crystaldragonst's review
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
musicalpopcorn's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
After Saga has a series of seizures, she finds herself lost in a fog that turns out to be her life.
This was an incredibly well-written book that really immersed the reader in the world of Saga. It was confusing to read just as it was confusing for Saga to live. I enjoyed it immensely, even though I still feel so confused by it.
I must also so that the translation seems to be quite well done. It flows poetically, which you don’t often see with translated works.
This was an incredibly well-written book that really immersed the reader in the world of Saga. It was confusing to read just as it was confusing for Saga to live. I enjoyed it immensely, even though I still feel so confused by it.
I must also so that the translation seems to be quite well done. It flows poetically, which you don’t often see with translated works.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Chronic illness, Grief, and Sexual assault
abbbs's review against another edition
3.0
I found this book via the NYT series “Read Your Way Around the World” under Iceland. It was quirky and dark, but good. Also, it translated by a Columbia MFA, who I like to support.
redroofcolleen's review against another edition
2.0
While the author does a marvelous job of conveying the terror of an illness that cannot be controlled, I thought this would be a mystery, but it is more of a family drama, and I really wasn't interested in that.
chairhouse's review
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
apyzocha's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
mercourier's review
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This was a weird one. I had a hard time really getting into the Saga's experience but I loved the writing and translation. I kinda skated the surface of this book but also couldn't stop thinking about it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Medical content
stinajohanns's review against another edition
4.0
Bókin er virkilega góð. Hún byrjaði vel og ég fékk strax áhuga en svo fanst mér hún detta aðeins niður og ég velti fyrir mér hvort ég hefði áhuga á að halda áfram. En ef þið upplifið það sama, ekki hætta því eftir því sem leið á bókina og sannleikurinn fór smám saman að koma ljós varð sagan bara betri og betri. Og þessi leið að þurrka út minnið meira og minna og láta það svo birtast smám saman, auk þess sem aðalpersónan fékk upplýsingar frá öðrum, er frábær leið til að segja lesandanum söguna. Því í raun vitum við alltaf bara það sem sögumaður veit - hvorki meira né minna. Og því erum við með í för þegar beinagrindurnar leka út úr skápnum.
wendoxford's review
4.0
This was an intriguing glance into the head of an Icelandic woman on the edge. Losing her memory after suffering a seizure, this mother talks us through her reality. Such a great topic so that novel is both small in timescale but vast in scope of where we fit in the world.
This is a woman in limbo literally and metaphorically and despite being simply written covers a panoply of issues from mental health to child rearing, alcoholism, unspoken family trauma...and everything in between. This first hand narrative has an intense immediacy in untangling why she isn't living with her husband and what has happened to her son, visceral rising panic rising from the page as she tries to remember and piece together her own story
I found it encompassed so many issues about how we live internally as compared to externally (which others can tell us) the secrets we keep and how that may play out when memory is gone and then begins to recover. Your own life bursting out of a Pandora (like) box!
What food for thought
This is a woman in limbo literally and metaphorically and despite being simply written covers a panoply of issues from mental health to child rearing, alcoholism, unspoken family trauma...and everything in between. This first hand narrative has an intense immediacy in untangling why she isn't living with her husband and what has happened to her son, visceral rising panic rising from the page as she tries to remember and piece together her own story
I found it encompassed so many issues about how we live internally as compared to externally (which others can tell us) the secrets we keep and how that may play out when memory is gone and then begins to recover. Your own life bursting out of a Pandora (like) box!
What food for thought
amiefw's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5