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A review by bookph1le
The Fires: A Novel by Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir
4.0
4.5 stars
This was such a devastating book, and so unexpected for me. Minor spoilers to follow with major spoilers behind the tags.
I picked this up thinking it was going to be a disaster book, which it was in some respects, but what I pictured was far too small. It's a moving portrait of a woman's messy life, how she feels torn between her lover and her family, how her father's influence has shaped her, how her insistence on rationality above all else fails her. It was complex and multi-faceted, and I was really blown away by it.
I was also surprised by how much I liked it, considering how dense and science-heavy it is at times. I don't live anywhere near a volcano, so my interest in them was negligible at best, and yet I was still fascinated by everything this book had to teach me about volcanoes and how they work. Since Anna's work is so central to who she is as a person, I thought the details about volcanology went a long way toward making her characterization strong and believable.
There were two things I didn't like so much about this book, though. One was Anna's encounter with an interior designer. I understood that it was a metaphor for Anna herself and how she was living her life, but it felt weirdly out of place to me, and there are so many other details that reinforce the idea that Anna chafes against her self-imposed restraints that I didn't see the purpose the interior decorator character served. (Aside: I was weirded out by the way characters in this book open other people's unlocked doors and invite themselves on into other people's homes. That's like one of my worst nightmares.)
The other thing I disliked was Tomas. That relationship felt off to me. To me he came across as immature and controlling, and I couldn't see how he and Anna would ever work out in the real world, where you have to pay bills and do laundry and attend to any number of mundane details. I didn't find it out of keeping that Anna would be so irresponsible because of her affair, but it did bother me. I couldn't help but think of how adults will mock teenage love and infatuation, yet when Anna is pretty much in the same boat, it's meant to be this grand love affair.
This was truly a standout book for me, especially since I find a lot of the Kindle First books I get are either disappointing and just okay.
This was such a devastating book, and so unexpected for me. Minor spoilers to follow with major spoilers behind the tags.
I picked this up thinking it was going to be a disaster book, which it was in some respects, but what I pictured was far too small. It's a moving portrait of a woman's messy life, how she feels torn between her lover and her family, how her father's influence has shaped her, how her insistence on rationality above all else fails her. It was complex and multi-faceted, and I was really blown away by it.
I was also surprised by how much I liked it, considering how dense and science-heavy it is at times. I don't live anywhere near a volcano, so my interest in them was negligible at best, and yet I was still fascinated by everything this book had to teach me about volcanoes and how they work. Since Anna's work is so central to who she is as a person, I thought the details about volcanology went a long way toward making her characterization strong and believable.
There were two things I didn't like so much about this book, though. One was Anna's encounter with an interior designer. I understood that it was a metaphor for Anna herself and how she was living her life, but it felt weirdly out of place to me, and there are so many other details that reinforce the idea that Anna chafes against her self-imposed restraints that I didn't see the purpose the interior decorator character served. (Aside: I was weirded out by the way characters in this book open other people's unlocked doors and invite themselves on into other people's homes. That's like one of my worst nightmares.)
The other thing I disliked was Tomas. That relationship felt off to me. To me he came across as immature and controlling, and I couldn't see how he and Anna would ever work out in the real world, where you have to pay bills and do laundry and attend to any number of mundane details. I didn't find it out of keeping that Anna would be so irresponsible because of her affair, but it did bother me. I couldn't help but think of how adults will mock teenage love and infatuation, yet when Anna is pretty much in the same boat, it's meant to be this grand love affair.
Spoiler
Even though I'm not going to explicitly give away the ending, I'm still placing a spoiler tag here because that ending came roaring up at me out of nowhere. I didn't expect it, didn't see it coming, and found it absolutely devastating and heartbreaking--though I did think it fit in with the rest of the book and with Anna as a character.This was truly a standout book for me, especially since I find a lot of the Kindle First books I get are either disappointing and just okay.