Callanish is a gracekeeper, responsible for the resting of dead damplings, or sea-dwellers. She lives alone on a small island, caring for the graces, small birds used in the resting ceremony.
North is a bear tamer in a traveling circus, whose closest friend is her bear.
Logan masterfully weaves together these two almost entirely unrelated stories. For the majority of the book, the girls never interact, meeting only briefly towards the middle of the book, but the similarities between them are beautifully drawn throughout. Both are essentially orphaned, North having lost her parents in an accident, and Callanish having lost her father and been abandoned by her mother. Both girls also share a similar secret - a dangerous one, should it be revealed. By the time the stories finally come together, it's a relief, as the reader has been eagerly anticipating the moment for some time.
I quite enjoyed the alternating perspectives of the novel, allowing me to see the story from beyond the view of the main characters. It brought an extra level of depth to some of the side characters.
Nevertheless, I still found some bits confusing. The character of Jarrow, or Red Gold as North refers to him, seems to waver back and forth between being a characteristic villain and what might actually be a decent guy. In some scenes, he comes across as a kind father-figure to North, and yet, moments later, he becomes the unreasonable slave driver.
Ainsel, too, seems unable to decide who he is as a character. For much of the book, he plays the shy, sweet, good boy heir, yet suddenly becomes conniving and twisted with no prior indication.
I also would have liked to learn a little more of the history of this water-logged world. How did it happen? Was it the ice caps as one might expect, or was it some kind of deistic world flood? Who first decided who got the land that was left? With all technology and knowledge seeming to have reverted backwards, is it even the same world? It's already equipped with all new religions, so it wouldn't be too much of a leap.
Some of the specifics of Callanish and North's individual stories get omitted, as well.
Callanish seems to be on her island as some sort of punishment, yet it's unclear what she's being punished for. Some details suggest a particular direction, but nothing is ever confirmed, nor is it made clear whether the punishment was self-inflicted.
North refers a few times to her "faulty memories," according to certain members of the crew, but it's never made clear what she supposedly remembers falsely, or even if there is anything at all? Is it intimate knowledge she stumbled upon? Has the crew denied the death of her parents, insisting she remembers it poorly? Or is it, perhaps, just that she is forgetful, and is frequently teased for it? The complete lack of acknowledgement of this supposedly well-known trait by any other member of the crew makes it a difficult sentiment to understand.
The book did, however, have some parts by which I was particularly impressed. I enjoyed the almost romantic relationship between North and her bear, in stark contrast to the cold unfeeling between her and what could have been an obvious love interest in Ainsel. I enjoyed the parallels of North and Callanish's loneliness - Callanish on her island, frequently visited, but unable to make friends, and North with her bear, alienated from the rest of the crew by age and rank and dangerous secrets. I also admired Logan's ability to take a relatively forgetful side character and in the space of a few paragraphs turn him or her into something more like a dear friend - making a particular loss later on in the book all that much more difficult to bear. I appreciated the story's ability to tug on my heartstrings, and draw me in on a personal level, allowing me to relate to characters who, by all rights, I should have nothing in common with.
So, while the story did have a few minor setbacks, it managed to keep me eagerly turning pages, and really, that's all one can ask of a good book.
Overall Rating:
I also would have liked to learn a little more of the history of this water-logged world. How did it happen? Was it the ice caps as one might expect, or was it some kind of deistic world flood? Who first decided who got the land that was left? With all technology and knowledge seeming to have reverted backwards, is it even the same world? It's already equipped with all new religions, so it wouldn't be too much of a leap.
Some of the specifics of Callanish and North's individual stories get omitted, as well.
Callanish seems to be on her island as some sort of punishment, yet it's unclear what she's being punished for. Some details suggest a particular direction, but nothing is ever confirmed, nor is it made clear whether the punishment was self-inflicted.
North refers a few times to her "faulty memories," according to certain members of the crew, but it's never made clear what she supposedly remembers falsely, or even if there is anything at all? Is it intimate knowledge she stumbled upon? Has the crew denied the death of her parents, insisting she remembers it poorly? Or is it, perhaps, just that she is forgetful, and is frequently teased for it? The complete lack of acknowledgement of this supposedly well-known trait by any other member of the crew makes it a difficult sentiment to understand.
The book did, however, have some parts by which I was particularly impressed. I enjoyed the almost romantic relationship between North and her bear, in stark contrast to the cold unfeeling between her and what could have been an obvious love interest in Ainsel. I enjoyed the parallels of North and Callanish's loneliness - Callanish on her island, frequently visited, but unable to make friends, and North with her bear, alienated from the rest of the crew by age and rank and dangerous secrets. I also admired Logan's ability to take a relatively forgetful side character and in the space of a few paragraphs turn him or her into something more like a dear friend - making a particular loss later on in the book all that much more difficult to bear. I appreciated the story's ability to tug on my heartstrings, and draw me in on a personal level, allowing me to relate to characters who, by all rights, I should have nothing in common with.
So, while the story did have a few minor setbacks, it managed to keep me eagerly turning pages, and really, that's all one can ask of a good book.
Overall Rating:
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