DNF - Did not finish. I did not connect with the writing style or plot and will not be finishing this title. Thank you, NetGalley and Publisher for the early copy!

This chilling book is set on the real-life North Brother Island in New York Harbor, Nolden blends the island's history and current state with fictional and real people who have lived on the island for over 150 years.

I really wanted to love this book, as stories about interesting/unknown parts of New York City are definitely favorites of mine. In fact, I’ve long been a fan of the Bowery Boys podcast, which highlights a different place or a historical event in NYC’s history each episode. And their stories about North Brother Island, the General Slocum Disaster and Typhoid Mary were all fascinating. So I had high hopes for this novel. However, I had a hard time with this one. I enjoyed the historical aspects much more than the current day sections, but I still had a really hard time with the whole idea of someone being treated the way Cora was. I despised most of the men in the Gettler family! I very nearly DNF’d it but plowed on and did finish it, although I did a fair amount of skimming to get through it and see how everything would turn out. What a disappointment to find that the ending was basically a cliffhanger and that a sequel is in the works (which I doubt I will read). I really hate it when something is “sold” as a standalone, but it turns out not to be one.

Other reviewers have complained about the time jumping, but that didn’t bother me, as the sections were clearly labeled with their dates/years.

I am giving this 3 stars instead of 2 because it is obvious that the author did a ton of research to make this as true to the island’s history as she could, while still weaving a fictional tale. If you read it, do not skip the Author’s Note at the end.

While I received the eARC from NetGalley, I wound up mainly listening to the published audiobook, courtesy of my public library. The narrator, Jessica Nahikian, did an excellent job with the many voices and accents. Thank you to NetGalley and Freiling Publishing for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I received an advanced digital copy of a fantastic novel entitled The Vines by first time author Shelly Nolden. It officially was published March 23, 2021 by Freiling Publishing. I wish to thank NetGalley, Freiling Publishing, and Ms. Nolan for providing me a copy of this wonderful book and the opportunity to to express my opinions regarding it. I apologize I wasn’t able to do so prior to its publication.

The book takes place on a tiny island in New York’s East River called North Brother Island. From the late 1800’s through the first half of the twentieth century, the island was home to a hospital for persons with highly communicable and dangerous diseases, such as leprosy and typhoid. The infamous Typhoid Mary was, in fact, housed here. The novel traces the life of a woman taken to the island as a young girl for isolation and treatment of a highly contagious disease who is found still to be living on the island many years after the hospital was shuttered and the island closed to the public. Why she is still there and what she has been doing on the island is a mystery determined to be solved by the man who discovers her, but there are some, including the woman herself, who don’t want him to find out. I found the book fascinating and intriguing, from all of the many true and historical facts to the novel’s intricate plot twists and turns and to the author’s wonderfully descriptive and accurate writing style. I would love to read more from this author.

I enjoyed this book at the start but it soon got very convoluted and unnecessarily twisted. And while it could be considered a timely book, I found it really difficult to finish, though I did finish it.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in return for my honest opinion.

This had an interesting premise and at times was page-turning. It then seemed to get convoluted and began to drag.The story was made overlong by far too many over-dramatic dialogues and repetitive scenes,. I lost connection to the characters and interest in the outcome. The abrupt “cliffhanger” ending was dissatisfying and I won’t be reading the sequel.

I really enjoyed this debut novel by Ms. Nolden. She created a suspenseful and emotional atmosphere with her descriptions of North Brother Island. The characters are developed well throughout the novel and she creates drama between them with a nice twist towards the end. I had only recently heard of the island before finding this novel. It was obvious that the author had done her research when writing this book. I look forward to reading the next book that Ms. Nolden writes.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishing house, Freiling Publishing, for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions written in this review are my own. My review of The Vines can be found on Goodreads, Amazon, my Instagram and Facebook book club page, and my local library website.

The Vines starts out pretty slowly and jumps back and forth. That can make for a little bit of confusion. It took several chapters for me to get into this story but I am glad that I stuck with it. Overall I thought it was a decent story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Didn't capture my attention and engagement. Interested in trying it again though and hopefully it will take.

The vines was a great blend of science fiction, mystery and historical fiction.
I really enjoyed the multiple points of view, I’ve always enjoyed seeing things from different perspectives.

This being said, I just wasn’t invested enough in the story or the characters. I felt myself getting a little lost at points and having to reread

For men, The Vines and I are not a good fit. There's too much belief the reader needs to suspend and I couldn't connect with the characters and writing style in order to get there. Not my kind of latte.

