Given to the Sea, Mood, and Expectations: A Sort-of Review

April 26, 2017     erinthebooknut     Book review, OAAA

Given to the Sea, Mood, and Expectations: A Sort-of ReviewGiven to the Sea (Given Duet, #1) by Mindy McGinnis
Published by Putnam's Childrens on April 11th 2017
Pages: 352
Goodreads

Khosa is Given to the Sea, a girl born to be fed to the water, her flesh preventing a wave like the one that destroyed the Kingdom of Stille in days of old. But before she’s allowed to dance – an uncontrollable twitching of the limbs that will carry her to the shore in a frenzy – she must produce an heir. Yet the thought of human touch sends shudders down her spine that not even the sound of the tide can match.
Vincent is third in line to inherit his throne, royalty in a kingdom where the old linger and the young inherit only boredom. When Khosa arrives without an heir he knows his father will ensure she fulfills her duty, at whatever cost. Torn between protecting the throne he will someday fill, and the girl whose fate is tied to its very existence, Vincent’s loyalty is at odds with his heart.
Dara and Donil are the last of the Indiri, a native race whose dwindling magic grows weaker as the island country fades. Animals cease to bear young, creatures of the sea take to the land, and the Pietra – fierce fighters who destroyed the Indiri a generation before – are now marching from their stony shores for the twin’s adopted homeland, Stille.
Witt leads the Pietra, their army the only family he has ever known. The stone shores harbor a secret, a growing threat that will envelop the entire land – and he will conquer every speck of soil to ensure the survival of his people.
The tides are turning in Stille, where royals scheme, Pietrans march, and the rising sea calls for its Given.

Expectations can kill a book for me. But let me start at the beginning. I love Mindy McGinnis. She is one of my favorite authors and definitely one of the coolest people I know. Because of this all of her books have most anticipated reads. Now add in a high fantasy. Recipe for brilliance yes? I thought so too.

This has been a weird time for me, I’m dealing with a lot of stuff and reading has not been at the forefront of my brain. I haven’t wanted to do any of it. But I forced myself to read Given to the Sea because it’s Mindy. I don’t recommend forcing yourself to read, ever.

There are a lot of POVs in Given to the Sea. Normally this doesn’t bother me but I was a little bit annoyed this time. I continued to force myself to read and I just got more frustrated with this book. I should love this, I WANT to love this. Why don’t I love this? This was what I was thinking the whole time I was reading.

The world is beautifully and incredibly unique, so why wasn’t I feeling it? What in the world is wrong with me? More frustration. More anger. More wanting to set the book aside. This is so not fair, it’s my most anticipated read of the year.

Currently I can’t tell if I thought Given was meh because of my own mood, because of all the expectation, or because it really is flawed. Honestly I’m not comfortable rating it because of that. I don’t think I can give a proper review until I read the book again in a much better mood. Reading slumps, mood, expectation. All of these are book killers. I don’t think its fair to rate a book just based on feels I have in a situation like this.

So for now I’m going to call this a lost cause and come back again later. For now it can go back on my shelf and be pretty as part of my collection. Mindy, I’m sorry, I still love you.

From my depressed shelf to yours,

Erin

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