The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young

Eeyln is an agent of change and sets in motion a series of events that culminates in a radical transformation of the two villages both she and her counterpart originate from, and which beautifully highlights the theme of change from within.

In Sky in the Deep, we followed the story of warrior girl Eeyln’s transformation to become more than she could ever believe she’d be. It’s always a bit mean to compare siblings with each other, but I feel I have to. However, it’s Tova’s story, through and through. And to be honest, at first I was a bit disappointed. They might have expected, nay, desired, the same kind of storyline, the striking YA viking romance amid cinematic battle scenes, with a dash of the fantastical (I did!). This is not a book about the continuation of Eeyln and Fiske’s love story, which might have been what many readers would have expected. They share the world, show us the wide-reaching consequences of the events we know happened, while also having overlapping characters. Personally, I love it when series turn out to be, not direct continuations of the first book, but of the same family. The newcomers are titular Girl Tova and Fiske’s now 18-year-old little brother Halvard. There are cameo appearances of Sky’s protagonists, only now they are older, wiser, and, well, bystanders. The Girl the Sea Gave Back is a sequel in the sense that the world is the same as in Sky in the Deep, only the reader gets to see more of it. She has found a fragile place among those who fear her, but when two clans to the east bury their age-old blood feud and join together as one, her world is dangerously close to collapse… Her own home and clan are long-faded memories, but the sacred symbols and staves inked over every inch of her skin mark her as one who can cast the rune stones and see into the future.

So when I got the offer to read an Advanced Reader Copy of the follow-up book The Girl the Sea Gave Back, I jumped at it, excited to see what Young would deliver.* And let me just say, I was definitely surprised.įor as long as she can remember, Tova has lived among the Svell, the people who found her washed ashore as a child and use her for her gift as a Truthtongue. It applies to books just as much.Īdrienne Young’s Sky in the Deep (which I reviewed here) was a tough debut to follow since it was well received and got a lot of love (aka screen time all over bookstagram). Well, this is exactly the same across art forms. Second albums, man, they’re even scarier than first ones.”

Let me start this review with a quote from Kanye West: “I didn’t want to play it boring and safe.

The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young