The Returning

by Christine Hinwood

An engrossing epic tale with a cast of characters that will hijack your heart. Cam Attling, having lost an arm, is the only one from his town of Kayforl to return after twelve years of war. All his fellow soldiers were slain, and suspicion surrounds him. When his betrothal to Graceful Fenister is called off and his role in the community questioned, Cam leaves to find the lord who maimed him but spared his life, seeking answers and a new place in the world. But this is not just Cam's story, it's about all those whose fates entwine with his. Set in a medieval world that is entirely the author's creation, this is an ingenious, exquisite story about what happens after the battle. When sisters, sons, friends, parents, and lovers are left to deal with the subtle aftermaths and unimagined repercussions of war.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Fiction, War, Romance, Teen

323 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2009

About the author

Christine Hinwood was born in England and grew up mostly in Australia, but also in England and America. She's always written. When she was very small, she used to sit and make up stories in her head while cuddling her security blanket; she called it 'having a thought', then, and told people she'd have to talk to them after she'd finished it.

Christine studied Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT in Melbourne.

Bloodflower is her first novel.

Reviews

[Tatiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I understand many readers don’t like stories that stray away from formula or predictable fantasy narrative structures, but 3.13 stars average for this lovely collection of vignettes about the effects of war on people’s lives? It hurts! This is hardly an experimental, hard-to-comprehend book. I personally loved that stories felt so intimate and small while being at the same time so large in scope when taken as one whole. Masterfully done, IMO. Why isn’t Christine Hinwood writing anything else?

[Maja (The Nocturnal Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 stars for quality, 3 stars for personal enjoyment.
The Returning isn't a book I would normally choose to read, because a) I try to avoid historical fiction as much as I can; and b) as a former literature student, I've read my fair share of literary fiction and, unless it was written by Coetzee, I have no desire to read any more in the next five years or so. Historical + literary usually means I'd rather eat dirt, thank you very much. However, this isn't just any book. Aside from being a Printz Honor, it was blurbed by both Megan Whalen Turner and Melina Marchetta. Here's what they wrote:

”I loved this novel. I cried through the whole last chapter from the sheer beauty of these characters and their world.”
-Melina Marchetta, author of Jellicoe Road, Printz Medal winner

“A beautiful examination of the complexities of love and loyalty in the aftermath of war.”
- Megan Whalen Turner, author ot The Thief, Newberry Honor winner

Obviously, with words like that, these two could persuade me to read a math textbook and actually enjoy it. And I did enjoy The Returning for the most part. The beauty of its prose, the skillfully crafted web in which so many characters were entangled, the extraordinary use of language – outdated to enhance the historical feel, but slightly alien to match the non-existent land… all those things were even better than I expected. And yet, Hinwood didn’t quite reach me on an emotional level, not like an author endorsed by Marchetta and Turner should have.

The residents of Kayforl in Downlads are living a quiet, hardworking life. Several years earlier, six healthy men marched to war against the Uplanders, but only young Cam Attling, who looks suspiciously like an Uplander himself, returned. Their former enemy is now their new Lord and nobody failed to notice how highly Cam Attling speaks of him.
Cam Attling hasn’t really been welcomed back by anyone but his family and his best friend Ban who is hopelessly in love with him. He’s lost an arm in the war and he suffers from survivor’s guilt, but he is unable to settle down. His betrothal to young Graceful Fenister was broken by her father and Cam feels useless and unaccepted, even by Ban.
Ban is struggling with his feelings for Cam and his responsibility towards his large family. He is worried that his brothers are right and that Cam really is a bad influence, but he is unable to stay away.
As Cam leaves Kayforl for the second time, he causes more pain and heartbreak than he could ever have imagined.

The Returning clearly isn’t for everyone: it requires a lot of patience and it has to be read slowly, carefully, to truly appreciate all the layers, the beauty and the heartbreak it has to offer. I’m very glad I decided to read it and I might even reread it at some point. I'm convinced it will be even better the second time.

A copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher via Netgalley for review purposes.

Also posted at The Nocturnal Library

[Chachic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally posted here.

I ordered a copy of The Returning by Christine Hinwood because it's blurbed by two of my favorite authors: Megan Whalen Turner and Melina Marchetta. Of course, I had to read it! It also recently received the Printz Honor. Plus, both the premise and the cover looked intriguing.



The writing is certainly different from anything that I've ever read. I'm not even sure what genre The Returning falls under - I feel like it's a mix of both fantasy and historical fiction. Fantasy because it's set in a different world (made up locations). Historical fiction because aside from the setting, I feel like it could be a story set in the past. There's no magic in The Returning. The whole book focuses on the aftermath of the war between Uplanders and Downlanders and how it affects the various characters. I had a mixed reaction to this book: I'm glad I got to read it because I was intrigued but I didn't end up loving it as I expected. It took me a while to get into the writing because of the shifting points of view. I felt like I couldn't hold on to one character long enough for me to like him or her. Also, it's a quiet kind of novel in the sense that nothing big or dramatic occurs. After all, we're getting a glimpse of what life is like AFTER the war.

