Reviews

The Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister

jennaleffert's review against another edition

3.0

2.5 ⭐

anovelobsession's review against another edition

5.0

This novel starts out in a Boston courtroom in the 1850s with the main character, Virginia, on trial for murder. Virginia had been hired by the wife of a missing Arctic explorer to lead a group of women to the far north in search of her lost husband or at least evidence of his death. The group of women assembled to embark on this expedition was amazing. The author was able to create rich diverse characters that I thought really represented women of that era if given the chance to prove themselves. The book goes back and forth between the current trial, the expedition and a little further back in Virginia's past, a past which holds a secret that Virginia does not want to get out. The reader also gets chapters from the other women's perspectives and we get to know their backstories and how they ended up on the expedition. The story was incredibly suspenseful and compelling, from the harrowing expedition to the courtroom. Very well written and I very much appreciate the wonderfully complex, diverse characters the author has created. A must read if you crave adventure stories, strong female characters, historical fiction and Arctic exploration.

saschabookishowl's review against another edition

4.0

3.75

Highly recommend the audiobook for this one.

beverlie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

mariepie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

nicole_emm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

kleonard's review against another edition

1.0

In this novel, told through a courtroom drama and flashbacks, a young woman is in trial for the death of one of her companions in a catastrophically bad expedition to the Arctic. Virginia Reeves is hired by a wealthy woman whose husband and his crew have disappeared in the Arctic. Reeves's background is as a guide for colonists in the American West, which does not make her the right person to lead this expedition, as the novel shows: she's not a good leader or planner in almost every situation the author throws at her. Ultimately, members of the expedition die, Reeves is charged, and as her trial takes place, various secrets come to light. For a book about the Arctic, there's remarkably little about the expedition's time there; and there's nothing that gives us any indication of why Reeves gets her nickname of "The Arctic Fury." There's even less about most of the other expedition members, and not nearly enough about their relationships to get any real sense of how they all operated together, or why these relationships cause such hand-wringing in Reeves's mind. In short, this is a novel trying, perhaps, to be a bit gothic, but which just left me wondering why all of the characters were so incompetent and why I should care about any of them.

luciearan's review against another edition

3.0

Polární běsy jsou knihou, která si mě zaháčkovala na první dobrou. Nejdřív mě upoutala obálka, a s anotací, jsem měla jasno. Tuhle knihu si prostě musím přečíst. Doma se pořádně ani neohřála, a já už se pouštěla do prvních řádek, natěšená na čistě ženské putování Antartidou, a hledání pravdy o Franklinově expedici. A jelikož nadšení bylo velké, zklamání pak, možná ještě o poznání větší.

Celý příběh je totiž pojat jako soudní přelíčení s Virginií, prolínající se z počátku s jejími vzpomínkami na dobu před samotnou výpravou, později pak na první setkání s jednotlivými členkami samotné výpravy. Až zhruba za polovinou, se seznamujeme s prvními střípky ze samotné cesty a i ty jsou, poměrně sporadické a nijak obsáhlé. Z mého pohledu, právě tento poněkud rozvláčný způsob, jakým byla kniha vyprávěna, příběhu uškodil nejvíc. Díky rozčlenění, tak samotná výprava, přichází o veškeré prvky napětí, a vyznívá ploše a nevýrazně. Místo polární výpravy plné napětí a nebezpečí, totiž dostanete poměrně nezajímavé, soudní přelíčení. Což jsem, minimálně já sama, rozhodně nečekala.

bethsponz's review

5.0

A great story of an all women trek into the Arctic to find John Franklin and his crew aboard the The Terror in the 1850’s. This is a fictionalized account of Jane Franklin sending in a group of women to find what she claims men could not. A very powerful story of what women can endure in the cold and ice. A must read!

cahlacarla's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0