Conceptually harrowing and dark, The Vines is a multi-pov blend of historical fiction, science fiction, and mystery. I didn’t know much about North Brother Island prior to going into this but I don’t feel like that effected my reading experience. The writing style made it a bit difficult for me to immerse myself in the story immediately and the pacing was a bit slow but the subject matter was enough to keep me intrigued throughout. I look forward to reading the sequel!

The Vines by Shelley Nolden

9781950948406

446 Pages
Publisher: Freiling Publishing, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA)
Relase Date: March 23, 2021

Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Medical, Diseases, Sci Fi, Fantasy

Cora lives on North Brother Island, off the coast of Manhattan Island, New York. She has lived there for a long time and has been a part of many medical experiments. When Finn Gettler comes to the island to explore the ruins, he meets Cora under disturbing circumstances. He doesn’t know why she lives there or why she doesn’t leave.

This book was unusual to say the least. There are science fiction aspects, but it probably could happen. Science experiments happen all the time. Who is to say that somewhere a scientist right now isn’t working on diseases to find a way for humankind to build immunities? There could be patients like Cora that we will never know about.

This book was fast paced, the characters were well developed, and it was written in the third person point of view. The author did a wonderful job with the history of the island along with the diseases contained there. After I finished reading the book, I did research on the island and the facility. I had no idea it was there or the type of diseases it held. If you like historical fiction with a mysterious medical twist, you will enjoy this one.

This was a very interesting book, and pretty timely in its fictional focus on microbiology. It spans from the present day to 1904 and some dates in between. Taking place on a secret island near NYC, the past and the present meet while a woman who is a host for a lot of deadly viruses is imprisoned and used by a family to try and discover the cures. Kind of dark, for sure. But engaging, and I cared about Cora, Finn, and Lily.

Thank you NetGalley for the copy.

I liked the concept of the book, but honestly it was a hard reading for me, I get lost between the sentences, and the main character for me was not enough I feel that we needed more of Cora.

DNF at 48% - this one just wasn't the right fit for me as a reader. I didn't jive with the author's writing style, and ultimately I wasn't invested enough in the plot or characters to look past it. I enjoyed the elements set in the early 1900s, but I couldn't connect with Finn at all which made the 2007 portions a bit of a slog. Given that this is planned to be the first in a series, I opted to cut my losses as I didn't see myself reading further books with the issues I was having up to this point. Totally down to my own preferences though!

This book is creepy with the pandemic still currently going on because I can picture it being nonfiction. Covid even makes a few appearances in the story.

The story jumps between 1904 and 2008 on an island in New York. The island is home to a hospital that studies contagious diseases that currently don't have vaccines. The Gettler family is trying to create vaccines for these diseases but they aren't going about everything the correct ways!

Thank you Netgalley and Freiling Publishing for the ARC.

An intriguing idea that unfortunately fell flat in execution.

I had a difficult time reading this book, and almost DNF'd it multiple times. The only thing that kept me going was a curiosity to find out how it ends - which was left unsatisfied as the book ends with a cliffhanger and no resolutions - and a vague sense of guilt/responsibility to finish the story. (I'm a completionist but I'm getting better.)

I didn't mind the dual timelines. With the chapters clearly labeled, I didn't find the jumps confusing, although I can see how they may be jarring to some. I did enjoy the historic chapters more than the contemporary ones, as I found Cora's story more interesting than Finn's, or Lily's.

In fact, something that really bothered me about the contemporary chapters is how male gaze-y Finn's POV is. And the book was written by a woman! <spoiler>At the very beginning, we're dropped into a scene where Finn is creeping on a bathing, naked Cora, and it's all downhill from there. From remarks on her "perfect breasts" to wanting to kiss her (with his girlfriend in the room, no less) Cora is repeatedly sexualized by Finn, which is extra-gross considering the trauma his family put her through. Finn has a raging case of white knight syndrome and I hope that, in the next installment, Cora and Lily go off together and leave him in the dust. </spoiler>

The premise was promising - a study of family, loss, and survival, medical ethics, and the suffering of the few for the good of the many. In a more skilled (or experienced) writer's hands it may have been more successful, but <u>The Vines</u> is unfortunately rather ham-fisted in its execution and leans too heavily on telling rather than showing. We're told about the characters' feelings and relationships, but I never felt any sort of love or affection between any of them. Rather than chemistry jumping off the page, we're told that Cora is magnetic, Finn and Lily are in love, the Gettlers are a tight-knit family - but it all falls flat.