Overall, I think it's a good book but I'm afraid it's not something that every reader will enjoy. Like I said, I'm not a fan of the shifting POVs. At the start of the novel, I felt like every chapter was narrated by a different character (I think there were four or five various POVs). Just when I was starting to root for a character, the POV changes. I did like how everything came together in the second half of the novel but I was surprised at how fast the latter chapters moved in comparison to the earlier ones. The first half spanned months while the second half jumped a couple of years ahead. I liked that it's a complex novel and that Christine Hinwood created so many layers to the story - we see what it's like for a veteran soldier to go home, what it feels like for the family he left behind, how hard it is for him to make friends. I also liked the bit of romance weaved into the story but it felt underdeveloped. I think the narrative would have worked if the novel was longer because readers would get to know the characters more. As it is, I liked the book a lot more before I read it because it had so much promise. I feel bad because I could have fallen in love with The Returning but didn't. If you're curious about this book, I recommend that you still give it a try because you might end up liking it a lot more than I did. I've seen mixed reviews for Christine Hinwood's debut novel - some loved it while it didn't work for others - so I guess it really depends on the reader.

[Crowinator · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that is deceptively simple on the surface, but is actually quite complex when it comes time to describe or classify it. I put it on the "historical" and "fantasy" shelf, though it doesn't really fit on either of those shelves. It doesn't fit on any of my genre shelves, actually, and it reminds me quite strongly of Meg Rosoff's How I Live Now in many ways; not in its language, of course, but in its themes of war, loss, and family, as well as its timelessness. Rosoff's book takes place in the real world, but the rural farmhouse in England could almost be anywhere, and the war described could be any war (we don't even find out who the invading army is or why they're invading), and that's the point; so it is with this book, which takes place in a non-magical agrarian world that isn't our world, but at least to me, strongly evokes its past. They both resonant on the same frequency and make me think about and feel the same things, and they both have sadness and hope in the way the war's survivors are portrayed; of course the extremely different ways they are written mean that people who love one won't necessarily be enamored of the other, but I think they make for an extremely rich comparison.

Once I am not so buried, I will try to write a longer review, and maybe I will go reread How I Live Now when I do so, but in the meantime, I don't think this slow-moving, odd but beautiful book will appeal to a wide audience (especially among teens), but those who have the patience for it to unfold will find a lot to think about. I'm glad I didn't give up after the first 70-some pages but I can't fault anyone who did; it's a niche book, but a good one.

[oliviasbooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although the average rating of 3.25 stars strongly indicated „Beware, this book is not for everyone”, I never would have guessed that I might be one of those unlucky specimen the book prefers not to talk to. My conviction (which even resulted in my ordering the book in spite of my friend Arlene’s offer to include me in her book tour) that Bloodflower and I would be very compatible had been sustained by several powerful factors:

A) The cover is so very beautiful – but in a different way than some suspicion arousing young adult covers that have no connection to plot or characters whatsoever: The richly patterend red cloth in the background and that strong, callused and sexily dirty arm encased in leather armor which clearly belongs to Cam, the young main character recently returned from a war, made me want to own exactly this edition and not the pastel-colored one by the other publisher.

B) Melina Marchetta, one of the authors whose work I adore and who does not throw around blurbs and praise and advertisment about all her peers’ or tour mates’ work like it has become the custom among young adult novelists, wrote "I can’t tell you how much I loved this novel. I cried through the whole last chapter from the sheer beauty of these characters and their world." which made me want to go on reading until the end so I could wring out my tear ducts in the same way that she did, since in my experience life-like and likable characters are the main ingredient in the majority of those books which made me love them. I wanted to love the book and the world and I even glimpsed the shadows of the characters’ ability to become endearing to the reader in the very first chapter. The first word which comes to mind when I think about Cam and his family and how they treat each other is “tenderness”. Cam’s small sister Pin, who usually does not allow her family members to cuddle and pet her, isn’t shy at all around her big brother whom she barely knows and who everybody keeps his or her difference from since he returned from the war without his right arm and without all the other men from the village. Her unconditional adoration and love is unspeakably cute. Yet. The point of view switches soon from the Attlings to Cam’s betrothed Graceling, the twelve-years old daughter of the ruthless Fenister family, and from there to a young boy whose dog is shot by a farmer and then to Cam’s best friend Ban, who is secretly in love with Cam or maybe only lusts after him and then to … I forgot, because it changed so often and so spontaneously. At first I hoped the story would lead me quickly back into Cam’s or Pin’s mind, but after a while I gradually lost interest and became rather bored, although

C) The subject of the book is such an important and interesting one: It shows in detail how war affects and changes both the soldiers who went out to fight and the families, who stayed and hoped and went on with their daily lives as well as possible: Cam has lost his arm and gained a war horse. His lower limb count lowers his worth on the marriage market and the long-standing betrothal is revoked. Nobody understands why he wants to avoid talking about the various ways the other villagers died during the six-years-long war. Thus when the pestering about Uncle X and Sweetheart Y remains unsuccessful, resentful suspicions make the round: How did Cam manage to stay alive when everybody else did not? Graceful had thought the only uncertain things about her future were the day of her death and the number of her children, but suddenly she does not even know anymore whom she will marry. Graceful’s greedy father uses the war and the new overlord’s taste for fine silk as an excuse to push his property’s boundaries into the woods, the home of a nomad tribe and the game they live on. Acton has become an war-orphan and his dog turns into a farmer’s nuisance whose nerves wear so thin that he finally pulls the trigger ...

