This book is creepy with the pandemic still currently going on because I can picture it being nonfiction. Covid even makes a few appearances in the story.

The story jumps between 1904 and 2008 on an island in New York. The island is home to a hospital that studies contagious diseases that currently don't have vaccines. The Gettler family is trying to create vaccines for these diseases but they aren't going about everything the correct ways!

Thank you Netgalley and Freiling Publishing for the ARC.

An intriguing idea that unfortunately fell flat in execution.

I had a difficult time reading this book, and almost DNF'd it multiple times. The only thing that kept me going was a curiosity to find out how it ends - which was left unsatisfied as the book ends with a cliffhanger and no resolutions - and a vague sense of guilt/responsibility to finish the story. (I'm a completionist but I'm getting better.)

I didn't mind the dual timelines. With the chapters clearly labeled, I didn't find the jumps confusing, although I can see how they may be jarring to some. I did enjoy the historic chapters more than the contemporary ones, as I found Cora's story more interesting than Finn's, or Lily's.

In fact, something that really bothered me about the contemporary chapters is how male gaze-y Finn's POV is. And the book was written by a woman! <spoiler>At the very beginning, we're dropped into a scene where Finn is creeping on a bathing, naked Cora, and it's all downhill from there. From remarks on her "perfect breasts" to wanting to kiss her (with his girlfriend in the room, no less) Cora is repeatedly sexualized by Finn, which is extra-gross considering the trauma his family put her through. Finn has a raging case of white knight syndrome and I hope that, in the next installment, Cora and Lily go off together and leave him in the dust. </spoiler>

The premise was promising - a study of family, loss, and survival, medical ethics, and the suffering of the few for the good of the many. In a more skilled (or experienced) writer's hands it may have been more successful, but <u>The Vines</u> is unfortunately rather ham-fisted in its execution and leans too heavily on telling rather than showing. We're told about the characters' feelings and relationships, but I never felt any sort of love or affection between any of them. Rather than chemistry jumping off the page, we're told that Cora is magnetic, Finn and Lily are in love, the Gettlers are a tight-knit family - but it all falls flat.

It didn't help that the villains were cardboard cutouts without much nuance in motivation. Come on - an evil Nazi doctor experimenting on an Irish girl? I'm surprised he didn't twirl his mustache and cackle maniacally while doing so. <spoiler>It also didn't make any sense to me that Rollie, who was raised by Ulrich, turned out alright while Kristian, raised by Rollie, turned out to be a mini-Nazi. If Kristian was raised by Rollie as his son, wouldn't Rollie's influence be stronger, especially since Ulrich had supposedly done a 180 in his later years?</spoiler> It seemed like Nolden wanted to create conflict for the sake of conflict, and delving deeper into characters' psyches and motivations would have gone a long way here.

The science was threadbare at most, as well. While I must give credit to Nolden for doing her historical research - the story features real-life events like the sinking of the <I>General Slocum</i> and the presence of 'Typhoid Mary' on the island - the same couldn't be said of medical research. Considering the crux at the heart of the book is Cora's mysterious immunities, I expected more scientific explanation of her 'gifts'. The Gettler family spends over a century studying Cora's biology yet we don't know a single thing about how her unique situation works. Either the Gettlers are very poor scientists, or Nolden couldn't be bothered to consult a virologist. Not to mention that part of Cora's geo-based immunity is essentially unexplained as "idk, magic I guess?" I sincerely hope the science is better explained in the next book.

Overall, this was a frustrating read for me. Flat characters, zero chemistry, cliche villains, and science that demands utter suspension of disbelief just didn't work for me. While I am curious as to the resolution of the story, I doubt I'll be picking up the second installment.

This book is full of the reasons why I love to read. and also some of what I hate about books.

The good - I was curious about the setting and some of the historical context. North Brother Island is on the borders of Manhattan. There used to be a hospital on it. The hospital fell into disrepair and the island is now a bird sanctuary. This hospital was once used as a quarantine hospital and typhoid Mary was housed there for a time. These are the kinds of facts that I find interesting and when an author can make me do research into some of the topics mentioned in their book, they've succeeded in my mind.

The bad - there are some "magical" type elements to the storyline. It is meant to be a unique immunity, but really boils down to magic. I cannot say too much here without giving away a big part of the plot line. The book is timely since it speaks to immunities and communicable diseases, but we get Nazi's and inhuman experimentation carried out in the name of science.

Finn, is one of the main characters in this book and while I liked his character, I really didn't care for his girlfriend. After reading the author's note it seems that she modeled this character after some of her own struggles with illness. So, while the actions of the character may be true, it rang false to the story - at least for me.

