I am sorry to say that in my view The Gifts doesn't live up to the glamorous synopsis. The narrative is slow and very boring, full of feminist cliche without bringing anything new when it comes to ideas being debated. The storytelling is alright but not enough to make up for everything else that's lacking.


Many thanks for the opportunity to read this!

What a wonderful, emotional book that will stay with me for quite some time after finishing it. Set in 1840, the story follows 4 women, each on their individual journey, each with a strength of character that carries them through. The descriptions in the book are so evocative, you are totally immersed in their 19th century worlds , their worries and their hopes, which aren't so different from our 21st century ones. Super writing, humorous at times-with great dry asides- this book will take a little piece of your heart with it.

This is a beautifully imagined story with themes that are as relevant today as they are in the 19th century setting. There are some very dark elements to the story but I was left with a sense of hope as the women strive to find agency and escape the male gaze.

Unfortunately I found that the pace and way that the multiple narratives were blended (the voice of one woman runs into the voice of another within the same paragraph) jarring and distracted me from becoming fully immersed in the book. I was constantly having to re-read sections and I found this frustrating.

I would like to thank the publishers and NetGalley for the advance copy in return for an honest review.

1840's Victorian London, South Shropshire and some fantasy. Whats not to like? I loved this novel, after writing Bearmouth for children this is a debut adult novel for Liz Hyder. Its a good one. You wont be able to put it down, It has short punchy chapters, and its essentially a tale of four females struggling in male dominated victorian england to find their place in society. Whilst there is a fantasy element, that brings a bit of magic and hope when all is said and done.
Roll on Feb 22 when this is released.

In 1840's London, women mysteriously begin to sprout wings, a man feels called by God, and a young woman sets out on a quest for truth. These characters are the primary narrators of The Gifts - each are impacted by the arrival of the wings in their own way and as they are drawn into one anothers' orbits, things move towards a climax that will change all their lives.

But my god, did they move slowly. The Gifts is not Hyder's debut novel but it is her debut for adults, and it is painfully slow. We meet the cast of characters speeedily enough but the plot grinds into gear in a way that's just not compelling. I was deeply frustrated by the pace, as Hyder didn't give us character or setting details to enjoy while she stitched together her narrative. I also felt that 5 narrative voices - rapidly shifting across short chapters - was far too many, and though it did help the pacing issue,. it meant that all our time with these characters felt rushed.

I did like elements of this novel! The premise is very cool, and the inclusion of LGBTQ+ and characters of colour suprised and impressed me. I also loved the relationship between Natalya and Etta, which came late in the book but was so tender it redeemed the narrative for me. Hyder also was ready to interrogate the arrogance and misogyny of men in this era, especially in the name of God, though I would have appreciated a better "unpacking" of Edward's character.

Ultimately, the Gifts left me wanting. I wanted better characterisation, more atmosphere, and a tighter plot. While this was not a DNF for me - I did want to know how things resolved themselves - I can't say I enjoyed it much. A solid 2.5 for me.

In Victorian Britain, four women are brought together by extraordinary gifts.

On themes of feminism and religion.

The narratives are blended, such that one narrator takes over from another within the same paragraph.

Pacing and structure are a big problem, getting in the way of the story. The lack of chapters must be a conscious decision by debut author Hyder, but in this novel it does not work for me.

My thanks to NetGalley and Bonnier Books UK for the ARC.

Well structured story with intriguing characters and a brilliant ‘wrap’

Although I very much enjoyed this novel, set in 1840, it was the universally ‘modern’ outlook of all the characters we are designed to empathise with, that lost that final star for me. Although I appreciate that the like minded will indeed gather together or be drawn together, that the quartet of gifted women – a specialist in botany and wild things, an aspiring journalist, a gifted weaver of oral narrative story telling, and a stunning artist – seem quite so aware and advanced as they are, kept me away from belief in inhabitation of the period.

This can be a problem in historical set fiction that sensibilities which are too modern get set into a character – or too many characters – from another era, so that the zeitgeist of the time is missing.

I found this to be particularly challenging with the character of Mary, who had an unusually modern attitude – as did the most sympathetic male character – towards ‘the love that dare not speak its name’

Something else which was missing, for me, was the reason for the appearance of the angelic gifts. Stories often demand villains as well as heroes, and the villain in this one, and his trajectory from more compassionate scientist than his ambitious friend to sadist, obsessed by being some kind of ‘chosen by God’ priest of scientific endeavour, did not quite square for me.

