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theopanov's review against another edition
DNF
Новата книга на Стина Джаксън (рекламирана като „шведската сензация на 2018 г.“ – само да припомня) е съвсем същата като първата ѝ „Сребърният път“ ➡ скромното ми ревю за нея + коментари.
Новата книга на Стина Джаксън (рекламирана като „шведската сензация на 2018 г.“ – само да припомня) е съвсем същата като първата ѝ „Сребърният път“ ➡ скромното ми ревю за нея + коментари.
totallytales's review against another edition
4.0
Plot: What secrets are hidden within the walls of a desolate farmhouse in a forgotten corner of Lapland?
A compelling read. The bad blood & gossip spread throughout this small town is used to increase tension, give an ominous sense of dread throughout. Told across two timelines I soon found myself suspicious of everyone, unable to guess what was really going on I was pleasantly surprised by the ending.
"There are no monsters only men."
People: The whole cast of characters have their flaws & tension between them was so palpable.
I was particularly drawn to Liv, Liam & Juha stories and found myself rooting for them.
Place: The Swedish landscape is so vividly portrayed it almost became a character in its own right. You can easily imagine the cold, harsh isolated setting as the secrets begin to unravel.
Pace: This is a slow-paced, dark and intense read. Brilliant from start to finish, a fabulous addition to the Nordic noir genre.
Disclaimer: A huge thanks to Atlantic Books & Anne Cater for sending me this title. All opinions are my own.
A compelling read. The bad blood & gossip spread throughout this small town is used to increase tension, give an ominous sense of dread throughout. Told across two timelines I soon found myself suspicious of everyone, unable to guess what was really going on I was pleasantly surprised by the ending.
"There are no monsters only men."
People: The whole cast of characters have their flaws & tension between them was so palpable.
I was particularly drawn to Liv, Liam & Juha stories and found myself rooting for them.
Place: The Swedish landscape is so vividly portrayed it almost became a character in its own right. You can easily imagine the cold, harsh isolated setting as the secrets begin to unravel.
Pace: This is a slow-paced, dark and intense read. Brilliant from start to finish, a fabulous addition to the Nordic noir genre.
Disclaimer: A huge thanks to Atlantic Books & Anne Cater for sending me this title. All opinions are my own.
whatsclairereading's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
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
thebooktrail88's review against another edition
4.0
image: 
ARE YOU READY TO GO TO ODESMARK IN SWEDEN?
Author of The Silver Road. What secrets are hidden within the walls of a desolate farmhouse in a forgotten corner of Lapland? PLENTY is the answer!
Discover the locations in the novel
UPDATED REVIEW
Transport yourself to a remote and claustrophobic Swedish village
I first read this in Swedish last year. The title here is the name of the village where it’s set. Ödesmark. That name is really clever as the words ‘Ödes’ and ‘mark’ mean Fate/fatal and ground/land in Swedish so you really get a sense of what this place might be like.
Stina Jackson has a way of building a scene. The Silver Road was one of the most memorable novels for me for its sheer scene setting. The snow, remoteness, long roads, chilling villages and more. Ödesmark takes this further and really cloaks the reader in a mist of darkness on top of everything else. There are characters here that are particularly odd and I was pleased they all seemed to live in a remote village as you’d really want them to go there if not. One man is hated for having money and everyone else seems to want revenge least of all his daughter who has remained at home for various reasons.
When there is a murder, it’s very hard to guess who ‘dun it’. Everyone is capable. The woods hide the noises, the snow muffles the screams, the houses hide the guilty and the village never speaks at all.
The novel started out very bleak and the Scandi Noir theme got darker as the novel went on. You could cut the tension between the inhabitants with a knife. The bad blood runs more than the river beside the village. As for those woods, well you’d better not go anywhere near them. They will swallow you whole.
The start of the novel was a big confusing as the jump from one character's story wasn’t always clear. Once I had got the threads straight in my head this was fine and think the English way of formatting the chapters makes this clearer. Kudos to Susan Beard for a gripping translation.
ARE YOU READY TO GO TO ODESMARK IN SWEDEN?
Author of The Silver Road. What secrets are hidden within the walls of a desolate farmhouse in a forgotten corner of Lapland? PLENTY is the answer!
Discover the locations in the novel
UPDATED REVIEW
Transport yourself to a remote and claustrophobic Swedish village
I first read this in Swedish last year. The title here is the name of the village where it’s set. Ödesmark. That name is really clever as the words ‘Ödes’ and ‘mark’ mean Fate/fatal and ground/land in Swedish so you really get a sense of what this place might be like.
Stina Jackson has a way of building a scene. The Silver Road was one of the most memorable novels for me for its sheer scene setting. The snow, remoteness, long roads, chilling villages and more. Ödesmark takes this further and really cloaks the reader in a mist of darkness on top of everything else. There are characters here that are particularly odd and I was pleased they all seemed to live in a remote village as you’d really want them to go there if not. One man is hated for having money and everyone else seems to want revenge least of all his daughter who has remained at home for various reasons.
