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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was recommended to me and it started really well but unfortunately about halfway through the story it all sort of fizzled out and I found it a struggle to get through to the end. The plot about historic Icelandic witchcraft should have been a real page turner but there were too many long winded explanations which made me bored. I can't say I liked any of the characters, and I could definitely have done without the romance! I was looking forward to reading something different to my usual UK crime fiction, but to be honest, this book could have been set absolutely anywhere as there were no descriptions of the landscapes.
I did enjoy the narration by Gabrielle Nellis-Pain.
I did enjoy the narration by Gabrielle Nellis-Pain.
I was fairly disappointed by this, after loving the standalone novel by the same author, [b:I Remember You|15852019|I Remember You|Yrsa Sigurðardóttir|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1349235679s/15852019.jpg|14614828].
- The mystery itself was unsatisfying and dull. The references to dark magic/occult/religion/history really didn't work for me. Too much information dumping that made it feel like I was reading a dull history textbook at times.
- Every single character seemed shallow and immature. I found myself questioning multiple times whether any real person would ever behave in similar ways. First there was the supposedly gifted graduate students acting like brats in one moment, then doing creepy/gross stuff for no apparent reason the next. Secondly, our "investigators", Thora and Matthew, who both seemed utterly underqualified for the job (I really didn't understand the reasoning for Thora getting asked to take up the job?), immature and unprofessional. Several other secondary characters also made questionable decisions that made no real sense as well, while being incredibly rude and spiteful to any other character they came across.
- The worst part of the entire book was
- Talking about Bella, how she was treated by her boss, Thora, was disgusting. I mean: "You didn't let that stop you from flirting with Bella. She's huge too - so huge that she has her own center of gravity. The paper clips at the office go into orbit around her." Um, ok, Thora, I'm not surprised Bella is never sunny and smiley around you.
- The only scenes that really did anything for me were Thora's interactions with her children. She seemed supportive and loving towards her kids, even if she was also a bit clueless at times.
It's pretty shocking how bad this was in comparison to I Remember You, which I thought was well written, well plotted, had pretty good characterisation, and was creepy in the right way. I'm nervous about trying any more of this series now, even though I already own the second book. I may well still give it chance, however, seeing as I know this author can do better.
- The mystery itself was unsatisfying and dull. The references to dark magic/occult/religion/history really didn't work for me. Too much information dumping that made it feel like I was reading a dull history textbook at times.
- Every single character seemed shallow and immature. I found myself questioning multiple times whether any real person would ever behave in similar ways. First there was the supposedly gifted graduate students acting like brats in one moment, then doing creepy/gross stuff for no apparent reason the next. Secondly, our "investigators", Thora and Matthew, who both seemed utterly underqualified for the job (I really didn't understand the reasoning for Thora getting asked to take up the job?), immature and unprofessional. Several other secondary characters also made questionable decisions that made no real sense as well, while being incredibly rude and spiteful to any other character they came across.
- The worst part of the entire book was
Spoiler
Thora and Matthew getting romantically involved. At the start, I genuinely thought Matthew was going to be revealed as some dodgy character, because his "flirting" seemed so gross and inappropriate, but nope I completely misjudged that and am meant to believe that Thora, and indeed Bella and several other women, consider him attractive. Yuck.- Talking about Bella, how she was treated by her boss, Thora, was disgusting. I mean: "You didn't let that stop you from flirting with Bella. She's huge too - so huge that she has her own center of gravity. The paper clips at the office go into orbit around her." Um, ok, Thora, I'm not surprised Bella is never sunny and smiley around you.
- The only scenes that really did anything for me were Thora's interactions with her children. She seemed supportive and loving towards her kids, even if she was also a bit clueless at times.
Spoiler
I mean, when your six-year-old says she doesn't like being babysitted by her elder teenage brother, because he spends too much time upstairs, jumping on the bed and howling, you should be able to put the clues together and work out what's happening...It's pretty shocking how bad this was in comparison to I Remember You, which I thought was well written, well plotted, had pretty good characterisation, and was creepy in the right way. I'm nervous about trying any more of this series now, even though I already own the second book. I may well still give it chance, however, seeing as I know this author can do better.
Not sure what to think of this one. I read half, then put it down. Picked it back up and figured out whodunnit, but not why. The victim's family relationships are probably the most interesting things in the book.
Icelandic sorcery…
The head of the History Department at the University in Reykjavik is shocked enough when he opens a cupboard in his room early one morning only for a corpse to tumble out and land on him. But when it turns out the corpse is one of the department’s students and has been gruesomely mutilated, his shock, and that of the cleaning staff who run to his aid, turns to horror. Harald Guntlieb was a young German student specialising in the history of German witch trials who had come to Reykjavik on a student exchange programme to make a comparative study of how witches had been treated in Iceland. Highly intelligent, but troubled and strange, Harald was also delving into the subject of witchcraft and sorcery, and the combination of his wealth and odd charisma had gathered around him a little group of friends who shared his fascination for the subject. When the autopsy shows that he has had a magic symbol carved into his chest, it seems that his death may be connected to his interest in sorcery.
