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Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '
Yule Island by Johana Gustawsson, Johana Gustawsson
1 review
shelfofunread's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Having previously enjoyed both the contemporary Roy and Castells series and The Bleeding, Johana Gustawsson’s first foray into historical gothic, I was excited to see that her latest novel, Yule Island, combined the two genres to offer a contemporary gothic thriller set amidst the darkness of a Scandinavian winter.
The first in what promises to be a new series of mysteries set in and around the Lidingö archipelago, Yule Island follows art expert Emma Lindahl as she travels to the island of Storholmen to appraise the antiques of the reclusive – and fabulously wealthy – Gussman family . The small, close-knit, and seemingly friendly community of Storholmen has been rocked by the recent discovery of ‘the woman in the ice’: a young woman whose death appears to have some concerning parallels to the ritualistic murder of ‘the hanging girl’ nine years previously.
Before long Emma’s appraisal of the Gussman’s artefacts has turned up more secrets. Determined to uncover the truth, she joins forces with Detective Karl Rosen to discover what the Gussman family have to hide. But nothing on Storholmen is quite as it seems and, with both Emma and Karl keeping their true interest in the case from each other, it isn’t long before their investigations plunge them in a tangled web of horrifying secrets, Viking rituals, and tainted lore.
As with Gustawsson’s previous novels, Yule Island is not for the faint-of-heart. Although never gratuitous, the ritualistic nature of the killings mean that there is some fairly graphic imagery at times and, later on in the novel, there is a disturbing scene that features ritualistic abuse of a minor, as well as mentions or descriptions of kidnap/torture, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and alcoholism.
Despite the dark themes, Yule Island elicits empathy for its characters and admiration for its setting. Ably translated from the French by David Warriner, the writing is tight, pacy, and precise, with vivid descriptions of Storholmen and its surroundings. The warmth and friendliness of the community living in and around the archipelago really comes across on the page, as does the natural beauty of the island and its wider surroundings.
Similarly, although neither character is without their flaws, I found myself warming to both Emma and Karl as well as to Viktoria, the third of the novel’s narrators. Each has their own unique perspective on the case – and their own secrets – and weaving together the relationship between their different narratives provided more than one jaw-dropping twist!
Talking of twists, there were a couple of times when I was genuinely floored by the revelations Gustawsson expertly reveals. Talk about did not see that coming!! That said, my only critique of the novel is that one of the twists – which I shall not, of course, reveal here – stretched the grounds of plausibility a little bit too much for me. Not to the extent that my overall enjoyment of the novel was impacted but enough to make me question the rigour of the standards for holding public office in the novel’s version of Sweden!
That one, very minor niggle, aside however, I raced through Yule Island. I loved the way in which Gustawsson grounded the threads of the story in Norse mythology, and admired her masterful control of the various interweaving story strands and timelines. The conclusion to the mystery was satisfying but also left me wanting more of these characters so I can’t wait to see where the series goes next!
Packed with mystery and suspense, Yule Island hits the ground running and doesn’t let up until the final page. For fans of Gustawsson, this is the perfect blend of her previous work: a ‘greatest hit’ that combines the forensic thrills of the Roy and Castells series with the gothic stylings of The Bleeding. For fans of Scandinavian noir more generally, this is the perfect entry point to the work of a talented and compulsively readable writer.
NB: This review also appears on my blog at https://theshelfofunreadbooks.wordpress.com as part of the blog tour for the book. My thanks go to the publisher for providing a copy of the book in return for an honest and unbiased review.
The first in what promises to be a new series of mysteries set in and around the Lidingö archipelago, Yule Island follows art expert Emma Lindahl as she travels to the island of Storholmen to appraise the antiques of the reclusive – and fabulously wealthy – Gussman family . The small, close-knit, and seemingly friendly community of Storholmen has been rocked by the recent discovery of ‘the woman in the ice’: a young woman whose death appears to have some concerning parallels to the ritualistic murder of ‘the hanging girl’ nine years previously.
Before long Emma’s appraisal of the Gussman’s artefacts has turned up more secrets. Determined to uncover the truth, she joins forces with Detective Karl Rosen to discover what the Gussman family have to hide. But nothing on Storholmen is quite as it seems and, with both Emma and Karl keeping their true interest in the case from each other, it isn’t long before their investigations plunge them in a tangled web of horrifying secrets, Viking rituals, and tainted lore.
As with Gustawsson’s previous novels, Yule Island is not for the faint-of-heart. Although never gratuitous, the ritualistic nature of the killings mean that there is some fairly graphic imagery at times and, later on in the novel, there is a disturbing scene that features ritualistic abuse of a minor, as well as mentions or descriptions of kidnap/torture, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and alcoholism.
Despite the dark themes, Yule Island elicits empathy for its characters and admiration for its setting. Ably translated from the French by David Warriner, the writing is tight, pacy, and precise, with vivid descriptions of Storholmen and its surroundings. The warmth and friendliness of the community living in and around the archipelago really comes across on the page, as does the natural beauty of the island and its wider surroundings.
Similarly, although neither character is without their flaws, I found myself warming to both Emma and Karl as well as to Viktoria, the third of the novel’s narrators. Each has their own unique perspective on the case – and their own secrets – and weaving together the relationship between their different narratives provided more than one jaw-dropping twist!
Talking of twists, there were a couple of times when I was genuinely floored by the revelations Gustawsson expertly reveals. Talk about did not see that coming!! That said, my only critique of the novel is that one of the twists – which I shall not, of course, reveal here – stretched the grounds of plausibility a little bit too much for me. Not to the extent that my overall enjoyment of the novel was impacted but enough to make me question the rigour of the standards for holding public office in the novel’s version of Sweden!
That one, very minor niggle, aside however, I raced through Yule Island. I loved the way in which Gustawsson grounded the threads of the story in Norse mythology, and admired her masterful control of the various interweaving story strands and timelines. The conclusion to the mystery was satisfying but also left me wanting more of these characters so I can’t wait to see where the series goes next!
Packed with mystery and suspense, Yule Island hits the ground running and doesn’t let up until the final page. For fans of Gustawsson, this is the perfect blend of her previous work: a ‘greatest hit’ that combines the forensic thrills of the Roy and Castells series with the gothic stylings of The Bleeding. For fans of Scandinavian noir more generally, this is the perfect entry point to the work of a talented and compulsively readable writer.
NB: This review also appears on my blog at https://theshelfofunreadbooks.wordpress.com as part of the blog tour for the book. My thanks go to the publisher for providing a copy of the book in return for an honest and unbiased review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Torture, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Animal death
Minor: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, and Sexual content
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