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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
Surprisingly good read about a lawyer who investigates the deaths on behalf of her client and the twists and turns as she navigates the interviews with people who are not forthcoming. Looking forward to more books by this author.
As hard as it is for me to admit, I did not care for this book. This is only the second Yrsa book I have read but having heard plenty about her extraordinary writing I was looking forward to giving it a go.
The plot, which revolves around a volcanic eruption that decimated a part of an island in Iceland, was intriguing and I was dying to find out how a present day murder tied in with four old ones.
What I got was an archaic and clichèd storyline that was solvable in half as many pages. Whatever interest the book held for me dissipated once hints were dropped that something had happened to one of the victims during her childhood. It took zero guesses to figure out what, but somehow our protagonist Thora - a lawyer with keen detective skills - never once thought of the most obvious incident to occur in a crime novel.
The content of the book went downhill from that point of realization and I read through only in the vainest hope that I would be proved wrong. I wasn’t.
The eventual revelation felt like a cop out that made a fool not only of the great protagonist who has starred in so many of Yrsa’s novels, but of the reader as well. I worry that the climactic scenes were an editor’s brainwave rather than the author’s, because it was just such a spectacular mess. As denouement go, this was one of the worst.
I’ve heard a lot about Thora, but to me she was an unlikeable hero. She constantly belittles and fat shames her awesome secretary Bella, who was my favorite character in the book (though I agree that she needs to cut down on the smoking). It’s evident this woman is incredibly intelligent and is wasting away in this thankless job as a secretary. She is charming and, despite Thora’s cruel descriptions of her, sounds like the kind of curvy beauty the literary world could do more of. My love for Thora diminishes with each passing remark about how she couldn’t believe Bella was bagging gentlemen and sailors - as if the author and her character couldn’t quite believe that anyone not thin privileged could possibly find love, be it physical or emotional.
All in all, this was perhaps a poor book to get started on the Thora series with. The character seems a right mess - and while I wouldn’t mind that in most instances, it jarred that she was perfectly able to swim above the chaos that is her life. It’s all too neat in my opinion.
I’m surprised Thora wasn’t faced with an existential crisis after the end revelation, because she should have been questioning her right to practice after such a goof up. I don’t know if this is tackled in any succeeding books, but it should be. Someone needs to confront Thora about her obvious incompetence in this case.
If you’re a crime fan, I would say give this a miss. Read Yrsa’s The Legacy instead.
The plot, which revolves around a volcanic eruption that decimated a part of an island in Iceland, was intriguing and I was dying to find out how a present day murder tied in with four old ones.
What I got was an archaic and clichèd storyline that was solvable in half as many pages. Whatever interest the book held for me dissipated once hints were dropped that something had happened to one of the victims during her childhood. It took zero guesses to figure out what, but somehow our protagonist Thora - a lawyer with keen detective skills - never once thought of the most obvious incident to occur in a crime novel.
The content of the book went downhill from that point of realization and I read through only in the vainest hope that I would be proved wrong. I wasn’t.
The eventual revelation felt like a cop out that made a fool not only of the great protagonist who has starred in so many of Yrsa’s novels, but of the reader as well. I worry that the climactic scenes were an editor’s brainwave rather than the author’s, because it was just such a spectacular mess. As denouement go, this was one of the worst.
I’ve heard a lot about Thora, but to me she was an unlikeable hero. She constantly belittles and fat shames her awesome secretary Bella, who was my favorite character in the book (though I agree that she needs to cut down on the smoking). It’s evident this woman is incredibly intelligent and is wasting away in this thankless job as a secretary. She is charming and, despite Thora’s cruel descriptions of her, sounds like the kind of curvy beauty the literary world could do more of. My love for Thora diminishes with each passing remark about how she couldn’t believe Bella was bagging gentlemen and sailors - as if the author and her character couldn’t quite believe that anyone not thin privileged could possibly find love, be it physical or emotional.
All in all, this was perhaps a poor book to get started on the Thora series with. The character seems a right mess - and while I wouldn’t mind that in most instances, it jarred that she was perfectly able to swim above the chaos that is her life. It’s all too neat in my opinion.
I’m surprised Thora wasn’t faced with an existential crisis after the end revelation, because she should have been questioning her right to practice after such a goof up. I don’t know if this is tackled in any succeeding books, but it should be. Someone needs to confront Thora about her obvious incompetence in this case.
If you’re a crime fan, I would say give this a miss. Read Yrsa’s The Legacy instead.
Another riveting read from the Icelandic Queen of Crime.
I've enjoyed reading Yrsa Sigurdardottir's books when I can get my hands on them. I love her protagonist Thora, a lawyer who is curious but not jaded. I couldn't put this book down, which is what I expect from a good whodunnit.
This book is much darker than I expected it to be and deals with a lot of terrifying issues plaguing the world right now.
It's a much heavier read as well. There are so many details, so many characters and so many plot points that you really need to concentrate so as to not lose the threads.
I would say, though, that the translation in this book isn't as good as her other works. It seems a bit verbose in the first few chapters but picks up eventually.
I also didn't like the ending. It's good, definitely, but I would have preferred if the killer had turned out to be someone else. But, I think that was the actual point of the story - that Thora and we, the readers, could be hoodwinked so easily.
Great read and I can't wait for more.
I've enjoyed reading Yrsa Sigurdardottir's books when I can get my hands on them. I love her protagonist Thora, a lawyer who is curious but not jaded. I couldn't put this book down, which is what I expect from a good whodunnit.
