Reptile Memoirs

by Silje O. Ulstein

A bestselling Norwegian debut already sold in thirteen territories, Reptile Memoirs is a brilliantly twisty and unusual literary thriller for fans of Gillian Flynn, Jo Nesbø, Kate Atkinson, and Tana French, asking the question: Can you ever really shed your skin?

Liv has a lot of secrets. For her, home is the picturesque town of Ålesund, perched on a fjord in western Norway. One night, in the early-morning embers of a great party in the basement apartment she shares with two friends, Liv is watching TV, high on weed, and sees a python on an Australian nature show. She becomes obsessed with the idea of buying a snake as a pet. Soon Nero, the baby Burmese python, becomes the apartment's fourth roommate. As Liv bonds with Nero, she feels extremely protective, like a caring mother, and she is struck by a desire that surprises her with its intensity. Finally she is safe.

Thirteen years later, in the nearby town of Kristiansund, Mariam Lind goes on a shopping trip with her eleven-year-old daughter, Iben, who angers her mother by asking for a magazine one too many times. Mariam storms off, leaving Iben in the shop and, expecting her young daughter to find her own way home, heads off on a long calming drive. When she returns home in the evening, her husband is relieved to see her but terrified that Iben isn't also there. Detective Roe Olsvik is assigned to the case of Iben's disappearance; he has just turned sixty and is new to the Kristiansund police department. As he interrogates Mariam, he instantly suspects her--but there is much more to this case and these characters than their outer appearances would suggest.

A biting and constantly shifting tale of family secrets, rebirth, and the legacy of trauma, Reptile Memoirs is a brilliant exploration of the cold-bloodedness of humanity, and the struggle to mend broken lives and families.

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Horror, Mystery Thriller, Suspense

400 pages, Hardcover

First published June 17, 2021

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Most of the story skips back and forth between two times - 2005 and 2017; and two places - Ålesund, Norway and Kristiansund, Norway.


Map showing Ålesund and Kristiansund, Norway


In 2005, nursing student Liv is a damaged young woman, having grown up with a neglectful mother and an abusive brother.



Liv refers to the woman who gave birth to her as 'the woman who calls herself my mother' and gets nauseous if she happens to glimpse her brother Patrick in the street. Thus Liv shuns her family and shares a basement apartment in Ålesund with two young men, Egil and Ingvar, who like bands, beer and parties.



One evening when Liv, Egil, and Ingvar are tipsy they decide to adopt a snake, and get a baby tiger python named Nero.



Liv keeps Nero in her room and becomes obsessed with the snake.



She allows Nero to sleep in her bed and hears him speak to her in his hissing language. Lest you think Liv is delusional, Nero narrates his own chapters, and says he hissed the words 'hunt' and 'food' to 'the warm woman' when he tired of eating carcasses. Liv proceeds to use sneaky means to obtain live food for Nero, such as 'adopting' a kitten for 'her grandmother.'



Egil and Ingvar's parties attract all sorts, and Liv meets a drug dealer named David - who wants to get it on with Liv;



and an artist named Anita - who wants to paint Liv.



We see the outcome of all these relationships as the story unfolds.

*****

In 2017, Kristiansund resident Mariam Lind - who owns the healthcare company OptiHealth - takes her 11-year-old daughter Iben to the Storkaia shopping center mall to buy clothes for school.



When Mariam refuses to purchase a zombie comic book for Iben, the girl runs out in a snit, and Mariam - assuming Iben ran home - goes for a long drive to calm her nerves. When Mariam finally gets home, her husband - politician Tor Lind - says Iben hasn't returned, and the police are called.



A politician's missing daughter is big news, splashed across television and the internet, and the case is assigned to Detective Roe Olsvik - who's especially sensitive because he lost his own daughter Kiddo. Roe, a recent transfer to the Kristiansund Police Department, is a reclusive man. He shuns company and is suffering through a surprise 60th birthday party thrown by his colleagues when he gets word of Iben's abduction.





Roe is immediately suspicious of Iben's parents, and - despite the misgivings of other detectives - seems reluctant to look elsewhere. Roe gets even more doubtful when Mariam takes off to do her own investigation, certain she knows who kidnapped her daughter.

