Extreme racism, misogyny and sexism were highly unnecessary for the creation of this book. I really wanted to get into it but often found myself falling asleep to both the narration and the book. Perhaps the book is better read and not listened to. As it stands, this narrator was awfully dull which made the story all that much harder to go through. Overall, the unexpected content and the narration made me have to stop listening to this book. Instead of rating it one star, I have chosen not to give feedback publicly.

Unfortunately this book just did not really peak my interest once i started listening to it. I found it hard to follow the different characters and ended up just getting confused on what was going on. Not quite sure how to rate this book but i think it would come across better as written text.

Iv really wanted to like this book. It had all the makings of a book for me. But It wasn't. I will definitely have to try it again a different time.

This novel is a mid-18th century historical fiction, keeping in time with the period as so far as social constructs of gender roles. The premise revolves around four women challenging societal norms to reshape history. This feat, even in literary fiction, would be large by any means and unfortunately it is not achieved. Instead of feeling a surge of feminist success, I felt deflated by the ending.

Written from ever-changing perspectives, Etta, Mary, Natalia, Annie, and Edward, it is very hard to feel a connection to any one character. In the beginning I was so caught up in the switching povs that it became difficult to maintain the story. Ultimately two of these women have been given a gift; reminiscent of The Power by Naomi Alderman, but with no defensive skills to protect themselves in the world of men. The whole success of the story revolves around the other two supporting women who struggle to find their own voices.

Ultimately this story was a bit of a letdown. Chauvinism, misogyny, and racism abound in this story with no real and earnest counters. The ending came about by default and not as an actual success. I feel I will not be alone in this review and that either this story will be absolutely loved or disliked.

The writing and world creation, though slow in many parts, was well done. The narration by Tuppence Middleton was excellent.

Short synopsis: Set in the year 1840 in London, a dead woman is found in the Thames with wings sprouting out of her back. A renowned surgeon is given the woman, and he believes he’s been given a gift from God.

My thoughts: This is not at all what I expected from this book. I anticipated a woman given special powers, not a man dissecting women with wings. Beware, there are lots of triggers in this: kidnapping, unmedicated surgery, abuse, animal abuse.

What I liked: I liked the uniqueness of this story, it’s a blend of historical fiction, fantasy, magical realism, and literary fiction. I haven’t read anything like it before. I liked the women trying to break the barrier of what was expected of them and making strides towards women’s rights.

What I didn’t like: This was long and very slow paced. It took about half of the book for my interest to be piqued. There are quite a number of characters and perspectives and it took me a bit to really understand the characters and how they blended together.

I did a mix of audio and physical reading of this, I will say the audio was very well done. I liked that the character’s name was voiced at the beginning of the chapter so we could know whose POV the story was referring to. I do wish that I’d started this via the physical reading, I think I would have maybe learned to understand each character better that way.

Read if you love:
- Blend of genres
- Medical advances
- Womens rights
- Historical reads
- Multiple POV

"And perhaps the world is not ready for women such as us. Not yet."⠀
⠀
Liz Hyder, The Gifts⠀
⠀
⠀
The Gifts by Liz Hyder is a historical magical realism read reminiscent of Stalking Jack the Ripper or The Raven Spell. The book started slow and there are definitely some triggers for anyone who is queasy (animal cruelty, detailed surgery). I almost dnf'd but the introduction of new characters kept me interested and the book picked up in the middle. This story leans heavily on its female characters and Annie, Mary, Etta, and Natalya were all brilliant in their own ways. I enjoyed how each woman came into her own strength by choosing to eschew societal restraints and live with authenticity. Many of the scenes were uncomfortable and difficult to read but they definitely showed the depth of darkness that each woman escaped from. The main male antagonist was narcissistic, delusional, and completely egotistical so his descent into madness was satisfying. Overall this is an imaginative and powerful story about the fierce perseverance of the female spirit.

I received this audio copy from Net Galley for an honest review. This is a historical fantasy about women who grow angel wings. This had some brutal writing. Killing the dog all slayed me. Mutilating women. Greedy men. Ya, this was not for me.