This book is much darker than I expected it to be and deals with a lot of terrifying issues plaguing the world right now.
It's a much heavier read as well. There are so many details, so many characters and so many plot points that you really need to concentrate so as to not lose the threads.
I would say, though, that the translation in this book isn't as good as her other works. It seems a bit verbose in the first few chapters but picks up eventually.
I also didn't like the ending. It's good, definitely, but I would have preferred if the killer had turned out to be someone else. But, I think that was the actual point of the story - that Thora and we, the readers, could be hoodwinked so easily.
Great read and I can't wait for more.
I read Yrsa Sigurdardottir's "I Remember You" which freaked me out. I went and started to read her mystery series since I heard good things about it. I have read books #1-2 and finished up books #3 and #4 this past weekend. I have to say that the entire mystery (a head/skeleton, and remains of 3 men buried in a village that was abandoned due to a volcano) was well done. I loved how Thora dug in on this and the actual reveal to the mystery of the dead men and the head was a doozy. I gave this 5 stars because I wasn't expecting it at all. I will caution readers though that this book depicts anorexia, and Thora is often nasty about the size of the secretary at her law office. I just took it in as the times of the day, but honestly cringed every time I read it.
"Ashes to Dust" follows attorney Thora Gudmundsdottir who is trying to deal with a client, Markus, and the requirements he wants to put in place prior to an archeology expedition exploring his family's former home on the Westman Islands. There was a volcano eruption in 1973 that left some of the homes uninhabitable, and Markus wants to explore his family's basement. However, he comes up and informs Thora and a scientist that he's found some things that they need to take a look at. And what he finds is a head in a box and the bodies of three dead men. Thora does her best to keep her client out of jail while also investigating how the bodies came to be in the home.
Thora deciding to investigate the case of the dead bodies in Markus's home and how his family may be tied to them was interesting. There's also enough relationship issues that Thora is dealing with that makes her happy to get away for a while. For example, her companion, Matthew is trying to decide to take a job that will have him live in Iceland full-time, Thora wants him to, but doesn't want to push on it. And she's in essence been raising her grandson with her son and his girlfriend seeming to just hang around. With her partner at the law firm insisting that Thora take Bella, their secretary with her while she investigates, the two women start trying to peel back the mystery of what happened in 1973 and how some of it may be connected to the murder of a woman who used to live on the island when she was younger.
I liked all of the characters we get in this. Some of them are kind of awful. I did think it was puzzling we had the character of Tinnia who is dealing with anorexia. I wonder what started her on the path and how she seemed to know a lot about what was going on.
The writing was interesting, but honestly I can say that I guessed what happened to one of the characters. It wasn't a surprise, but still liked how it was revealed. The flow of the book I thought moved quite well. It kept me reading and wanting to see how things were going to end.
The setting of the book is 2007 in Iceland. The book focuses on what happened back in the 1970s and how certain characters seemed to have come to maybe not a bad end, but something happened that was more than the eruption that left the community slightly broken.
The ending was a shocker though. I think it was well done and I kind of laughed at Thora a bit who was disgusted by what actually did happen back in 1973 as well as in 2007.
"Ashes to Dust" follows attorney Thora Gudmundsdottir who is trying to deal with a client, Markus, and the requirements he wants to put in place prior to an archeology expedition exploring his family's former home on the Westman Islands. There was a volcano eruption in 1973 that left some of the homes uninhabitable, and Markus wants to explore his family's basement. However, he comes up and informs Thora and a scientist that he's found some things that they need to take a look at. And what he finds is a head in a box and the bodies of three dead men. Thora does her best to keep her client out of jail while also investigating how the bodies came to be in the home.
Thora deciding to investigate the case of the dead bodies in Markus's home and how his family may be tied to them was interesting. There's also enough relationship issues that Thora is dealing with that makes her happy to get away for a while. For example, her companion, Matthew is trying to decide to take a job that will have him live in Iceland full-time, Thora wants him to, but doesn't want to push on it. And she's in essence been raising her grandson with her son and his girlfriend seeming to just hang around. With her partner at the law firm insisting that Thora take Bella, their secretary with her while she investigates, the two women start trying to peel back the mystery of what happened in 1973 and how some of it may be connected to the murder of a woman who used to live on the island when she was younger.
I liked all of the characters we get in this. Some of them are kind of awful. I did think it was puzzling we had the character of Tinnia who is dealing with anorexia. I wonder what started her on the path and how she seemed to know a lot about what was going on.
The writing was interesting, but honestly I can say that I guessed what happened to one of the characters. It wasn't a surprise, but still liked how it was revealed. The flow of the book I thought moved quite well. It kept me reading and wanting to see how things were going to end.
The setting of the book is 2007 in Iceland. The book focuses on what happened back in the 1970s and how certain characters seemed to have come to maybe not a bad end, but something happened that was more than the eruption that left the community slightly broken.
The ending was a shocker though. I think it was well done and I kind of laughed at Thora a bit who was disgusted by what actually did happen back in 1973 as well as in 2007.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
irgendwie kam ich nich so gut rein wie in die anderen bücher. aber das ende war super
es is auch irgendiwe zum ersten mal vorgekommen, dass mir was aufgefallen is bevor es den ermittlern aufgefallen is. das fand ich allerdings befremdlich. also kp
aber war gut und ich freu mich auf buch 4
es is auch irgendiwe zum ersten mal vorgekommen, dass mir was aufgefallen is bevor es den ermittlern aufgefallen is. das fand ich allerdings befremdlich. also kp
aber war gut und ich freu mich auf buch 4
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No