Many secrets are revealed as the story unfolds, and I enjoyed the book, though it lost credibility (for me) toward the end. On the upside, this is an intriguing tale with a good cast of characters, and I especially like the Kristiansund detectives Ronja, Birte, and August, who help solve the case.



I'd recommend the book to thriller fans looking for something a bit different.

The audiobook is narrated by Julie Maisey, who does a fine job.

Thanks to Netgalley, Silje O. Ulstein, and Grove Atlantic Press for a copy of the book.

You can follow my reviews at http://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com/

[Elyse Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Silje Ulstein is a new author to me.
The embossed ‘blurb’ description could not be more accurate:
“A bestselling Norwegian debut …(already sold in thirteen territories), ‘Reptile Memoirs’ is a brilliantly twisty and unusual literary crime-thriller for fans of Gillian Flynn, Jo Nesbo, Kate Atkinson, and Tana French. asking the question:
….. can you ever really shed your skin?”

Silje Ulstein gives readers a sharply written - entertaining - clever - psychologically astute….literary-mystery-thriller that I had to read slowly in parts (re-reading the beginning chapters a couple of times), ……The storytelling is almost comical in parts - yet it’s quite dark in themes —(loneliness, shame, tabu longings, and frivolous behaviors) —
This entire novel is slithering endearing—as well as crime-curiosity-engrossing on the surface ….
But….
below the surface…..
it’s heavy content, caginess, and foresight — is more poignant than simply dry scaly skin.

With a literary ‘snake subplot’ …Ulstein dances between plausible and the absurd.
With tons of heart and spirit — [requires careful attention to dates, setting, time periods, cast of characters, and two storylines on the readers part], “Reptile Memoirs”, is a wild ride you don’t want to miss….
It offers a heartfelt and sincere investigation into the paradoxical nature of love, familial as well as romantic, crime, radiant quirky eccentrics, obsessions, interesting characters, loss, abuse, grief, and a mystery thriller intrigue - winningly surreal - and deeply perceptive.

Meet Nero…..snake-of-the-hour….[baby Burmese python]
…..and Liv (who loves Nero)
Liv says:
“I had never thought any living creature would be able to make me happy. Had believed that I would carry loneliness with me wherever I went. But last night, when I lay under the bed with Nero after he had whispered his first words to me, I felt a happiness spread through my veins, out into each finger and down through my feet, back to my heart and out again, as if I had found the way into my own body”.

Nero was no longer satisfied with a live mouse or a rat every now and then. He took them and swallowed them, but they didn’t satiate him.
He kept Liv awake at night… Drilling into her ears with his ancient voice. (Hunt)…
Nero was letting Liv know that he was furious - at HER - for not being fed enough.
WARNING….[letting the cat and puppy out of the bag here/spoiler]….
NERO WAS HUNGRY. Liv went looking for kittens and puppies to fed Nero.
So….’without’ graphic bloody details …. be warned….we learn that NERO will eat these bigger animals. —
Readers - who are very sensitive to the ‘thought’ of ‘snake-eat-kitten-and-dog …..can move on. (It’s one sentence in the ‘entire’ story).
There is no lingering embellishment. It’s over fast.

Generally speaking - we follow two time-lines - 14 years apart from each other….
with two completely different storylines- (tension will build toward a coming-together resolution and understanding conclusion)….but not before taking a dramatic bumpy whirl down the sleuth path and getting to know the unsavory characters.

For example:
…..In 2003…(in the town Alesund)….three main characters are flatmates.
Liv, Ingvar, and Egil. (Nero, our scaling snake is the 4th flatmate)….
We’ve a lot to learn about these characters and how they relate and intermingle with each other.

…..In 2017 ….(in the town of Kristiansund), Miriam Steinersen Lind (considered the trophy wife) and Tor Lind (considered polished politician), are married.
Tor is twenty years older than Miriam. Their teen daughter, Iben, is missing. (lots of mystery to unravel).
We’ve also a lot to learn about these characters, (this small family), and how ‘they’ — also relate and intermingle.