** Spoiler**


The introductory scene of a frantic woman fleeing caught my heartstrings and I immediately wanted to defend her and know her story. I tried to get into the other perspectives and kept drawing on the hope to hear the “angel’s” thoughts, and my hopes were drowned with disappointment when her body washed up on the riverside. I booed to myself because I did not like or connect to the other characters.

I, unfortunately, will not be finishing this title.

This was a beautifully narrated tale of magical realism in mid-19th century London. The story is told through five different perspectives, which was 2-3 more than I prefer. I found it challenging to follow and/or settle in at times so you definitely need to give this one undivided attention when reading/listening. That being said, I’ll keep an eye out for future books by this author!
*Thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for this audiobook copy for review.

Special thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I heard that this is a book you will either really like or really not like. I fall on the wayside of the "not like" category. I feel as though I was very confused by all the different wo.en til halfway through the book.

Also this is a lot of fantasy, magical realism going on and that I'd certainly not my thing. Or the abuse of animals AND humans was terrible.

One woman had a fantastic story out of all of them and idk this book was just not for me.

I wouldn't recommend to anyone who does not like too many characters until you are utterly confused, magical fantasy, and especially abuse of animals and people.

If you go with this book as I did, listen to it rather than read. Don't forget your notebook. 3 stars

My best way to describe The Gifts is to call it a fantasy/historical fiction/magical realism mash-up. It also has female friendship and feminist undertones. If that all appeals to you, definitely give this book a shot. Fantasy really isn’t my genre at all, so I struggled with this one quite a bit. It took me a while to really peg down all of the characters, and figure out where the storyline was heading. Things were iffy for me around the halfway point, but then it started to click into place, and I was able to distinguish one woman from the other. Overall, I thought the writing was beautiful, the characters were well-developed, and the plot was steady and intriguing. Unfortunately, The Gifts was a miss for me, but I really don’t blame the book. It just isn’t one of my preferred genres, simple as that. I was thankful to step out of my comfort zone, and try something that I wouldn’t normally pick up.

What a fab concept.

I loved the symbolism and insight into this period of history. London is well-described - albeit with a lot of horse-related accidents - and the author really shows the feeling at the time, including growing dissent amongst women.

The story itself is interesting and brings together the Victorian obsession for taxidermy, death and ‘freaks’, as well as the differences between the classes.

It took a while to get the characters straight in my head with the audiobook as there wasn’t enough differentiation between each one (which was confusing as the story is told through multiple perspectives). I also wanted to like Annie and Mary more but I don’t feel that their characters were fleshed out until towards the end, when they both became a bit more likeable.

Overall it’s a great story, that kept my attention, although it does leave readers with a lot of unanswered questions.

Firstly I have to say this has a really interesting concept and is well written with great descriptions and unique characters. However this wasn't for me, the pacing was too slow and monotonous that I struggled with connection the the plot. I also couldn't handle how descriptive the animal torture was, that might just be me, but I had to skip past. I think this had an audience who would love this and I've seen there are many five star reviews but it's not for me.

I loved the strong and intelligent women of The Gifts, my favorite being Mary. The plot was fascinating and I enjoyed the literary style of this historical fiction/magical realism. I found the writing to be ambitious, and at times confusing, as it switched between 5 different perspectives, but each character was thankfully unique enough to stand out. It was an overall enjoyable read!

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

This was a beautifully written book with elegant prose and brutal subject matter. It truly seems like things are the complete opposite of what they should be at times in this book and that's what makes it so utterly perfect.

The Gifts is a multi-genre book that contains a bit of everything. The crux of the story is that real women have mysteriously grown wings for no known reason and at the enter of them all is a surgeon who is obsessed with making a name for himself. Edward is this surgeon. The further he goes into his "research" the madder he seems to become as he believes the "angels" have been sent to him because of some favor he has from God above. Along with Edward, we also meet his wife who is being shoved further and further away from him each day to make room in his heart for his true love - - medicine and science.

There are several other characters as well that all tie into the women with wings and/or the doctor or his wife. It's definitely a situation where someone either knows someone or knows someone else who will know them and it all seems to connect together into one huge and messy puzzle.

