Tysm Harper for my beautiful gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. IYKYK, my reviews are always honest.
One sentence review: A solid Nordic Noir; part crime, part character study.
SYNOPSIS
Detective Eira Sjodin is tasked with investigating a man's kidnapping and imprisonment that may have connections to other similar cases when her boss GG goes missing as well.
MY OPINION
Yes, the ratings are quite low so either Nordic readers have crazy high expectations or the English translation elevated the story or I have terrible taste 🤣 most likely the latter. I will say that I don't often recommend Nordic Noir to other readers; I understand writing technique and style is very particular. Without sounding like an annoying chick who studied abroad for one semester, the writing and storytelling is very reflective of European attitudes and temperaments. This excerpt sums up the differences perfectly:
Growing up, Eira had always been taught not to make demands; you were supposed to adapt to the circumstances, however shitty they might be. It was a question of perseverance, not being a weakling who lay down and whined. Either that, or you went out to protest. Demands were something people made as a collective.
The notion that demands should be made as a group (the French love a good revolt let's be honest) is so different than the stereotypical American thinking of: every man for itself, may the loudest and most demanding man win. So you can see why some people might not enjoy the writing, given their different cultural upbringings. This is not a slam on anyone so go cancel someone else 😂
Now, back to the book. That Nordic Noir just hits different. I love how they include mental illness in their books; they do it like no one else. Usually you have to yeet your disbelief out the window to understand the baddie's motives, but Nordic writers have a wonderful way of making it frighteningly plausible. The real consequences of unchecked mental illness.
I would advise against reading the full synopsis as I feel it gives away WAY too much and sets the wrong expectations about the relationship between GG and Eira. I mean, it's barely a pulse tbh. I've had more passionate exchanges with my cell phone provider when they fk up my bill. This tends to be the way of Nordic thrillers though; the romance is very subtle, almost imperceptible, yet implicitly understood. However, I did feel like I was missing a bit of the vibes since I didn't read book #1, which I plan on doing (eventually).
I really loved the contemplative scenes between Eira and her mother, who is suffering the early stages of dementia. I could read an entire book about this. Again, Nordic Noir be spittin facts... subtly. There were many "highlight-worthy" quotes within this book that make you reflect about life, love, and self-worth.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this to everyone. Especially to those who tend to gravitate toward popcorn thriller writers like Megan Goldin, Jennifer Hillier, Alice Feeney, Lucy Foley, etc. I can totally see thrillerheads yeeting this out the window yelling BORINGGGGG. If you fks with this genre, then yes, I recommend it. If you haven't dipped your toe into the genre, then know what you're getting into and don't come back here telling me this book put you into a 4 week coma 😂
PROS AND CONS
Pros: classic Nordic Noir writing, plot, and characters, subtle and nuanced, thought-provoking, interesting case, suspenseful
Cons: lots of different names and places to keep track of, sometimes I had difficult discerning different scenes as there were no breaks or clear indication that they had shifted settings or moved ahead