It didn't help that the villains were cardboard cutouts without much nuance in motivation. Come on - an evil Nazi doctor experimenting on an Irish girl? I'm surprised he didn't twirl his mustache and cackle maniacally while doing so. <spoiler>It also didn't make any sense to me that Rollie, who was raised by Ulrich, turned out alright while Kristian, raised by Rollie, turned out to be a mini-Nazi. If Kristian was raised by Rollie as his son, wouldn't Rollie's influence be stronger, especially since Ulrich had supposedly done a 180 in his later years?</spoiler> It seemed like Nolden wanted to create conflict for the sake of conflict, and delving deeper into characters' psyches and motivations would have gone a long way here.

The science was threadbare at most, as well. While I must give credit to Nolden for doing her historical research - the story features real-life events like the sinking of the <I>General Slocum</i> and the presence of 'Typhoid Mary' on the island - the same couldn't be said of medical research. Considering the crux at the heart of the book is Cora's mysterious immunities, I expected more scientific explanation of her 'gifts'. The Gettler family spends over a century studying Cora's biology yet we don't know a single thing about how her unique situation works. Either the Gettlers are very poor scientists, or Nolden couldn't be bothered to consult a virologist. Not to mention that part of Cora's geo-based immunity is essentially unexplained as "idk, magic I guess?" I sincerely hope the science is better explained in the next book.

Overall, this was a frustrating read for me. Flat characters, zero chemistry, cliche villains, and science that demands utter suspension of disbelief just didn't work for me. While I am curious as to the resolution of the story, I doubt I'll be picking up the second installment.

This book is full of the reasons why I love to read. and also some of what I hate about books.

The good - I was curious about the setting and some of the historical context. North Brother Island is on the borders of Manhattan. There used to be a hospital on it. The hospital fell into disrepair and the island is now a bird sanctuary. This hospital was once used as a quarantine hospital and typhoid Mary was housed there for a time. These are the kinds of facts that I find interesting and when an author can make me do research into some of the topics mentioned in their book, they've succeeded in my mind.

The bad - there are some "magical" type elements to the storyline. It is meant to be a unique immunity, but really boils down to magic. I cannot say too much here without giving away a big part of the plot line. The book is timely since it speaks to immunities and communicable diseases, but we get Nazi's and inhuman experimentation carried out in the name of science.

Finn, is one of the main characters in this book and while I liked his character, I really didn't care for his girlfriend. After reading the author's note it seems that she modeled this character after some of her own struggles with illness. So, while the actions of the character may be true, it rang false to the story - at least for me.

So, this book to me was magical realism with bits of historical fiction and black and white character archetypes.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

This is an ARC I picked up from NetGalley a long time ago and I don't really remember the book description, so I'm going in without knowing much (a good thing!). At 10% in, the book is not really capturing me yet, but it is early and I do want to see where the story goes. We've got the creepy setting of an old T.B. hospital that was later used for heroin addicts and has now been shuddered for decades. The location is a small island near N.Y.C. with several old and forgotten buildings that are quickly being decayed by the elements. The island is home to some protected bird species now and it is allowed to grow wild so as not to disturb the wildlife habitat. Regarding characters, there is a mysterious woman on the (supposedly uninhabited) island who is heavily scarred and dangerous. We also have a family of two brothers, an over-bearing father, and a very ill mother. The older brother and the father are doctors. Finn, the younger brother is the main character thus far and we first meet him on the island, watching the mysterious woman and wondering who she is, and if she might have been a research subject of his father's work. Hmm...

Upon finishing the book, I gave it 4 stars. It was very impressive as a debut novel, intricately woven and inventive. The story is mainly of Cora, who is infected with several deadly pathogens, but lives a healthy and abnormally long life as long as she stays on the island. She quickly experiences the ravishes of her infections if she gets very far away from its shore. The timelines and characters in Cora's life are revealed as the reader moves back and forth from the past to the present.

I had a little frustration with inaccuracies of some of the medical science, but it doesn't detract from the storyline or the characters. As an immunologist, I am more aware of these issues in fiction than most readers.🙂 I also think there was a missed opportunity to more clearly match the historical timeline to the developments of our understanding of infectious disease immune responses. For example, there is no reason that antibodies from a patient's blood with the ability to neutralize a pathogen couldn't be found and characterized with technology that existed by the 1990's.

I enjoyed the mystery connecting Cora's biological anomaly to the island as a place. It gave the story an underlying magical or sci-fi vibe that was intriguing. It will be interesting to see where the author takes this thread in the next book. A recommended read. I thank Freiling Publishing for a copy of the Ebook.