There are some initial challenges in working out what exactly is going on, and whose story is being engaged in. I’m not sure if this was something caused by formatting problems in my digital ARC, but the changing of focus from one of the four to another, without even any change of paragraph, let alone use of a symbol to indicate a scene break, sometimes meant that a new sentence made no sense at all, as another person’s story began at the beginning only of that sentence.

So we have, for example
“She wonders what manner of bottle it might have come from, what jar or glass, what forgotten life it once lived. The last story before I vanish, she thinks to herself, and she smiles out at the wide open skies. The groom has fallen over’

All but the last sentence belongs to the gifted story teller, about to embark on her journey from one place to another. The groom is in a different place, and is the beginning of a section of the artist’s story.

I wondered whether this (change of scene, change of person, between one full stop and the next sentence) was a chosen device to unsettle the reader to mimic the ‘unsettle’ of events, or perhaps was designed to mirror the fact that all stories were going to come together, and there was a connecting web between all of the women.

This review has focused more on what didn’t work for me – however, yes, I certainly would recommend this, and would read more by this author

Without any spoiler, I reiterate that the ending was enormously pleasing!

Liz Hyder's first adult novel is very different from her YA debut, but just as captivating and interesting. Her characters sing off the page, leaping into your throat and holding you hostage until you get to the last page. The hum of Victorian London - of discovery and botany and science and women taking charge of their own lives - weaves through the book with a skill I would expect from a far more established writer. Liz Hyder is the real deal. I loved this, I loved this, I loved this.

I was interested in the plot of this book straight away, but the different strands of the story do take some time to come together, and until then one character is much more interesting than the others. Because of that I sometimes struggled with the pacing. However The Gifts is ultimately a rewarding and thoughtful novel which examines ideas relating to feminism, class and religion which I'm sure many readers will find fascinating.

There were lots of elements of this book that I absolutely loved ,it is a well written book with a unique story that held me enthralled .At the same time I felt rather like this should it be the first third of a longer novel exploring in more detail why exactly the women had been gifted the wings and what they would go on to do with them .The whole idea is potentially so deep and could lead in so many different directions that I felt the subject matter had been covered too superficially for me to truly buy into the story
I loved the comparison to historical body snatchers and to the way that doctors of the time were dissecting the recently deceased to gain further anatomical knowledge .of course it made sense that if one such doctor were to come across a body which had unexpected wings then they or course would want to know more .If you add in the freak shows of the period then the story is set
The novel is well written and easy to read i very much enjoyed it

This is the kind of book I like. However, there are several different strands which take time to come together, normally not a problem but I found it a bit difficult to differentiate between them, possibly due to my advanced kindle copy. It did evoke the same themes that "Essex Serpent" had - science vs nature, modern thinking vs mythology etc but perhaps not with such a strong identity. I did enjoy the different stories of the women and Edward who was collecting these angels but thought it a bit coincidental that so many of these winged-women came into being at one time.

Gorgeous! Hotly tipped to be one of the biggest reads of 2022.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

Beautifully written with a unique slant on gothic Victorian London, this novel will suck you into a breathless journey of discovery. I enjoyed the shift of power between the characters and once I got used to the narrative jumping back and forward between the main protagonists, liked the slow way Liz Hyder developed each of their stories. Unusual and arresting and bound to be a huge success.

spoiler alert ** Enjoyable story of four women,each trying to make their way in the days when everything was dominated by men.
It was interesting to guess at what point their lives would merge.
Sometimes I felt it was ticking too many things off a check list (good man gone bad / oblivious wife/plucky orphan girl/gossiping servants) but as a whole,I got carried away with the story,and felt a tiny bit of magic in those closing pages.

This wasnt at all what I was expecting, for all the right reasons. A great step back into Victorian England with lots of societal issues at the forefront, and the backdrop of this read.
A really interesting and wonderfully unusual concept that captured my attention immediately and had me hooked the whole way through.
This moves at a great pace and the ending is superb.
A compelling, emotional read.

Glorious
Wonderful
Dark and insightful
Poignant and compelling
Magical yet there are cloaked figures lurking in the shadows....
A world in which men *think* they hold all the power yet women plot in secret
A novel about hope, survival, how power corrupts and what it means to be free
A brilliant read highly recommended
All the stars. Tons more than 5.