Roe Olsvik is the chief inspector (60 years old), assigned to the missing girl - Iben’s case. A painful tragedy from his past shadows him everywhere. But he’s an interesting guy in charge of this case.
The investigation, interviews, interrogations, clues,….keep us on our toes - ( the supporting investigation team are rocking powerhouses in their own right, too)
….Ronja Solskinn, and Shadid, are part of the investigation team. I liked them both.

….There are other characters ….David, Birte..etc..
….There is drinking, drug dealing, socializing, partying, infatuations, sexual attractions, an interesting murder weapon, investigation-dedication, lots of backstories, secrets, lies, betrayal, traumatized lives, protectiveness, forbidden love…..
All…..
making for….
a….
daunting and intoxicating novel

Kudos to the translator- Alison McCullough!!

Thank you Grove Atlantic, Netgalley, and Silje Ulstein

[Ceecee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title in English ‘Reptile Memoirs’

2.5 rounded up to 3.


Part of the story takes place in Ålesund, Norway in 2003/4 when flatmates Liv, Egil and Ingvar decide to get a snake. They select a metre long tiger python whom they name Nero and he becomes central to the dark events to come. In August 2017 in Kristiansund, Mariam Lind is having a disagreement with her eleven year old daughter Iben’s magazine choice. Shortly after this Iben disappears, presumably to punish her mother and Mariam counters this by driving off and leaving her at the shopping centre which isn’t too far from their home. Also in 2017, Chief Inspector Roe Olsvik contemplates his impending 60th birthday with a resigned heart. He will take charge of the Lind case when Iben fails to return home. The story is told from several perspectives across the two timelines.

This is one strange book, in places it’s very surreal especially as the snake narrates part of the story. The first part of the book is particularly weird, there are sections that make me feel very uncomfortable, it’s extremely messed up and unpleasant in places especially in connection with the snake which is disturbing. I find the two timelines to be ambitious and not always easy to follow as it jumps from one to another, made harder by a large cast of characters most of whom are not particularly likeable especially Mariam. I nearly don’t finish this one but I guess the ‘originality’ of the story makes me keep going. It definitely improves as you progress but it’s only from about 40% into the book that things start to click into place as the little hints of truth in the first part start to make sense. The plot has several good twists in the latter stages, there’s plenty of tension especially as you realise that what is occurring in 2017 is deeply personal. It’s a sad, grim tale which is icily chilling.

Overall though, I can’t get around the fact that it’s a disturbing read which is hard to take in places. It’s certainly original but I can’t in all honesty say it’s one I enjoy.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Atlantic Books, Grove Press for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read that snakes feel no sense of belonging, that they are not pack animals. When you see them hunting together, they're not collaborating - they're competing. Snakes do not bond to individuals; they do not make themselves dependent on others.

Ulstein has written a coiled and tense book that on the surface is held together with Scandi-noir tropes: murder, death, switched identities, multiple timelines and narrators - but which uses snake similes and metaphors to articulate chilling truths about human nature and behaviour.

It's not untypical for the genre to have police investigators devastated by grief and loss, but those emotions are more widespread here with crucial things to say about the way trauma reverberates through lives, creating responses and reactions that replicate that sense of 'original sin' - another idea wound up with snakes.

From the Norse Midgard Serpent that ushers in the end of the world to the more benign snake poster that helped Liv disassociate herself from her violated body, the reptilian ideas are foundational without being heavy-handed - and the chilling scenes are interspersed with the compelling interest of chapters written from the point of view of Nero, the Burmese python, who grows terrifyingly large as the book progresses.

A gripping (ha!) mix of crime fiction with a more literary sensibility, I found this fascinatingly raw and very dark.

[Janelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, there were some moments in this book that made me gasp, sent chills and creeped me out, I’m not a big fan of snakes (give me spiders any day!).
It’s a slow build and told in two timelines. The first begins in 2003 where we meet Liv and her two flat mates Egil and Ingvar. Her background is a slow reveal and it does take a while for the book to get going. The second timeline is set in 2017 and a few characters are introduced. Mariam and her pre-teen daughter Iben, they have a difficult relationship and then she goes missing. And two police officers, Roe, 60yo who has never got over the death of his daughter 11 years earlier and Ronja, young and less experienced, called in to investigate the girls disappearance.
This is a pretty dark book, there’s a lot of grief, violence and psychological damage but it is put together so well as the characters in the two timelines come together that it was a compelling read.

