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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
A great Scandinavian noir novel. Definitely kept me engaged and turning the pages.
I read this on a flight to Iceland which made it even better to then see the places in the book.
I definitely looked at people differently in the airport too.
Another great book recommended by The Book Bully, Ellison Weist, and the Another Mother Runner Summer Reading podcast.
I read this on a flight to Iceland which made it even better to then see the places in the book.
I definitely looked at people differently in the airport too.
Another great book recommended by The Book Bully, Ellison Weist, and the Another Mother Runner Summer Reading podcast.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
She knew that in Agla’s eyes she would always be perfect; and perfection was like a coke buzz – liberating, satisfying and dangerously addictive.
3.5 stars. An interesting crime thriller that's simple in a lot of ways, but had enough little twists and enough intrigue to keep me going. We're following Sonja, a young divorced mother in Iceland who has been duped into becoming a cocaine mule, and the steps she takes to attempt to free herself from the snare. We're also following Agla, Sonia's deeply closeted on-and-off girlfriend, who is caught up in a major banking scandal after the financial crisis; and Bragi, an older customs officer who becomes more and more suspicious of Sonia after each of her many flights.
It's the kind of thriller that's more focused on the crime and drama than it is on outlandish twists, and I liked that a lot about it. There were a lot of details about all the precautions and preparations that Sonja had to take that made it all pretty realistic, and it was interesting getting the details of Agla's crimes and how it intersected with the financial crisis. Ooooooon the flip side, there were also a few scenes that felt deeply manufactured, like they were lifted from a badly acted and mildly racist 2000s cop show. So yeah. There was good with the bad. I did really enjoy the setting, descriptions of Icelandic food and culture, descriptions of the dust from the recent volcano eruption. I love feeling so grounded in a place/culture, and Iceland is a place I haven't read many books about! The romance isn't quite central to the plot, but important enough that I was really rooting for them, and I'm interested to see where things will go in the series. Agla's agonising over her sexuality and labels manages to be really heart-rending, even from a character who's not the easiest to sympathise with. Something interesting about the book is that we start in the middle of things; we don't see how Sonja got caught up in drug-running aside from a couple flashbacks, and we don't see what exactly pushed Agla to commit her crimes. I'm hoping for more details in future books. I liked the other relationships in the book as well: Sonja and her son, Bragi and his wife.
Listened to the audiobook as read by Suzannah Hampton, and really really loved it. I think this is my first book narrated by her, and she just has one of those voices that's really lovely and easy to listen to. I can't judge how well she did with the Icelandic names and pronunciations, but it seemed well done to me. I kinda wanted a male narrator for the Bragi and Tomas chapters, but it was still really well done. I feel like I had some more nitpicks about the book itself, but I can't remember them now. This was pretty good! I don't have a lot of winners with thrillers so I'll take it, and look forward to continuing the series some time.
Content warnings:
Spoiler
violence, sexual assault, severe injury, mauling, descriptions of drug use and addiction, alcoholism
Snare is the first in a Noir trilogy by newest Nordic sensation, Lilja Sigurdardottir and I hear it is being made into major film by Hollywood. Sigurdardottir writes the story in fast-paced chapters, with complex characters and even more complex relationships, a very intricate plot and fantastic imagery. I was hooked straight away and couldn’t put it down.
Set in a Reykjavik covered in the dust of the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption, Snare is told from the perspective of young mother Sonia Gunnarsdottir. Sonia is divorcing Adam, who caught her in bed with a woman. That woman being Agla, her husband’s former banking colleague.
As the divorce ensues, Sonia is struggling to provide for herself and keep custody of her son, Tómas. Sonia embarks on a relationship with Agla, a woman very much in the closet and that is a messy thing. Agla is full of shame, and fear and guilt about being a lesbian. To add to it all, Alga, once a high-level bank executive, is currently being prosecuted in the aftermath of the Icelandic finical crash.
With her back firmly against the wall, Sonia has no option but to become a mule – the ‘snare’ orchestrated by her own lawyer Thorgeir, or so she thinks. As she desperately looks for a way out, she devises increasingly complex ruses to escape detection by customs official Bragi, a pivotal character, who has its own parallel storyline.
Bragi is a dedicated customs officer whose life centres around his job and his ailing wife, Valdis, a sufferer of dementia, currently in a care home.
The volcanic ashes almost serve as a metaphor for Sonia's life, she has to clean it all up... but it is a very messy business and it wont go away that easily.
Snare is a great Nordic noir novel that deserves all the hype it is getting, chaotic and compelling. I loved it.
Set in a Reykjavik covered in the dust of the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption, Snare is told from the perspective of young mother Sonia Gunnarsdottir. Sonia is divorcing Adam, who caught her in bed with a woman. That woman being Agla, her husband’s former banking colleague.
As the divorce ensues, Sonia is struggling to provide for herself and keep custody of her son, Tómas. Sonia embarks on a relationship with Agla, a woman very much in the closet and that is a messy thing. Agla is full of shame, and fear and guilt about being a lesbian. To add to it all, Alga, once a high-level bank executive, is currently being prosecuted in the aftermath of the Icelandic finical crash.
With her back firmly against the wall, Sonia has no option but to become a mule – the ‘snare’ orchestrated by her own lawyer Thorgeir, or so she thinks. As she desperately looks for a way out, she devises increasingly complex ruses to escape detection by customs official Bragi, a pivotal character, who has its own parallel storyline.
Bragi is a dedicated customs officer whose life centres around his job and his ailing wife, Valdis, a sufferer of dementia, currently in a care home.
The volcanic ashes almost serve as a metaphor for Sonia's life, she has to clean it all up... but it is a very messy business and it wont go away that easily.
Snare is a great Nordic noir novel that deserves all the hype it is getting, chaotic and compelling. I loved it.
Fairly disappointed by the ending, and not particularly gripped throughout (although some scenes were interesting). Won’t read the series.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
For a thriller-type book it was pretty good. (I tend to find those shallow.) There wasn't really character development because it was short in both in length and time frame. I got a good feel for the frustration of each of the main characters, whose situations were different but similar. There are two more books in the trilogy and I'm fine with stopping where I am now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Physical abuse
Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Dementia