I have stopped reading after 75 pages and I will never find out whether the end would have moved me to tears or not. But I do not really care. A story with characters as wonderful as Marchetta’s would never had failed to keep my attention. Therefore in my opinion “Bloodflower” must be lacking in aspects that do matter. But do not be disheartened. It might be just me and not the book. I am positive that Melina Marchetta’s falling in love with it happened on grounds that might work for others, too.

P.S.: I am giving away my copy. If you are interested, inform me via comment on this review or on my profile until October 8th 2011. I will let an internet program pick a winner randomly.

[Brandy Painter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review originally posted here.

I did something with The Returning by Christine Hinwood that I never do with debut novels. I preodered it. Why? Well, if you look at the back of the US hardcover you will find quotes by two authors who praise highly the characters and themes of the story. Those two authors are Megan Whalen Turner and Melina Marchetta. Little wonder I wanted to read it. I can see why the book would appeal to these two. Hinwood has the same ability to convey much with few words and create fascinating characters that both of them have.

t is certainly a gripping novel. Megan Whalen Turner also has a quote on the front cover which says, "Every detail evokes a fully realized world." I would agree. Hinwood did this in the way I like too, presenting it as it is and not explaining it. It is rich in detail, tradition, and custom. There is a sense that these people have a history that is bigger than them or this story.

The style of the book is unique and it took me a while to get in the rhythm of it. The first eight chapters are episodic, a series of shorts on the lives of different characters. If you are a reader to whom plot is the most essential part of a story, you may have a problem with this. There is no plot or common action binding the characters of these chapters together. The one thing they all have in common is Cam. This is an interesting way of introducing a central character. The reader sees him from many perspectives before seeing from his own. The book is essentially about how an individual, family, community, country recovers from war, and all the characters play a part in telling that story. I found myself caring very much what happened to them, but was frustrated sometimes at how the story moved around so often. This also made it difficult to truly connect with or fully understand the characters. The middle part of the book that focuses on Cam, and then Graceful, was my favorite part because I finally felt like I could settle in and get to know these characters. I was a tad disappointed when the final chapter jumped ahead several years and switched perspectives again. Also that information regarding Cam was so light in this chapter.

I don't really know what genre label to put on this one. The kingdom they live in is made up, but other than it's not having actually existed by the name given in this book, there is really nothing that makes the story a fantasy. There is a religious system in place and the characters practice its traditions but the supernatural never makes its presence known in the story. So, I'm labeling it as both historical and fantasy.

Note on Content: The Returning is marketed YA, but is one of those that could also be an adult novel. (I'm labeling it as both.) There is strong language, and, in the last chapter, a couple sex scenes. I personally did not feel like these scenes added much to the plot or character development, but they are short (yet descriptive) and not a lot of space was wasted on them.

[Adele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bloodflower ... is difficult to put into words. It's a beautiful read, full of complexity, meaningful themes and natural character development. Set in a country recovering from war, turmoil and grief still aplenty with citizens displaced and a new ruler on the throne. Cam returns to his family psychologically and physically scarred from his wartime adventures and the town of Kayforl is wracked with tall tales of his supposed betrayal.

There are many characters, including Cam, that are interwoven throughout this novel in a series of vignettes. Initially this is a concept that easily confuses, the combination of a Middle Ages-derived setting with a plethora of people and places, can muddle the brain. Slowly and surely, the tales of these characters, from across the country, start unravelling, their connections breaking and reforming with others. Hinwood has created a truly absorbing read that has the power to move and entrance the reader.

The characters are easy to invest in with their distinct voices, perspectives and cultural rhythms. Expertly crafted, these well rounded, complex and driven individuals bounce off one another in intriguing ways. Whilst Cam is the sun in which the other characters revolve, it is his betrothed, Graceful, that entrapped me. She's an unbecoming and particularly dour character for a majority of the novel, however there is something so relatable about her stubborness that I found myself very invested in her future. Hinwood's characterisation is top notch and slightly reminiscent of fellow Australian author (and endorser) Melina Marchetta.

Bloodflower is intriguing, perplexing and emotionally rich. Hinwood has debuted with a quality work that explores the strength of the human spirit, the tenuousness of relationships and the lengths in which we strive for connection. A distinct voice with beautiful language and rich characters, Bloodflower is a fantastic fantastical read.

[Joy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tend to be cynical about promotional blurbs on a book cover; I see enough of them to start noticing when a circle of writer friends gets caught in the endless "let me blurb your book" cycle! But this book caught my attention because it had blurbs from Melina Marchetta and Megan Whalen Turner, two of my favorite YA authors...and two who don't blurb every other book that shows up on the new shelf.

It's sort of an odd duck of a book. It follows Cam Attling, who survived a war but lost his arm, as he tries to settle into his old life...and failing at that, goes off to seek a new one. That could be a fairly simple story, but Hinwood chooses to tell this one in an unusual way, from multiple points-of-view. There's Pin, Cam's younger sister; Graceful Fenister, his betrothed; Gyaar, the Uplander lord who cut off Cam's arm but spared his life; and so on.

I love books that ask the question "what happens when the war is over?" and I have a lot of patience for narrative tricks, so you might think this book was perfect for me. Not quite. I found it very readable--I went through it on one sitting on a sunny Sunday afternoon--but I never became emotionally engaged in the lives of these characters. (Marchetta's work offers a good contrast here--her books reliably leave me in tears by their ends.)

