Reviews

The Reckoning by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir

yetanothersusan's review against another edition

4.0

Huldar and Frejya are brought together again after both being humiliated and demoted after the scandal in the first book in this series. Huldar seems to be taking it in stride but Frejya is upset. They are thrown together again when a child's note from a time capsule predicts several murders. It is an excuse for Huldar to contact Frejya but then the murders start happening. Once again, the awkwardness of their relationship provides a balance to the wickedness of the crimes. I guess in Iceland if you are going to bother to kill someone, you are going to be senselessly brutal about it. Ms. Siguroardottir obviously has long-term character development planned for Huldar and Frejya and hasn't been inclined to rush it like many authors. Instead, we almost get 2 books: the evolution of their characters and a crazy mystery. I really enjoy her writing! I was only left with one question: when will the rest of this series be translated? I need more!

A copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review.

im_negomi's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

majaingrid's review against another edition

4.0

Okay so now I got to wait until third book gets translated to Swedish and gets available on any of my audiobook apps

magic_zlatan's review against another edition

3.0

Οι χαρακτήρες αναπτύσσονται ικανοποιητικά, η υπόθεση μπερδεμένη λίγο άλλα δεν αφήνει κενά στον αναγνώστη ΟΜΩΣ...
ακατάσχετη φλυαρία και άχρηστες πληροφορίες που κουράζουν, καθώς και δύο πρωταγωνιστικοί χαρακτήρες που, στην καλύτερη περίπτωση, μου φαίνονται αδιάφοροι τοποθετούν το βιβλίο στα μετριότερα δείγματα Σκανδιναβικής αστυνομικής λογοτεχνίας. Δεν είναι κακό βιβλίο απλά υπάρχουν πάρα πολλά καλύτερα.

6/10

leslie_kent's review against another edition

5.0

This was another five star mystery/crime for me. I have been in another review slump and haven’t even written anything about the first book yet. For now I’ll just say that I’m hooked and look forward to reading about Huldar and Freyja for books to come. I saw there were three more books written but it doesn’t appear they’ve been translated yet. Hopefully this happens soon! Full review to come. I hope.

lesleyc66's review

dark medium-paced

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

3.5

lca1r's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

karolhlzln's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

rrkreads's review

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

This series is addictive. I loved this novel too. Though the legacy (book 1) is my favorite, this one was not bad at all. While the plot and story is different in this one, the author continues to develop the relationships from the first one. There's a tiny love triangle kind of a situation going on and am not sure where this is all leading upto.

This story also talks about the situations faced by children and how adults instead of helping them usually aggravate their suffering.

As in the first book, there are some pretty gruesome murders in this one too.
The author seems to follow a kind of formula in her books.
1. A heartwrenching murder/disappearance/incident involving a child - from the past timeline
2. Police running helter skelter finding any clues at all regarding the recent murders - present timeline
3. Minimal number of suspects and zero proof thus causing immense confusion in readers and the characters in the story
4. Somehow all the threads are woven together and the full picture is revealed in the oh-so-satisfying climax.

I realized that Iceland is perceived to be a land of very minimal crime. So the attitude of the law enforcement as depicted in the book is very telling. Usually in the American crime stories everything is aggrandized, the emotions, the urgency, the gore etc. everything has this sense of being too technicolor whereas Iceland mystery is very bleak, grey and like its winters muted. That's not to say it's not sharp or as impactful but it's so different from the usual run-of-the-mill US based thrillers that it's very refreshing to read despite the morbid subject matter.

I love the writing style, the translation, the audio narration, the chill characters, and the occasional humour. A new character Saga was introduced in this novel and I can't wait to see if she makes an appearance in the next novel in the series as well. Despite her perma-scowl :) I love her.

Overall,
RRKReads Objective Grading: Invest grade - Book worth buying and adding to your collection
RRKReads Subjective Rating: 4 🌟s

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chrissi's review

dark slow-paced

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

3.0