The Gifts is a book about two competitive physicians in the 1800s, one of whom stumbles across a women with a set of wings. As the book progresses, several more women develop wings. I thought the premise sounded interesting and I love a good historical novel with magical realism or fantasy elements!

Oh man. Where to start? Well, first of all there are a bunch of different perspectives that changed way too fast for me and it was very hard to keep up with who was talking and what was going on.

Second, there is a very descriptive act of killing a dog at the beginning of this book that almost made me DNF it right there. It's done in the name of science but I found it very graphic and honestly wish I could delete it from my mind because I keep thinking of it at random times. I honestly wish I did DNF the book because later, women are kept captive and are also described in terrible conditions. I don't think that I'm a super sensitive reader, but these plot elements really bothered me.

If that's not enough, I didn't connect with the characters at all and the plot was super thin. I ended up skimming a lot of the book and wish I DNFed it sooner to save myself the time. The premise was cool but none of the other elements helped bring up to anything that I was interested in reading.

I do not recommend reading this book because I found it very upsetting. I'm giving this book one star because honestly wish I hadn't read it, if only because of the death of the dog. While this wasn't my cup of tea at all, if you are more into gore, morally gray or immoral characters, and old-timey medicine, you might like this better. HUGE CW for animal abuse, though. Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the electronic advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a great read and I really enjoyed it. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC.

Dark, yet hopeful, fantasy set in the Victorian era. In The Gifts, we follow four women, disparate, but connected by fate, and the man whose actions bring them together. Etta wants to be a botanist, but is disregarded by most, and lives a solitary life in the caretaker's cottage near her family home. Natalya, a storyteller, is also alone, cast out by family and traveling to London to hopefully find a fresh start. Mary, an aspiring journalist, lives with her uncle Jos, who had taken her in after the deaths of her parents. Jos' recent struggle with alcoholism leads to Mary having to fight to keep them afloat. And Annie, an artist, lives with her husband, Edward, an up and coming surgeon with dreams larger than his means. These four women, each with their own gifts, are drawn together by unexpected and magical circumstances. But powerful women are always held back, in this case by Edward, the doctor with dreams of grandeur and a serious God complex.

First off, content warning for animal abuse. I hate reading about it, though I get why it's included, to help set the stage for some other despicable events that occur later in the novel. Other than that, I was immersed in this vivid historical fiction piece and the magical realism within. Though the very beginning was a bit confusing for me with the changing pov, each of the protagonists have their own unique voice, and it became clear as the story progressed. I loved Etta, Natalya, Mary, and Annie, and sympathized with their struggles. And as you would expect, despised Edward. The small romance element was sweet, not integral to the plot, but enjoyable nonetheless. The setting is realistic, and it feels like this could have truly happened in the Victorian era, with history none the wiser. The ending perfectly wraps up the story. Though on the longer side, the short chapters make this novel easy to digest. Well worth the read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was so well written. I was engrossed from the first page and it ticked all the boxes of my expectations. The character development was excellent. I would definitely recommend to others, a must read!

I gave this a two out of five stars. I lost interest while reading this. It was pretty boring to me and I didn’t care about the characters.

I received this and as an eARC to read for free in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for giving me access.

This had all my favorite things; historical fiction, mystery, and fantasy. The Gifts is a complex novel with many layers. We follow multiple POVs, each with their own story and you can't help but to become invested in them. That being said, this one may better off be read as an audiobook to better differentiate between the POVs, but would still recommend giving it a try.

AHH! I am so thankful to Liz Hyder, Sourcebooks Landmark, NetGalley, and so many more for sending me both a physical copy and digital access to this twisty thriller before publication day which is April 25, 2023.

TW: animal cruelty, pregnancy losses, torture

Umm...it was interesting for awhile but then it didn't really go anywhere? There was no explanation, it just ended...is it even worth 3 stars? Probably not.

This was a good book, told in 5 different point of views, four of which are women, it also takes place in 1840, so if you enjoy your historical fiction with a little bit of mysticism then this would be for you. Etta, a biracial young female is out in the fields looking at various plants (she has an interest in botany) when she suddenly sprouts a set of wings. Mary another young woman lives with her Uncle Jos (who isn't really her uncle) in cramped quarters and hears about an Angel that had been dragged from the Thames River, she immediately starts to investigate (she's a budding writer). Edward, a doctor, had also heard about the Angel and had purchased the body from the person that found it, the body is of a female that has wings, he decides to dissolve the flesh and make a skeleton from the bones. Alice is Edward's wife, a gifted artist she is in the process of creating a painting of Edward, one that may make him very unhappy. Natalya is an outcast from her village and has journeyed to London in search of her cousin who she hopes will help her settle, she finds out that her cousin had passed and finds herself all alone, she's in a church one day when she suddenly sprouts wings. All of these points of view are very engaging and enjoyable, the whole story reads very quickly, each chapter is only a few pages long. The ending was brilliant and I would highly recommend. Thanks to #Netgally and #Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC.

