could’ve potentially been, is the thing saving it from a lower rating.

Sigh. I don’t know. The more I think about this book, the more it irks me. I need to just end this review here, before I start screaming. I thought it was going to be so good, and it just wasn’t. Will I read other books by Adrienne Young? Possibly, maybe if they aren’t set in this world, but I highly doubt I’ll read Sky in the Deep any time soon. I would say, if you read the first one, you should probably check this one out, hopefully you like it more than I did. This is probably not a book I’ll be adding to my personal library, despite how much the cover makes me want to buy it.

*Will go live on my blog on July 26, 2019 at 8 AM EST. Link provided below.

The Girl the Sea Gave Back, is not a bad book by any means, but after loving Adrienne Young's Sky in The Deep, this one just didn't grab me the same way. Not sure if it's just a mood read, but it took me a really long time to get into this one.

You don't have to read the first book to enjoy this one. This book is ten years after the fact, so there are hints of what happened in the first book, but this story is complete on its own. I do like that we get to see different tribes in this one that have different cultures. Tova's journey is definitely an interesting one, but you do need to suspend some believe about it.

I think part of what lost me on this book is that it tends to go back and forth from present day to the past to explains things for both Tova and Halvard. I felt like it was a bit too much and it took me out of the story a little bit. I also didn't really love the romance in here. I like romance in my books, and I don't mind a slow burn, but this one just felt so subdued. Like so much, that it might have well not even existed. It was super subtle, which some readers might like, but I just felt like it didn't feel necessary or right for this story.

I love books that are based in Norse culture or inspired by it, and this book did give me Skyrim Feels just like Sky in The Deep, but it just didn't wow me like the author's first book.