[Tara Rock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sex, drugs, and a python all combine to create a first class murder mystery. A unique and pleasing format is utilized which I enjoyed. Could not put it down.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twisty and surprising.

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Be careful who you allow to whisper in your ear............................

I'm not a great fan of the multiple timeline but I have to bow my head for this worked. Clapping for Ulstein here, for making this work because she made me forget my grumbling and initial confusion and just dive into the story where the changing timeline became natural and expected and just added another piece to the puzzle.

Also a clap to Ulstein for her choice of murder weapon, my first I think and that is an achievement let me tell you because I've read a bit of crime, now and then.

An ARC gently provided by the author/publisher via Netgalley

[switterbug (Betsey) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I nearly quit on this book at least twice. Not because it wasn’t good, but there are some events where there is no room for imagination. Out of the dark, a vividly appalling thing assaults you. Like someone punched you in the kidneys or ran over you with a tank. But, yeah, I survived, and now it will make one of my top books of the year.

What is true structure is: short chapters and years hopscotching back and forth. But, it’s ingenious, a serpentine path that would be confusing in lesser hands. Readers, her stitching of time and events is fierce, irascible, contorted, it works!

This Norwegian noir chiller is an atmospheric suspense thriller, with lost hopes, missing persons, sadistic villains, and a tiger python named Nero, whose hisses are memorable, like whispered words. (Are snakes the only animal that needs no one for companionship?) Snakes have mastered the reboot; they shed their skins every few months, outgrow themselves, peel the hull from the vessel and exit left.

Ulstein, in this impressive debut, creates a winding, twisted, crackling story about a protagonist who also sheds her skin, metaphorically, becomes a different person, legally, attempts to hide her heart in different places, to protect herself, appear invulnerable. For years, Liv trusted nobody but her snake, who, from the first, gave her the sense of “being suspended in midair above an abyss, an astonishingly pleasant sensation.”

“It struck me that the snake skeleton was the essence of the human one. Apart from the head, the snake’s bone structure consisted exclusively of a backbone and ribs, not so different from the way a human skeleton looked from the waist up. Without limbs, snakes had mastered the spine.. …I tried to imagine what it would be like…to be nothing but a spine and reptilian brain and to slither slightly across the earth.”

There’s a few flaws, after the denouement, where there was straight up schmaltz, which I rejected as being inconsistent with the rest of the narrative. How can the story unfold 90% with brutal neutrality and then switch abruptly to sharp sentimentality near the end? But I forgive these few blemishes, they almost seemed like trite afterthoughts to round out the story, but unnecessary.

Despite these errors, I was riveted to every page, and never, ever got bored. Nero also gets a say, in the “reptile memoirs” chapters. “She was my only hope. That’s why I continued to lie there…why I began to whisper faint little prayers to her in the night.”

[Ioana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nu îmi plac șerpii. Deloc. Dar am citit o carte în care un piton este personajul central. De ce? Am luat-o ca pe o provocare personală, poate-poate această lectură mă va face mai puțin reticentă când vine vorba de astfel de creaturi. Memoriile unei reptile de Silje O. Ulstein este un thriller terifiant, pe care l-am putut citi doar în timpul zilei.
Avem două planuri temporale, dispariția unei fete, un polițist cu un trecut tragic și un piton ce ne lasă în interiorul minții sale captive. Am scris mai multe despre carte într-un articol publicat pe blog.

https://ciobanuldeazi.home.blog/2022/...

