The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young

The Girl the Sea Gave Back (Sky and Sea, #2)

by Adrienne Young

The new gut-wrenching epic from the New York Times bestselling author of Sky in the Deep.

For 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. 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. 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.

For the first time in generations, the leaders of the Svell are divided. Should they maintain peace or go to war with the allied clans to protect their newfound power? And when their chieftain looks to Tova to cast the stones, she sets into motion a series of events that will not only change the landscape of the mainland forever but will give her something she believed she could never have again-a home.

Reviewed by Stephanie on

3 of 5 stars

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This review was originally posted on Once Upon a Chapter






The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young was a June COYER book club pick. I really enjoyed Sky in the Deep so I was excited to pick this book up.



Right off the bat I'm going to say I didn't love The Girl the Sea Gave Back as much. I felt like the whole mystery of Tova was overdone. It seemed pretty obvious who she was. Of course maybe not to her but definitely to the reader. Even when it's revealed who she is there is no real solid explanation as to what happened and why it happened.



There also seemed to be a lot of story without much movement. I'm pretty sure the whole story is the course of less than a week. The biggest saving grace for me was spending time with characters from Sky in the Deep!



Halvard is still a solid character and I loved seeing how he grew into a man and handled his new found responsibilities. I really enjoyed previous characters and even some the new ones.



Gunther in particular was a nice addition. Personally, I never really connected with Tova. I am convinced it's because she couldn't connect with herself. I just didn't have very strong feelings one way of the other for the characters or the story.



The story didn't seem to flow as smoothly in The Girl the Sea Gave Back compared to Sky in the Deep. I'm wondering if this is because of having duel narrators.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 11 June, 2020: Finished reading
  • 11 June, 2020: Reviewed
  • Started reading
  • 11 June, 2020: Finished reading
  • 11 June, 2020: Reviewed