“The Blue Maiden” by Anna Noyes - 3 stars (Pub Date: Out Now!) is both beautiful and irritating in that the descriptive sense of place and the atmospheric language that sets the scenes in which the characters move through was beautiful and interesting (The Blue Maiden is an island) but…. The two main characters Bea and Ulrika weren’t terribly likable or even that interesting. Their father, the local minister Was also an absolutely appallingl bore and served as an easily dislikable man, father, husband, and parent who is capable of great ignorance and violence.

Good things: The story was worth finishing, but I’m very glad that it wasn’t long and I found that I did not care at all how things would finish or what would happen to the characters, or even really, why it would happen. If nothing else, the two main men in the story thoroughly enforced the idea that men are trash, but these particular men were extra yuck.. One of the biggest positives was the cover artwork.

Opportunities: I felt the description of the book which included an initial emphasis on witchcraft and generational lore was misleading. The story was almost sketch-like and ended up being more of a story about two two girls thatI’d never want to be friends with, or have much sympathy for, their poor abused dog, and the wilds of the island that they grow up on were beautiful, but did not satiate my need for a good sotry.. This expectation left me mostly disappointed as I read through the two main character storylines.

Final Thoughts: I don’t think you shouldn’t read this…because it’s a thing, and some people like this kind of thing. It’s off balancing, and uncomfortable, and full of metaphor, and atmosphere, and it’s slightly gothic, which I know is appealing to many. I’m glad I read it. It was like looking at a piece of art, in a museum, that I appreciate for it’s existence, but it’s not MY kind of art. So…check it out, but I won’t be buying a print in the gallery gift shop.

I appreciate the opportunity afforded me to have an early read of this story by netgalley and Grove Atlantic | Grove Press . The opinions in this review are expressly those of ButIDigressBookClub and are intended for use by my followers and friends when choosing their next book. #butidigress #butidigressbookclub #thebluemaiden #annanoyes #netgalley #netgalleyreviewer #arc #arcs

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Review Shared on Goodreads - “The Blue Maiden” by Anna Noyes - 3 stars (Pub Date: Out Now!) is both beautiful and irritating in that the descriptive sense of place and the atmospheric language that sets the scenes in which the characters move through was beautiful and interesting (The Blue Maiden is an island) but…. The two main characters Bea and Ulrika weren’t terribly likable or even that interesting. Their father, the local minister Was also an absolutely appallingl bore and served as an easily dislikable man, father, husband, and parent who is capable of great ignorance and violence.

Good things: The story was worth finishing, but I’m very glad that it wasn’t long and I found that I did not care at all how things would finish or what would happen to the characters, or even really, why it would happen. If nothing else, the two main men in the story thoroughly enforced the idea that men are trash, but these particular men were extra yuck.. One of the biggest positives was the cover artwork.

Opportunities: I felt the description of the book which included an initial emphasis on witchcraft and generational lore was misleading. The story was almost sketch-like and ended up being more of a story about two two girls thatI’d never want to be friends with, or have much sympathy for, their poor abused dog, and the wilds of the island that they grow up on were beautiful, but did not satiate my need for a good sotry.. This expectation left me mostly disappointed as I read through the two main character storylines.

Final Thoughts: I don’t think you shouldn’t read this…because it’s a thing, and some people like this kind of thing. It’s off balancing, and uncomfortable, and full of metaphor, and atmosphere, and it’s slightly gothic, which I know is appealing to many. I’m glad I read it. It was like looking at a piece of art, in a museum, that I appreciate for it’s existence, but it’s not MY kind of art. So…check it out, but I won’t be buying a print in the gallery gift shop.

I appreciate the opportunity afforded me to have an early read of this story by netgalley and Grove Atlantic | Grove Press . The opinions in this review are expressly those of ButIDigressBookClub and are intended for use by my followers and friends when choosing their next book. #butidigress #butidigressbookclub #thebluemaiden #annanoyes #netgalley #netgalleyreviewer #arc #arcs

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Review Shared on Goodreads - www.goodreads.com/leah_cyphert_butidigressbookclub
Publishing Review 5/18/2024

Publishing Review 5/18/2024

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me with an ARC of Anna Noyes’s debut novel The Blue Maiden.

