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A review by meloches
What My Body Remembers by Agnete Friis
4.0
Ella, a woman with a tainted past, will stop at nothing to protect her son. Struggling to remember incidents of her childhood that leave her with paralyzing panic attacks, her son is taken from her and put into a foster home. After Ella kidnaps him and flees to the small town where she was born, deeply buried family secrets force, Ella, to confront her past and finally uncover what her body has been trying to tell her all this time. What happened the night her mother was murdered? Was her father wrongfully convicted?
What My Body Remembers, a new slow burning suspense by Agnete Friis combines a tightly woven plot and unreliable characters to create a story that will both unnerve and compel its readers. Finally, a Nordic Noir that I can fully become consumed it! I often struggle with some of the Nordic crime stories I try to read as they usually follow a police procedural style narrative; however, What My Body Remembers breaks this mould!
Characters are central to pushing the plot of the story and Friis doesn’t hold back in her development of them. Each character, more complex and unreliable than the last, blend effortlessly into a tense narrative that I read easily in one sitting. Told through multiple perspectives (including Ella’s father, and mother), the majority of the story is told through the eyes of Ella. I really loved this narrative choice. I felt for Ella as she struggled to try and understand what she doesn’t remember about her past and grapples with her role as a mother. I loved her backstory as well; she was by no means a likeable character, but she was a raw and relatable character which I appreciated!
Like a true Nordic novel, this one relied on building atmospheric tension instead of surprising story arcs. Although I didn’t find myself particularly shocked at any of the plot twists in this one, it was so well written, I didn’t mind. Friis had an uncanny ability with her prose to suck me in and make me lose track of time.
Overall, I would absolutely read another story by this author and would recommend this read to anyone who likes something slower paced and poignant.
I gave this one 4/5 stars.
What My Body Remembers, a new slow burning suspense by Agnete Friis combines a tightly woven plot and unreliable characters to create a story that will both unnerve and compel its readers. Finally, a Nordic Noir that I can fully become consumed it! I often struggle with some of the Nordic crime stories I try to read as they usually follow a police procedural style narrative; however, What My Body Remembers breaks this mould!
Characters are central to pushing the plot of the story and Friis doesn’t hold back in her development of them. Each character, more complex and unreliable than the last, blend effortlessly into a tense narrative that I read easily in one sitting. Told through multiple perspectives (including Ella’s father, and mother), the majority of the story is told through the eyes of Ella. I really loved this narrative choice. I felt for Ella as she struggled to try and understand what she doesn’t remember about her past and grapples with her role as a mother. I loved her backstory as well; she was by no means a likeable character, but she was a raw and relatable character which I appreciated!
Like a true Nordic novel, this one relied on building atmospheric tension instead of surprising story arcs. Although I didn’t find myself particularly shocked at any of the plot twists in this one, it was so well written, I didn’t mind. Friis had an uncanny ability with her prose to suck me in and make me lose track of time.
Overall, I would absolutely read another story by this author and would recommend this read to anyone who likes something slower paced and poignant.
I gave this one 4/5 stars.