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paigehamlett1's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
smamanda's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.75
jelena666's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.25
lucyrambles's review
3.0
**This book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review thanks to Random Things Tours and Corvus Books**
⭐⭐⭐ 3.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐
Jackson has brought to life the small village of Ödesmark, which is layered with a dark history and secrets from years gone by. The residents are all opposed to eighty years old, Vidar Bjornland, who owns the land they all live on. Whilst the years have taken some of Vidar’s strength, he still remains a fierce old man. All he wants is for his family to stay by his side until his dying breath, but they want their own lives elsewhere. He will chase them to the ends of the earth to make sure they cannot escape him. His daughter, Liv, has tried to get away from Odesmark several times and has never made it far under Vidar’s watch.
The story is told from Liv’s P.O.V, and Liam Lilja’s P.O.V, a single father that has lost his way several times and is controlled by his abusive brother, Gabriel, who also tells his side of the story. It was intriguing to learn the character’s backgrounds and understand what their motives would be for killing Vidar. However, these switching points of view and jumping between different years confused me greatly for a while. The first half of the book felt ‘jumpy’ and a bit scattered, but as I reached the halfway point I started to enjoy reading this book a lot more. Uncovering the characters and the town’s secrets became very enticing.
Liv seems lost in every sense of the word. She spent years trying to evade Vidar and get out of the village but failed every time. I felt most of the time she came across as a scared, and desperate girl whose only wish was to live her life how she chose to. Then she had Simon, and her life goals changed to be solely focused on protecting him and making sure his life wasn’t a misery as she felt hers had been.
Read the full review on my blog - https://lucyrambles.com/2021/02/16/book-tour-the-last-snow-by-stina-jackson-review/
⭐⭐⭐ 3.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐
Jackson has brought to life the small village of Ödesmark, which is layered with a dark history and secrets from years gone by. The residents are all opposed to eighty years old, Vidar Bjornland, who owns the land they all live on. Whilst the years have taken some of Vidar’s strength, he still remains a fierce old man. All he wants is for his family to stay by his side until his dying breath, but they want their own lives elsewhere. He will chase them to the ends of the earth to make sure they cannot escape him. His daughter, Liv, has tried to get away from Odesmark several times and has never made it far under Vidar’s watch.
The story is told from Liv’s P.O.V, and Liam Lilja’s P.O.V, a single father that has lost his way several times and is controlled by his abusive brother, Gabriel, who also tells his side of the story. It was intriguing to learn the character’s backgrounds and understand what their motives would be for killing Vidar. However, these switching points of view and jumping between different years confused me greatly for a while. The first half of the book felt ‘jumpy’ and a bit scattered, but as I reached the halfway point I started to enjoy reading this book a lot more. Uncovering the characters and the town’s secrets became very enticing.
Liv seems lost in every sense of the word. She spent years trying to evade Vidar and get out of the village but failed every time. I felt most of the time she came across as a scared, and desperate girl whose only wish was to live her life how she chose to. Then she had Simon, and her life goals changed to be solely focused on protecting him and making sure his life wasn’t a misery as she felt hers had been.
Read the full review on my blog - https://lucyrambles.com/2021/02/16/book-tour-the-last-snow-by-stina-jackson-review/
pepus's review against another edition
5.0
Ostres quina troballa. M'ha agradat molt. Ben estructurat. Bons girs argumentals I cirereta al final. Et seguiré d'aprop Stina, en tot el que escriguis a partir d'ara.
kazza27's review
5.0
The story begins with the introduction to the two families in the story. Vidar Bjornlund, his daughter Liv and her son Simon. Liv leads a miserable life living with her elderly father her mother died when she was a baby.
The other family is made up of brothers Liam, Gabriel and Liam’s daughter Vanya, they say in the village that Vidar is rich although he lives like a pauper and Juha Bjerke wants them to do a job for him and find the money. Gabriel and Liam are the local drug dealers and are always looking for opportunities to make money. Liam is the softer of the two brothers and their mother wants Liam to be good and not to be influenced by Gabriel but he has an anger that he cannot control. He loves his daughter and wants to turn over a new leaf but he struggles with this as Gabriel doesn’t want him to.
Liz has a secret, she is in a relationship with Johnny Westberg their tenant, desperate to escape her life but Vidar decides to evict him. She sneaks out at night to visit him and he questions her about Simon’s father. As the story unfolds it becomes even more apparent how controlling her father has been.
Then Vidar goes missing, one morning they awake and he is not there. The police are eventually called but did Liam and Gabriel go too far to retrieve the money ?
I found the story took me a little while to get into as the story goes from present to past. Also there is another thread to the story of a young girl who is having lots of sexual relationships. At the beginning you do not know who this girl is but I did have a suspicion.
This book is heavy with tension and very dark. There is a claustrophobic feeling to Liv’s life and I couldn’t really understand why she stayed. It has a slow pace and uncovers the story really gradually. Vidar really is a spiteful person and uses every opportunity to put Liv down to Simon.
This is a really beautifully and descriptively written dark novel, set against a bleak backdrop and totally gripping.
5 stars ❄❄❄❄❄
Thank you to Anne Cater at Random Things for my invitation to the tour and to Corvus for my copy of the book in return for a fair and honest review.
The other family is made up of brothers Liam, Gabriel and Liam’s daughter Vanya, they say in the village that Vidar is rich although he lives like a pauper and Juha Bjerke wants them to do a job for him and find the money. Gabriel and Liam are the local drug dealers and are always looking for opportunities to make money. Liam is the softer of the two brothers and their mother wants Liam to be good and not to be influenced by Gabriel but he has an anger that he cannot control. He loves his daughter and wants to turn over a new leaf but he struggles with this as Gabriel doesn’t want him to.
Liz has a secret, she is in a relationship with Johnny Westberg their tenant, desperate to escape her life but Vidar decides to evict him. She sneaks out at night to visit him and he questions her about Simon’s father. As the story unfolds it becomes even more apparent how controlling her father has been.
Then Vidar goes missing, one morning they awake and he is not there. The police are eventually called but did Liam and Gabriel go too far to retrieve the money ?
I found the story took me a little while to get into as the story goes from present to past. Also there is another thread to the story of a young girl who is having lots of sexual relationships. At the beginning you do not know who this girl is but I did have a suspicion.
This book is heavy with tension and very dark. There is a claustrophobic feeling to Liv’s life and I couldn’t really understand why she stayed. It has a slow pace and uncovers the story really gradually. Vidar really is a spiteful person and uses every opportunity to put Liv down to Simon.
This is a really beautifully and descriptively written dark novel, set against a bleak backdrop and totally gripping.
5 stars ❄❄❄❄❄
Thank you to Anne Cater at Random Things for my invitation to the tour and to Corvus for my copy of the book in return for a fair and honest review.
bunnybookslife's review against another edition
DNF @ 31 pages
I am just bored, this is not for me, I am sure other people will love this, but its.. not my vibe.
I am just bored, this is not for me, I am sure other people will love this, but its.. not my vibe.
thegirlwhoneedbooks2023's review
dark
emotional
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
hannahmaybookreviews's review
4.0
Title: The Last Snow
Author: Stina Jackson
Pub: Corvus Books
Rating: 4/5
A huge thank you to the author, Random Things Tours and Corvus Books for letting me be part of the blog tour!
Synopsis:
It is early spring in Odesmark, a small village in Sweden that has been abandoned by many inhibitants. Liv Bjornlund is one remaining villager, living in a derelict house with her teenage son and ageing father. The family are well known for being peculiar and many gossip behind their backs. They question why Liv has stayed with her controlling father for so long and whether it is true that Vidar is sitting on a small fortune. It is evident thought, that the old man’s decisions have left him with many enemies, no one ever forgets in Odesmark. Someone wants their revenge, to take back what was there, they will stop at nothing to make this happen, whoever tries to stand in their way.
Review:
I was very excited for this read, the description hooked me in straight away, leaving me in suspense, I had to read this one to uncover its secrets. The reviews looked very promising and it felt like this would be the perfect read for the cold winter nights that we’ve been experiencing at the moment.
I was drawn in straight away, after reading the first chapter I was left wanting more. I loved how I could visualise everything the author wrote and she did a fantastic job at setting the scene. The story jumps from present day to events in the past and this was clear to follow and didn’t disrupt the flow of the story.
Instantly I could feel Liv’s heaviness and at times I felt myself getting frustrated for her. I also really felt for the character Liam, despite me not agreeing with some of his choices, I could sense his feeling of entrapment. This book made you feel many things, I could feel the darkness of the controlling characters and some really made my skin crawl such as Gabriel. The author does a fantastic job at creating characters for the reader to hate.
I genuinely felt the story line and plot really intriguing and I struggled to put the read back down once I had started. I knew the story was building up to something, I just couldn’t put my finger on what. I even like how the author’s writing has you questioning your judge of character and you begin to doubt yourself, especially when it comes down to Vidar.
The twists and turns throughout keep you hooked and keep you on your toes. I got very close to the end before I could work out the clever plot and I love it when you have a book you struggle to call what will happen. I was very satisfied with the ending too, it left me with a sense of contentment after such a tense read.
The descriptions were beautifully written, the characters were interesting, the read was atmospheric and I was left in suspense throughout. I really enjoyed this read!
Author: Stina Jackson
Pub: Corvus Books
Rating: 4/5
A huge thank you to the author, Random Things Tours and Corvus Books for letting me be part of the blog tour!
Synopsis:
It is early spring in Odesmark, a small village in Sweden that has been abandoned by many inhibitants. Liv Bjornlund is one remaining villager, living in a derelict house with her teenage son and ageing father. The family are well known for being peculiar and many gossip behind their backs. They question why Liv has stayed with her controlling father for so long and whether it is true that Vidar is sitting on a small fortune. It is evident thought, that the old man’s decisions have left him with many enemies, no one ever forgets in Odesmark. Someone wants their revenge, to take back what was there, they will stop at nothing to make this happen, whoever tries to stand in their way.
Review:
I was very excited for this read, the description hooked me in straight away, leaving me in suspense, I had to read this one to uncover its secrets. The reviews looked very promising and it felt like this would be the perfect read for the cold winter nights that we’ve been experiencing at the moment.
I was drawn in straight away, after reading the first chapter I was left wanting more. I loved how I could visualise everything the author wrote and she did a fantastic job at setting the scene. The story jumps from present day to events in the past and this was clear to follow and didn’t disrupt the flow of the story.
Instantly I could feel Liv’s heaviness and at times I felt myself getting frustrated for her. I also really felt for the character Liam, despite me not agreeing with some of his choices, I could sense his feeling of entrapment. This book made you feel many things, I could feel the darkness of the controlling characters and some really made my skin crawl such as Gabriel. The author does a fantastic job at creating characters for the reader to hate.
I genuinely felt the story line and plot really intriguing and I struggled to put the read back down once I had started. I knew the story was building up to something, I just couldn’t put my finger on what. I even like how the author’s writing has you questioning your judge of character and you begin to doubt yourself, especially when it comes down to Vidar.
The twists and turns throughout keep you hooked and keep you on your toes. I got very close to the end before I could work out the clever plot and I love it when you have a book you struggle to call what will happen. I was very satisfied with the ending too, it left me with a sense of contentment after such a tense read.
The descriptions were beautifully written, the characters were interesting, the read was atmospheric and I was left in suspense throughout. I really enjoyed this read!