This story has so much to offer: a dark gothic 19th-century feel, strong feminist protagonists, and magical realism as more "angels" appear.

A greedy (nasty) surgeon and four women tell this story. And while the characters are all interesting and well-written, I struggled with the separateness of their perspectives.

I also do not handle animal cruelty well, and the surgeon proves to be a vile man to all his "subjects." That is probably why he is a fitting villain for this tale.

The book delves into themes of greed, faith & science, as well as, class and power. While I would have enjoyed more of the fantasy element, I can understand the author wanting to maintain a strong historical atmosphere.

Thank you @bookmarked for the gifted book

Have you ever read a book and felt completely unsure about what you just read? That's sort of how I'm feeling after reading The Gifts. This book is a mix of historical fiction and fantasy that follows several different women in 1800s England as they confront societal views and pressures. I wanted to love this as it has many of my favorite things...fantasy, historical fiction, women confronting the patriarchy, etc., but something about it just didn't work as well as I'd hoped.

Let me start with the positives....

I really enjoyed the mix of science and religion in this book. We have a villain who is a scientific mind, but becomes convinced that God is sending him signs. The more he comes to believe that he's divinely chosen, the more he loses sight of logic and his morality. I thought that was explored well and in some ways relevant to some of the conflicts in the world today.

I also appreciated the look at women's roles in society. We have four strong, smart women who are basically held captive, sometimes figuratively and sometimes literally, by society's wants and needs. I thought this depiction was quite accurate to the times.

I also commend the author for coming up with a unique way to discuss medical development and experimentation in the 1800s. This is a concept that is explored a lot (The Way of All Flesh and Anatomy come to mind as recent examples), but this book takes a completely different approach. I didn't always love the choices the author made, but she certainly can't be accused of repeating previous narratives.

That said, there was a lot that didn't work for me..

While I love the idea of having four different women narrating the story, I felt that it wasn't executed as well as it could have been. Occasionally, the POVs sound too similar and at times it made the story a bit clunky.

There are some pretty graphic depictions of animal abuse and experimentation on a dog. I understand that that might be authentic to the times that this book is set in, but it sort of crops up (at least the first time) with zero warning. I'm not even someone who is particularly squeamish, but had I known that scene was coming I'd have skipped over it. While I get that the author was trying to show who this scientist was ethically, I don't really think such detailed scenes of animal cruelty were necessary. I think it was used for shock value more than anything.

The elements of magical realism (the women sprouting angel wings) were interesting, but only explained in the vaguest of possible ways. There was some insinuation that the wings crop up due to extreme emotional duress, but it's never explained how or why. Is this an act of God? Is this a genetic anomaly? Why does it only happen to some women instead of all women who have suffered severe trauma? I wish the book had gone further in explaining what was happening.

The previous paragraph is quite funny when you consider that otherwise, the telling and explaining was quite heavy handed. We are spoon fed a lot of details about the setting, the characters, and the villain. It's only when it comes to the magical realism that the flow of information dries up. This is one of those cases of the book telling not showing overall.

And the conclusion...I got through the entirety of this book hoping that something profound would happen at the end to save it, but it was a fade to black for the most part. It sort of felt like the author was unsure of how to explain this magical element, so she just avoided it by giving us a vague ending.

All in all, if you enjoy historical fiction about the 1800s with magical realism elements, you might enjoy this one.

*Thank you to Netgalley, Liz Hyder, and Sourcebooks Landmark for the E-ARC of this book. This in no way affects the objectivity of my review.

I was so excited about this book, the premise and the comments from fellow reviewers. I was not ready for so much animal cruelty in the first few chapters. It stopped me in my tracks and I could not pick up "The Gifts" again in fear of more of that.

I'm usually a pretty hard core reader but perhaps it's an example of Liz Hyder's writing skills that the killing of dogs hit me so hard. Could not get past it.

Short synopsis: Set in the year 1840 in London, a dead woman is found in the Thames with wings sprouting out of her back. A renowned surgeon is given the woman, and he believes he’s been given a gift from God.

My thoughts: This is not at all what I expected from this book. I anticipated a woman given special powers, not a man dissecting women with wings. Beware, there are lots of triggers in this: kidnapping, unmedicated surgery, abuse, animal abuse.

What I liked: I liked the uniqueness of this story, it’s a blend of historical fiction, fantasy, magical realism, and literary fiction. I haven’t read anything like it before. I liked the women trying to break the barrier of what was expected of them and making strides towards women’s rights.

What I didn’t like: This was long and very slow paced. It took about half of the book for my interest to be piqued. There are quite a number of characters and perspectives and it took me a bit to really understand the characters and how they blended together.

I did a mix of audio and physical reading of this, I will say the audio was very well done. I liked that the character’s name was voiced at the beginning of the chapter so we could know whose POV the story was referring to. I do wish that I’d started this via the physical reading, I think I would have maybe learned to understand each character better that way.

