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A review by pvp_niki
The Fires by Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir
4.0
*Edited my rating 2 months later from 3 stars to 4 stars. I had the amazing opportunity to interview the author where she was providing some valuable context to this book, Anna Karenina being one of the main inspirations to write a book about a similarly destructive relationship. I still think that the book might reinforce the stereotypes and misconceptions about new, bohemian relationships as described below, but with this context all the positives outweigh this and make me rethink my star rating.*
I'm in trouble with rating this book and I don't think I can give it a rational star rating just right now because I feel so conflicted and I may have to review it after the experience has settled.
I wanted to love it so much because I loved the author's first book, the Island and The Fires was one of the most anticipated releases of the year for me (in English and in my language Hungarian). It is so beautifully written and the scientific explanations about how volcanoes work are so masterfully intertwined with all the happenings of the domestic drama and the parallels drawn between them and the feelings and acts of the protagonist are created perfectly.
BUT the extramarital affair part of the plot is such problematic and not reflected well that from the moment I realized that this will be the subplot I was raging almost all the time.
The problem is not that the protagonist feels the way she feels and acts the way she acts. The problem is the author let the protagonist call this feeling love all along, without anyone else reflecting on it. Calling it love INSTANTLY, calling it love even after the first encounter not ending with sex but a fight over mistrust showed this relationship is as disfunctional and lacking basis as it should be after such a short time and with such an infantile, irresponsible, idolized bohemian bad boy involved as Tómas.
I know there are different kinds of love, which even the protagonist explains, but it's clear she does not mean this once she states this is the FIRST time for her being in love in her life, erasing her 20+ years of well-functioning, affectionate, feel-home marriage all at once, just because it is not very exciting.
And keeps on calling Tómas "my love" even after aforementioned fight, and amongst the turmoil of the disaster in the final parts of the book lists her relationship with him, her "love" with him as important in her life as the loves for her husband, children and parents.
Considering all this, it is unfair to expect this relationship to stand the test of a natural disaster.
Mislabeling infatuation, lust and obsession as love, even calling it as THE love, the one and greatest love in a person's life is such a huge issue in general, giving people unrealistic expectations and misconceptions about the value of a cozy, long-lasting feel-home relationship.
I cannot ignore that the book does not do justice to this subplot. Calling this affair love is not wrong because it's extramarital but because it lacks any basis. Calling it love is not wrong because it fails in a natural disaster but because it becomes disfunctional the first moment the pink fog lifts and you have to function apart from physical attraction and butterflies in the belly.
Someone feeling they need an adventorous affair, feeling that they are attracted to someone more at the moment than to their lifelong partner, making decisions driven by these feelings are all totally valid. But saying this is love, but 20+ years of a loving, affectionate, feel-home, happy marriage has never been love is totally not valid.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I'm in trouble with rating this book and I don't think I can give it a rational star rating just right now because I feel so conflicted and I may have to review it after the experience has settled.
I wanted to love it so much because I loved the author's first book, the Island and The Fires was one of the most anticipated releases of the year for me (in English and in my language Hungarian). It is so beautifully written and the scientific explanations about how volcanoes work are so masterfully intertwined with all the happenings of the domestic drama and the parallels drawn between them and the feelings and acts of the protagonist are created perfectly.
BUT the extramarital affair part of the plot is such problematic and not reflected well that from the moment I realized that this will be the subplot I was raging almost all the time.
The problem is not that the protagonist feels the way she feels and acts the way she acts. The problem is the author let the protagonist call this feeling love all along, without anyone else reflecting on it. Calling it love INSTANTLY, calling it love even after the first encounter not ending with sex but a fight over mistrust showed this relationship is as disfunctional and lacking basis as it should be after such a short time and with such an infantile, irresponsible, idolized bohemian bad boy involved as Tómas.
I know there are different kinds of love, which even the protagonist explains, but it's clear she does not mean this once she states this is the FIRST time for her being in love in her life, erasing her 20+ years of well-functioning, affectionate, feel-home marriage all at once, just because it is not very exciting.
And keeps on calling Tómas "my love" even after aforementioned fight, and amongst the turmoil of the disaster in the final parts of the book lists her relationship with him, her "love" with him as important in her life as the loves for her husband, children and parents.
Considering all this, it is unfair to expect this relationship to stand the test of a natural disaster.
Mislabeling infatuation, lust and obsession as love, even calling it as THE love, the one and greatest love in a person's life is such a huge issue in general, giving people unrealistic expectations and misconceptions about the value of a cozy, long-lasting feel-home relationship.
I cannot ignore that the book does not do justice to this subplot. Calling this affair love is not wrong because it's extramarital but because it lacks any basis. Calling it love is not wrong because it fails in a natural disaster but because it becomes disfunctional the first moment the pink fog lifts and you have to function apart from physical attraction and butterflies in the belly.
Someone feeling they need an adventorous affair, feeling that they are attracted to someone more at the moment than to their lifelong partner, making decisions driven by these feelings are all totally valid. But saying this is love, but 20+ years of a loving, affectionate, feel-home, happy marriage has never been love is totally not valid.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.