The Blue Maiden follows two sisters who look nothing alike, while they navigate their island life as outsiders. Their mother has died giving birth to Bea (the youngest daughter), forcing Ulrika (the oldest) to assume a caretaker role from a very early age. Their father is the island's priest and is glaringly absent and neglectful so they grow inseparable as girls. Until their paths deviate from one another once Bea becomes part of the "socially accepted" crowd that has always excluded her sister.

Whilst I found the eery setting interesting, I admit that I struggled with the narrative. The ending took me by surprise but it could be because the book felt a little underdeveloped for me. There were some plot points that made very little sense to me, and the characters, while engaging, could not compensate for the hollowness of their arcs.

I feel like this is perfect for people looking less for a plot, and more for witchy, weird Scandinavian Christian vibes.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Two sisters, orphaned by their mother, live a sheltered existence with their reverend father. They discover truths about their mother's life that shape their futures.

Atmospheric, eerie, poetic, and interesting. This book was unusual, but in a really good way!

Sisters Bea and Ulrika live on a small island in Sweden. Their father is a priest, and their mother was a witch. The island has some interesting folklore, mainly a story about witches kidnapping children at night and bringing them to a place called Blockula. Bea is torn between her Christian faith and the witchiness she feels inside her, and as she grows up, she will have to make choices that may not be to her family's liking. 

Anna Noyes' writing is so beautiful, poetic, and a treat to read. I loved being on the little island with the sisters, exploring their family history and secrets. It's not a fast-paced book, but that suits the story. It builds up an eeriness and suspense that make it a very interesting read.

I enjoyed reading about the nature, folklore, and community on the island. And I found Bea's story very intriguing. 

If you like magic realism, the history of witches, and beautiful Nordic landscapes, this is for you!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher, who provided me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was immediately intrigued by the synopsis blurb and cover! It has a interesting writing style. Something different for me and intriguing. While it took a bit to get into, at about 40% in I really did start to enjoy the writing and the story. The author is very descriptive and I could SEE and FEEL what the 2 main FMCs (Ulrica and Bea) were experiencing and going through. These two girls becoming women and all the feelings, changes and emotions that come with that. Even with the setting being in the late 1800’s it felt relatable in that sense. I would’ve liked to seen more connection throughout the story of subjects that were touched on and then not fully explored. There were also some more difficult parts to read (incest) for me personally, but it wasn’t presented in a descriptive way and I was able to finish the book. All in all, I did like the writing style and will check out more by this author in the future!

Many thanks NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing this ARC of Anna Noye’s debut novel.

This was the type of book that was a nice in between of all the other stuff I'm reading. Not necessarily anything special but also not bad. It just is.

Historic witches, family secrets, old magic. All of those sound like the recipe for a great story, but unfortunately this one was without. While the idea of young sisters learning of the mysterious magic of the late mother, a secret their father has been keeping, is compelling, this telling was bland. Difficult to follow, slow at all the wrong parts, and lacking enough connection to the past. It could have been great, but it wasn't.

2.5 Stars

This fragmentary novel is not my cup of tea.

The book, set on Sweden’s Berggrund Island, focuses on two sisters, Ulrika and Beata, who live with their widowed father, Pastor Silas. The girls are fascinated with the island’s lore and dark history which includes the killing of 27 of the 32 women living on the island; in 1675, 150 years earlier, these women were accused of witchcraft and consorting with Satan on the neighbouring mist-shrouded island known as Blue Maiden. The sisters also want to learn about their mother, but Silas refuses to speak of her. Ulrika, the eldest, does the majority of the work around the house which includes looking after her sister who starts experiencing unsettling visions when she enters adolescence. The return of August Holmberg to Berggrund changes the lives of the sisters and leads to the revelation of dark family secrets.

