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madame_medusa's review against another edition
4.0
A subtle tragedy...
Heartachingly beautiful...
Wish there was more about Lory and Daniel, it probably would have been a nice pick-me-up in this story, but I understand why I didn't get that and it was just sooooo good.
I will probably read this again someday. About the sea-wives, the mournful witch, and the seal-lads torn from their hearts.
Heartachingly beautiful...
Wish there was more about Lory and Daniel, it probably would have been a nice pick-me-up in this story, but I understand why I didn't get that and it was just sooooo good.
I will probably read this again someday. About the sea-wives, the mournful witch, and the seal-lads torn from their hearts.
thestoryowl's review
4.0
This story really unsettled me. I've read about selkies before, but I never really considered the consequences of a woman who remembered being a seal or having a child that is half human/half seal. There was such bitterness in so many of the characters, and such sadness too. I was definitely moved by the chapter told from the point of view of Dominic.
alboyer6's review
I don't know how many times I picked this book up to read and I just couldn't. I kept rereading the same couple of chapters and finally determined life is too short and I have plenty of other books to read.
keelyfelicia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
lisawreading's review
5.0
The Brides of Rollrock Island is a novel — which often feels more like a collection of linked stories — about the odd lives of the people of windswept, sea-battered Rollrock Island. Generations gone by, legend has it, the men of the island would take sea-wives, women called forth from the sea, leaving behind their true forms as seals in order to live and love among men. Children grow up hearing whispers of these lovely women, but it’s so long ago as to be remembered only by the great-grandparents among the town.
Into this small, isolated island community is born a homely little girl named Misskaella, youngest daughter of the rather large Prout family. Misskaella is valued by no one, considered odd and ugly, and grows up realizing that the men and women of the island either scorn or pity her. Yet Misskaella has one thing that no one else does — the magic to call to the seals. Misskaella revives the island’s past by bringing forth a sea-wife for one young man of the town. The woman is ethereally beautiful — graceful, slender, with large dark eyes and silky black hair. By comparison, the other women of Rollrock appear frowzy and rough. The men are enchanted, and bit by bit, the island is emptied as the womenfolk, deserted in favor of the sea-wives, leave the island. The men of Rollrock shower Misskaella with treasures and provide her with a place of honor in the town, and in return, she makes sure that they have lovely sea-wives to marry and to provide them with sons.
The men and boys treat their women (the mams, as the boys call them) with veneration and tender care, never losing their fascination with the women’s gentle beauty and fragility. And the women love their husbands and sons, without doubt, yet they pine for the sea and the world that they lost.
Did Misskaella bless the men of Rollrock Island with true love? Or did she exact a torturous revenge upon all the island folks by gifting them with love that must inevitably lead to pain?
It’s hard to describe just how strange and beautiful is the language of The Brides of Rollrock Island. Margo Lanagan’s words twist and cut, caress and murmur. She evokes the crash of the sea, the pervasive smell of the ocean air, the natural wonders of the island and the sea:
Ms. Lanagan use the first person plural throughout; the narrative is full of what “we” did and how “we” felt, creating with the very words a sense of tight-knit community and insularity. Her odd vernacular seems particularly suited to this island of outcasts and loners, and her writing creates its own spell throughout the book.
The Brides of Rollrock Island is not a typical romance or fantasy, not a supernatural love story or thriller. This is a book of magical power and grace, of tragedy and sorrow as well as love, filled with lyrical writing unlike most anything on bookstore shelves today. Don’t miss it.
This review can also be seen on my blog.
Into this small, isolated island community is born a homely little girl named Misskaella, youngest daughter of the rather large Prout family. Misskaella is valued by no one, considered odd and ugly, and grows up realizing that the men and women of the island either scorn or pity her. Yet Misskaella has one thing that no one else does — the magic to call to the seals. Misskaella revives the island’s past by bringing forth a sea-wife for one young man of the town. The woman is ethereally beautiful — graceful, slender, with large dark eyes and silky black hair. By comparison, the other women of Rollrock appear frowzy and rough. The men are enchanted, and bit by bit, the island is emptied as the womenfolk, deserted in favor of the sea-wives, leave the island. The men of Rollrock shower Misskaella with treasures and provide her with a place of honor in the town, and in return, she makes sure that they have lovely sea-wives to marry and to provide them with sons.
The men and boys treat their women (the mams, as the boys call them) with veneration and tender care, never losing their fascination with the women’s gentle beauty and fragility. And the women love their husbands and sons, without doubt, yet they pine for the sea and the world that they lost.
Did Misskaella bless the men of Rollrock Island with true love? Or did she exact a torturous revenge upon all the island folks by gifting them with love that must inevitably lead to pain?
It’s hard to describe just how strange and beautiful is the language of The Brides of Rollrock Island. Margo Lanagan’s words twist and cut, caress and murmur. She evokes the crash of the sea, the pervasive smell of the ocean air, the natural wonders of the island and the sea:
And down the cliff we went. It was a poisonous day. Every now and again the wind would take a rest from pressing us to the wall, and try to pull us off it instead. We would grab together and sit then, making a bigger person’s weight that it could not remove. The sea was gray with white dabs of temper all over it; the sky hung full of ragged strips of cloud.
Ms. Lanagan use the first person plural throughout; the narrative is full of what “we” did and how “we” felt, creating with the very words a sense of tight-knit community and insularity. Her odd vernacular seems particularly suited to this island of outcasts and loners, and her writing creates its own spell throughout the book.
The Brides of Rollrock Island is not a typical romance or fantasy, not a supernatural love story or thriller. This is a book of magical power and grace, of tragedy and sorrow as well as love, filled with lyrical writing unlike most anything on bookstore shelves today. Don’t miss it.
This review can also be seen on my blog.
teganbeesebooks's review
4.0
This was good! Not what I originally expected, but in a good way! Full review to come.
nssutton's review
4.0
I love this sea shanty of a tale, the way in which it is told from so many different points of view throughout so many different years. The entire concept, from the witch to the seal women and the neat connections at the tale's end, were simple and wonderful.
Let me be the first to say I found Lanagan's Tender Morsels impossible to get through a few years ago, quitting it and never returning. I just wasn't equipped to "get it." Since then, I've discovered a love of fairy tales I never knew I had, and have been working my way through correcting my previous neglect.
Let me be the first to say I found Lanagan's Tender Morsels impossible to get through a few years ago, quitting it and never returning. I just wasn't equipped to "get it." Since then, I've discovered a love of fairy tales I never knew I had, and have been working my way through correcting my previous neglect.
mnboyer's review against another edition
2.0
First and foremost: I picked this up from the local library on a whim. I'm on a "mermaid/selkie" kick right now and I'm trying to read through several different mermaid-type novels. I picked this title up because it appeared on a random search, fit my current genre interests, and it had a unique cover that drew me in.
1) Covers can be deceiving. What you end up getting in the pages is not like any of the covers. Nothing this romantic, not a traditional fairy tale, etc. I actually think the cover did the book a service because it drew me in just like a siren song.
2) At the end of the first chapter, I had to stop and wonder if I'd understood the setting/world in which this story takes place. Unfortunately, I felt like that throughout the novel. While I would never argue that an author needs to spoon-feed a reader when creating their world, I do believe that they have to at least leave some food out on the table for us. Unfortunately here, I was never properly set in the world. I think this distracted from the overall story because I was never "connected" to the world in a way that made me care about most of the novel.
3) The dark and evil witch motif both works here (we need someone to turn seals into women, right?) and fails to work (her motives are selfish at first, she remains underdeveloped as a character, her motives suddenly do not make sense, etc.). Again, I don't need a completely straightforward story to read a novel, but I do need a little more than was provided here.
4) Negative representations of the women from the sea. They lack any agency (until an incident towards the end of the novel, and even then they need some help from their sons). They lack any depth of character, again probably because they're more props than characters, and they are pretty dead in terms of warmth. This all ruins the "romance" that was promised on the back cover.
5) There is no romance. Ever. Even the encounter with the soon-to-be-villain and her sea-lover is not 'romantic' in the traditional sense.
6) Shifting timelines and character perspectives was not necessary, does not add to the story, and does not ground the reader. Again, it just kind of jars you and serves no real function.
Overall: I wanted to enjoy this book because of its themes. In the end, we all learn that men shouldn't think with their "little head" and should instead value women for who they are inside, not for outward beauty. Okay, a good moral, but one that could have been delivered better. None of the characters are exceptional, likable, developed, etc., and in the end even the world remained confusing. All in all there are some good elements here, some great ideas, but slapped together they just did not work to create a story that I really enjoyed.
1) Covers can be deceiving. What you end up getting in the pages is not like any of the covers. Nothing this romantic, not a traditional fairy tale, etc. I actually think the cover did the book a service because it drew me in just like a siren song.
2) At the end of the first chapter, I had to stop and wonder if I'd understood the setting/world in which this story takes place. Unfortunately, I felt like that throughout the novel. While I would never argue that an author needs to spoon-feed a reader when creating their world, I do believe that they have to at least leave some food out on the table for us. Unfortunately here, I was never properly set in the world. I think this distracted from the overall story because I was never "connected" to the world in a way that made me care about most of the novel.
3) The dark and evil witch motif both works here (we need someone to turn seals into women, right?) and fails to work (her motives are selfish at first, she remains underdeveloped as a character, her motives suddenly do not make sense, etc.). Again, I don't need a completely straightforward story to read a novel, but I do need a little more than was provided here.
4) Negative representations of the women from the sea. They lack any agency (until an incident towards the end of the novel, and even then they need some help from their sons). They lack any depth of character, again probably because they're more props than characters, and they are pretty dead in terms of warmth. This all ruins the "romance" that was promised on the back cover.
5) There is no romance. Ever. Even the encounter with the soon-to-be-villain and her sea-lover is not 'romantic' in the traditional sense.
6) Shifting timelines and character perspectives was not necessary, does not add to the story, and does not ground the reader. Again, it just kind of jars you and serves no real function.
Overall: I wanted to enjoy this book because of its themes. In the end, we all learn that men shouldn't think with their "little head" and should instead value women for who they are inside, not for outward beauty. Okay, a good moral, but one that could have been delivered better. None of the characters are exceptional, likable, developed, etc., and in the end even the world remained confusing. All in all there are some good elements here, some great ideas, but slapped together they just did not work to create a story that I really enjoyed.
blove0312's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I almost threw in the towel by the 20% mark. And even then again until around the 45% mark. It wasn’t that it was bad; it’s well written. But it was slow, and confusing. The backstory for *her* was too long and drawn out I think. You don’t even realize how much time is passing even though it appears to be well over 20 years just for her portion. And her chapter is over 100 pages I think, or close to. But then, when the stuff starts going down, you just want to see where it’s going. Then the POVs start changing. And you just want to see where each person is going and what decision they’ll make. Idk. It ended a lot stronger than it started, and I don’t regret reading it I guess, but I also don’t think I’ll let StoryGraph recommend something again lol it’s the first one I’ve read that was recommended. It isn’t a long book, if Scottish/Irish-esque selfie-folklore, non flashy magic, mysterious stories are up your alley, give it a shot. But be prepared to trudge through a bit at first.