YA Weekend Audio: The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young
Mogsy’s Rating (Overall): 2.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Series: Stand Alone, Book 2 of Sky in the Deep
Publisher: Macmillan Audio (September 3, 2019)
Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Narrators: Caitlin Kelly, Dan Bittner
Oof, it stings a bit to write this review, since I gave such unequivocal love to Adrienne Young’s debut, Sky in the Deep. However, The Girl the Sea Gave Back was an enjoyable standalone follow-up but nowhere near as memorable or impressive.
Taking place some years after the events surrounding Eelyn of the Aska and Fiske of the Riki, the novel opens on a somber scene as a grief-stricken family gathers on the shore to say goodbye to a departed loved one. Later, a young girl is found washed up on the lands of the Svell, adorned with the distinctive tattoos marking her as a Kyrr Truthtongue, an enigmatic people who hail from the Headlands. Tova is her name, and it is said that her powers allow her to read the future. But having grown up among the Svell, the ways of the Kyrr are a mystery to her, and she cannot remember her own past.
Meanwhile, Halvard is an 18-year-old chieftain in training, preparing for the day he will lead his people, the Nādhir. However, war is not something he is ready for. The Svell, acting on a misguided interpretation of one of Tova’s predictions, decides to attack the Nādhir, catching them unawares. An inexperienced warrior, Halvard tries his best to protect his loved ones even as his skills as a leader and fighter are tested beyond his limits. And Tova, who is shunned for being different and an outsider among her adoptive people, is forced to confront her role in the chaos and violence that follows.
As I said, The Girl the Sea Gave Back was enjoyable and not a bad book by any means. That said, it failed to capture my attention like the way Sky in the Deep did. The author’s debut was an atmospheric, epic journey that mesmerized as the plot ebbed and flowed with intrigue, suspense, and passion. Suffice to say, I feel this one lacked the same kind of magic, providing nothing I couldn’t get from a vast majority of the YA offerings out there, and as such, I don’t think it stands out. In a nutshell, this was decent but nothing special, which was disappointing especially since Sky in the Deep had led me to expect a higher caliber of storytelling.
But let’s start with the things that I did like. While The Girl the Sea Gave Back can be read as a standalone, I think having Sky in the Deep under your belt before tackling it will lead to a greater appreciation for the world-building and lore behind the setting of this novel. Because the books take place in a shared world, the glorious love story between Eelyn and Fiske was mentioned a few times. And of course, readers familiar with the first book will know that the environment as well as the culture of the people suggests a link to Vikings and Nordic mythology. Young crafts a gorgeous picture of this time and place, including plenty of elements inspired by Viking history and tradition. I’m also happy to report that cinematic tableaus and heart-pounding battle sequences are strengths that are shared between both books.
As for the things that didn’t work as well for me, I’ll begin with the format of the novel. Told in dual timelines that flip back and forth between the past and present, the narrative structure was a bit of a mess. You never really get enough time to settle into one thread before you’re picked up again and kicked to the other. It made following the plot confusing and a bit frustrating because of the emotional detachment that resulted. And secondly, I didn’t connect with Tova or Halvard the way I did with Eelyn and Fiske, nor did I care as much about their relationship. I suppose there was a romance in this book, but because of the way it was handled, the love story felt like such an afterthought that I don’t even know if it should count.
All in all, I’m sad I couldn’t drum up more enthusiasm for The Girl the Sea Gave Back, but at the same time, it also didn’t give me too much to work with. A part of me feels like this book would have worked better if it had been longer, so that the POV characters would have more time to develop, giving their lives and their relationship more depth and meaning. I still think Adrienne Young has a lot of talent and she writes beautifully, so it pains me to say this novel simply did not live up what I know she’s capable of. Nevertheless, I am optimistic about her future work, and I will be keeping my eye out for her next novel to see if it will be better.
