The second Novel to Sky in The Deep that moves us to the future of the clans. The book was atmospheric and well-written with moments that'll make you root for the main character.

I did not read Sky in the Deep, but this can be read as a stand alone. This is my first book by Adrienne Young. There are several positive things and several not so positive things. I felt the writing was very beautiful and descriptive. The issues I had with this book stemmed from the fact the plot was just not that interesting. The plot takes place over a few battles of a war following two characters from warring sides. I just wasn't that interested in the characters or the plot. The romance was very rushed. I will give this author another try in the future, because I did like her writing style.

Great story and loved the romance. Loved the cast of characters and how the story came to be. Great story and I would read this author again. Loved this book .

I really enjoyed everything about this book. Adrienne Young creates a masterful world you want to sit and just breathe in.

I went into this book not knowing anything about it. I was caught off guard with the Viking side of the story but quickly became immersed in the mystical side of it. I loved that she was an outsider who came into themselves and their true power and purpose. I am usually someone who needs a story wrapped up but the open ending in this novel fit the rest of the story perfectly. It actually sets up the potential for another story some where down the line.

The POV change and adjustment is a little difficult. At first you have a hard time differentiating who is speaking which is kind of awkward since it is a male-female change. The tone of the characters could definitely have been better. However, I don't think it took too much away from the overall story.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves Viking or Norse lore or enjoys a good "finding yourself" story.

I give up. Here is my official DNF. This was just dull. The writing was dry and difficult to focus on. I found myself not caring about any of the characters, the plot, the stakes...this just wasn't the book for me. If you like early 2000s feeling YA fantasy then this book might be for you.

I had a hard time trying to get immersed in this book. I didn't know it was a loose follow up to Sky in The Deep, either. I didn't read the first book, but it was very hyped and featured on Bookstagram. The cover of The Girl the Sea Gave Back is incredible and I may have based my request heavily on that fact. Oops. I am not well versed in all things Nordic/Scandinavian, and even though Adrienne Young has her own spin on those elements, I think at least a passing knowledge would have greatly helped. I am all for world-building and character development ( 2 things Adrienne Young is very good at ) but I just wasn't invested enough for those things to pay off. People who loved the first book will likely find much to love in this one as well. It just wasn't my cup of tea.
2.75 stars

*I received a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley.*

I’m thinking this writer isn’t for me. I just can’t stand the writing style and don’t care about the characters she writes about. Plus, she frequently leave out things I would love to know more about while giving info on things that I personally think don’t matter

When it comes to Adrienne Young, I cannot get enough of her work. Her style is everything that I love and her characters are always so fascinating. The worlds that she creates are so intriguing and hit all of the points that I desire. I love how she's taken from Norse mythology and made her own set of gods and mythology for her world. Unfortunately, The Girl the Sea Gave Back really fell flat for me.

When it comes to TGTSGB, I was incredibly disappointed. I had attempted to immerse myself into this book three or four times before finally sitting down and listening/reading to it this go around because I was just tired of not knowing how I felt about it. (Also, Alex has been waiting forever for me to finish it. It was time.) Unfortunately, it was just hard to continue after putting down. I found the characters to be incredibly boring and lacking and had the hardest connecting with their stories and trials. I also found that the intense and emotional parts that pertain to the ending just fell flat for me. I feel like because of the disconnect that I was feeling throughout the entire book, that I had just lost the last of my interest in how the book would conclude.

To me, I felt like the book lacked the urgent pacing that one would expect of a story that took place over a couple of days. The story is so action-packed and there is so much information thrown at you, but you don't get any sort of semblance of the setting and the characters just lacked depth for you to care about the events surrounding them and happening to them. Also! There was romance in this book, but their chemistry was practically nonexistent? I honestly didn't expect them to shack up? I thought they were just friends connected by fate or something, but I guess that was the romance? That was just hardcore lacking. I was so sad.

Overall, this book lacked the depth and intensity that Sky in the Deep had. This book felt more like a debut that Sky in the Deep did. I adored Sky. It's probably one of my all-time favorites, but Sea was just not it for me.

DNF.

I did not realize this was the second in a series when I requested it., so I ended up not reading it.

I really enjoyed the concept of this story. I wasn’t sure that I would like it at first, I chose it based solely on the cover art. And I was not disappointed. I won’t post spoilers but will say that it is definitely worth the read! I first saw this book pop up on Instagram and followed it. Glad I did.