The police quickly decide on a suspect – a drug dealer who kept Harald and his friends well supplied – and charge him with the crime. But Harald’s parents don’t believe they’ve got the right person, and hire local lawyer Thóra Gudmundsdóttir to work with their own security man, a German called Matthew Reich, to investigate the murder on their behalf.
Despite the mutilations and the subject of witchcraft and witch trials, this isn’t nearly as grim and dark as that little blurb makes it sound. Sigurdardóttir doesn’t shy away from the gruesome bits, but nor does she dwell on them unduly. The result is that the book is shivery rather than disturbing. It’s written in the third person, past tense, although told firmly from Thóra’s perspective throughout, and there’s a lot of humour in the growing relationship of Thóra and Matthew to keep the overall tone light. Sigurdardóttir also manages to pack in a load of history about the Icelandic Reformation and resulting witch trials without it feeling too much like an info dump – for the most part she keeps it focused on what is needed for the plot and she works it through the story interestingly.
Thóra is a likeable main character. She’s in her late thirties, with two children – a boy of 16 and a girl of 6 – whom she shares with her ex-husband, though she has main custody. Despite being busy with a full-time job and the stresses of single parenthood, she’s delightfully angst-free. She doesn’t regret her divorce nor seem particularly bitter over it, and now, two years on, she’s beginning to think it might be nice to have a romantic life again. At work she has a partner who really doesn’t appear much in this one, and a truly dreadful secretary, Bella, whom they can’t sack because she’s the daughter of their landlord. Bella also adds to the humour, though I must admit it didn’t take long for that joke to wear thin, and by the end of the book I was finding her tiresome as a character. Matthew starts out as rather cold and serious, but he warms up quickly and becomes a fun sparring partner for Thóra. Their banter is done very well and meant that their inevitable romantic attraction felt credible – quick, yes, but not the dreaded instalove!
The investigation mainly centres around Harald’s friends, and they’re a rather unpleasant bunch. Academic ambition plays its part too, and Sigurdardóttir gives a good picture of the lengths historians might go to in pursuit of a piece of evidence to back their pet theory, or sometimes for fame and fortune. As the story progresses we learn more about Harald’s family and childhood, and that casts some light on his character flaws. The plot itself is complex, and I felt that it occasionally got a little too convoluted. Unless I missed some fairly major clues, I’d have to say it’s not fair play and it seemed to me the solution came out of the blue quite abruptly at the end. That aspect is probably the book’s one weakness, but the rest of it was so enjoyable that it didn’t bother me too much.
I’ve had a mixed reaction to Sigurdardóttir in the past – I always admire her writing and style, but sometimes she gets too dark and graphic for me. This is the second Thóra book I’ve read, the other being much later in the series, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed them both – they seem to me to be at the lighter end of Sigurdardóttir’s range and that suits me perfectly. I look forward to reading more in the series. 4½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
The head of the History Department at the University in Reykjavik is shocked enough when he opens a cupboard in his room early one morning only for a corpse to tumble out and land on him. But when it turns out the corpse is one of the department’s students and has been gruesomely mutilated, his shock, and that of the cleaning staff who run to his aid, turns to horror. Harald Guntlieb was a young German student specialising in the history of German witch trials who had come to Reykjavik on a student exchange programme to make a comparative study of how witches had been treated in Iceland. Highly intelligent, but troubled and strange, Harald was also delving into the subject of witchcraft and sorcery, and the combination of his wealth and odd charisma had gathered around him a little group of friends who shared his fascination for the subject. When the autopsy shows that he has had a magic symbol carved into his chest, it seems that his death may be connected to his interest in sorcery.
The police quickly decide on a suspect – a drug dealer who kept Harald and his friends well supplied – and charge him with the crime. But Harald’s parents don’t believe they’ve got the right person, and hire local lawyer Thóra Gudmundsdóttir to work with their own security man, a German called Matthew Reich, to investigate the murder on their behalf.
Despite the mutilations and the subject of witchcraft and witch trials, this isn’t nearly as grim and dark as that little blurb makes it sound. Sigurdardóttir doesn’t shy away from the gruesome bits, but nor does she dwell on them unduly. The result is that the book is shivery rather than disturbing. It’s written in the third person, past tense, although told firmly from Thóra’s perspective throughout, and there’s a lot of humour in the growing relationship of Thóra and Matthew to keep the overall tone light. Sigurdardóttir also manages to pack in a load of history about the Icelandic Reformation and resulting witch trials without it feeling too much like an info dump – for the most part she keeps it focused on what is needed for the plot and she works it through the story interestingly.