So, this book to me was magical realism with bits of historical fiction and black and white character archetypes.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

This is an ARC I picked up from NetGalley a long time ago and I don't really remember the book description, so I'm going in without knowing much (a good thing!). At 10% in, the book is not really capturing me yet, but it is early and I do want to see where the story goes. We've got the creepy setting of an old T.B. hospital that was later used for heroin addicts and has now been shuddered for decades. The location is a small island near N.Y.C. with several old and forgotten buildings that are quickly being decayed by the elements. The island is home to some protected bird species now and it is allowed to grow wild so as not to disturb the wildlife habitat. Regarding characters, there is a mysterious woman on the (supposedly uninhabited) island who is heavily scarred and dangerous. We also have a family of two brothers, an over-bearing father, and a very ill mother. The older brother and the father are doctors. Finn, the younger brother is the main character thus far and we first meet him on the island, watching the mysterious woman and wondering who she is, and if she might have been a research subject of his father's work. Hmm...

Upon finishing the book, I gave it 4 stars. It was very impressive as a debut novel, intricately woven and inventive. The story is mainly of Cora, who is infected with several deadly pathogens, but lives a healthy and abnormally long life as long as she stays on the island. She quickly experiences the ravishes of her infections if she gets very far away from its shore. The timelines and characters in Cora's life are revealed as the reader moves back and forth from the past to the present.

I had a little frustration with inaccuracies of some of the medical science, but it doesn't detract from the storyline or the characters. As an immunologist, I am more aware of these issues in fiction than most readers.🙂 I also think there was a missed opportunity to more clearly match the historical timeline to the developments of our understanding of infectious disease immune responses. For example, there is no reason that antibodies from a patient's blood with the ability to neutralize a pathogen couldn't be found and characterized with technology that existed by the 1990's.

I enjoyed the mystery connecting Cora's biological anomaly to the island as a place. It gave the story an underlying magical or sci-fi vibe that was intriguing. It will be interesting to see where the author takes this thread in the next book. A recommended read. I thank Freiling Publishing for a copy of the Ebook.

I tried to get into this book and it just wasn't for me. I found the story very confusing and it jumped around too much for me to really know what was going on, and it was this way straight from the beginning for me. I did not finish. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this arc.

I loved The Vines! It reminded me of American Horror Story: Asylum, and the best of CreepyPasta all mixed into one. The writing was deft and sparse, emotional at the perfect moments for maximum effect. This is medical horror at its best; realizing how close this book dovetails the true history of medical experimentation in America makes it even scarier.

What can I say? I read this book in one go. But... it left me wondering, gasping and shaking my head.

Yes, the topic is great and interesting - historical mystery set in real place sprinkled with real historical characters. Also, there a tropes of scy-fi, fantasy and a lot of psychological thriller. Moreover, the writer's personal story is af it was written on me. I identify and understand her on so many points it made me cry.

However, I need to be truthful to myself, I did not like this book. I found it patchy, jumpy and a bit too much of everythings. It was so much on 'screwed values' that it became screwed itself.

The Vines is the story of interconnection between long line of docters and their research. It it the story of good and evil and everything in between. It is about 'the vines' that hold us together and pull us apart.

Was this story scary? OMG most definitely. Was this story heart-wrenching. Yes, even more so. What I failed to pin point is the author's position. It was very fluid, if you ask me.

I believe there will be those who will sing praises to this book. The timing of it is perfect - COVID19 madness and havoc. But, may be even more so because of what is going on in my state of Victoria with all the 'covid-related' tyranny, I found this book off-putting.

Thank you NetGalley for my copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

In the shadows of New York City lies forbidden North Brother Island, where the remains of a shuttered hospital hide the haunting memories of century-old quarantines and human experiments. The ruins conceal the scarred and beautiful Cora, imprisoned by contagions and the doctors who torment her. When Finn, a young urban explorer, arrives on the island and glimpses an enigmatic beauty through the foliage, intrigue turns to obsession as he seeks to uncover her past—and his own family’s dark secrets.

The Vines by Shelley Nolden is one hell of a story. I would never guessed that this was her first book. She dwells deep into the dark history of North Brother Island in 1907 and throughout the years. The cruel and inhuman experiments that were performed on the patients. The isolation that the patients must have felt. You can definitely tell she did her research with this book. The details of the isolated island. The crumbling buildings. The scientific details that actually had happened.
Reading this during a pandemic, makes you really connect with Cora and the isolation and despair she must have felt. I would highly recommend this book.

I heard few good things about this book and it piqued my interest in reading this book. I saw reviews from people who liked the setting of the book but I didn’t actually like the book though.So, I ended up DNF. The story was little confusing and was a bit hard to catch up and it ultimately lead to lose interest.

This is eerily realistic to what we are living through in the current pandemic.
I found the history and medical side interesting but struggled with the characters and found myself getting a bit confused with the overall plot after a bit.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book,all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I am sorry. I wanted to like this and tried really hard to read it, but I just couldn't. I ended up DNF. I don't mind a bit of back story weaved in but this seemed almost all back story and I was confused. Because it seemed like the main character was living in like a modern city that was fine but then was traveling and it was over grown and like apocalyptic.