[Bandit · Rating 2 out of 5]

When it comes to snakes, I’m like Indiana Jones. Outside of an interest in archeology, it is the only way in which I’m like Indiana Jones. But snakes…there’s a purely atavistic fear there. And so, I can’t possibly understand what sort of a person would want to have one for a pet, and this book certainly makes a strong argument against it. But other than having one’s confirmation bias confirmed, this book didn’t offer much. In fact, it was a mess.
I really did try liking it. Normally, I really like Scandinavian fiction, crime or otherwise. This stood out (or slithered by) as an exception.
It doesn’t even give you the courtesy of brevity, oh no, this is 400 pages of exhaustively and exhaustingly shifting perspectives all done in first person just to muddle things further. Not only are there enough characters to warrant a personae dramatis, but there are some duplicates i.e. same person different name. Plus, the perspectives don’t just shift from person to person, they also go from past to present and back.
Presumably, the idea here was to make the plot less predictable and more exciting, but instead it just comes across convoluted, not sinister-coiled like a pet python, but contrivedly-twisted like some wire in an abstract art installation.
Combined that with unlikable and not especially interesting characters and strange if not exactly slow pacing, and the result is confusing jumble of some horrific graphically depicted crimes, and terrible aftermaths. But then again, what’d you expect from people who thought snakes make good pets. Funnily enough, the snake is the only consistent and decent narrator in this entire mess of a story. Because you know, these are reptile memoirs, after all.
And so, while it’s all done in a thematically appropriate serpentine fashion, this book didn’t really work. Or didn’t really work for me, since it seems to have its fans. It had some interesting and even potentially clever twists, but the execution of them left a lot to be desired. User mileage may vary. Thanks Netgalley.

This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/

[Adrian Dooley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well this was one weird read. Certainly original but also not without its flaws.

Set in Norway, this is kind of a thriller, kind of a character study and also slightly surreal.

We have a huge cast of characters here and they all have chapters, which alternate between two timelines. This doesnt work as well as it should as it causes a lot of confusion and I found it hard to keep track of who was who and where I was.

The first half of the book is extremely slow, to the point where I thought about giving up but, just as I was losing interest it dragged me back in and I kept going. The second half of the book is much stronger and the pace certainly picks up and things begin to unravel and tie together. It does make sense of the somewhat confusing first half but the pacing I found very uneven, almost like reading two separate books.

This book is very very dark. The subject matter very disturbing. Throw in a snake that our main protagonist is infatuated with who also narrates his own chapters then you might begin to understand the strangeness of this tale.

Its ultimately a tale about change, about reinvention, about things coming full circle. A story of revenge, of abuse, of secrets and gods knows what else, theres a hell of a lot packed in here. Perhaps too much as the author struggled at times to keep all the plates spinning.

Despite that, it does all resolve itself and most of it makes sense in the end. There are also a few clever twists at the end that I didnt see coming so kudos to the author for that.

Would I describe this book as a thriller? Yes in parts. A police procedural? Yes in parts. A character study? Yes in parts. A surreal metaphorical tale? Yes in parts.

Despite my misgivings above and for sure the books isnt without its faults, I found the writing and the ideas in storytelling refreshing, new and interesting. I went from almost dnf to ultimate page turner on more than one occasion. Plus who doesnt love a snake as a part narrator in a twisted tale?

I thought long and hard about my star rating for this one and settled on 3 as a fair score for me. Its a 3.5 star book for me for the originality but with its faults I couldnt justify 4 stars.

Would I recommend this book? Yes I would. I would advise you to stick with it if you find it hard going as it does ultimately pay off.

One thing is for sure. Silje O. Ulstein certainly has my attention and is a name I will be looking out for in the future with a sense of anticipation.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC through Netgalley.

[Dimitris Passas (TapTheLine) · Rating 4 out of 5]

In one of the most compelling, well-written and thickly plotted debut crime novels of the year, the Norwegian author Silje Ulstein exhibits her unique skills in creating suspense while at the same time outlining plausible characters and the final result is an absorbing text that is bound to gratify the Nordic crime fiction readership globally. Reptile Memoirs is a brazen writing attempt that doesn't hesitate taking huge risks by introducing a six-meter-long python as one of the -many- narrators of a story which bears all the hallmarks of the genre: multiple perspective narrative, disturbing themes, and morally dubious protagonists whose actions often render them vile and forlorn to the eyes of the reader. Despite her inexperience, Ulstein delivers a masterclass in multiple POV narration, charging various characters with the duty to recount a tale of buried secrets, broken family relationships, featuring protagonists whose main desire is to leave the past behind and start anew, seeking escape or absolution in a different environment and, sometimes, under a new identity. The text doesn't shy away from graphic descriptions of horrendous acts and the readers should be ready for an intense experience that will often test their limits and expose their innermost fears in several vivid depictions of brutality against the most vulnerable members of society.