I think I was distanced from the story partly because I wasn't sure what to make of the backstory and worldbuilding here. Cam is the survivor of a war between the Uplanders and the Downlanders. The Downlanders are vaguely based on pre-industrial European cultures, and the the Uplanders vaguely based on East Asian cultures (I suspect mostly Japan). Neither of the cultures felt entirely authentic to me, but that was especially true of the Uplanders, and I am so, so tired of people co-opting Asian cultural details to do lazy worldbuilding.

Anyway, an interesting effort, but not something I feel like I can strongly recommend.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last night I decided to do some spring cleaning of my to-read list. I'll start the culling with the lowest rated books, I said. Of all 800+ books on my Want to Read shelf, this little book had the lowest rating. I opened the sample, expecting to set it aside after a few pages. Instead, I kept reading. And kept reading. By the end of chapter 3, I was crying. Within 24 hours, I had finished it. I'm sure this is one I'll be coming back to again. Needless to say, I didn't make it far on my spring cleaning mission.

This is a strange, quiet little book. I'm sure it's not for everyone (and its rating confirms this), but it was absolutely for me. I can't remember being so fully transported to another world since picking up the greats like The Lord of the Rings or McKinley's The Blue Sword or Turner's The Thief as a child. Hinwood has crafted an alternate medieval world that is deftly textured and perfectly real. The attitudes, beliefs, and actions of the characters felt genuine, rooted in the time and place they inhabited. I can't quite describe the feeling of setting aside modern sensibilities to empathize deeply with characters who engage with their communities in ways that felt at once historically accurate and utterly foreign, but it was one of the best reading experiences I've had in a long time.

The best word I have to describe this book is understated. It's a story about how our experiences change us, how impossible it is to fit yourself back into the life you had before. It's rich with so much emotional depth and complexity, but it's all under the surface. Hinwood has mastered the art of subtext.

I'm going to be thinking about this one for a while.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took nearly half the book for me to figure out what direction the author was taking: was it a book about class? about returning from war? about life in the vaguely Middle Ages? about love (both heterosexual and implied homosexual)? about culture clashes? That it took that long doesn't usually bode well for the ending. There were too many characters introduced, with chapters all from their different points of view - this added to the confusion. A couple of the characters at first appeared important, but then virtually disappeared later on.

Set in a mash-up of Japan and Scandinavia, The Returning takes place shortly after a war in which the Uplanders defeated the Downlanders. Cam returns to his village, the only one from there that does return - so of course there's that tension (why him? why only him? what happened to the others?). We meet his sister, Pin, along with his family, his soon-to-be-ex-fiancee, his boyhood friend and others. We also meet his new Lord, Ryuu, and his son Gyaar, who for some reason saved Cam's life and offered him a position within his household. See what I mean by confusing?

Ultimately the strands intertwine, but by then I was reading only to see if they would, not because I was really invested in the story.

ARC provided by publishers.

[Maria Kramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series of loose, poetic vignettes covers a span of years after Cam Attling comes home from war, the only survivor of those from his village. Though he tries to re-accustom himself to his old life, he can't -- he has to find out why he survived. While Cam goes back North, to Dorn-Lannet and Lord Ryuu, the enemy who spared his life, his family, friends and entire village change in unexpected ways.

This book is just beautiful, more a series of prose poems than a novel. The emotional depth that the author creates in her characters is amazing. Even though the book doesn't spend a long time on any one character, you still care about all of them deeply. There are so many books about war, but not many about what it means to come home from one and live. Pick up this one!

Recommended for fans of:
The Scorpio Races
Always Coming Home by Ursula K. LeGuin

[Maureen E · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this one up without knowing much about it because the blurb on the front was from Megan Whalen Turner, and the one on the back was from Melina Marchetta. Normally I don’t pay much attention to blurbs, but TWO of my favorite authors? I clearly needed to read this. I really liked it, the slow deepening of relationships and complexity. The style reminds me a bit of the Earthsea books, in that it is very removed. One note–I was surprised by a particular scene at the end, which was suddenly a bit content heavy. This is still a lovely, complex book. [June 2011]

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

With positive blurbs by both Megan Whalen Turner and Melina Marchetta, it is no wonder that I loved this quiet, character-driven book. Not exactly a novel, and more like a collection of stories of a core group of young adults in a rural village struggling with the after-effects of war as well as their own passages from child to adult. Each chapter could really stand alone as a short story, but taken together, the threads between characters and stories amplifies the emotion and meaning in the stories. This book is not a quest story or a battle story or a traditional romance or a mystery, so it doesn't neatly fit in with what many people expect out of a YA fantasy. But this book takes pieces of all those genres - war, personal quest, mystery, romance - and uses its beautiful world building, language, and character to create something with quiet power. I loved it.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

BEAUTIFUL!

Absolutely beautiful.

The Returning (or Bloodflower) was a shocking read, springing tears to my eyes as I had read the last page. I have never read something so unique, so different than the writing that is in this book, and it is stunning!

I was completely sucked into this amazing world that the story tells, of the humble villagers, the Downlanders, and the superior quirky Uplanders. The story takes place after the war that had gone on between the two of them. I love both sides, (though I do have to say I love the Downlanders more) for they are so diverse in their ways of everything. I love how everything is, all of the jobs and ways of living that they have to deal with. 'Snail Hunt' really gave me a taste of what I was in for, the odd language and jobs that all must do, and how one must live in their village, and I was a little confused at first, but I really enjoyed it.