Ulrika and Beata are social outcasts. On their father’s side they are descended from a woman who was identified as a witch but allowed to live because she was pregnant. It seems as if that stigma has followed them over the generations. Their mother was an outsider, not from the island, so “they share an aura of otherness” for this reason as well. They both yearn for love and attention which is not given to them by their emotionally remote father who is neglectful and ineffectual as a parent.

It is the theme of sisterhood that stands out for me. Ulrika and Beata give each other the love otherwise missing from their lives, but there are jealousies and tensions as one would expect between siblings. Ulrika sometimes wants to be alone, taking long walks and leaving Bea behind. Bea, once punished along with her sister, feels she has been treated unjustly and lashes out by opening jars and dumping out their contents leaving Ulrika to cry, “’That pantry gets us through winter . . . Do you ever think how much work you make for me?’” Bea responds with, “’What else would you do?’” When Ulrika gets attention, Bea thinks should be hers, Bea says, “’Can’t I have one scrap? . . . Just one, to myself?’” She is convinced “Only when Ulrika dies will Bea live individuated and capable.” But she also realizes “Ulrika is her family, the primacy of that earliest bond forever fated to win out.”

The novel’s writing style is a challenge. The narrative jumps from one scene to another seemingly without connection so there is a disjointed feel to the book. Some scenes are noteworthy for their vagueness so it’s difficult to determine what is happening. Clarity is not prioritized because much is left unsaid, but I would have liked some exposition linking events or explaining their significance. The sense of confusion is not cleared with the ending which is ambiguous and unsatisfying; the book almost feels abandoned rather than concluded.

At the end I found myself wondering what it all means. What message was I supposed to take away? What is the significance of so many characters, both male and female, having visions? Are visions what come “from paying too close attention to the world”? Beata lives in fear of a witch coming to get her but the ending seems to suggest she discovers that she is one, so is the message that all women are witches or at least perceived to be to some extent? Are we to understand that women like Beata are suffering from generational trauma because of what happened to the women on the island earlier? The book is described as “A Nordic Gothic laced with the horrors of life in a patriarchy both hostile to and reliant on its women” and a Kirkus Review describes the book as being “a twisting narrative of the horrors of patriarchal subordination.” I’m not convinced but admit to being at a loss to explain the purpose of the book.

This book may appeal to others – and there is some appeal in its poetic diction – but it doesn’t work for me.

Know that this takes a bit of patience and that you might think you're missing something. Sister Bea and Ulrika carry the weight of their ancestors on Berggrund Island where women have been prosecuted as witchcraft for years. This is told in snippets, as the sisters try to find out what happened to their mother and the truth about Blue Maiden, said to be the locale of deviltry. I appreciated this for the atmospherics and the writing more than I enjoyed it. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. An intriguing read.

Atmospheric and smart storytelling. Yes, I found that there were times when I became confused and had to reread, but overall I found it to be uniquely written and haunting.

We enter this magical tale in 1675, Sweden where 32 women are slaughtered, suspected of witchcraft. The island in which they all lived is ominous and holds many secrets.
We fast forward to the same island but in 1825 where we meet two sisters, Ulrika and Bea who are under the close watchful eye of their father, the pastor Silas. Much of their late mother’s history is unknown but is slowly unearthed throughout the story.
We journey with Ulrika and Bea, both vastly different through adolescence and adulthood.
The imagery is captured beautifully and the reader instantly feels transported to early 19th century remote and rural Europe.
There is magic, heavy nature elements, Nordic myth, accompanied through love and loss.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Press for allowing me to read The Blue Maiden and provide my honest review.

This is the story of Bea and her sister Ulrika; two children who mourn the loss of their mother who died while giving birth to Bea. It is this void that is at the center of their lives around which all their hopes and aspirations revolve. The remote island somewhere in Scandinavia is ruled by a patriarchy which used to burn witches at the stake, when women were deemed to become too powerful. In the wake of these women, Bea and Ulrika search their way in life using their mother's notebook as their guide in the natural world that surrounds them.

The prose is excellent, and the style very reminiscent of early magic-realistic works, but leaning more towards hallucinatory realism as reality and dreamlike states of both Bea and Ulrika mingle and flow into each other. I loved how the consciousness of both girls seems to expand to create multitudes and then they come back together as one again, as in sync with the tides and seasons of the island.