Read if you love:
- Blend of genres
- Medical advances
- Womens rights
- Historical reads
- Multiple POV

Had the potential to be incredible (mix of fantasy + historical fiction) but the writing was too slow paced to keep my attention unfortunately. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advance copy.

In the English countryside in October 1840, rumors of a "fallen angel" start to fly after a woman is seen stumbling out of the woods, giant wings on her shoulders. A surgeon desperate for fame becomes obsessed with the situation, and that obsession puts both him and the affected women in terrible danger. Narrated from five points of view, this is a slow-burn, gothic, magical realism tale that will spellbind readers.

This book was so good. The story and the characters were so well thought-out and written. I love books with multiple POVs and each character has a different storyline but they are all intertwined at some point. It was a bit slow-paced at times, but this is definitely a book that is hard to put down once you get into it. This book is full of strong and powerful women. Unfortunately, due to the time period, the 1800’s, they weren’t allowed to be strong and powerful.

One of my favourite parts of this book is the bond that develops between Etta and Natalya. Two very different women, from two very different lives but find themselves in the very same unique situation.

This being historical fiction, it touches on how, at the time, doctors were known for experimenting on basically whatever living or nonliving being they could. From animals to insects and even humans at times. This is a prominent plot in this book.

The Gifts is plugged a fantasy themed historical fiction from the perspectives of a handful of women.

Our time frame is the height of the medical boom in Victorian England. Where religion and science have come to a head and extremism in both factions can make for some spectacular discoveries and horrors.
Edward is a surgeon budding into the upper echelons of society when he comes across something that will guarantee his place in the world for him and his wife Annie.
A woman with wings, An actual angel. Not does he find one, he finds more. His hubris that God has surely chosen him for greatness by allowing him to find these creatures is really the main meat of the story. Its simply how his actions effect the others.
The structure of the story isn't terrible but its not as smooth as it could be. I found myself meandering through the book until the last 20% or so before it really held any true interest. Even knowing what I know about the practices of the medical field in this era there is a scene roughly 10% in that I seriously considered not even bothering to finish the book. (killing of an animal). It added absolutely nothing to the story and was expressed in other ways in the book that could have left the entire scene out.
I can see where many people might like this but this particular book did not work for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Source Books for a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a beautifully written book with elegant prose and brutal subject matter. It truly seems like things are the complete opposite of what they should be at times in this book and that's what makes it so utterly perfect.

The Gifts is a multi-genre book that contains a bit of everything. The crux of the story is that real women have mysteriously grown wings for no known reason and at the enter of them all is a surgeon who is obsessed with making a name for himself. Edward is this surgeon. The further he goes into his "research" the madder he seems to become as he believes the "angels" have been sent to him because of some favor he has from God above. Along with Edward, we also meet his wife who is being shoved further and further away from him each day to make room in his heart for his true love - - medicine and science.

There are several other characters as well that all tie into the women with wings and/or the doctor or his wife. It's definitely a situation where someone either knows someone or knows someone else who will know them and it all seems to connect together into one huge and messy puzzle.

I felt that the meaning behind this book was probably deeper than I realize. But for me the takeaway was that people often look to the magic of things on the surface and don't look any deeper to what someone or something truly represents. They are often afraid to speak their minds and it's the unspoken. words than can cause harm.

I really enjoyed this book. It flowed smoothly like a slow moving body of water and I felt filled up when I finished it. It was a true pleasure.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: The narration for this book was fabulous. The variety of voices that were accomplished was simply stunning and a true "performance" in itself. I found it quite enjoyable and no issues keeping up with the multiple characters. 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the e-book and audiobook. I voluntarily chose to review both of these and the opinions contained in my reviews are my own.

Liz Dyer has created a compelling novel, an intriguing mix of historical fiction, magical realism, and feminist fable. Five characters narrate the story, set in 1840 in Victorian England. Etta, a member of the country gentry, has ambitions to become a botanist. Natalya is a gifted storyteller driven by disgrace, grief, and loss from her home in Orkney to seek a new life in London. Mary, a budding young writer, struggles to support her uncle and herself in London with odd jobs until she discovers journalism. Edward is a very ambitious surgeon who dedicates himself to success, no matter the cost. Annie, a talented artist married to Edward, fears for her marriage after 3 years of childlessness. When a body is found in the Thames River, an incredible winged woman, Edward buys the corpse for his scientific experiments, not realizing the impact his actions will have on the lives of all the characters. The threads that connect the characters are well delineated by Dyer and advance the plot to a dramatic, fitting conclusion.

Dyer manages to address multiple themes - love, friendship, gender, race, science, religion, obsession - with skill and effectiveness. Her women characters grow and use their creative gifts to break the societal chains binding women of the Victorian era, finding new hope and freedom. Dyer's novel will appeal to historical fiction fans, especially those who appreciate the struggles of women to gain rights and freedom.

#TheGifts #NetGalley

A beautifully written novel blending several genres together.
There were many subjects discussed in this book that though written in the past are present today.
I found this book to be a slow burn but I enjoyed each chapter and each characters point of view