The whole story revolves around one man, by the name of Vercamer Attling, otherwise known as Cam. He is a Downlander, the only one that has returned alive from the war, for all of the other Downlander soldiers had died, the most of them dying from a battle taking place in a place called Dorn-Lannet. Cam would have died in that battle two, but his life was spared by the Uplander Lord, Lord Ryuu's son Gyaar (such weird names, I know, you'll get used to it). Ah, though his life was spared, his right arm was not, for it had been cut off and Cam now only has his left arm.

Anyways, Lord Ryuu's son, Gyaar, saves Cam, nurses him back to health, and sends him back to Cam's Downlander village, known as Kayforl, on a gray horse that Cam calls Geyard.

All is unknown about what had happened, and the whole village is buzzing with questions, what happened to my son? or stop lying, where is my father? or simply what happened? and things such as that. But Cam does not want to talk about it, and so that is that. The villagers think of Cam, Attling's oldest, as an odd person, somebody to avoid as some say. Others respect him, for he is humble and caring when he wants to be.

Cam does not find much joy of coming back, for he feels useless and unneeded at home. He spends most of his time drinking at the inn, which his da strongly disapproves of. But Cam has something bubbling up inside him, a hunger, an urge, to find a purpose in his life. And so that is where this book really starts.

Cam Attling is like the sun, and all of these different characters revolve around him like planets. For this is not just Cam's point of view, but many different character's stories intertwined into one, all having something —even if it is small— that has to do with Vercamer Attling.

Characters like stubborn Graceful Fenister, to little Appin Attling, to beautiful voiced Diido, to solitary Acton Mansto, to superior Gyaar Ryuu, to softhearted Ban Coverlast, to Vercamer Attling himself, all give you their stories, each so diverse and unique in their own ways. I loved each one of them, all of them. They were so engrossing, and each of them were so different.

My favorite stories (or chapters, whatever you wish to call them) had to be 'Boy And Dog', 'Snail Hunt', 'Ban Coverlast Courts', 'Going South', 'The Women's Time', and 'Up At The Big House'. It is funny, because most of these that are my favorite, they are a very small contribution to the main story of Cam, but rather, the little side stories that Cam brushes up in but does not really severely impact them.

And from my favorite stories, it is obvious that my favorite characters are from them, my favorite characters being Acton, Ban, and Pin.

Ban Coverlast, I do not know why I like him so much, possibly because he is misunderstood by his other ten brothers, and does not quite know the difference between right and wrong. I love Ban and Cam's relationship, their strong friendship, for Ban is one of the only people who Cam seems to trust. And I love Ban's love for Cam, even though it may seem odd, it just seems so cute. Ban is amazing, it was fun reading his point of view.

Acton Mansto, I loved him from the very beginning. 'Boy And Dog' has got to be my favorite story, and it is the only chapter that is in Acton's point of view. But it is so good! Acton's mother had died, and his father was missing from the war, and he only has his dog to keep him company. It is very sad, and I can nearly feel his strong grief, and it eats me alive, it really does. Oh, and Acton is so stubborn! I could not believe his stubbornness! He is a funny and quite likable character to me, even though he is not really a main character, and my heart jumps whenever he pops up at times in the book!

Appin Attling, little Pin, she was stunning. Ever since the first chapter, where we first meet her, and her older brother Cam, and everyone else, to the last chapter that nearly made me cry, there was just something about her that made me adore her. She's got such vigor that swirls inside of her, independence, and courage. It was so great to read as she went from a young little maid to grow into a fantastic young woman. She is bold though shy, and I could feel her energy as I read her point of view. She is everything I want to be, for I look up to her character, because she is just strikingly spirited. I wish I could meet her in real life, because she is so breathtaking.

From all that I am saying, I probably don't make sense at all. But that's okay. Once you start getting into the novel, it will all begin to unravel, and you will experience a beautiful epic story.

I was completely sucked in by all of it. It was like I could escape from all of the worries and drama in reality, and temporarily live in this wonderful town of Kayforl, and live the way these characters live. I believe it is the perfect place, and I would love to live in a place like it (Preferably in the woods like where Ban Coverlast and his family live). Sometimes, I would choose Kayforl over my reality, because it is so enchanting and perfect (though some may disagree). Every detail and feature that Christine Hinwood writes, it sucks you deeper and deeper into this riveting world. I have never read anything like it.

Oh, just to tell you, it might would strongly help if you take a look at the maps in the beginning of the book, and the character list at the end of the book, which I had not known were there until I was about halfway through reading it! It sure helps with the confusion, I believe!

I would strongly recommend this book, though I do not think it is a book for all. Some may grow discouraged by the confusion, while others may put it down by the lack of 'action' if that's what they call it. It is a mainly mellow book, but I believe some will fully enjoy it, for I know I did. So give it a shot! You never know, you might get sucked in to the world of Downlanders and Uplanders, and the strange man Cam Attling, who has returned alone from the war with one arm on the back of a gray horse.

Aye, it is a beautiful book.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an odd little book. It started out very slowly, and for the first hundred pages or so, I kept thinking “yeah, I’m going to go read something else...after the next few pages.” But I didn’t; I kept reading and suddenly I looked down to find that there were only twenty pages yet, but I really didn’t want the book to end. The last chapter is absolutely beautiful.

