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There are currently 31 member reviews
for The Gifts
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Lynne L. (Tamarac, FL)
Extraordinary Mystery
The Gifts by Liz Hyder is clearly a labor of love. It has, from the subtext of the title, "It will take something extraordinary to show four women who they truly are," the idea that these characters are bound by the manifestation of some great force beyond their control. The problem is that there are too many characters, the extraordinary feels contrived, and developing the themes of love, ambition, obsession, the empowerment of women, among others, weighs down the narrative. All four of the women have talent ,passion, personal conflicts and dreams. They are very different in background but are thrown together in one novel with too many stories to tell. There is arguably enough material in their lives for four separate novels. By juxtaposing them in one overall narrative, they become superficial. They are held hostage to the great mystery at the heart of the novel. Unfortunately, that extraordinary mystery remains just that, a mystery with no explanation.
There are some wonderfully evocative descriptive passages, flashes of believable dialogue and relationships that pull the reader forward. But the novel can't seem to decide if it is YA or adult fiction. The extremely short chapters become distracting to an adult reader. The illustrations are charming, but unnecessary, except for the chapter heading icons that signify the character under discussion.
In terms of discovering who they really are and pursuing their destinies in a world dominated by men, only Mary, the journalist, seems to have a chance… even if she sometimes is forced to masquerade as a man to do so. Etta, the naturalist and Annie, the artist, remain mere hobbyists. Natalia, the storyteller, is forced to find an alternative lifestyle with Etta.
I really wanted to like this novel based on the promotional material. I love historical fiction and there is enough historical flavor in The Gifts to satisfy. The problem for me is that I could not buy into the premise of the novel. As the narrator states on page three, "It is impossible. It cannot be." Those words ring true all the way through the hefty 423 pages of the book. If I want to read about believable angels, I will stick with Neil Gaimon.
I cannot recommend this book as an example of any particular genre. Is it historical fiction? Is it fantasy fiction? Is it YA? Is it an adult novel? Because it can't seem to decide where it fits, I found it unsettling. I certainly recognized the author's passion and hard work, but not enough to pass the novel along to my book club or other adult friends.
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Patty S. (Towson, MD)
All Over the Place
I was really looking forward to reading this book. It hits all of my happy places in subject matter: "science, nature and religion, enlightenment, the role of women in society, and the dark danger of ambition" (from the back cover) but it jumped around too fast. Short chapters can work great but because we were following so many characters, it took me half the book to figure out what was going on. I think the gratuitous description of the killing of a dog in a very early chapter didn't help. I did like the ending, though. I gave it an extra star for that.
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Julie Z. (Oak Park, IL)
The Gifts
Set in Victorian England, this is a fable about females and the abuse they suffer at the hands of men - be it intentional or not. The plot is set in motion when a fisherman rescues an angel who has fallen into the Thames. We are then introduced to four female characters whose lives become entwined with both the angel, and a surgeon who is a religious zealot. His greedy ambition is his downfall, leading to the suffering of his wife and other women. I appreciated the nods to the importance and beauty of nature, but the mystical happenings left me cold. The chapters are brief; told by the varying women. I found this device to make the novel seem disjointed, creating a lack of flow of the story. I was ultimately disappointed in this brutal tale. Thank you to Source Books for the ARC.
