Given to the Sea by Mindy McGinnis

March 6, 2018     erinthebooknut     Book review

Given to the Sea by Mindy McGinnisGiven to the Sea (Given Duet, #1) by Mindy McGinnis
Published by Putnam's Childrens on April 11th 2017
Pages: 352
Goodreads

Everyone has a place.

Khosa was born to be fed to the sea, to prevent the kind of wave that once destroyed the Kingdom of Stille. She can’t be sacrificed until she produces an heir, but human touch repulses her…except for the touch of the Indiri.

Dara and Donil are the last of the Indiri, a native race with magic that’s seductive—a force of nature—but dwindling since the Pietra slaughtered their people.

Witt leads the Pietra, the fierce warriors who are now marching on the Kingdom of Stille. The stone shores of Witt’s kingdom harbor a secret threat, and to ensure the survival of his people, he’s prepared to conquer every speck of Stille’s soil.

Vincent stands to inherit the throne of Stille, but has no wife to share it with. When the beautiful and mysterious Khosa arrives without an heir, Vincent knows that his father will stop at nothing to make sure she fulfills her duty. Torn between protecting his kingdom and protecting the girl whose fate is tied to its very existence, Vincent’s loyalty is soon at odds with his heart.

While royals scheme, Pietrans march, and the Indiri struggle to survive, the rising sea calls for its Given, and Khosa is destined to answer.

3 Nuts

As promised I went and gave this book another go. The first time I knew mood had a lot to do with my opinion. So I came back again when I was ready with an open mind. And? Well I didn’t love it. That being said, I also didn’t hate it. GIVEN TO THE SEA isn’t bad.

I have a few things to talk about regarding this book. First is that I think it would have been a better read without so many POVs. I love the Indiri but I think we could have done with only one of their POVs just fine. I probably enjoyed their chapters the most but objectively the book doesn’t NEED both. Vincent and The Given are both important and their POVs both necessary.

Then there’s Whit, the Lithos, who seems to be the odd character out.  Odd because he’s what really drags the book down. He’s fairly uninteresting for the first half of the book, while the second half he seems to spend arguing with himself. Every time his chapters came up I just wanted to go back to Stille. I don’t care about him or his cruel and angry people. I just started referring to him as “That Dick”.

So because of all the POV jumping you do find GIVEN TO THE SEA slowing down a little bit. It seems like we always have to check in with someone else right as the story starts to flow. POVs should never make the story so choppy that the story no longer flows.

I’ve heard a lot of people say that the world building is bad in some way but I can’t say I’d agree. There is plenty of backstory to be had here, it’s just not let out as fast as I think some people would like. That doesn’t mean it’s not there. It just takes a minute.

It’s funny because I’m far more interested in what’s going on with the two Indiri than the other characters in this book. Dara and Donil are a million times more engaging as characters than the prince, The Lithos, or The Given. Can I just have a book about them?

So I guess I’d say this book isn’t what I wanted, but it wasn’t bad. I’m certainly going to read the next book. I wanna know what happens and I want more time with The Twins. I’m absolutely glad I came back to read it again but I’m not sure if it’ll get a third read.

What did you think of GIVEN TO THE SEA? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Erin

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