When there is a murder, it’s very hard to guess who ‘dun it’. Everyone is capable. The woods hide the noises, the snow muffles the screams, the houses hide the guilty and the village never speaks at all.
The novel started out very bleak and the Scandi Noir theme got darker as the novel went on. You could cut the tension between the inhabitants with a knife. The bad blood runs more than the river beside the village. As for those woods, well you’d better not go anywhere near them. They will swallow you whole.
The start of the novel was a big confusing as the jump from one character's story wasn’t always clear. Once I had got the threads straight in my head this was fine and think the English way of formatting the chapters makes this clearer. Kudos to Susan Beard for a gripping translation.
rachelkanga's review against another edition
4.0
I was not really sure what to think about this before I started as a thriller is not something I would usually choose but I have to say I was surprised.
The book has many characters all with their own stories but centralising on the protagonist Liv who lives with her very unpleasant father Vidar and her son Simon. The family are not popular in the town due to past business misdemeanours of Vidar and even Liv struggles to like him as he is controlling, manipulative and nasty. The book alternates between past events and present day to enable the reader to have empathy for Liv.
Set in a small town in Sweden surrounded by forest where everybody knows everything about everyone, it is hard to hide from the past and eventually the past does catch up.
The cover was appealing with a snow on trees, inviting you in to the forest to uncover its secrets.
I enjoyed the book and would look out for other books by the same author and possibly would consider reading a thriller again.
The book has many characters all with their own stories but centralising on the protagonist Liv who lives with her very unpleasant father Vidar and her son Simon. The family are not popular in the town due to past business misdemeanours of Vidar and even Liv struggles to like him as he is controlling, manipulative and nasty. The book alternates between past events and present day to enable the reader to have empathy for Liv.
Set in a small town in Sweden surrounded by forest where everybody knows everything about everyone, it is hard to hide from the past and eventually the past does catch up.
The cover was appealing with a snow on trees, inviting you in to the forest to uncover its secrets.
I enjoyed the book and would look out for other books by the same author and possibly would consider reading a thriller again.
steph1rothwell's review against another edition
4.0
I always find that there is a feeling of claustrophobia with books that are set in locations such as The Last Snow. In this book that area is a remote area of Lapland called Ödesmark. It is where Liv has lived all her life with her father Vidar and her son Simon. They do seem to have a strange relationship, not that friendly to each other, but you do see a caring side at times. When Simon massages his grandfathers hands and even though it could also be called controlling, the way Vidar always took Liv to work. And it becomes evident that this meant a lot to him later in the book.
Liam is determined to stay clean and out of trouble, he wants to provide a safe and stable environment for his daughter. But his brother Gabriel has other ideas and is prepared and capable of doing anything to get his own way.
The novel is captivating, the flashbacks to Liv’s childhood and her teenage years provide a lot of insight into why her family life is the way it was. The attitude of the locals to all of the family, the suspicion and the bitterness and gossip all provide a lot of tension. The only character who showed Liv and Liam any warmth was their boss who seemed to go with his instinct rather than listen to rumour. Most of the antagonism was connected to money that Vidar was rumoured to have.
It’s one of those novels where you do struggle to like the characters. Often unfriendly and angry but Liv did seem to be more approachable in the second half of the novel. And I did have a lot of sympathy for Liam and wanted him to achieve his dream.
I’m looking forward to reading more by this author.
Liam is determined to stay clean and out of trouble, he wants to provide a safe and stable environment for his daughter. But his brother Gabriel has other ideas and is prepared and capable of doing anything to get his own way.
The novel is captivating, the flashbacks to Liv’s childhood and her teenage years provide a lot of insight into why her family life is the way it was. The attitude of the locals to all of the family, the suspicion and the bitterness and gossip all provide a lot of tension. The only character who showed Liv and Liam any warmth was their boss who seemed to go with his instinct rather than listen to rumour. Most of the antagonism was connected to money that Vidar was rumoured to have.
It’s one of those novels where you do struggle to like the characters. Often unfriendly and angry but Liv did seem to be more approachable in the second half of the novel. And I did have a lot of sympathy for Liam and wanted him to achieve his dream.
I’m looking forward to reading more by this author.
thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Incest
dorthepedersen_reads's review against another edition
3.0
Jeg kan se, at Ødemark får blændende anmeldelser, og jeg ville rigtig gerne være enig :-) Men første tredjedel af bogen ligger jeg på to stjerner og småkeder mig, og selv om bogen bliver bedre de sidste to tredjedele, kommer den for mit vedkommende ikke over de tre stjerners "liked it".
tetrollet's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.25
lifeinbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0