I got a copy of this book to review through the Amazon Vine program. This book had an interesting premise and had some excellent descriptions throughout. That being said I had a really hard time reading this book. It was hard to engage in the story and engage with the characters.
Callanash is a Gracekeeper, she lives on an island alone and helps bury the dead in a watery grave. North is a bear girl and performs with her bear in a traveling circus with other damplings. Damplings are those who live in boats on the water drifting from place to place. Both girls are lonely and an unlikely meeting between the two ends up benefiting them both.
The premise for this story is very interesting. I loved the idea of a future Earth covered in water and the idea of of two classes of humans; landlings (those who live on land) and damplings (those who live in the water). I really enjoyed the idea of a circus that travels on water and of people living that way. I was also fascinated by Callanash, a girl who is not quite human who lives alone on this island and buries the dead.
Additionally I liked the idea of humanity starting to adapt (in an evolutionary way) to its watery environment and wish this had been explored a bit more in the book.
Unfortunately despite the above, I had an incredibly hard time reading this book. The story just switched viewpoint too much and the way it was written made it hard to stay engaged in the story. I kept finding myself getting to the end of the page and not remembering what I had just read; I really really had to concentrate to get through this book.
This was a tough read, the story just didn't flow as well as it could have and some parts were very slow. This was very disappointing to me since I think the ideas presented here could have made for an amazing story.
Overall I don't really recommend this book, although the premise was interesting. This is one of those stories that has some amazing ideas and characters; but it is written in such a way that it is very difficult to read. Its an amazing idea and premise with mediocre writing.
Callanash is a Gracekeeper, she lives on an island alone and helps bury the dead in a watery grave. North is a bear girl and performs with her bear in a traveling circus with other damplings. Damplings are those who live in boats on the water drifting from place to place. Both girls are lonely and an unlikely meeting between the two ends up benefiting them both.
The premise for this story is very interesting. I loved the idea of a future Earth covered in water and the idea of of two classes of humans; landlings (those who live on land) and damplings (those who live in the water). I really enjoyed the idea of a circus that travels on water and of people living that way. I was also fascinated by Callanash, a girl who is not quite human who lives alone on this island and buries the dead.
Additionally I liked the idea of humanity starting to adapt (in an evolutionary way) to its watery environment and wish this had been explored a bit more in the book.
Unfortunately despite the above, I had an incredibly hard time reading this book. The story just switched viewpoint too much and the way it was written made it hard to stay engaged in the story. I kept finding myself getting to the end of the page and not remembering what I had just read; I really really had to concentrate to get through this book.
This was a tough read, the story just didn't flow as well as it could have and some parts were very slow. This was very disappointing to me since I think the ideas presented here could have made for an amazing story.
Overall I don't really recommend this book, although the premise was interesting. This is one of those stories that has some amazing ideas and characters; but it is written in such a way that it is very difficult to read. Its an amazing idea and premise with mediocre writing.
The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan tells the tale of a world covered mostly with water, and clearly divided between "landlockers" and "damplings." Everything and everyone has layers and hidden meanings. Unfortunately, somewhere, the bigger picture of the story gets lost in the details of its layers. I leave with a beautifully described picture of the environment more so than the characters or the story.
Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2015/05/the-gracekeepers.html
Reviewed for LibraryThing Early Reviewers program
Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2015/05/the-gracekeepers.html
Reviewed for LibraryThing Early Reviewers program
I think from now on if a blurb on a book mentions the following words I'm going to avoid it like it was the plague. Those words would be:
- Magical
- Lyrical
-Mesmerizing
-Enchanting
-Beautifully Compelling
These are all fascinating words that would seem that they would entice the reader to pick up the book. Twice I've fallen victim to such blurbs as of recently and twice I've wanted to take the books after I have finished and throw them in the canal down in the village. The Gracekeepers were all that and more but unsatisfying. It was like going into one of those fancy restaurants where they serve you a 7 course meal, but each course's portion is the size of a tablespoon of food and you leave at the end of the night hungrier than when you went in. The food is beautiful, artistic, and mesmerizing, but there is no subsistence.
