I really wanted to like this book. It had such a cool premise and I kept reading despite issues with writing and plot because I was hoping there would be a payoff in the end. But there isn’t. This book just ENDS… can’t even call it a cliffhanger. It’s like the author just ran out of time. There’s NO resolution to ANY OF THE MAJOR PLOT POINTS. Wtf.

I reviewed this book for Historical Novels Review, the magazine of the Historical Novel Society. Per their policy, I cannot post a review online until after it is posted in the magazine in May 2021 . I will update this review after that date.

4 STARS

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.

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THE VINES was not at all what I expected it to be (in the best way!) A combination of mystery, scientific thriller and a whole lot of body horror, THE VINES discusses so many important questions regarding early scientific discoveries - and the horrific ways in which these were (and sometimes are still) made.

I was fully entranced by Cora's story and the history of the very real North Brother's Island medical facility that inspired it. Nolden did an absolutely fantastic job researching and writing about the disturbing history of the island, while masterly interweaving a story of sorrow, loss and the human condition. I eagerly await the sequel!

Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for my ARC. THE VINES is available March 23rd!

I received an advanced reader copy of The Vines from Freiling Publishing via NetGalley, in return for my honest opinion.

The Vines by Shelley Nolden is a story about family and the misuse of power. North Brother Island, just off the coast of Manhattan, NY, once famous for its health care facilities in the early 1900s, now sits abandoned and is mainly a natural habitat for herons.

Finn Gettler sets out to explore North Brother Island and its shuttered buildings. Finn is taken by surprise when he meets Cora- a beautiful woman that lives on the island with no modern day conveniences. Cora is a living medical experiment, Finn vows to help her but isn’t prepared to go up against his family.

This book is hard to review – I’m still unsettled with a few of the characters which I think is skewing my feelings for the book. This was a great story filled with terrible characters doing heinous acts and wonderful characters trying to right the world. The end was a bit abrupt and leaves questions unanswered but overall the book kept my interest. I did really enjoy the historical figures and setting that the author brought to life, especially Mary Mallon aka Typhoid Mary. The Vines is available today, March 23, 2021.

Goodreads Rating: 3/5 stars

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Finn is curious man who goes to North Brother Island to find out why his family has been coming to the island for years and more about the research his family has been doing for years.
Instead he finds a woman who has been living amongst the ruins of the hospital that once housed patients during outbreaks in history. But there is something about this woman that Finn cannot shake and ties to his families dark past.

The vines is a fictional story that ties real events that happened in and around the North Brother Island with a fictional mystery spanning decades. The story is written in multiple perspectives and time lines. I really like this about it since you got to go back to where is all started and the present time when it is taking place. It is a pretty indepth story that is written in a way that makes it hard to put down. I also really liked how the author brought real historical events into the story to make it more authentic even with the science fiction theme. While this is not a stand alone it does answer a lot of question while giving a good cliff-hanger ending that makes you wonder what might happen next. I really enjoyed this story.

I really loved the fictional story surrounding true events-but the book was difficult to get into.
There was a lot of German that was not translated and a weird vagueness on details that made it confusing at times.

I thought it was definitely an exceptional and well wrote book, and the twist had me shocked and heart broken.

The ending had me tentatively wanting to read the next one, but also wishing it had wrapped up then.

*I received an advanced reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for your consideration in writing a fair, unbiased review.

This book was definitely an interesting read. This book follows a girl, Cora, as she grows up and finds out that she is immune to all diseases when she makes a miraculous recovery after watching her sister pass away . She watches as those around her grow old and die of age and disease around her because the island, North Brother Island, that she lives on is used to house the sick. But after WWII, she is all alone on the island because she can't leave due to how contagious she is and only visited by a family of Nazi's that expirement on her because they want to find the cure to disease.

This book was good. The story was captivating and my heart bled for Cora as she went through one traumatizing experience after the next. The imagery really brought this story to life and the internal struggle of Finn, the youngest member for the family studying Cora, really drives this story forward. This is a great read and I cant wait to see what Shelley Nolden does next.

3.5 / 5 ⭐

"A large-scale pandemic is not just science fiction fodder, it's an inevitable outcome for our global society."

This one is almost too on-topic right now, as I near my full year of having not gone out to eat, sat in my friends or family houses, gone to a movie or any other social type inside event. I'd never heard of North Brother Island or it's use as a research or lab type use. It was interesting to read the chapters that took place in the 1900's as you learn about it all.

It took a little while for the story to really start going, it's a bit of a slow mover in the beginning, but it all did start to come together around 30% or so. Interesting character and interesting premise. I did enjoy it but I did feel like the characters were a little...extreme - either one way or another. I felt like a little gray ambiguity in them would have helped.

An e-ARC was provided to me by the author and publishing via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.