To read my full review, visit https://tapthelinemag.com/post/reptil...

[Ken Fredette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never been so excited over a book that was an ARC before it came out. Silje Ulstein was extremely good at hiding who was who until you figured out Liv was somebody else. It happened halfway through the book. I won't give it away, but I did it in saying it anyway. Silje was subtle in letting this action take place but you had the feeling it did anyway. Was she living two lives anyway! We have an officer who's daughter was killed in a fire with her baby, named Roe. He was on leave for over 4 years while coming to the truth of it. Everything was given to you throughout the story but at a time that was good for Silje not so much for you as the reader. She gives subtle hints that may not be true just to throw you off. I really liked her, you felt for the snake throughout the book. Silje throws you off the trail quite a bit, I like that. It's a fun book to read and unlike any other book with characters you won't believe.

[Silje · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ikke for de med slangefobi kunne jeg sagt, men i og med at jeg har det selv og likevel ble revet med av denne boken, så skal jeg la det være opp til den enkelte å kjenne etter selv hva en tåler. Heller ikke for de som er spesielt vare på å lese om dyreplageri. I det hele tatt en ganske drøy bok. Men denne psykologiske krimmen er ulikt noe annet jeg har lest. Jeg synes historien er velkomponert og fascinerende. Denne boken fikk meg ut av en lesetørke og kan på en måte anbefales, og på en annen måte ikke. Den fikk veldig blandede anmeldelser, så det er nok en bok mange enten vil mislike sterkt eller like veldig godt.

[Liz Barnsley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reptile Memoirs is a strange hybrid with oddly quirky writing that didn't really work for me.

It involves an ever shifting timeline which usually I like but again in this case I did quite honestly find it a bit irritating. I also thought it lost cohesion at points. However I did find the snake related parts fascinating although if you have a phobia this may not be for you.

On the plus side this is a unique story told in literary style which will play well with lots of readers. I think this is probably a marmite book that overall was not really for me.

[Liviu Szoke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Din recenzia apărută pe Biblioteca lui Liviu în cadrul blog tourului dedicat publicării în limba română a volumului „Memoriile unei reptile”:

Decrepitudine, oameni perverși, mizerie, soioși de cea mai joasă speță, alegeri aparent inexplicabile, dar făcute în momente când persoana respectivă este cea mai vulnerabilă și suferă cel mai tare, neînțeleși, odrasle răzgâiate și părinți cu gândul doar la strâns bani, mințindu-se și convingându-se pe ei înșiși că o fac pentru copiii lor, în timp ce aceștia cresc singuri și se transformă în viitori psihopați ce vor crește copii după chipul și asemănarea lor, taine și coincidențe ce la un moment se tot adună și amenință să dărâme totul în cale, o intrigă beton și teribil de complicată, toate astea transformă volumul acesta proaspăt apărut într-unul groaznic de sumbru, dar extrem de antrenant, în care stai și-ți rozi până la final unghiile în încercarea de-a rezolva misterul. Și poate ai să ajungi să-l înțelegi și pe Nero cel de pe copertă de ce face ceea ce face cu creierul său de reptilă și mânat doar de instincte primare. Măcar el are o explicație, așa-i e felul.

„Când mă gândesc la asta, mă doare stomacul, dar nici atunci un m-am oprit. Când am văzut-o dimineața următoare la micul dejun, i-am vorbit în engleză. Am întrebat-o dacă îi plac pâinea, untul și brânza, apoi i-am vorbit despre alte lucruri, folosind cuvinte despre care știam că nu le înțelege. Își pleca bărbia și răspundea cu „da” la toate întrebările pe care i le puneam.