I’ve seen the words ‘heartbreakingly beautiful” applied to The Returning. It’d be nice if I hadn’t seen them because then I could use them without feeling completely derivative. They’re truly accurate. Ever since I finished the last page, I’ve found myself being haunted by the characters, words, and descriptions.

There’s no one overarching plot here. It’s mostly a meditation on how people react to the end of a war. How people come home from war changed and try their best to fit back into society. This isn’t a book to read with half your attention because the point of view changes from character to character rather abruptly. Some of the characters had never been introduced before which makes the switches mildly confusing, but the writing and complex characters draw you into their stories with little difficulty.

I loved Cam, the character who is doing ‘the returning,’ but my two favourite were the two women in his life - his betrothed, Graceful, and his little sister Pin. Both find their lives unsettled by Cam’s return and struggle to adjust themselves to the way their society has changed after the long war. Graceful, in particular, is an intriguing character. She’s not terribly charismatic or likeable at first, but she’s always a presence.

I wouldn’t recommend this book to everyone. If you need a plot with a lot of action to stay focused (and often I do so no shame there), you may not find The Returning of interest. But if you’re in the mood for something meditative with beautiful language, check it out for sure.

And holy crap, the cover is beautiful.

[Mark Flowers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mixed feelings about this one. It was incredibly painful reading for the first third or so. In particular, I felt that the "dialect" Hinwood came up with was much closer to the purposefully eccentric language in The Talk Funny Girl than anything that real people would actually say. Also, it was tough to keep track of all the different families, although some of that is my fault.

On the other hand, the last third, when the stories began to come together and resolve was really great. So I'm sure that a reread would improve my feelings about the first part.

On the other other hand, I had some more general problems with the book. One example: it felt like Hinwood thought the themes and ideas in the novel were so obviously important that she didn't have to develop or explicate them: I disagree.

So, I dunno. Maybe some day I'll reread this one, but I'm not entirely convinced it would be worth the effort.

[Kyle Sweeney · Rating 2 out of 5]

A story that really could have been a lot more simple. The books intent, or at least what I thought. Was to show the impact of war on the men who fought in it, and those who returned, as well as the people affected by the chaos. However, the book is told from multiple perspectives, it's really hard to grasp a understanding of many of the characters because their stories are so short and there is so many, yet the main characters Cam and his sister Pin are also a mystery. Cam's motives for what he does are unclear. It's hard to make a connection with either of them until the end of the book, the ending I will say was does quite well for how I originally expected it to end, I feel it was a good way to end it.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book. Quiet, eloquent, and incredibly compelling. I can't say it's one I would recommend to everyone, but it has thoroughly cemented a place on my favorites shelf. Hinwood has a breathtaking, softer, poetic style--the chapters are basically vignettes, until suddenly they're all woven together and everything has its place. I liked Acton's chapter, LOVED Ban's chapter, and adored Faithful most of all. None of these characters are stock. They are diverse, wonderfully crafted and unique, and plopped in "a fully-realized world." Thank you, Megan Whalen Turner, for making me want to read this book. And thank you, Christine Hinwood, for writing it.

[Celine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this quite hard to stick with at the beginning and probably wouldn't have kept reading had it not been recommended to me by someone I trust. (It was the writing style I think - it felt very distancing and it was hard for me to engage with the characters) HOWEVER if you do stick with this book ( and please do)you'll be treated to a very rich fare indeed. Unusual and moving, very subtle and in all ways unexpected. I'd even call it a wise book. Lovely.
****
Top marks to the Australian cover and title btw - I'd be far more likely to pick this up than the other.

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that will stick with me for a long time, I think. It's not what I expected, and I think advertising it as YA is a miscalculation. It's an introspective series of connected vignettes about the aftermath of war. It is beautifully written, but each chapter left me wanting more (in a good way). It would be a very different book if she had chosen to write it entirely from Cam's perspective, but it would probably have more commercial appeal.

The thing I kept thinking about while reading this was Soldier's Home by Hemingway, which covers a lot of the same topics and is also from the perspective of a soldier returning from war and trying to find his place.

Worth reading if you are willing to stick with it. Extremely satisfying in the end.

[Bec · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this at the start and found the slow building of pieces compulsively readable, but I'm not sure I found the second half particularly satisfactory - the spaces between the written pieces of the story grew so large that I'm afraid I lost my grasp on what the story was supposed to look like.

I'm glad I read this, but I don't know that I'll be recommending it. Maybe check out Anne Leckie's The Raven Tower instead.

[Stefanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gave up at 54 pages because it was so impossibly dull. I tried to read the last chapter because Melina Marchetta's blurb said the last chapter made her cry from start to finish, but that was too boring to finish too.

[Jennessa B]

it was a great book

[Joella · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my 19th book for the YALSA's Best Books reading challenge.


I struggled with this book. And I will have to be careful as to who I recommend it to. I know it is a good book, but it wasn't a good book for me. If it wasn't for this challenge I don't know that I would have read this one.


