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A review by recreationalhobbyist
The Vines by Shelley Nolden
3.0
The story begins in 2007 when Finn Gettler kayaks to the abandoned North Brother Island in New York’s East River. North Brother Island has been abandoned for over 40 years & is now a protected heron nesting habitat. The island is home to the ruins of Riverside Hospital which once housed patients with some of the most infectious diseases & later a home for juveniles with drug addictions. Finn is the descendant of a family of microbiologists that once ran the hospital & he has uncovered some unsettling information about his family legacy. A legacy that perhaps his father & brother are continuing. Finn hopes he can find answers on the island.
Finn encounters a heavily mutilated & scarred young woman bathing in one of the ruins on the island. Of course, Finn gets caught & we are introduced to the young woman, Cora. Cora immediately recognizes Finn as “one of the Gettlers” and tells him to get off her island. Naturally, this intrigues Finn even more & he becomes more determined to learn more about Cora & his family’s history.
Through flashbacks & flash-forwards, the story of Cora, the Gettler doctors in charge of Riverside Hospital, the island’s inhabitants & a mysterious island are woven to tell a horrific tale of human experimentation. Cora has been infected with several highly contagious diseases at the hands of the Gettler men over the years in an effort to find a miracle cure for some of the deadliest diseases.
What I Liked: The story seems to be very well researched from both the historical aspect to the epidemiology & medical aspect. Cora’s story is frustrating & heartbreaking. I found myself engrossed in the story of her time on the island. I have never heard of North Brother Island or the hospital designed to quarantine the most infectious patients, including Typhoid Mary. The novel resonates even more right now as the intent of the Gettlers is to find the miracle cure to prevent another pandemic from happening & the unethical lengths they go to.
What I Didn’t: The storytelling felt a bit clunky at times. The flashbacks & flashforwards sometimes didn’t transition as seamlessly as they did in other parts. The chapters are based on the timeline & kind of weird. It starts in July 2007. The next chapter is “two weeks later” also in July 2007. Then we go back to February 1902. Then 20 months later. And sometimes it’s a mere few hours later. The dialogue between some characters felt forced & was just plain awkward at times.
The Vines is a slow burn & a fascinating read. It is a great debut novel & I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
*I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions included herein are my own.*
For more of my reviews, check out my blog.
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Finn encounters a heavily mutilated & scarred young woman bathing in one of the ruins on the island. Of course, Finn gets caught & we are introduced to the young woman, Cora. Cora immediately recognizes Finn as “one of the Gettlers” and tells him to get off her island. Naturally, this intrigues Finn even more & he becomes more determined to learn more about Cora & his family’s history.
Through flashbacks & flash-forwards, the story of Cora, the Gettler doctors in charge of Riverside Hospital, the island’s inhabitants & a mysterious island are woven to tell a horrific tale of human experimentation. Cora has been infected with several highly contagious diseases at the hands of the Gettler men over the years in an effort to find a miracle cure for some of the deadliest diseases.
What I Liked: The story seems to be very well researched from both the historical aspect to the epidemiology & medical aspect. Cora’s story is frustrating & heartbreaking. I found myself engrossed in the story of her time on the island. I have never heard of North Brother Island or the hospital designed to quarantine the most infectious patients, including Typhoid Mary. The novel resonates even more right now as the intent of the Gettlers is to find the miracle cure to prevent another pandemic from happening & the unethical lengths they go to.
What I Didn’t: The storytelling felt a bit clunky at times. The flashbacks & flashforwards sometimes didn’t transition as seamlessly as they did in other parts. The chapters are based on the timeline & kind of weird. It starts in July 2007. The next chapter is “two weeks later” also in July 2007. Then we go back to February 1902. Then 20 months later. And sometimes it’s a mere few hours later. The dialogue between some characters felt forced & was just plain awkward at times.
The Vines is a slow burn & a fascinating read. It is a great debut novel & I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
*I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions included herein are my own.*
For more of my reviews, check out my blog.