Cât de des am tratat-o în felul ăsta? Nu pe ea vreau s-o chinui, ci ideea de-a avea un copil. Îmi e teamă de toate lucrurile care ar putea deveni. Mă ascund în locul întunecat din care a venit și în care e complet nevinovată. Poate că, de fapt, chiar a fugit.”

Mai multe: https://bibliotecaluiliviu.ro/2022/11....

[Chris Narozny · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, a quick warning: If you're looking for a "popcorn thriller," this ain't it. There's nothing cozy or comforting about this novel. That said, it is a stunning debut. Ulstein writes convincingly from the pov's of a young woman, a middle-aged woman, a sixty-year-old man, and--yes--a snake (though these sections tend to be short and infrequent--i.e. the snake thing isn't overdone). This is Nordic Noir, but it's also a psychological thriller with the emphasis on 'psychological': Ulstein has a lot to say about how her characters' lives are shaped by trauma. The publisher's blurb is spot on; REPTILE MEMOIRS is "a biting and constantly shifting tale of family secrets, rebirth, and the legacy of trauma."

Alison McCullough deserves credit for a very smooth translation.

[Britt-Marie Kullin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Betyg: 5 av 5 - Boken Kräldjursmemoarer är den norska författaren Silje Ulsteins debutbok, och den klassas som en psykologisk thriller. Boken liknar ingenting som jag tidigare har läst, och den är mycket speciell. Den är väldigt spännande, otäck, och gripande. Jag tycker att boken var helt suverän, och den får helt klart högsta betyget av mig. Rekommenderas absolut, och jag ska definitivt ha koll på Silje Ulsteins framtida böcker.

[Joanna Cannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very (very) dark tale of identity, lies and the disappearance of a young girl. Brilliantly written (and expertly translated), with pin-point plotting, there are several absolutely jaw dropping twists. Not for the faint-hearted, but if you don't mind snakes (and what snakes might get up to!), I thoroughly recommend this. I also grew quite fond of the snake. Cracking literary thriller.

[Synne Sylibris · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5⭐️

Den var bra, men litt vel seig.
Jeg likte for det meste ikke hovedkarakterene, og det ble egentlig et problem for meg. Å lese fra Mariam og Liv sine synspunkt – det var så seigt, mørkt, passivt og selvdestruktivt. Slitsomt å lese.
Og så var det den jævla slangen da. Fy f.
Fysj og æsj.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[JK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ulstein presents us with a truly unsettling crime thriller here, one which I’m still attempting to wrap my brain around. Her utter commitment to the disturbing and macabre is clear, and her unique ability to shock is something I wasn’t quite prepared for.

Initially, we are looking into the case of a missing child. Pretty standard fare for a thriller, and although the reality is terrifying, it’s still pretty comfortable ground for crime fiction readers. But the story of the child and mother is much more intricate and weird than any of us could imagine. We flick through multiple voices and multiple timelines to reach an answer - an answer which comes blessedly, as Ulstein puts us through a lot to get there.

Each chapter is headed with the name of our narrator, and the date which they are narrating from. It’s important to pay attention to these, as some characters flick back and forth through time and, as I’m not someone who pays particular attention to dates and times, it became confusing for me pretty quickly.

I did really enjoy the plot itself, although I really felt it could have been chopped considerably. There’s a lot of time spent on characters woefully pondering past mistakes, tearing themselves up, and exuding misery, all of which became excessive. I also couldn’t get behind the chapters narrated by the snake - all these seemed to say were ‘I am a hungry, loveless snake’ which I feel I could have worked out quite easily by myself.

A truly unique and ambitious novel, and definitely something I hadn’t experienced before. Although it could have benefitted from the removal of many words, and sometimes entire chapters, it’s a good twisty thriller with odd angles and dimensions.

[Karna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel is ambitious in its scope, following two timelines through five different pov.s. In the beginning I struggled to keep all these characters apart and to keep track of who was narrating at any given time, but as the book progresses, the voices, names and goals of the characters increasingly helped distinguish them. Perhaps most original to this novel, is that the python, Nero, is one of the narrators. Like a lot about this novel, I did not care for this in the beginning, but as the snake also becomes more central to the story, I actually grew to appreciate its input.