So there are all sorts of characters in this book. Most of them come from a small village named Kayforl. It is a medieval type of time period. And there are soldiers who fight on foot and on horseback. There are castles and farmers and traditions that give it a historical flare. But it isn't tied to an actual historical place. Nor is the story tied to one particular person. Cam Attling is the only soldier from Kayforl to come home alive. Mostly because Kayforl was on the losing side of the war. There weren't that many survivors. But, there is a reason why Cam survived. It was because a Lord (and new heir) decided to save his life. But not his arm. Cam comes home without a right arm.


But the people of Kayforl are wondering why Cam came home and their loved ones didn't. They don't like that. It doesn't go easy for them. So bits of story are woven through all sorts of people in the village (both villagers and a couple of new people that come with the conquering). There are also a lot of deep subjects that are touched on: war, memories of war, how to survive after a war, how to deal with new people who conquered your land, how to deal with someone who shouldn't have come back from war, fitting in, family relationships, homosexuality, how to grow up when there has just been a war, abuse (doesn't go into detail but probably sexual), marriage, arranged marriage, betrayal, understanding, anger, treason, and learning to become your own person despite all the other themes mentioned in the book.


The book is a calmer, slower-paced book. The main point isn't the action (that all happened before the book ever started), it is what to do once the action is over. It is about how to put your life together after the action. So it makes sense that it is a slower book. I also think it fit that there were so many characters. War takes its toll on everyone, not just the people who went to war. Also, jumping from perspective to perspective helped it feel like one giant, jumbled up mess that had to be put together. Kind of like what it feels like after some major life-interruption (natural disasters, family trauma, war, etc.). Life changes people, all people. But they all react and change in different ways. The choppiness of jumping from one story to the next (and sometimes from one year to four years later) makes the story feel real in this way.


But that is also why it wouldn't be a book for everyone. If there are people who need action, this might not be the book for them. If there are readers who like to follow one character and who would feel flustered if they missed the one sentence that tells it is now four years later, this might not be the book for them. If there are readers who don't like the idea of ten pages before the ending having a sex scene when the rest of the book just eluded to it (it didn't go over the sexual abuse...just that it happened or it didn't to over what happened after marriage...just that later there were two children), then this is not the book for that reader. It is a good book. I can see why it is a good book. But the scene ten pages from the end of the book bothered me.


The tone of what happened to these characters was always subtle and disjointed. Then at the end it wasn't just a book about what happened and how people are dealing with it...it goes in to two characters having sex a couple of times in the last few pages. The first time it is a subtle mention that doesn't go into much detail...similar to the rest of the book. But then it does. And I know many readers who will not be okay with that. And the crazy thing is it isn't about the war or whatnot. It is the part where everyone is finally starting to find their lives again afterward. When life is better in the lives of the characters, that was when the details were too much for me. And I found that disjointed and ironic.

[Marija · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I came across the description for this book, it immediately grabbed my attention, and I was really looking forward to reading it. However upon finishing this book, I don’t feel that it really met all of my expectations.

One the one hand, I think thematically—like fellow Printz award recipient, Where Things Come Back—it would lead to some good discussions for students, especially when linking the book’s themes with the ending. Will feelings change...will promises be kept...is it still possible to regain that sense of home, given the changes that have occurred, throughout all the time that has past? I think the book ultimately leads the reader to answer these questions.

On the other hand, I really believe this book feels like an author’s first novel. I don’t think it is very cohesive in terms of structure. Hinwood doesn’t seem to have a strict focus for this story. From reading the book’s description, Cam would probably seem like the book’s main focus. But that is not entirely true. Each chapter is told from a different character’s point of view, to provide further insights into the events occurring. I would think Hinwood does this as a means to bring the characters’ closer to the reader, as a means to understand them better. However, I think her use of this style has an opposite effect. I ultimately felt more distanced from these characters—their thoughts and feelings becoming more and more elusive as the story progressed. At times when I wanted to know what one of the characters was thinking or feeling, the story was being told from another’s perspective. As well, Hinwood is not consistent in the spacing or number of these chapter points-of-views. Some characters have more chapters than others (e.g. Cam vs. Gyaar), other characters who spoke at the beginning of the story, resurface again at the end (e.g. Pin). What surprised me most was when a seemingly major character at the start of this book, completely disappears with no further reference in the text. For this character, there’s no real sense of closure. I found this rather unfeeling and cold, given the internal conflict this character faced.

Setting the story in a fictional setting gives an author more freedom to decide how this world would look like and behave, rather than forcing an adherence to historical accuracy and maintenance of specific codes of behavior. However Hinwood does not really provide a strong background for this world she created. Ultimately, it is a blend of history and her own conception, but there are significant gaps in terms of the society she is trying to convey. For example, some societal codes she hints at, should have had a better explanation. At the beginning of the story we learn that Cam is betrothed to Graceful. Hinwood tells us that he had to pay a sort of dowry in order to wed her, and upon their wedding he would assume her name. I found this an interesting concept. However, Hinwood never formally states that Cam does this because he is of a lower class standing. A young reader could easily miss this fact. Yet, the traditional betrothal-marriage arrangement of a father providing a dowry for his daughter still exists in this society as well.

Also, I don’t really feel it was necessary to set this story in the aftermath of a war. Cam’s internal conflict existed well before he went off to war. His problems are not post-traumatic in nature...they center around the idea of a sense of belonging—a feeling he lacked even when he was only a very young boy. Likewise the conflicts other characters face—both internal and external—don’t necessarily stem from the effects of war. What these characters experience could easily have resulted from any kind of circumstance or situation. If Hinwood truly focused on what could happen in the wake of a war, she would have had a much darker novel. Nevertheless, I feel it could have been something far more rewarding than the story she provides.

