The Girl the Sea Gave Back

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

After thoroughly enjoying Sky in the Deep, when I saw this book come up on Netgalley, I knew I had to read it. What I totally didn't realize it before starting is that this book is also set in the Sky in the Deep world. You don't need to read the other before this one, but it does shine a light on some of the characters and the background of one of the clans. I did wish I had re-read Sky in the Deep recently. I recognized names, but couldn't remember if we knew anyone more – had I, I might have felt more emotional over a few of the actions and scenes.

While I did really like this one, I felt like most of the time I was waiting for something to happen. The book is pretty much all a lead up to the end part. This makes it feel more slow-paced. In fact, the book is told over just a few days. There also are not many positive interactions between people, which bummed me out. And yes, that means only a few short interactions between our main characters, who are love interests. Truly, the romance is something we could have done without in the book, because I don't think it was handled very well. I think they only have 3 conversations in the book... maybe.

Yet, I did really like it. I couldn't help but keep flipping the pages to see what was going to happen. I even enjoyed how the flashbacks were handled.
Tove and Halvard are really interesting characters. Halvard is thrust into a leadership position, when he doesn't want to be and Tova is an outsider forced to use her abilities in order to survive. I liked the characters and wanted them to succeed, which also probably why I felt so compelled to keep reading the book to the end.

I definitely will recommend this one, but not for anyone wanting something fact-paced. Yes there is action and some brutal scenes, but the pacing might throw some people off.