I felt that the meaning behind this book was probably deeper than I realize. But for me the takeaway was that people often look to the magic of things on the surface and don't look any deeper to what someone or something truly represents. They are often afraid to speak their minds and it's the unspoken. words than can cause harm.

I really enjoyed this book. It flowed smoothly like a slow moving body of water and I felt filled up when I finished it. It was a true pleasure.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: The narration for this book was fabulous. The variety of voices that were accomplished was simply stunning and a true "performance" in itself. I found it quite enjoyable and no issues keeping up with the multiple characters. 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the e-book and audiobook. I voluntarily chose to review both of these and the opinions contained in my reviews are my own.

*arc review*

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of the audiobook of The Gifts in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really strange, but interesting book. I could almost believe it was written in the time period because the feminist resistance is subversive and subtle enough that it rings true to the time.
I’m sure there are allegories within that I’m missing, but the overall message about religious zeal and doing evil things in the name of God are well portrayed. That said I think on numerous occasions in this I said out loud, WTF just happened? Edward was bananas and I hope Annie’s post book life is a better one.
Other reviewers have mentioned the frequent POV changes bothered them, but I was able to follow along easily after I remembered who was who. I often prefer short chapters because it makes me feel like I’m accomplishing more! Overall I liked the book… could have survived without the dog murder.

Note: I listened to this as an audiobook on 2.0 times speed.

Narrator: Tuppence Middleton is a wonderful narrator. Very smooth and even voice.

Story: It was a fast-paced story. Some chapters were only around 3-4 minutes long which made one come through the story very fast. It had a large character gallery but they were quite different so it was easy to remember each character’s story and their induvidual purpose in the story.

We are in London, the year is 1840. A surgeon get hold of a drowned woman sporting angellike wings. He spirals down into an obsession and insanity. This is, I would say, what glues this story together as all the characters in one way or another are affected by the surgeon and what he gets up to trying to prove his own research.

I liked it. I was engaged and I did like that it didn’t drag.

This book initially got my attention because I love historical fiction and I wanted to branch out into other genres too, fantasy being one of them. This turned into one of the most disturbing reads for this year, possible ever.

The cruelty in this book, to humans and animals alike made me want to stop reading several times. Edward was absolutely wrapped up inside his ideas of grandeur and what he saw as his mission from God. What kept me reading is hoping he would see sense. While that didn’t happen the way I thought it would, I have to say that part was good.

One of my favorite characters was Natalya. The stories she told within this novel were fantastic.

Etta, Mary, Richard. I wanted to see how their stories ended too.

I have seen a few people say that this book will be one the reader either loves or doesn’t. Sadly, I fall into the does not like category.

The audiobook was extremely well done. The narrator, Tuppence Middleton, is the only reason I finished this book. She is extremely talented and her voice was very easy to listen to.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for the ALC. All views are my honest opinion.

3.5 stars. Victorian London is in a frenzy over reports of fallen angels — women with wings spotted in town and in the countryside. Can it be true? Surely it's just a rumor. One surgeon finds himself compelled to separate fact from fiction, caught up in a dangerous spiral of obsession and self-delusion.

I found this story to be entertaining, though all the men in it are just wretched and detestable. I guess that's sort of the point, though? The women with their gifts are being hounded, hunted even, by these greedy men desperate to keep them down? Maybe I'm reading too much into it. Anyways, the narrative is split into five POVs, so fair warning if you're not into that style of book. The four women (Etta, Natalya, Annie, and Mary) are all extremely likable and their stories are interesting. Edward's character, decidedly less. Mary was my favorite, and I loved watching her develop as a character.

This book was a unique blend of historical, fantasy, and mystery, and I recommend it to those looking for something different! Be forewarned though, there is a fair amount of violence toward animals and women in the narrative. Thank you to Liz Hyder, Sourcebooks Landmark, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for my advance audio copy.

The Gifts
Liz Hyder
I made it about a third of the way through this book and gave up. I found the animal torture unbearable. The point of view changed without warning and often at strange times. When I read a book I want to enjoy it and I just couldn’t enjoy this one. I am amazed at so many 5- and 4-star reviews.