I wanted to like this book. I did like this book right up until the ending. However with some missing (some very important information) bits and pieces I felt like I didn't get the whole story. Oh I could have imagined or made something up in my head, but some things you can't just do that with. Some Examples:
The Graces - Now why were they needed to do a resting? I didn't get that part. Was it inferred that the person's spirit went into the bird? These birds were bred specifically for this purpose, kept in cages spread out in the water, never fed, and left to die. Did I miss something?
Callenish - What did she do that was so awful to her that she isolated herself on that patch of island and chose to be a gracekeeper? Was it because she is part mermaidish? That never was explained and personally I thought it was a bit important to the story. Speaking of the story...
The Backstory - This was obviously dystopian, but what happened that water filled up and covered most of the cities. I'm not looking for a 82 page novella to explain, but I think a few sentences would have been nice. However, I can let this one go and just imagine something catastrophic happening and call it a day.
North's Bear - I'd love to just accept that her bear was mostly trained to the point that it remained rather docile and agreeable mostly. What I can't buy is the part where the bear sustains itself on so little food. A hungry bear is a dangerous bear and I hate to say it, but North probably would have been eaten by the end of this story. They don't appreciate being hungry and they need lots of food. Personally I think she should have fed it Avalon, but I digress.
Melia - Why did she jump ship and all of a sudden become holy? Did Avalon have something to do with it? Are we supposed to believe that she did or that Melia just woke up that morning and thought "Hey, I'm going to go see what The revivalist's are doing today and see if they need a new sinner act".
I do have a wonderful imagination, but this was way too many things to just leave up in the air and not answer. If you like this sort of story than by all means grab it, I'll bet you'll love it.
- Magical
- Lyrical
-Mesmerizing
-Enchanting
-Beautifully Compelling
These are all fascinating words that would seem that they would entice the reader to pick up the book. Twice I've fallen victim to such blurbs as of recently and twice I've wanted to take the books after I have finished and throw them in the canal down in the village. The Gracekeepers were all that and more but unsatisfying. It was like going into one of those fancy restaurants where they serve you a 7 course meal, but each course's portion is the size of a tablespoon of food and you leave at the end of the night hungrier than when you went in. The food is beautiful, artistic, and mesmerizing, but there is no subsistence.
I wanted to like this book. I did like this book right up until the ending. However with some missing (some very important information) bits and pieces I felt like I didn't get the whole story. Oh I could have imagined or made something up in my head, but some things you can't just do that with. Some Examples:
The Graces - Now why were they needed to do a resting? I didn't get that part. Was it inferred that the person's spirit went into the bird? These birds were bred specifically for this purpose, kept in cages spread out in the water, never fed, and left to die. Did I miss something?
Callenish - What did she do that was so awful to her that she isolated herself on that patch of island and chose to be a gracekeeper? Was it because she is part mermaidish? That never was explained and personally I thought it was a bit important to the story. Speaking of the story...
The Backstory - This was obviously dystopian, but what happened that water filled up and covered most of the cities. I'm not looking for a 82 page novella to explain, but I think a few sentences would have been nice. However, I can let this one go and just imagine something catastrophic happening and call it a day.
North's Bear - I'd love to just accept that her bear was mostly trained to the point that it remained rather docile and agreeable mostly. What I can't buy is the part where the bear sustains itself on so little food. A hungry bear is a dangerous bear and I hate to say it, but North probably would have been eaten by the end of this story. They don't appreciate being hungry and they need lots of food. Personally I think she should have fed it Avalon, but I digress.
Melia - Why did she jump ship and all of a sudden become holy? Did Avalon have something to do with it? Are we supposed to believe that she did or that Melia just woke up that morning and thought "Hey, I'm going to go see what The revivalist's are doing today and see if they need a new sinner act".
I do have a wonderful imagination, but this was way too many things to just leave up in the air and not answer. If you like this sort of story than by all means grab it, I'll bet you'll love it.