I was really intrigued by the concept of The Vines but personally was left disappointed.

Cora as a character and her narration of her life is interesting and gripping. Narration from the point of view of the other characters just didn’t vibe with me, none of them are likeable or very well fleshed out. Cora’s story was at first riveting but then it started to get repetitive but with even grimmer forms of awfulness. It’s basically a long drawn out descriptions of awful acts carried out by vile, awful men. To the point where it started to get almost unbelievable with how lucky these men were to avoid any forms of real tragedy or be any forms of justice while all the women in the story had to suffer some form of awful plight. I understand that awful things do happen all the time around the world especially to women but at times it did just feel like the author was trying to shock more than actually tell a gripping story. It also started to feel very long and repetitive, now knowing there a sequel I feel this was almost used as filler which should never be done with such a topic. There was no real relief or building of any real relationships which could of been done nicely considering it didn’t all have to told in one book. We kept hearing about all these strong relationships either good or bad being built but we didn’t see any of it apart from in forms of devastation and misery. I found The vines a page turner for the first 40% when picked up but I had no real interest in doing so and found myself thinking multiple times of reading something else. Now knowing it’s part of a series I really wish I had put it down because there was no real closure and it made what I did read feel even more drawn out, I unfortunately won’t be picking up book two.

I loved reading this, even though it was about contagious viruses/diseases and we are plagued with that currently. I am anticipating the release of the next book since there is a cliffhanger. It appealed to me with references to history, medical advances, etc.

Reading this book during the pandemic will make you question a lot of things about the world we live in. The book also gives us a glimpse into the past and how prior pandemics have been handled by doctors and hospitals. I love that the setting is a real, abandoned hospital. The plot kept me interested throughout the book because you weren't really sure where Nolden was going to take you with it. I really enjoyed getting to know the character of Cora as well as Typhoid Mary. Though some of the male characters felt like they ran together and I had a hard time keeping them apart. Good mixture of history, science (scifi?) and mystery.

In an interview with Jungle Red Writers (Feb. 25, 2021) Nolden commented on how the themes
from her cancer blog, " disease, fear of death, isolation, loss of a child, and infertility, but also of survival, courage, healing, and hope." became the dominant themes of her unsettling compelling novel The Vines. This well researched historical novel takes the protagonist Coraline from her arrival on North Border Island in 1902 to 2007. How is this possible? Cora is a human enigma. Originally sent to the Riverside Hospital, a notorious place of death located across from Manhattan, her body is able to survive the most deadly of viruses, including typhus and Ebola among others. Her body also refuses to age, thus her appearance is only changed by the scarring left from the ever intrusive surgeries performed by a family of doctor scientists. Determined to find how she is able to survive, they have placed her into a Kafkaesque world where she is perpetually isolated. Eventually Cora must live alone on North Border Island. How she learns to live within this human hell makes for a compelling drama that begs for a quick sequel.

The violence mentioned is both psychic and physical sometimes bordering on horror fiction. It was a hard book to read; in my opinion it is not for the squeamish.

Recommended

Full disclosure: I received this ARC from netgalley and Freiling Publishers in exchange for an unbiased review.

This was an enticing thriller that I could not put down. I loved the flow and I can not wait for another book. The characters in this book were fabulous and creepy. If you are looking for a new title to read this year check it out. The mystery and so vivid its a must read!

I really liked the idea of this one and the cover is so beautiful it drew me in immediately but the story was so slow I couldn't get into it

This was an excellent, fast paced book with an interesting plot and intriguing characters.. I enjoyed the history and mystery of the story, The quarantine/contagions illness aspects were interesting, especially given the times.

I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC both through NetGalley and through a giveaway on GoodReads. The giveaway from GoodReads was accompanied by a letter from the author, Shelley Nolden.
To be written by a person who has endured so much…..
To be written in a time that pre-dates the Covid-19 pandemic……
Shelley Nolden could be labeled a psychic, but she surely is an amazing author.
The Vines captured my attention and didn’t let go until the last page… which leaves you needing to know more. However, she wraps up these events nicely enough, for now.
This suspense novel still has me shaking my head at how uncanny the topic is.
Is there a Cora out there? Is she the secret to our safety?
Eagerly awaiting the next novel….
Thank you to Shelley Nolden, NetGalley, GoodReads, and Freiling Publishing for the advanced copy. My opinions are my own.

I read the first few chapters of this book and will not be finishing it. This felt like a poorly written YA novel, although not marketed as such. As the story begins, it felt like the author tried too hard to grab the reader. As the story progresses, characters are introduced with awkward descriptions, and the writing doesn't flow in a cohesive manner.