Reviews

One sentence review: Another Honda Civic Reliable Nordic Noir

SYNOPSIS

Seven months after a troubled mother disappears, her body is found brutally beaten in a cave. Elma and her team are tasked with tracing the shaky steps of the original missing persons investigation to find the killer. And as they do so, revelations about the deceased and her daughter come to light.

MY OPINION

Another solid HRC addition to this series. And would ya look at that: I read them in order! I'll be grabbing #3 once it goes on sale ( update 12/13 it went on sale! Snatched! ) I quite enjoy this series, even though it doesn't blow me away. In a way, the blandness of the characters and their neutral personalities are what make these reads reliable. Surprise, surprise but NOT being annoyed af at characters (especially if I can't stand the alleged protagonist), makes my reading experience so much better.

But on the flip side, the lack of character depth is what really holds this book back from being great. It's been a year between cases, but nothing has happened in their personal lives. Elma continues to whine about her frayed relationship with Dagny and the subtle, but blossoming, relationship between Elma and Saever went nowhere?? The lack of progress wasn't really addressed either; Elma just said the tension dissipated. How sway?? You can't just go from silently holding hands on a beach to NOTHING happening, not even a lil awkward convo about WHY things can't move forward?? There's not often such a long gap between cases in a series, so the absence of character growth over such a significant period of time was kinda ?????

While I enjoyed this book more than #1, the setup was VERY similar. You've got a troubled woman with hella secrets who moved away from Arkanes but ended up back there and dead. You've got flashbacks and kids being weird. It was sorta like she took the same cookie recipe but swapped out chocolate chips for white chocolate chips lol.

Like the first book, the flashbacks were my favourite part. I'm obvi not a mother, but I absolutely empathized with the unnamed narrators struggles with postpartum depression and newfound motherhood. I can't imagine how emotionally and physically difficult it is to incubate a baby for 9 months and then feel absolutely nothing but contempt for it. And to really have no control over these feelings. Really sad shit. So yeah, big TW for this.

Now, my main rich homie qualm is the twisty twist wasn't foreshadowed enough. There weren't any clues about the unnamed narrator, their identity was just suddenly revealed. In fact, the author could've been like yeah the unnamed narrator is Ivanka Trump and you'd be like ight, I can't really argue with that because there wasn't any evidence of the contrary. If the twist had been more subtly foreshadowed, I would've been more impressed with the reveal.

The ending was... meh. After the twisty twist in one of the flashbacks, the author went full spoon-feed mode and the rest of the novel her telling you how everything came to be. Not a fan. Also one of the reveals made me hella uncomfy :/

PROS AND CONS

Pros: juicy case, great flashbacks (very emotional), switzerland neutral characters that won't annoy you LOL

Cons: the twisty twist wasn't foreshadowed enough to make it bangerlicious, romantic storyline was literally yeeted and then picked back up on the very last page... wut

stinajohanns's review against another edition

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4.0

Þessi var bara alveg ágæt. Það er alltaf skemmtileg tilbreyting að fá að lesa íslenskar bækur sem gerast ekki á höfuðborgarsvæðinu og mér finnst eins og höfundar séu í auknum mæli farnir að færa sig út á land. Ekki þar fyrir að þessi saga hefði svo sem getað gerst hvar sem er en kannski eru þarna einhver sérstök skagaeinkenni sem ég þekki ekki einfaldlega af því að ég hef ekki komið oft á skagann. En mér líkar vel við aðalpersónurnar og sagan þeirra er ekkert að sliga söguna þótt við fáum aðeins að fylgjast með einkalífi Elmu. Plottið var ágætt og lengi vel alls ekki fyrirsjáanlegt. Ég verð líka að hrósa lesaranum því þessi bók var mjög vel lesin og miklu betur en fyrri bók sama höfundar.

eriklikestoreadsometimes's review

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4.0

What I loved about this book was how it plays on your expectations. Alongside Elma’s plot line is the story of Margrèt and Tinna but you’re lead to believe (at least I was) that you’re following Maríanna and Hekla.

This was the first Nordic novel I’ve read and it hopefully won’t be my last.

Also did not realize this was a part of a series but I get the impression that the murders/crimes don’t overlap much aside from the detectives.

noveldeelights's review

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5.0

Boy, am I glad I made space for this series on my shelves. All the good feelings I had about A Creak on the Stairs have totally multiplied after reading Girls Who Lie. Loved it!

Single mother Marianna disappeared seven months ago. Now, her body is found in a cave on a lava field. Let me stop right here. How cool is this?! Or hot

ashleejuanita's review

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4.0

3.5 stars this one was easier than the first, because I could tell the characters apart better. Interesting storyline, again with unresolved issues at the end.

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

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5.0

Finished reading: July 3rd 2021

"It's unbelievable how, if you've had a drink, it negates everything you say. You're nothing but... a girl who lies."

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

Spoiler

Orenda Books is one of the publishers I can always turn to whenever I'm in the mood for some nordic noir, and I've been lucky to discover quite a few absolute gems already. My first experience with Eva Björg Ægisdóttir's writing last year in The Creak On The Stairs was a complete hit, and I've been looking forward to the sequel ever since... And I have to say that Girls Who Lie is possibly even better than the first book. Fantastic setting, fascinating plot, intriguing characters, lots of twists and secrets: oh yes, there is a lot to love in this story.

One of the things I love of the nordic noir genre in general is the setting, and the Icelandic setting in Girls Who Lie without doubt plays a prominent role. The descriptions of the different Icelandic towns were thorough and atmospheric and really set the right tone for this story. You will feel the cold and wind even if you are in the middle of a heatwave, and the story itself will chill you to the bone... The Icelandic setting was once again the perfect backdrop for the police investigation and gave the story that daunting and ominous feel nordic noir fans will love.

The writing is again spot on, and I couldn't help but keep turning those pages as the story kept me on my toes the whole time. The wonderful translation by Victoria Cribb feels truly flawless and I'm always grateful to translators for enabling us to read stories we wouldn't have access to otherwise. We definitely would be missing out on fantastic books otherwise! Girls Who Lie is both engaging and suspenseful and the plot will manage to grab you straight away. I liked the structure of the plot, where we have multiple POVs as well as flashbacks to the past and a mystery POV of a little girl growing up. These different storylines/POVs add dept and the more complex structure allows the story to hide things from you, and as a result you will be kept busy with more than one secret and plot twist to unravel while also being entertained along the way.

We learn a bit more about main character Elma and we see some personal growth in her character too, although the main focus is on the body of a woman showing up after being missing for quite some time. The different characters are well developed and feel realistic; they have their flaws and might not seem completely likeable, but they all add something to the plot and have plenty to hide. I had a great time guessing what was really going on and I really liked what the chapters in cursive added to the story. I enjoyed seeing the dynamics of the police team in Akranes as well. Girls Who Lie is without doubt another quite dark story though with difficult topics such as rape, suicide, (child)abuse, mental health and addiction. The different elements are well developed though and are expertly woven into a plot that is both engaging, disturbing and suspenseful.

Girls Who Lie is the second book of a nordic noir series that is quickly turning into a new favorite, and without doubt one I can recommend if you enjoy the genre. This sequel is another dark, ominous and atmospheric read and both Forbidden Iceland books are well worth your time!

P.S. Find more of my reviews here.

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