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aprilbethp's review against another edition
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 against another edition
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 against another edition
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.
msteinhaus's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Very dark. Unreliable (due to parenting trauma) narrator, which is believable but bothered me at certain times. Not at all twisty--very clear from the start what must happen. I felt the plot pace was slow, but did enjoy the immersive detail of the flashbacks. Could have done with maybe one less round of grappling between father/daughter at the end.
erinreads519's review against another edition
5.0
A co-worker loaned me this book that she picked up based on its description. We live in Michigan and share a love of the UP. Another read that we both mutually loved was The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah, and we have been searching for a read that gave similar vibes. This delivered!! I enjoyed the alternating plots between past and present and the atmosphere of the remote marsh. While I didn't think this was a super twisty thriller by any means, it was mysterious and intriguing. A very fast read that I did not want to put down. Five stars!
tmonda's review
3.0
I felt that the book was really slow and took a while to get into it. I ended up returning the book to my library without finishing it as I just couldn't get through it. I even renewed it the max number of weeks allowed and still couldn't get through it. I might give it another try in the future but for now it goes on my "didn't finish" shelf"
waheela's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent story where the author use the narrative to shift between past and present in a fluid way.
I didn't like the main character all the time but I contribute that to the way we got inside her head. The way she thought and reacted was not as ordinary people would...but then again she was not brought up ordinarily.
I was impressed as how consistent the main character chain of thoughts were with small burst of redemptions. Well written.
And she was quite a badass.
I was a bit worried about the pace at first but it flowed well and could keep the suspension up.
I didn't like the main character all the time but I contribute that to the way we got inside her head. The way she thought and reacted was not as ordinary people would...but then again she was not brought up ordinarily.
I was impressed as how consistent the main character chain of thoughts were with small burst of redemptions. Well written.
And she was quite a badass.
I was a bit worried about the pace at first but it flowed well and could keep the suspension up.
beckiebookworm1974's review against another edition
4.0
Arc Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.beckiebookworm.com/
So Where to start with this review, The Marsh Kings Daughter by Karen Dionne is one of those books where not a lot happens in terms of plotline, this actually doesn't seem to matter as we spend most of the book looking backwards as this is where the main action lies. This story Immerses you in a past that though horrific, is so deeply ingrained in tradition and culture that it sucks you into the pages fully as we experience through a child's eyes life on the marsh.
So Basically, Helena is the daughter of the Marsh King Jacob and his abducted bride, who is hardly more than her child herself.
Unaware of her mother's captivity she is raised on the marsh as her father's shadow.
eagerly Learning all that he knows.
Despite her father's sometimes cruel ways Helena adores him.
At the age of twelve upon realising the secret of her birth and her mother's imprisonment at the hands of her sadistic father and yearning for change Helena manages to escape to civilisation.
But The outside world is a lot different to what she imagined and her grandparents can barely tolerate her presence.
So when she turns eighteen she sets off into the world to forge her own path, cutting herself off from her family and changing her name to escape the notoriety of being the marsh king's daughter.
This is really where we come in Helena is married with two little girls. The secret of her birth is still hidden, that is until her father escapes from Prison engaging Helena in a deadly game of cat and mouse with her family the prize at stake.
This was such an easy and interesting read, I loved the vivid descriptions and also the ongoing Fairytale of the stories namesake.
The Marsh Kings daughter kept my attention till the end.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free advanced readers copy this is my own personal opinion of the marsh king's daughter by Karen Dionne.
https://www.beckiebookworm.com/
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
https://www.beckiebookworm.com/
So Where to start with this review, The Marsh Kings Daughter by Karen Dionne is one of those books where not a lot happens in terms of plotline, this actually doesn't seem to matter as we spend most of the book looking backwards as this is where the main action lies. This story Immerses you in a past that though horrific, is so deeply ingrained in tradition and culture that it sucks you into the pages fully as we experience through a child's eyes life on the marsh.
So Basically, Helena is the daughter of the Marsh King Jacob and his abducted bride, who is hardly more than her child herself.
Unaware of her mother's captivity she is raised on the marsh as her father's shadow.
eagerly Learning all that he knows.
Despite her father's sometimes cruel ways Helena adores him.
At the age of twelve upon realising the secret of her birth and her mother's imprisonment at the hands of her sadistic father and yearning for change Helena manages to escape to civilisation.
But The outside world is a lot different to what she imagined and her grandparents can barely tolerate her presence.
So when she turns eighteen she sets off into the world to forge her own path, cutting herself off from her family and changing her name to escape the notoriety of being the marsh king's daughter.
This is really where we come in Helena is married with two little girls. The secret of her birth is still hidden, that is until her father escapes from Prison engaging Helena in a deadly game of cat and mouse with her family the prize at stake.
This was such an easy and interesting read, I loved the vivid descriptions and also the ongoing Fairytale of the stories namesake.
The Marsh Kings daughter kept my attention till the end.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free advanced readers copy this is my own personal opinion of the marsh king's daughter by Karen Dionne.
https://www.beckiebookworm.com/
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
martyfried's review against another edition
4.0
This was an interesting book, although the pace was mostly pretty slow, and probably boring to many. In my younger days, I did a lot of backpacking, living in the mountains, etc, and have always been a little bit interested in surviving out of doors. So, I probably paid more attention to the parts where she describes how things were done in detail. There was also a lot of words used to describe her love-hate relationship with her father. I can understand how a child might love this man, but as an adult, I find it hard to believe that she would still be conflicted about him. I think I might have shot him the first time I saw him, but then that's easy for me to say - I don't own a gun, and would have probably missed by a mile anyway. Then again, I don't think I ever would have gone after him in the first place.