Boy is this a cracking read! Obviously I was always going to love it when it’s set on an island off Australia, but even without that it would be a brilliant piece of historical fiction to totally capture you.
I think the blurb covers a lot - a dual narrative hundreds of years apart, but I loved the contrast of our two narrators! Mayken is this chipper, fearless young girl who makes friends easily and goes off chasing monsters, whilst Gil is this shy, self-contained boy who seems scared of everyone and everything. Whilst the shipwreck is a bit of a link between the two stories, it’s perhaps not as much as you’d think - it’s not one of those novels where the more recent narrative somehow solves the mystery of the older narrative, they rather just run alongside each other nicely.
In fact I’d say it’s easier to read it as almost two separate stories, linked by this same lonely island. Mayken’s story begins full of excitement, adventure and friendship then eventually ends in horror and tragedy, whilst Gil’s begins as a story of loneliness, grief and bullying, but ends hopefully. Both are completely compelling in their own way and I actually blitzed through the audiobook in a day because I was so invested in both characters. (Loved the audiobook narration too, fyi!).
This wasn’t a story I’d ever heard of, but through brilliant characters, beautiful writing and a wonderful sense of place, Kidd has really brought events to life and made me want to go on a googling rampage! It’s definitely not for the faint hearted as it’s quite violent and creepy at times, with some devastating themes, but if you can get past that it’s such a worthwhile, fascinating and complex read.
I think the blurb covers a lot - a dual narrative hundreds of years apart, but I loved the contrast of our two narrators! Mayken is this chipper, fearless young girl who makes friends easily and goes off chasing monsters, whilst Gil is this shy, self-contained boy who seems scared of everyone and everything. Whilst the shipwreck is a bit of a link between the two stories, it’s perhaps not as much as you’d think - it’s not one of those novels where the more recent narrative somehow solves the mystery of the older narrative, they rather just run alongside each other nicely.
In fact I’d say it’s easier to read it as almost two separate stories, linked by this same lonely island. Mayken’s story begins full of excitement, adventure and friendship then eventually ends in horror and tragedy, whilst Gil’s begins as a story of loneliness, grief and bullying, but ends hopefully. Both are completely compelling in their own way and I actually blitzed through the audiobook in a day because I was so invested in both characters. (Loved the audiobook narration too, fyi!).
This wasn’t a story I’d ever heard of, but through brilliant characters, beautiful writing and a wonderful sense of place, Kidd has really brought events to life and made me want to go on a googling rampage! It’s definitely not for the faint hearted as it’s quite violent and creepy at times, with some devastating themes, but if you can get past that it’s such a worthwhile, fascinating and complex read.