Scan barcode
A review by cobwebshelves
Fire from the Sky by Moa Backe Åstot
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
"He had the right to this life, this culture. The roots went deep into the soil and he didn't want to cut them. No matter what others thought, he would always belong here.
Nobody else got to decide who he should be. Only him."
This was so, so close to 4 stars but didn't quite cut it. I wish this book had focused a little bit more on the Sámi culture and Ánte's relationship with it. Unfortunately, given how short this book was, it went unexplored, as did most other storylines.
It was kind of difficult to buy into Ánte's relationship with Erik because it was so surface-level. Ánte is an unreliable protagonist, yes, but it's never really made clear why exactly he fell in love with Erik. As someone else put it quite well in their review, Erik isn't much of a character. I'm not sure I can say much else about him other than he plays FIFA on console and he has a girlfriend who's the source of Ánte's envy.
Some of the plot points also felt quite tropey. A couple scenes in particular around the middle of the book felt like they were lifted from Skam and tweaked a bit to suit the book. I think if you were a fan of Skam or any of its iterations you might enjoy it.
While it touches somewhat upon homophobia in the Sámi communities, I wish it had been a bit more serious and thorough with the social aspects. I wish there was more exploration of the role of Sámi in historical and contemporary Swedish society. But this was, at the end of the day, about the romance – and I unfortunately found the romance to be the weak link.
Thanks to NetGalley and Levine Querido for the arc.
Nobody else got to decide who he should be. Only him."
This was so, so close to 4 stars but didn't quite cut it. I wish this book had focused a little bit more on the Sámi culture and Ánte's relationship with it. Unfortunately, given how short this book was, it went unexplored, as did most other storylines.
It was kind of difficult to buy into Ánte's relationship with Erik because it was so surface-level. Ánte is an unreliable protagonist, yes, but it's never really made clear why exactly he fell in love with Erik. As someone else put it quite well in their review, Erik isn't much of a character. I'm not sure I can say much else about him other than he plays FIFA on console and he has a girlfriend who's the source of Ánte's envy.
Some of the plot points also felt quite tropey. A couple scenes in particular around the middle of the book felt like they were lifted from Skam and tweaked a bit to suit the book. I think if you were a fan of Skam or any of its iterations you might enjoy it.
While it touches somewhat upon homophobia in the Sámi communities, I wish it had been a bit more serious and thorough with the social aspects. I wish there was more exploration of the role of Sámi in historical and contemporary Swedish society. But this was, at the end of the day, about the romance – and I unfortunately found the romance to be the weak link.
Thanks to NetGalley and Levine Querido for the arc.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia