kpeerman1's review against another edition
2.0
Y'all,
This book was boring.
The story line had a chance to be interesting but the author just missed the mark with her writing. It also seemed like the author kept repeating things she had already said and it wasn't anything that needed extra emphasis added to it. It was as if she were trying to fill space to reach her page quota or something.
I don't know. Maybe it was too soon for me to read another marsh story after reading Where the Crawdads Sing. They were completely unrelated story lines but similar enough that it matters that this author just can't write as well as Delia Owens (at least in this particular instance). I feel hateful saying it was boring because, I mean, what have I written? Nothing.
Anyways, you may enjoy this book if you're into stories about kidnappings, some suspense or deluded half-Native American, narcissistic antagonists.
This book was boring.
The story line had a chance to be interesting but the author just missed the mark with her writing. It also seemed like the author kept repeating things she had already said and it wasn't anything that needed extra emphasis added to it. It was as if she were trying to fill space to reach her page quota or something.
I don't know. Maybe it was too soon for me to read another marsh story after reading Where the Crawdads Sing. They were completely unrelated story lines but similar enough that it matters that this author just can't write as well as Delia Owens (at least in this particular instance). I feel hateful saying it was boring because, I mean, what have I written? Nothing.
Anyways, you may enjoy this book if you're into stories about kidnappings, some suspense or deluded half-Native American, narcissistic antagonists.
mollyjordan's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was a hard read for me and kept me up at night. I doubt I could stomach another book by this author.
Solid writing, but too much brutality on every level for me.
Solid writing, but too much brutality on every level for me.
creaseinthespinebooks's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
mrspenningalovesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
If you like psychological thrillers and Michigander allusions, this is your book! It was a perfect jump-into-fall season. I loved the POV of a woman who is the product of an abducted mother and a narcissist father. The flashbacks show how she grew up not knowing of her situation and only knowing isolation in the U.P. Present time shows her father has escaped from prison, a place she put him in, and she goes out to find him, knowing the methods to track him from his own teaching. It is all tied to a gothic fairytale, the Marsh King’s Daughter, by Hans Christian Andersen.
rachaeldamms's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
readers_pov's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.75
✒️ In this book the most interesting part is the relationships and the psychology of the characters involved. And so is how they change - the story is half a growth-story of the MC and half a psychological thriller. Often simultaneously both. I would also like to raise up the fact that the description of their lifestyle at the marsh made a big impact on me, I found it all fascinating.
✒️ This book is written in the same style as a dual-pov story would, except that both povs are the MC's own - one is herself when she was a child, and the other is her current adult self. This alternative storytelling is written splendidly - it's engaging, informative and contemplative. What I do want to slightly critisize is that the pov of her childhood self is clearly dominating the story, leaving the adult MC more unknown to the reader.
✒️ What really fascinates me about this book is the FMC's relationship with her father - the villain of the story. Clearly, she doesn't despise him. She should, the society, her mother, her husband, everyone is adamant the the only feelings she could have towards her father should be hatred. That is the socially acceptable stance. Instead everything implies that she actually adores still him. Her rational side understands that she should treat her father the way society wants, but her thoughts and behaviour all indicate that she can't. But, as her father's daughter, she's trained to be a survivor. She has and will continue to survive in the society and adapt to her surroundings, for the sake of her own family.
✒️ All of the events taking place in the marsh and the MC's past are addictive and interesting. I just couldn't stop reading of her life. But when the pov switched to her adult self, it seemed to be lacking in depth. Somehow it felt that the heart of the story was and stayed in the past, and the present was just for tying up loose ends, for the sake of giving an ending to the story.
✒️ Also funny little bonus, it depicted Finnish second- or third-generation immigrants. Some had Finnish surnames and even the Finnish pronunciation got a sentence dedicated to it, despite the center of the story being on Native American/Indian heritage, when it came to the important characters.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping
Minor: Animal death, Murder, and Animal cruelty
aprilbethp's review
4.0
I used this for the PopSugar Reading Challenge 2020 for prompt 47, a book with more than twenty letters in it’s title.
This was billed as a psychological thriller and while I enjoyed it immensely I didn’t find it very thrilling. It was more a psychological self-exploration than an edge of your seat page-turner. Be ready for a hard to connect to heroine who makes you question the lense in which you view your heritage.
This was billed as a psychological thriller and while I enjoyed it immensely I didn’t find it very thrilling. It was more a psychological self-exploration than an edge of your seat page-turner. Be ready for a hard to connect to heroine who makes you question the lense in which you view your heritage.
melissafish76's review
3.0
Ok.
I skimmed a lot. It was ok. The premise was interesting but just didn’t hold my attention. I was eager just to finish it.
I skimmed a lot. It was ok. The premise was interesting but just didn’t hold my attention. I was eager just to finish it.
jenibus's review
4.0
The Marsh King's Daughter flew by, I literally was surprised to realize I had only an hour left in the audiobook when I reached that point. The story moves at a breakneck speed, barely giving pause for the reader to catch their breath and realize the implications of what is happening. This is both good and bad. It certainly kept me engaged, kept me turning the pages (metaphorically since audiobook), but there certainly were times I wished we had time to reflect on the consequences of Helena's childhood circumstances.
Helena is the daughter of a woman who was abducted at age 14 and her abductor. Raised in the swampy marshlands of Michigan, Helena was more a child of the wilderness than of people. She kills her first deer at 7, she knows how to track the smallest movements in the marsh, can take down a bear and shoot with precise accuracy. At 12 she and her mother escaped her father's captivity and now an adult, Helena has tried to put her childhood entirely behind her, keeping the details of it hidden from her husband and their two daughters. But Helena's father has escaped from prison and is hiding out in the marshlands once more, and Helena might be the only person who can find him before he finds her.
Like I said, the book is quite good and super fast-paced, but that's somewhat to its detriment. The parts of the book I found most compelling were Helena's personal relationships with characters who WEREN'T her father. Growing up not knowing the circumstances of her birth, she resented her mother who she viewed as too quiet and not fun, not understanding that she was living a prisoner of her father. After they were rescued, no one seems to want Helena around, she doesn't fit in anywhere and her grandparents only view her as her father's daughter. The small glimpses we see of Helena's relationship with her mother broke my heart and I kept finding myself wishing that more of the book was devoted to their complicated relationship. Similarly, we barely see Helena's interactions with her husband. I wish we could have seen more, seen how they fell for one another, seen portions of their discussions and arguments after he learns the truth about her upbringing.
The action was fine, and Dionne was certainly not required to write a book full of character explorations if she didn't want to, but that was what I most wanted out of the book.
Helena is the daughter of a woman who was abducted at age 14 and her abductor. Raised in the swampy marshlands of Michigan, Helena was more a child of the wilderness than of people. She kills her first deer at 7, she knows how to track the smallest movements in the marsh, can take down a bear and shoot with precise accuracy. At 12 she and her mother escaped her father's captivity and now an adult, Helena has tried to put her childhood entirely behind her, keeping the details of it hidden from her husband and their two daughters. But Helena's father has escaped from prison and is hiding out in the marshlands once more, and Helena might be the only person who can find him before he finds her.
Like I said, the book is quite good and super fast-paced, but that's somewhat to its detriment. The parts of the book I found most compelling were Helena's personal relationships with characters who WEREN'T her father. Growing up not knowing the circumstances of her birth, she resented her mother who she viewed as too quiet and not fun, not understanding that she was living a prisoner of her father. After they were rescued, no one seems to want Helena around, she doesn't fit in anywhere and her grandparents only view her as her father's daughter. The small glimpses we see of Helena's relationship with her mother broke my heart and I kept finding myself wishing that more of the book was devoted to their complicated relationship. Similarly, we barely see Helena's interactions with her husband. I wish we could have seen more, seen how they fell for one another, seen portions of their discussions and arguments after he learns the truth about her upbringing.
The action was fine, and Dionne was certainly not required to write a book full of character explorations if she didn't want to, but that was what I most wanted out of the book.