Reviews

After reading the first book in the series, The Darkness, I decided I would read the entire trilogy at once. I just had to see how the series would continue.

Oddly enough, Jonasson goes back in time to the middle of Hilda’s career in the police force. Once I got used to that, I really enjoyed this mystery thriller! It starts out with a young couple spending some time in the girl’s family vacation house in a very isolated region of Iceland. The girl is then found murdered. Ten years later, her friend group gets together to remember her on a remote island. One of the friends is found dead. What a great case for Hulda!

There were things I read in book one that I knew would come up in this book. That was a little annoying. But still, definitely worth 4 stars.

neravardu's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

paperbacksandpines's review against another edition

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3.0

This book is uses a dual timeline that moves from past to present. However, readers view the events in the past through their own lens. When the timeline moves forward 10 years, we view events through Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir's eyes. I appreciate how her life story is revealed when she reflects back on her life 10 years before, in 1987 and how different her life is 10 years later.

Although the bulk of the story focuses on the mystery at hand, viewing Hermannsdóttir's backstory was integral to the story's success. Hermannsdóttir is a tragic figure but one I am drawn to reading about.

If anyone is looking for a mystery that doesn't read like a typical police procedural, I'd recommend this series to them.

tessisreading2's review against another edition

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3.0

Had a little of the "oh, this is translated" feel to the writing, but not so much as to be distracting. More problematic was the author's decision to withhold information from the reader almost constantly - so we'll see something happen and someone says something mysterious and then... nothing. Or we'll have someone ask a question and then the scene ends and we go to watch some other characters do some stuff and then we come back and the question gets answered. Towards the end a lot of things are wrapped up and answered for the reader, even smaller mysteries we didn't much care about and even mysteries we didn't know were mysteries in the first place. It kept me reading but I never felt particularly attached to anyone.

elizabethpero's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

tr1s's review

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2.0

Auch diese Reihe werde ich nicht weiter lesen.

bookguyinva2022's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a tough, depressing story. There were enough twists to keep it interesting, but wow some people really suck.

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