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ctasala's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
ptstewart's review
4.0
Reykjavík is swell. I don’t use swell lightly, either. Nothing here really sweeps you off your feet, nor does anything really grind your gears. This is a mystery where you spend a great deal of time thinking I know vaguely what happened; let’s get to the juicy bits, only to be pleasantly surprised by some of those bits when they arrive. I love a cold case, and like so many cold cases, we follow along because we want to know if our theory—and then the protagonist’s theory—is right. I never felt gobsmacked while reading Reykjavík, nor did I ever feel that I was being beaten repeatedly over the head with the resolution to the mystery; the human elements work, the characters are engaging, and I felt compelled to finish the whole thing in one day. A lovely read, very enjoyable, very intriguing and well structured, nothing for which anyone might fall over backward. She’s Goldilocks, folks.
annacfunke's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
becasaur27's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I came across this book a bit ago. Pretty sure it was an NPR book concierge pick that either interviewed the author or just talked about the author (there are two authors for this book, but I became interested in it in part due to the female Icelandic prime minister author). I went to Iceland in 2018 and loved it! So, I was interested in the setting and I thought it was cool that the prime minister had written this book. I was primed to like this book. And I did like it, but I don't think I'd necessarily recommend it to others. I thought its portrayal of and stance on women was a bit off. I recognize that this was also a not modern setting, so perhaps that was being shown somewhat through the women's viewpoints and such, but overall women were very tradwifey. And that is/was the expectation. Yeah, sure there are some women who are students, and that is fine, but it seemed the expectation was that if they went out and got jobs and got married then they would still do all the tradwife things as well as whatever else. No queer representation. IDK. Like I said, I still liked the book, but it just didn't have any of the extras that make me really like a book.
scnole2021's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
angelareads12345's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
It felt too this happened and then this happened. Not really storytelling but more just describing, and I would have liked more description of Iceland in general but the details were in random spots. The plot twist was so random and out of the blue.
wulfhorstmom's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
japxican's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0