Kirsty Logan

A shoreside burial coordinator who lives in self-enforced exile as penance for a long-ago mistake and a performer with a floating circus face unexpected life changes and new opportunities in the wake of an offshore storm. A first novel.

The Gracekeepers

A flooded world. A floating circus. Two women in search of a home. North lives on a circus boat with her beloved bear, keeping a secret that could capsize her life. Callanish lives alone in her house in the middle of the ocean, tending the graves of those who die at sea. As penance for a terrible mistake, she has become a gracekeeper. A chance meeting between the two draws them magnetically to one another - and to the promise of a new life. But the waters are treacherous, and the tide is against them. 'The Gracekeepers is enchanting and heart-tugging. If you love Margaret Atwood youâe(tm)ll love this' Sunday Telegraph 'A wondrous read' Stylist 'Clever and original' The Times 'Truly magical' Heat

Julia Lotz

Inhalt: A flooded world. A floating circus. Two women in search of a home. North lives on a circus boat with her beloved bear, keeping a secret that could capsize her life. Callanish lives alone in her house in the middle of the ocean, tending the graves of those who die at sea. As penance for a terrible mistake, she has become a gracekeeper. A chance meeting between the two draws them magnetically drawn to one another - and to the promise of a new life. But the waters are treacherous, and the tide is against them. (Quelle: Verlag)
Meine Meinung: Ich möchte diese Rezension hier eigentlich gar nicht schreiben. Denn um es vorweg zu nehmen, hat mit The Gracekeepers so gar nicht gefallen und das, obwohl ich Kirsty Logan auf einem Bloggertreffen auf der LBM kennenlernen durfte und sie eine so tolle Person ist. Ich glaube der Hauptgrund, weshalb ich dieses Buch nicht gemocht habe ist, dass ich einfach mit dem Magischer Realismus-Genre nicht klarzukommen scheine. Schon Der Nachtzirkus habe ich damals abgebrochen und allerdings gehofft, dass es an der Geschichte lag und nicht am Genre. The Gracekeepers hat mich hier jedoch eines besseren belehrt.
Ich mag sie einfach nicht, diese Geschichten in denen so gar nichts passiert und die Handlung langsam vor sich hin verläuft. Beim magischen Realismus kommen dann noch diese ganzen phantastischen Kleinigkeiten hinzu, die einfach nicht geklärt werden und dicke Fragezeichen beim Lesen hinterlassen. Das ist einfach nicht mein Ding, musste ich bei der Lektüre von The Gracekeepers feststellen und so habe ich die meiste Zeit tapfer damit verbracht, das Buch zu lesen, während ich nebenbei versucht habe es zu mögen, es spannend zu finden und an beidem leider kläglich gescheitert bin.
Auch wenn meine Bewertung eher schlecht ausfällt, möchte ich nicht jedem von euch abraten, das Buch zu kaufen. Für alle Fans des magischen Realismus, die kein Problem mit wenig Spannung und Handlung haben und diesen träumerischen Aspekt mögen, ist Kristy Logans Roman wahrscheinlich genau das richtige, denn sie entführt den Leser in eine unentdeckte Welt die durch viel Offenheit aber auch durch viele Vorurteile gekennzeichnet ist. North und Callanish sind die beiden Protagonistinnen, die meist auch selbst zu Wort kommen, aber neben ihnen gibt es auch unzählige weitere Nebencharaktere, denen einzelne Kapitel gewidmet sind und die uns einen anderen Blick auf die Story geben. 
Fazit: Somit schließe ich mit The Gracekeepers mit dem Magischen Realismus ab. Das Genre kann mich einfach nicht begeistern und so war es letztendlich auch bei Kristy Logans Roman nicht. Für alle Fans davon könnte The Gracekeepers aber genau das richtige sein, denn es fällt durch seine wundervoll konstruierte Welt und die beiden zauberhaften Protagonistinnen positiv auf. 
Vielen Dank an Randomhouse UK für das zauberhafte *Rezensionsexemplar.

The magical story of a floating circus and two young women in search of a home. The sea has flooded the earth. North lives on a circus boat, floating between the scattered islands that remain. She dances with her beloved bear, while the rest of the crew trade dazzling and death-defying feats for food from the islanders. However, North has a secret that could capsize her life with the circus. Callanish lives alone in her house in the middle of the ocean, with only the birds and the fish for company. As penance for a terrible mistake, she works as a gracekeeper, tending the graves of those who die at sea. What drove her from home is also what pulls her towards North. When a storm creates a chance meeting between the two girls, their worlds change. They are magnetically drawn to one another, and the promise of a new life. But the waters are treacherous, and the tide is against them.