Within this beautifully crafted world, the author manages to depict characters that are hard to grasp. Certainly not one-dimensional, both exactly drawn and ephemeral at the same time. The girl's father Silas is a good example; as the pastor of the island he is capable of saying the right things to keep his god fearing flock in check but gives his girls all the freedom they want; he loves them but cannot show it to them; he is tormented by the loss of his wife but cannot speak about her. And all the characters in the book are detailed and layered like this.

It is a tour de force that the author managed to capture so much narrative, atmosphere and beauty in so few pages. If anything that would be my only point of critique: this book could have gone on for many more chapters as every page is just a delight to read.

Bravo !

I wish to express a sincere thank you to NetGalley, Grove Atlantic and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for allowing me to review this book.

I ended up not finishing this book unfortunately (page 150). I felt that I was not going to be able to push through any further. I found the story slow, and often times found myself just picking up something else to read instead.

I was excited to read the novel because of the cover, description and blub written on NetGalley. In terms of its chilling, gothic sort of ambience, this was well written. I enjoyed the description atmosphere of the writing and felt that I was part of the island as I read on. But I was continually confused by the story line. I was hoping and waiting for more connection to and between the characters and found the story fell flat.

The writing was beautiful and the descriptiveness of the prose narrative was wonderful but for me it just didn't work.

I'm really not sure how to rate this title. The prose is lovely—to the extent that one can separate prose from narrative—but the narrative was fully of so many painful moments, both big and small, that had to stop reading. I would definitely look for other work by this writer, but the sorrow in this title was too deep for me to make it all the way through.

"The Blue Maiden" transports readers to the 1800s with its meticulously crafted Nordic Gothic atmosphere, blending subtle hints of magic and myth throughout the narrative. The prologue hauntingly recounts the witch hunts on Berggrund Island, setting the stage for a story that follows sisters Ulrika and Bea as they navigate a motherless childhood under the guidance of their priest father. Reminiscent of Stephen King's prose, the narrative unfolds with a steady, unsettling tone, gradually revealing layers of horror and mystery. Character development unfolds gradually, keeping readers on edge as they reinterpret their perceptions until the final pages. Despite a relatively light plot, the book captivates with its immersive atmosphere and character-driven storytelling, leaving lingering questions and a sense of unease. "The Blue Maiden" is a timeless tale that resonates with lovers of Gothic fiction and historical intrigue, offering a glimpse into a world where religion and witchcraft collide.

The Blue Maiden is a Nordic Gothic tale that instantly transports you to the 1800s. The atmosphere is incredibly well crafted and the story is very subtly steeped in magic and myth, to the point where you're always left wondering - am I reading about something mundane or was that magical?

The prologue tells the tale of witch hunts on the island of Berggrund generations before our story takes place, when all but 5 women on the small island were accused of witchcraft and murdered. The main story then follows sisters Ulrika and Bea from childhood to adulthood as they grow up motherless, with their priest father. This book is an understated kind of horror, and this is where I started to understand the comparison to Stephen King's prose. The tone of the narrator is even and constant, even while it tells of terrifying events and revelations. I love this style, because it adds to the reader's feeling of unease or terror once it finally clicks, and it lets you connect your own dots most of the time. The characters are built the same, with bits and pieces being revealed very slowly until the final few pages, so that you're constantly rethinking your image of them. This kept my attention throughout, despite the plot not being very heavy and leaving a lot more unanswered questions than I expected by the end of the story.

Overall, The Blue Maiden is a book that doesn't feel like it was published in 2024. The atmosphere is great and it's mainly character-driven rather than relying on the plot. If you're into Gothic tales verging on horror and enjoy reading about religion-driven witch hunts several centuries ago then you might enjoy this one.

✨ Disclaimer ✨ I received a free copy of this book and this is my honest review.

