Scan barcode
adrianjd's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Final one of the trilogy complete and this one set in Serbia rather than Finland. Enjoyable. Probably preferred the first two if I am honest but still worth a read and well written
kellyvandamme's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 rounded up
Definitely my favourite of the series
Definitely my favourite of the series
msjoanna's review
4.0
I picked this up because I needed to read a book set in the Balkans for a reading challenge. I haven't read the previous books in this series, but I thought this worked fine as a stand alone book. I really enjoyed the female police officer protagonist here--she's a solid character with internal thoughts that actually seemed realistic. I doubt I'll end up tracking down more from this series, but I wouldn't be opposed to reading another if it came across my path.
lberestecki's review against another edition
2.0
I had trouble getting into this story, despite it sounding like something that I would really enjoy. I really didn't care about the mystery or the characters, and the way it wrapped up wasn't satisfying or surprising. I also felt like it written in a rather stilted way, which may have been a translation issues.
Received from NetGalley in exchange for review.
Received from NetGalley in exchange for review.
sarahs_bookish_life's review
4.0
I really enjoyed the whole story line to this book. Anna already works for the police but in Finland. This doesn’t go down to well with the police in her hometown village when her bag gets stolen and the thief turning up dead. They don’t seem to want to investigate things any further and only do the bare minimum to try and keep her happy. Obviously Anna’s policing instincts kick in and she starts to delve into things herself which has her questioning her own fathers death.
Her father was also in the police force but was shot dead which left her mother and her family understandably devastated. There seems to be more to it though than she was originally led to believe and Anna is like a dog with a bone and can’t let go until she finds out the whole truth.
Anna was kind of hard to work out. She gives off a hardened exterior but yet I didn’t quite believe she was as hard as she makes out. There is definitely a vulnerability about her which you can see in how she turns to alcohol. Her love life is anything but straight forward either and she certainly comes across as being quite a mixed up individual.
The Exiled was a really intriguing read. I was just as determined as Anna to find out why the police in her small home town weren’t doing their jobs properly and as to who was really behind her fathers death. It certainly makes for quite a thrilling read. I would certainly read more books in the series featuring Anna.
My thanks to Karen at Orenda Books for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.
Her father was also in the police force but was shot dead which left her mother and her family understandably devastated. There seems to be more to it though than she was originally led to believe and Anna is like a dog with a bone and can’t let go until she finds out the whole truth.
Anna was kind of hard to work out. She gives off a hardened exterior but yet I didn’t quite believe she was as hard as she makes out. There is definitely a vulnerability about her which you can see in how she turns to alcohol. Her love life is anything but straight forward either and she certainly comes across as being quite a mixed up individual.
The Exiled was a really intriguing read. I was just as determined as Anna to find out why the police in her small home town weren’t doing their jobs properly and as to who was really behind her fathers death. It certainly makes for quite a thrilling read. I would certainly read more books in the series featuring Anna.
My thanks to Karen at Orenda Books for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.
belovedsnail's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Dark, complex mystery which explores refugees, exile, corruption and personal history. Brilliant even in translation.
catwithbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Anna Fekete verbringt ihren Urlaub bei ihrer Mutter in Serbien. Lang ust es her das sie hier war. Auf einen Weinfest wird ihr die Handtasche mit all ihren Papieren gestohlen wird. Mit Freunden verfolgt sie den Verdächtigen aber ohne Erfolg. Der Dieb wird schneller gefunden als gedacht, nur leider tot. Da Anna ja selber Polizistin ist hakt sie bei der örtlichen Polizei nach dem Ermittlungsstand nach. Dort hat sie aber das Gefühl dass irgendwas nicht stimmt und so versucht sie selber Nachforschungen anzustellen.. Dabei stellt sich heraus der Dieb hatte keinen Unfall sondern wurde ermordet und bei weiteren Ermittlungen findet Anna eine Spur in die Vergangenheit zu ihren Vater. Dieser wurde im Dienst erschossen und der Mord galt eigentlich als aufgeklärt.