Audiobook Comments: The one saving grace of this novel was that I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the talented team of Caitlin Kelly and Dan Bittner. That said, not even their superb performances could overcome some of the issues I had with the book, but I do love that they got two stellar narrators reading Tova and Halvard’s parts because I think it made the experience quicker, more enjoyable, and a lot more immersive than if I had read the print edition.
The BiblioSanctum 
Sad to see that it was not as good as Sky in the deep! (which I still need to pick up!)
Great review!
(www.evelynreads.com)
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Oh, I hope you get to read the first book soon! It’s wonderful 🙂
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Yeah… their relationship didn’t really work for me either. And I don’t really think it’d work great as an audiobook. Part of the reason I liked it so much is that I took frequent breaks after each chapter so I could mentally opt-out of whoever’s POV; hard to do when you’re listening to it. Sorry you didn’t like it 🙁
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Agreed, the format wasn’t ideal for audio, because of the way it flipped so much between timelines. At least the narrators were awesome! Ah well, hope my next listen will be better 🙂
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Nearly all the reviews I see on this was are from disappointed readers Mogsy. That’s sad as Adrienne is talented and she also is very kind (I met her at YALC). But the one positive note I well keep from your review are the comments about the narrators. I am always looking for great narrators as they can make or break a book for me.
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Agreed, Young is so talented and I got to see it in Sky in the Deep! This one wasn’t bad, but I was just let down because I know her storytelling and characterization can be so much better!
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You say the book needed to be longer to develop the characters more. I checked the page count and it was over 300. Could she have accomplished the same thing if she’d tightened up her writing?
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Hmm, in audio it was only about 8 hours, which is quite short. I find an average 300 page book usually runs about 10-12 hours, even with YA, so maybe the font is really big in the print version, lol!
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Sadly, you’re probably right about the print edition. I’ve seen those kind of shenanigans used before to fluff up a book’s page count 😦
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I love the cover but it’s too bad that it wasn’t more than that
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Oh yes, the cover is gorgeous at least! Love it!
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Oh shoot, too bad this didn’t work for you. I had high hopes just like everyone else. Seeing how big my September pile is, this might get relegated to the “if I have time” pile.
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Well, if you’re curious to check out more by the author, I’d say it’s worth it, but yeah, if you’re being crushed under the weight of your fall TBR, then maybe it can wait a bit 😀
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After a successful first novel, the pressures to deliver another excellent book must be overwhelming, and it’s possible that the author was… distracted by them, and that’s could be the reason why she failed to create a story on the same level as her previous one. But as long as she doesn’t lose the faith of her readers, there is always hope… 🙂
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Well put! And she definitely still has my faith – one disappointing book isn’t going to make me give up 😀
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Sometimes I have issues with format too. Sorry this one was a miss for you, especially since you liked her other novel so much.
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Yeah, duo timelines tend to trip me up. And it’s not usually the best format for audio either, so that didn’t help 😛
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You’re absolutely right about the format, I have issues with that too sometimes when there are two or more timelines.
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This is my second meh review, so I am glad I did not go for it after all
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Yeah, sadly not as good as Sky in the Deep. If you haven’t read that one though, now that one was good and totally worth it!
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Aw that’s too bad. Like Blodeuedd said above, this is the second lackluster review I’ve seen for this. Good to know though so I go in with realistic expectations. I’ll probably still read it but maybe not as soon haha!
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Yeah, after I wrote my review I went to check Goodreads to see what others thought of it. I was surprised to actually see a lot of tepid reviews! But at the same time, it also made me feel a lot better about not loving this one 🙂
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Well that’s a shame after so enjoying her first book. I was curious about this and the cover is great, but perhaps not. I have such a long list of books waiting so I can probably strike this off the wishlist for now.
Lynn 😀
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Ah shame this wasn’t as memorable or as impressive as the first one and didn’t work for you. I do find dual timelines can be a bit of a mess structurally. Great review though!
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