I loved the flow of the writing. It’s descriptive yet vague, and it really drew me into the story, wanting to know more about what happens. I like how the story comes together in pieces. Sometimes the plot was a little hard to follow, however I think later parts of the book helped me clarify some things I was confused on early in the book. Part of that is probably due to the characters being younger at the beginning and aging throughout the book. I really enjoyed it overall!

I'll be honest, I spent a lot of the time reading this with a frown on my face simply because I didn't know what I was supposed to deduce from the story.

We start with the story of the island's strange history where women were burned as witches and since then there appears always to have been suspicion that all or any of the women are evil. Certainly it is never clear whether sisters, Ulrika and Bea are practising witchcraft or not. They have a fascination with their mother's red book which may, or may not, contain spells -- or it might just be herbal remedies and poisons.

As I said I got very bogged down with trying to work out what the book was saying. There is an odd relationship between the sisters - rivalry, love, hatred, jealousy, dependency - all mixed up together. Their relationships with others are also all strange.

At times it felt like being in the middle of a Bosch painting - uncomfortable, disturbing and dangerous. Whether that was what Anna Noyes was attempting I may never know. I don't mind being a little confused at times but not for half the book. I'm sure cleverer people than I will appreciate the symbolism more.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for the advance review copy.

“Ghosts come in fog, the villagers have always said.”

The Blue Maiden was a very different book, between reality and visions. Walking on a tight rope, it interrogates us on our humanity, our bestiality, our relationship with Nature and the World. After a heavy and long prologue, the use of present tense doesn’t dynamise the story. On the contrary, it suspends the action, freezing it in place in a blurry incertitude. It adds tension.
We can’t say what is true, what is from the sisters’ imagination, if they invent it, if Bea has visions or if we are trapped in a magical –or cursed– world. That’s the beauty of this book, we glide in that uncertainty, wave in the melancholy created by the flawless writing, making us sure that bad things are coming, ready to knock at the door.
Who is the crazy one here? Who acts good? Who misbehaves? We never know as religion and naturalism contront in turn, then wave with each other.
None of the characters are black, or white, they are all subtle shades of grey, and the author leaves to us the task to taste, think, judge, and choose. The magnificent descriptions of Nature are a counterpart to the Human’s craziness, and also contribute to freeze the story. In this regards (and –of course– because the sisterhood links), it reminded me a bit of The Virgin Suicides, where beauty announces the darkness to come. It’s a beautiful reflexion about Humans, Nature, and Bestiality, about what it means and feels to grow up, to become an adult and find yourself.
If you look for an escape through Fantasy and a magical world, this probably isn’t the right book. On the other hand, if you want to live an experience (I don’t have a better world), to feel that island, to get lost and wander in a fog full of discoveries, then plough into this short read. I loved that strange but fascinating immersion.
Rate 4.5/5

Thank you NetGalley, Anna Noyes and Atlantic Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"From the author of Indie Next Pick and New York Times Editors' Choice Goodnight, Beautiful Women comes a transportive and chilling debut novel of two sisters growing up on an isolated Northern European island in the shadow of their late mother and the Devil.

It's 1825, four generations after Berggrund Island's women stood accused of witchcraft under the eye of their priest, now long dead. In his place is Pastor Silas, a widower with two wild young daughters, Beata and Ulrika. The sisters are outcasts: imaginative, oppositional, increasingly obsessed with the lore and legend of the island's dark past and their absent mother, whom their father refuses to speak of.

As the girls come of age, and the strictures of the community shift but never wane, their rebellions twist and sharpen. Ever capable Ulrika shoulders the burden of keeping house, while Bea, alone with unsettling visions and impulses, hungers for companionship and attention. When an enigmatic outsider arrives at their door, his presence threatens their family bond and unearths - piece by piece - a buried history to shocking ends. All the while Berggrund's neighboring island The Blue Maiden beckons, storied home of the Witches' Sabbath and Satan's realm, its misted shore veiling truths the sisters have spent their lives searching for.

A Nordic Gothic laced with the horrors of life in a patriarchy both hostile to and reliant on its women, The Blue Maiden is a starkly beautiful depiction of lost lineage and resilience."

Nordic Gothic, yes please!