Anna Fekete ermittelt in Serbien, dadurch hat man schon eine ganz andere Umgebung und die übrigen Ermittler kommen an sich nicht drin vor. So dauert es natürlich bi Anna auf der Richtigen Spur kommt, denn eigentlich macht sie dort Urlaub. Doch dass die Polizei den Mord als Unfall vertuschen mag, gefällt ihr gar nicht. Auch ob es wirklich so ein Zufall war das ausgerechnet ihre Tasche geklaut wurde, denn es gibt eine Verbindung zu ihren ermordeten Vater, die sich nicht von der Hand weisen lässt. Mit dem Polizist Peter und ihrer Freundin Reka setzt sie Stück für Stück die Puzzelteile zusammen.
Die Familie spielt hier auch eine sehr große Rolle. Das Verhältnis zu ihrer Mutter und ihren Bruder, der nun dort sehr glücklich zu sein scheint. Dadurch wirkt die Handlung teils ruhiger und auch was lang gezogen, aber für mich war es sehr passend es so zu lesen. Ich mag gern wissen woher die Charaktere sind und warum sie so sind wie sie sind.
Anna ist kein leichter Charkter und ihr fällt es schwer zu vielen zu stehen, gerade was ihre Gefühle und wünsche sind. Dadurch finde ich grad hier das sie sehr in der Schwebe ist und wie sie sich weiterentwickeln wird oder ob sie sich weiterentwickeln wird. Ich bin gespannt.
Auch aktuelle Problematik wurde aufgegriffen mit der Flüchtlingspolitik. Sie nimmt zwar nicht die Hauptrolle ein, aber eine Geschichte die sich auch mit realen Problemen befasst ist für mich um einiges authentischer.
Die Autorin hat einen Schreibstil der mehr sehr zusagt, flüssig aber doch anders. Stellenweise ist die Stimmung auch immer etwas drückend, da hier nicht immer alles Friede Freude ist. Gefällt mir gut.
Einen Mittelweg gibt es hier bei nicht, finde ich.
Für mich sehr gelungen wieder.
Anna Fekete ermittelt in Serbien, dadurch hat man schon eine ganz andere Umgebung und die übrigen Ermittler kommen an sich nicht drin vor. So dauert es natürlich bi Anna auf der Richtigen Spur kommt, denn eigentlich macht sie dort Urlaub. Doch dass die Polizei den Mord als Unfall vertuschen mag, gefällt ihr gar nicht. Auch ob es wirklich so ein Zufall war das ausgerechnet ihre Tasche geklaut wurde, denn es gibt eine Verbindung zu ihren ermordeten Vater, die sich nicht von der Hand weisen lässt. Mit dem Polizist Peter und ihrer Freundin Reka setzt sie Stück für Stück die Puzzelteile zusammen.
Die Familie spielt hier auch eine sehr große Rolle. Das Verhältnis zu ihrer Mutter und ihren Bruder, der nun dort sehr glücklich zu sein scheint. Dadurch wirkt die Handlung teils ruhiger und auch was lang gezogen, aber für mich war es sehr passend es so zu lesen. Ich mag gern wissen woher die Charaktere sind und warum sie so sind wie sie sind.
Anna ist kein leichter Charkter und ihr fällt es schwer zu vielen zu stehen, gerade was ihre Gefühle und wünsche sind. Dadurch finde ich grad hier das sie sehr in der Schwebe ist und wie sie sich weiterentwickeln wird oder ob sie sich weiterentwickeln wird. Ich bin gespannt.
Auch aktuelle Problematik wurde aufgegriffen mit der Flüchtlingspolitik. Sie nimmt zwar nicht die Hauptrolle ein, aber eine Geschichte die sich auch mit realen Problemen befasst ist für mich um einiges authentischer.
Die Autorin hat einen Schreibstil der mehr sehr zusagt, flüssig aber doch anders. Stellenweise ist die Stimmung auch immer etwas drückend, da hier nicht immer alles Friede Freude ist. Gefällt mir gut.
Einen Mittelweg gibt es hier bei nicht, finde ich.
Für mich sehr gelungen wieder.
kimba13's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
melbsreads's review against another edition
4.0
Trigger warnings: murder, ethnic slurs (a lot of the book revolves around the Romani community), cheating, kidnapping, death of a parent (in the past), refugee experiences.
3.5 stars.
I don't think I've ever read anything translated from Finnish before, and I certainly didn't expect it to be set in Serbia, with large chunks of the conversation happening in Hungarian, and with a lot of the story involving refugee and Romani characters.