[Isamlq · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are so many characters in this one and all their experience so unfamiliar to me that I wanted to get familiar with every single one of them as well with every aspect of their stories. The story spans a long while, beginning from right after Cam’s return and eventually tackling his younger sister’s own beginning…but the story is so much more than their family, because it touched on everyone around them. It’s quite daunting trying to sum it up, so I won’t even try… but I do see why there’s so much positivity around it.

There’s a sense connection here almost like what I felt in Finnikin, though it’s far from being the epic fantasy that the latter is. It does cover a lot of things and as a consequence there’s simply so many people. It’s clear that one character’s story affects another one and the next one after that and so on, but I enjoyed how each of them had something to deal with and their troubles uniquely their own. Take, Cam and his wanderlust; Ban and his feelings, Cam’s koi-boy and her dealing with what she was and what she had to do; Lord Ryuu’s son and his figuring out his place… or Pin and her place for that matter.

Again, there’s a lot of them at time I felt like each of their stories could have been dealt with more specifically, each of them could have been tackled just a smidge more. Because I only barely got a glimpse at what made each of them special, by the end, I felt like I’d only just begun to learn a little of who they were… and I wanted more.

Thanks you NetGalley!
3/5

[Kwoomac · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me forever to become invested in the story. The main character Cam is the only villager to return home after a war between the Uplanders and the Downlanders. he's a Downlander who owes his life to the Uplander prince who chose to spare him, after lopping off his right arm. The pace of the novel is very slow. It's a study of how war effects everyone, how resilient people can be, how in order to survive you may have to readjust to the new order of things.. The story follows a number of survivors as they rebound after the war changes everything in their world. As I said, it took me awhile to become invested in the story, but by story's end, I was sold.

It is a story of hope. The most tragic story is Cam's. His family and village don't know how to treat him when he returns home, damaged, the sole survivor from his village of a twelve year war. His family wants to protect him, but they end up making him feel useless. It was heartbreaking to read about how painful Cam's return was and how the family was unable to integrate the new Cam back into their homelife. This ultimately sends Cam in search of a place where he can feel at home, needed and respected. His life is complicated by the fact that he feels he owes allegiance to the prince who spared him, even though the prince was the enemy. The story covers about five years (I think) as the various characters settle into their new lives.




(challenge-starts with R)

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 3.5, really. The beautiful writing and excellent world-building would be worth a 5, but I find the plot, and especially the conclusion, a bit unsatisfying. The characters are somewhere in the middle, especially since people who I thought should end up romantically together (*cough*CamandGyaar*cough*) don't, ending up instead with other people who are good characters but don't make for the same kind of chemistry, in my opinion. Plus, lots of stuff is left unresolved. I think that's partly on purpose - this is one of those, "life is messy" books, and while I sometimes admire that, I sometimes want to go, "Yes, but books are not life, and they can draw together more and answer the readers' questions."

I do love the writing, though. The author does an especially good job with the Downlander and Uplander cultures - their festivals, their turns of phrase.

And I love that the Downlanders have public celebrations for women reaching womanhood as well as for men reaching manhood - that when Pin gets her period, it's a source of pride instead of shame, but at the same time they don't deny that cramps and mess can make it unpleasant. That is, they don't try to make female puberty into a mystical (and spotless, so to speak) thing, but they embrace it the way it actually is, and don't make girls hide it and feel their bodies are gross and shameful.

[Lilian Moore · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm a bibliophile, which means I love books. There are very few books which I cannot stand, but The Returning by Christine Hinwood was absolutely disgusting.
The plot is that a boy returns from home with his arm cut off, and finding that everything is different, he goes to be a slave to the very man who "maimed" him.
For a writer, it was bad because the point of view kept changing, she cuts off one of the best character's chapters and we hear no more from him, and her young characters are way more 'grown-up' than they should be.
There are a lot of vulgar sexual references, two or three actual porn scenes, and a whole chapter that is dedicated to puberty. The 'f-word' was used once. All the characters who talk about sex do so in the presence of children who are between 7 and 18 . A twelve-year-old girl is engaged to a seventeen-year-old boy, and they do two of the porn scenes together.
The worst part about this book is that the cover looks very innocent and interesting. I found it in the Young Adult section, and I expected it to be a deeply compelling book. The plot might have been interesting if it hadn't been for the debauchery that would come up suddenly, like a slap when you expected a kiss.
I recommend that anyone who finds this book should throw it away immediately.

[Jamie Dacyczyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings on this book. It started out interesting (if a little confusing from jumping back and forth between characters), and I was sure it would all come together as something amazing. The chapter about the boy sitting with his dead dog was very sad and touching.

Alas, I had a hard time staying focused. I think the timeline of the book went to fast for me, and that made the out-of-the-blue "adult" context towards the end kind of jarring. The characters were children, and then a few chapters later the same characters were engaging in oral sex. Whoa, when did that happen? Now, I'm not a prude and not offended by sexual content.....It just seemed startling, especially if you missed the part about them being older now.

So anyway, the details in this book were certainly rich, and the writing style was unique. I'm still digesting this one, so I don't know whether or not to recommend it.