Becky

I wish I'd loved this book more but I didn't. it was beautifully written and an interesting idea but somehow it failed to grab me and I don't know why. Maybe the pretty writing distanced me too much or maybe it was the characters? I can't quite pinpoint what it was but something fell flat for me. I think I was expecting The Night Circus in sea form and that isn't what I got.

Grace O'Callaghan

*3.5 ⭐️

I decided to pick this one up on a whim as it was available as an audiobook from my library, and I’m glad I did.

We follow North, a performer who travels with a circus from island to island on their boat, the Excalibur. On an island far from North, Callinish performs burials, allowing the dead to rest peacefully at the bottom of the ocean. Both have secrets that could lead to major consequences.

Firstly, let’s talk about the world. This was most certainly my favourite part about this book. The world is divided by damplings, who live at sea, and landlockers, who inhabit the land. It’s not an overly original idea but the way it was executed was amazing. Kirsty Logan’s writing was really lyrical and magical, which leant itself well to the world. 

I really loved the characters. North and her bear were so incredibly adorable. However, Kallinish was definitely my favourite. I don’t want to spoil anything, but when North and Callinish confided in one another it melted my heart. They were just so sweet together.
Even the side characters were interesting, especially the more antagonistic ones. This whole book is in third person, most focus on Callinish and North, but some focused on some of the more minor characters and it was intriguing to hear about their backstories and motivations.

Unfortunately, the plot is where this book let me down. This is definitely a more atmosphere and character centred story, so I was by no means expecting a big and grand plot. But I was still disappointed. When I heard that there was a circus I was here for it, but there wasn’t enough circus for me. However I was really willing to give the book at least 4 stars until the ending happened. I’m sure some people loved it but I just kind of felt that the ending was rushed and it kind of felt like they all loved happily ever after. Perhaps the author was so focused on the flowery writing and magical world that she kind of forgot about the plot? That’s kind of how I felt. It just left me wanting more, and if there was a sequel, I’d definitely read it.

Overall, this was a lyrical and magical story. I did end up enjoying it but felt a little disappointed by the ending. I’d highly suggest you listen to the audiobook as Kirsty Logan herself narrates it. You can clearly hear she knows what she’s talking about and her voice fits perfectly with her writing.

Alexia

Another case of disappointment caused by a hyped book that –for me– didn’t deserve to be. 
This was not what I expected and I didn’t enjoy the way the multiple narrative was handled. 
Final verdict: Meh, not for me (2.5 stars).

Megan Dent

It's an alright book. I started to lose interest a part 1/4 way through, but I'm glad I kept reading, because the ending was it's saving grace. Such great twists!

Kate

Niaomi

Elize van Heerden

Wonderful, magical, enchanting. I am looking for more words to describe how much I loved this book. Absolutely stunning and captivating from the moment you open the book, straight through to when you close it. Transported me to the world, I felt like I was on the Excalibur watching the circus, next to Callanish as she performed her duties as Gracekeeper. Beautiful book

Jessica 

Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Many ways to fly, but only one way to fall.

As a note, a printed galley of this novel was sent to me via the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way.

How can I describe the feeling of reading The Gracekeepers without spoiling everything? It’s utterly impossible. I loved this novel so much more than I could have possibly imagined and I can honestly say it’s one of my favorite releases this year. It came to me during a very dark period this spring, at a time when my grandfather was nearing his death and I needed a distraction, and it soothed me wonderfully.

The Gracekeepers is smart and moving, vivid, engaging to the highest degree, and poetic in a way that is sorely lacking in fiction. It has many layers to it and is overall a delight to read. I truly feel privileged.

Kirsty Logan’s prose is comparable to Margaret Atwood, as I’m sure you’ve heard, and it’s a title well deserving. She has a gift of creating a world that is unlike any other and gracefully navigates through it all. I am trying not to spoil all of it, because reading it is something you have to experience on your own. 

Continued @ BOOKEDJ.

Adine

A flooded world. A floating circus. Two women in search of a home. North lives on a circus boat with her beloved bear, keeping a secret that could capsize her life. Callanish lives alone in her house in the middle of the ocean, tending the graves of those who die at sea. As penance for a terrible mistake, she has become a gracekeeper. A chance meeting between the two draws them magnetically to one another - and to the promise of a new life. But the waters are treacherous, and the tide is against them. 'The Gracekeepers is enchanting and heart-tugging. If you love Margaret Atwood you’ll love this' Sunday Telegraph 'A wondrous read' Stylist 'Clever and original' The Times 'Truly magical' Heat

The Gracekeepers

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