Adrienne Young once again writes a beautiful, engaging book. THE GIRL THE SEA GAVE BACK was a wonderful continuation of the world of SKY IN THE DEEP, and it didn’t disappoint.

The further expansion on the world was magnificent. An atmospheric novel, I was immediately transported to their world. Tova was an amazing character and the perfect protagonist for this story!

Overall, I rated this a 5/5 stars. I was not disappointed and couldn’t put the book down!

I enjoyed this book quite thoroughly! I wish I'd realized *Sky in the Deep* was the first book in this series, but I think they're only loosely related.

Adrienne Young is a sea queen. When I read her books, I am entirely immersed. Her writing style is so wonderful. Tie that together with vikings, and I'm all in. ALL IN. While the pacing did have me struggling a bit, I can still see the beauty in this book.

So there was a lot of hype surrounding this book and I didn't understand it. I enjoyed it but wasn't as good as I was expecting.

I am in absolute love with this authors work and super sorry it took so long to even post the review. When life gives you lemons you definitely aren’t making much lemonade unfortunately.

This author has a way of wooing the reader and nestling them in a swaddle bundle of care. I’m loving she’s sorta standalones cause both this and her previous story can be read together but mostly separate. And we all I know I love standalones between all the series that keep coming out. The characters are easy to read and journey with along with the pace being well matched. Perfect for historical fantasy readers.

Adrienne Young is an author who's writing style I very much enjoy. Vikings are a topic I very much enjoy reading about and therefore I did enjoy this book. Sadly it was not as strong as her last book. The world building was lacking a bit and it was slow in the beginning but the ending felt rushed. I am giving it 4 stars, but it would be 3.5 if I could give half points.

Adrienne Young is a hit or miss for me. This was a hit. I never knew I needed a companion novel for Sky in the Deep but here we are. It is vibrantly written and all around beautiful.

I have fallen off of YA books while reading during this pandemic, I'm declining to review in the interest of not being overly critical because of my own reading slump issues.

Book provided to me by the publishers on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I actually received an advanced reader copy... in June 2019 (when it came out in September), but I didn't get around to reading it until now. I'm really annoyed at myself for not picking it up sooner because it was such a great read. I ended up finishing it probably within 36 hours. I really shouldn't have been reading this book because I'm meant to be studying, but the pull of this book was irresistible. I ended up reading 80% of this book in one go!

Before reading this book, I also didn't realise that it was the companion to Sky in the Deep. I own that book but I haven't read it yet, so I was worried that I wouldn't understand or like this book, but I was already over 10% into it so I decided to carry on and see if I had any problems with the book and I didn't. So you can read this book first without having read Sky in the Deep. From what I gather, this book is 10 years on from Sky in the Deep and features characters from that book but you don't have to have read that book in order to read this one. You would most likely just enjoy seeing those characters be a part of this story.

This book is a plot based book. There's not much description, world building, or character building, but I really liked it that way, yet I still wanted more from the book. The lack of the description, world building, and character building is the reason why this book didn't get 5/5 stars from me. I knew that this story was inspired by Norse mythology and set in a viking like world, so I just imagined snow and mountains. The action happens from pretty early on which results in a fast paced book. I was really sad to come to the end and I wanted to read more but there was nothing left to read. I also did enjoy the ending but it was left slightly open and made me leave the book with questions as to what happened next. I also felt like this story was unique because it tells the story from the two sides of this war. Tora on one side and Halvard on the other.

With the characters, I liked the main ones of Tora and Halvard. They were the most developed. My favourite character was probably Tora because she was so mysterious and conflicted in nature. I did like Halvard and he had the duty of a leader so he had a lot of baggage. I do wish the characters in general were fleshed out a bit more, but I still do feel satisfied with the journey this book took me on.

With this book, there is a sort of romance subplot, but it is very minor. It happens in like the last 80/90%. I understand why it was put in the book but I think it would have been better to have had a stronger part in the story because it does feel very rushed at the end. So if you are a reader who doesn't particularly like romances in stories, I would recommend this one because the romance is such a minor part that it is almost like a footnote of this story.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I think it was because I wasn't expecting anything from the story. I hadn't heard much about this book which is why I ended up really loving it. Reading this book has put Sky in the Deep higher on my tbr and I can't wait to read it and other books by this author. I also met Adrienne Young last year in 2019, and she is a lovely author that I love supporting!

I was never made aware that I had been approved for this book-You sent me a physical copy, so this is news to me!!! I am so sorry I never downloaded this.

Thank you for approving me, I only wish I'd have known and given feedback earlier.