The book is marketed as a psychological thriller, but for me, all the jumps between different times and narrators, didn’t enable the suspense to build in the way I usually expect of a thriller. For me, it read more like a mystery, but an utterly gripping one. I’ve come to realise that I increasingly enjoy mystery books that focus just as much on the characters, their relationships and motivations as on the mystery itself. Halfway through the book, I didn’t care so much where Iben was, but rather how the characters were connected, how their timelines overlapped and how they became who they are at the point of narration. This strong focus on a large cast of characters takes slightly away from the mystery, but I think for me, that made the book all the more enjoyable.

Overall I really enjoyed this strong and ambitious debut, and I definitely want to pick up Ulstein’s next novel.

[Sneha Pathak (reader_girl_reader) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

I won't be repeating the plot summary here, as Goodreads does a pretty good job of providing it, and will only talk of my experience reading it. I can't say that i liked or even enjoyed this book. It did keep me reading though - just to see where it led to, although i did skim read a lot towards the end when around 20% of the book was left.

There isn't anything new per se about the story, only the way it has been presented. It is a story of grief and revenge, where some of the big reveals come from the writer witholding certain facts and springing them on the reader at the right time. I have to say i guessed the two major twists and didn't find the story extraordinary in any way.

To make my reading experience worse, the book constantly moved between two timelines. And within those two timelimes as well, there were too many character povs that made the reading unnecessarily complex, without really adding anything to the plot. Initially, one sees no overt connection between the two timelines but they do come together before the book reaches the halfway mark


One of the many narrators in this strange book is the reptile itself and i wonder what was the point of listening to its voice? In my opinion, it added nothing to the book except, perhaps, a sort of newness? Plus, there is a lot of animal harm and child harm present in the book too and so one should really be aware of this before heading in.

[Evelina Liliequist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kanske eg 4,5, men 5 får det bli!

[Maureen Grigsby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like I can always count on a Norwegian crime novel to be good! Add a python (and occasionally his thoughts) and you have a very unique novel.

[ila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ревю в блог пост и инстаграм!

[Geir Tangen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dette er krimdebuten som skapte furore i pressen da den fikk terningkast 2 i VG og 6 i Dagbladet. Etter å ha lest den er jeg ikke det minste overrasket over de sprikende anmeldelsene. Dette er en bok man elsker eller hater. En historie som treffer deg i magen eller får deg til å gjespe likegyldig. Et språkbilde som er gnistrende godt, eller litt svulstig og påtatt. Bruken av litterære virkemidler er tidvis overtydelige, men samtidig dandert med en kyndig penn. Silje O.Ulstein ble tildelt Aschehougs debutantpris for «Krypdyrmemoroarene»

Med andre ord en krimfortelling som en gjerne får et litt ambivalent forhold til. Selv slet jeg voldsomt med å engasjere meg de første 100 sidene, men etter det som buktet og krøp historien seg inn i meg litt etter litt, og de siste 350 sidene gikk uvanlig raskt unna. Historien er fascinerende vemmelig, skremmende, tidvis grotesk, men samtidig fornøyelig og gripende. Dette er rett og slett en fargerik krimroman langt unna det jeg vanligvis støter på. Og det er vanvittig godt gjort av en debutant. Jeg føler det nesten som om jeg har vært tilskuer på et burlesk-show i Paris. Det er frastøtende og tiltrekkende i ett og samme åndedrag. Romanen er minst 100 sider for lang, og kunne med fordel vært kortet ned i en del saktegående partier, men du verden så kul den er i sine beste partier av teksten.

Det er lett å både elske og hate Liv, Mariam, Roe og Pytonslangen som alle har en personlig synsvinkel. Akkurat like lett som det er å elske, eller hate denne romanen for alt det den er, eller ikke er ...

[Leesdame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Er hangt een bijzondere spanning in deze thriller en dat komt door de slang! Nero, de python deelt in een aantal hoofdstukken zijn visie over het leven. In het begin nog wat melancholisch, later dreigend en onheilspellend.

Lees verder op mijn blog :)