There were things that I liked about this - the friendships, the insight into the way Yugoslavia fell apart and the impact that had on the population - but there were also things I wasn't particularly keen on. Anna's repeated "Oh crap, I still haven't gone to get a new passport" thing was kind of infuriating simply because it seemed like it happened at least twice a day and yet SHE NEVER FREAKING DID THE THING. I didn't like the fact that she ended up in a relationship with a man who'd literally JUST separated from his wife.
And I found it slightly baffling that the blurb uses the English style First Name Surname format for the characters when the text uses Surname First Name, and it honestly took me a while to work out who various characters were because I'd pay attention to the first part of their name when they were introduced and then it wouldn't show up again and I'd be all "Wait, who's this person??" until I finally twigged about 175 pages in. Whoops?
Overall, I enjoyed this despite those few struggles and I'd definitely pick up another book by this author in the future.
3.5 stars.
I don't think I've ever read anything translated from Finnish before, and I certainly didn't expect it to be set in Serbia, with large chunks of the conversation happening in Hungarian, and with a lot of the story involving refugee and Romani characters.
There were things that I liked about this - the friendships, the insight into the way Yugoslavia fell apart and the impact that had on the population - but there were also things I wasn't particularly keen on. Anna's repeated "Oh crap, I still haven't gone to get a new passport" thing was kind of infuriating simply because it seemed like it happened at least twice a day and yet SHE NEVER FREAKING DID THE THING. I didn't like the fact that she ended up in a relationship with a man who'd literally JUST separated from his wife.
And I found it slightly baffling that the blurb uses the English style First Name Surname format for the characters when the text uses Surname First Name, and it honestly took me a while to work out who various characters were because I'd pay attention to the first part of their name when they were introduced and then it wouldn't show up again and I'd be all "Wait, who's this person??" until I finally twigged about 175 pages in. Whoops?
Overall, I enjoyed this despite those few struggles and I'd definitely pick up another book by this author in the future.
clair_82's review against another edition
4.0
The Exiled is actually book 3 in the Anna Fekete series however I didn’t this realise this when I started the book and it in no way affected my enjoyment of this instalment.
Anna is in the police force in Finland but is on holiday in her homeland of Kanizsa, in Serbia on the Hungarian border. Her relaxation is somewhat hampered when her bag is stolen whilst she’s enjoying a local wine festival with friends. The bag is then found on the shore of the Tisza river alongside the body of a young man with her passport and credit card missing, when the police don’t seem interested in investigating further, Anna takes the investigation into her own hands to find out what happened to the young man, the young woman who was with him when the bag was stolen and why the police are seemingly brushing it under the carpet.
The Exiled is much more than just a crime investigation, it also touches upon the difficult subject of the life and treatment of refugees, prejudice against other cultures and the associated stereotyping that accompanies these. Hiekkapelto handles these topical subjects with great knowledge and sensitivity.
The Exiled has been translated from Finnish by David Hackston and has been done extremely well that, other than some native-tongue words and phrases (which I felt were a great touch), it’s impossible to know that this wasn’t originally written in English.
I really enjoyed this book, the investigation, both into the crime and the treatment of refugees, and Hiekkapelto’s brilliant writing style. I will be going back and reading The Hummingbird and The Defenceless to find out more about Anna, I also look forward to more novels from Hiekkapelto.
Anna is in the police force in Finland but is on holiday in her homeland of Kanizsa, in Serbia on the Hungarian border. Her relaxation is somewhat hampered when her bag is stolen whilst she’s enjoying a local wine festival with friends. The bag is then found on the shore of the Tisza river alongside the body of a young man with her passport and credit card missing, when the police don’t seem interested in investigating further, Anna takes the investigation into her own hands to find out what happened to the young man, the young woman who was with him when the bag was stolen and why the police are seemingly brushing it under the carpet.
The Exiled is much more than just a crime investigation, it also touches upon the difficult subject of the life and treatment of refugees, prejudice against other cultures and the associated stereotyping that accompanies these. Hiekkapelto handles these topical subjects with great knowledge and sensitivity.
The Exiled has been translated from Finnish by David Hackston and has been done extremely well that, other than some native-tongue words and phrases (which I felt were a great touch), it’s impossible to know that this wasn’t originally written in English.
I really enjoyed this book, the investigation, both into the crime and the treatment of refugees, and Hiekkapelto’s brilliant writing style. I will be going back and reading The Hummingbird and The Defenceless to find out more about Anna, I also look forward to more novels from Hiekkapelto.