Thóra is a likeable main character. She’s in her late thirties, with two children – a boy of 16 and a girl of 6 – whom she shares with her ex-husband, though she has main custody. Despite being busy with a full-time job and the stresses of single parenthood, she’s delightfully angst-free. She doesn’t regret her divorce nor seem particularly bitter over it, and now, two years on, she’s beginning to think it might be nice to have a romantic life again. At work she has a partner who really doesn’t appear much in this one, and a truly dreadful secretary, Bella, whom they can’t sack because she’s the daughter of their landlord. Bella also adds to the humour, though I must admit it didn’t take long for that joke to wear thin, and by the end of the book I was finding her tiresome as a character. Matthew starts out as rather cold and serious, but he warms up quickly and becomes a fun sparring partner for Thóra. Their banter is done very well and meant that their inevitable romantic attraction felt credible – quick, yes, but not the dreaded instalove!
The investigation mainly centres around Harald’s friends, and they’re a rather unpleasant bunch. Academic ambition plays its part too, and Sigurdardóttir gives a good picture of the lengths historians might go to in pursuit of a piece of evidence to back their pet theory, or sometimes for fame and fortune. As the story progresses we learn more about Harald’s family and childhood, and that casts some light on his character flaws. The plot itself is complex, and I felt that it occasionally got a little too convoluted. Unless I missed some fairly major clues, I’d have to say it’s not fair play and it seemed to me the solution came out of the blue quite abruptly at the end. That aspect is probably the book’s one weakness, but the rest of it was so enjoyable that it didn’t bother me too much.
I’ve had a mixed reaction to Sigurdardóttir in the past – I always admire her writing and style, but sometimes she gets too dark and graphic for me. This is the second Thóra book I’ve read, the other being much later in the series, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed them both – they seem to me to be at the lighter end of Sigurdardóttir’s range and that suits me perfectly. I look forward to reading more in the series. 4½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
3.5* interesting story line an . Some parts moved feather slowly, but the last 100 pages went quickly.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Average thriller and I'm assuming the first in what became a series. Set in Iceland and following the investigative adventures of lawyer Thora. In this tale a German student of Reykjavik university is found dead, with his eyes removed and strange symbols carved on him. A drug dealing friend is arrested for the murder, but the student's family are not convinced that the right person has been arrested. They sent their security chief (they are stinking rich) to Iceland to look into the case, and not speaking the language, he hires Thora to help him with the language and legalities of the country. Their investigations lead them into a dark time in history, of witchcraft and executions.
Thora is a bit of a curiosity to me. She's in her mid thirties, a trained lawyer, so she's not fresh out of school, and she's in partnership with an older lawyer. And they are completely incapable of doing anything with their surly and incompetant secretary. Rather than training her to give a professional look/greet to the business or firing her, they basic roll over to her bad moods and just make sarcastic comments about her work. There's something about a clause in the building lease that they had to hire her, but it's pathetic to think they don't then try to do something about the situation.
The whole police investigation seems a bit... like there's gaps. Despite the way this guy is murdered no one seems to consider or speak of the potential aspect of ritual killing. Oh, it's just about drugs, let's arrest a drugs dealer. And then when the other students in these witchcraft club the German guy set up, aren't nervous about what's happened (because surely if they didn't know who had done it or what was going on, they'd be worried they might be next), no one reacts to that either.
The writing is a bit clunky at times, but without speaking Icelandic and reading the original, I can't say whether this is a first book clunkiness, or it's down to a bad translation. Because you can't always blame the translator. If the book is badly written, why should they turn it into a well-written book in their own language?
It's an all right thriller and worth a look; (interesting with the history of witch trials in Iceland) it's just that there were a few points that grated for me.
Thora is a bit of a curiosity to me. She's in her mid thirties, a trained lawyer, so she's not fresh out of school, and she's in partnership with an older lawyer. And they are completely incapable of doing anything with their surly and incompetant secretary. Rather than training her to give a professional look/greet to the business or firing her, they basic roll over to her bad moods and just make sarcastic comments about her work. There's something about a clause in the building lease that they had to hire her, but it's pathetic to think they don't then try to do something about the situation.
The whole police investigation seems a bit... like there's gaps. Despite the way this guy is murdered no one seems to consider or speak of the potential aspect of ritual killing. Oh, it's just about drugs, let's arrest a drugs dealer. And then when the other students in these witchcraft club the German guy set up, aren't nervous about what's happened (because surely if they didn't know who had done it or what was going on, they'd be worried they might be next), no one reacts to that either.
The writing is a bit clunky at times, but without speaking Icelandic and reading the original, I can't say whether this is a first book clunkiness, or it's down to a bad translation. Because you can't always blame the translator. If the book is badly written, why should they turn it into a well-written book in their own language?
It's an all right thriller and worth a look; (interesting with the history of witch trials in Iceland) it's just that there were a few points that grated for me.
Le livre se lit bien, avec un ton humoristique, mais ce n'est pas l'intrigue la mieux ficelée qui soit à mes yeux. Une grande galerie de personnages, c'est appréciable. Un peu trop de place à la vie privée de l'enquêtrice (tout le mystère autour du comportement de son fils me paraît peu utile dans le livre).
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes