Reviews

Icelandic Folk Tales by Hjörleifur Helgi Stefánsson

ladykillller's review

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

the_cassie_case's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

kcb_21's review against another edition

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lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

gem_reads_too's review against another edition

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Started as part of a  beat the backlist challenge for 2023. Didn't finish in time, thought I'd read it anyway as it peaked my interest. It's sat untouched for almost 2 months. Time to return/DNF. If the times right again later, will happily pick it up for another go.

lezreadalot's review against another edition

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3.0

2.5 stars. This was fine. Not quite the folklore I was expecting; it seemed more like a collection of anecdotes that the author collected from his family over the years, with a few sprinklings of historical myths and folk tales. Nothing wrong with that in and of itself; it's great that it had such a personal slant and I did love getting to see Iceland through stories like this. But they just weren't told very interestingly? Or well? At least three times, the phrase 'to make a long story short' was used, and like, that's exactly what I don't want. So many of these stories felt flat, or ended abruptly, or felt a little pointless. Things did get interesting when the author slipped in historical titbits and real life figures or talked about actual places in Iceland and stories surrounding them, but there wasn't nearly enough of that to satisfy me. And what I did get was, again, flat. The writing was just okay; not really striking, and I guess it was going for a casual, whimsical tone? Didn't really get there.

So this wasn't bad at all, but sadly sort of a miss.

hebrideanreader's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny informative mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.75

stephanieyarbrough's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny informative medium-paced

3.0

n0rmann's review against another edition

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2.0

I found this more interesting than entertaining. The stories had a lot of potential, but I found they were told in a boring manner.

charzpov's review against another edition

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4.0

I've been a fan of the poetic, symbolic style of writing since I first read The Old Man and The Sea. The tales in this book are filled with awe and magic and natural imagery at a surface level, making them enjoyable and accessible to anyone, but what makes this book truly magical is the hidden stories beneath the surface. I can't wait to re read and learn and uncover more.

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No

3.0

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