The Girl the Sea Gave Back - Adrienne Young

My rating: ⭐⭐

From the cover:

"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. "

This is a companion novel to Sky in the Deep, which I loved, so when I saw that there would be a second novel set in Eelyn's world, I was instantly on board. Give me all the Viking stuff, the fierce women, the intricate characters. Where could you go wrong?

This cover gives me heart eyes.

Tova, a Truthtongue and member of the mysterious Kyrr clan, dies as a child and her people set her adrift on a funeral boat. The boat drifts, half-burned, to the shores of the Svell, where their Tala, the interpreter of their God's will, finds Tova...alive. The Svell, believing her presence to be an ill omen, nevertheless unwillingly agree to let her stay in the village as their Truthtongue, casting the stones and predicting the future for them. Everyone in the village fears her, though, and she lives among them, but apart, always treated as Other, with some members of the clan even making attempts to kill her. Years later, pressed to cast the stones after an attack by the Svell on a rival clan, Tova unwittingly sets in motion a bloody series of events that, despite her gift to see the path of fate, she may be powerless to stop.

Halvard, a young member of the Nadhir clan who is being groomed as the future village leader, doesn't know what he is getting his people into when he talks their current leader into meeting with the Svell after a brutal attack by the rival clan on one of their villages. Bekan, the Svell leader, promises reparations, but what happens instead is a bloodbath, with only Halvard left alive. He escapes, but barely, and with their village leader dead he must make it back to his village in time to take on the mantle of leadership, warn his people that a massive army of Svell is coming to destroy them all, and find a way to save his clan. The mysterious Kyrr woman he spotted at the ill-fated meeting with the Svell keeps appearing to him in visions, but what does her presence mean? Is she, along with her clan, working with the Svell? Or will she be an ally in the coming war?

As noted, this book had me pumped. Everything about it sounds awesome, and in fairness, a couple parts of it were! Adrienne Young can write a great battle scene. The majority, unfortunately, was a struggle to get through. The writing is incredibly repetitive: Tova cast the stones and the Svell reacted in a way she didn't expect! She wishes she could take it back, but now there is blood on her hands. Halvard isn't sure if he can lead his people, but now he has to or his entire clan will be wiped out, their blood on his hands. Wait, did you forget? Tova cast the stones and the Svell reacted in a way she didn't expect! She wishes she could take it back, but now there is blood on her hands. Halvard isn't sure if he can lead his people, but now he has to or his entire clan will be wiped out, their blood on his hands. Hold on, I'm not sure it was clear enough. Tova cast the stones and the Svell reacted in a way she didn't expect! She wishes she could take it back, but now there is blood on her hands. Halvard isn't sure if he can lead his people, but now he has to or his entire clan will be wiped out, their blood on his hands.

I persevered, because it was obvious from pretty early on that Tova and Halvard will end up together, and I am always here for a good romance. Sadly, the fated-ness of their relationship is incredibly heavy-handed, and although for 90% of the book they are apart, they are still, inexplicably, drawn to each other. Even after they join forces, you wouldn't need more than ten fingers to count the number of sentences they exchange. Literally, it goes from Halvard trying to kill her in their first interaction to, like three conversations later, him kissing her and the two being destined for each other? I wish their relationship had been developed in a better way than their eyes meeting across a soon-to-be-bloodsoaked forest and both of them feeling an undeniable connection. That's not exciting for anyone.

Ultimately, it felt like there wasn't enough to this story and instead of developing more, what little there was ended up rehashed again and again. It breaks my heart to say this, but The Girl the Sea Gave Back is best skipped. If you want some rad viking action with badass lady warriors, go back and read Sky in the Deep again. Maybe catch this one when they make it into a movie.