Reviews

The Tricking of Freya by Christina Sunley

glitterbomb47's review against another edition

3.0

It's due back at the library, and I'm not that engaged in it.

rainysakura's review against another edition

5.0

I participated in a book swap event on Facebook, and this is one of the books I received. It sat on my shelf for months, my excuses ranging from "I'm too busy" to "I need to finish Harry Potter first" and even "I prefer reading on my Kindle". Eventually I sat down to read the first chapter. Good thing I didn't have anything going on that day because I had read about half of it before I finally put it down. This story is a combination of so many things I love to see in a book: the innocence of childhood, excellent character development, SENSATIONAL writing (like, seriously, sensational) and even a little language learning. I have studied language and linguistics for years, and reading this book made me want to study Icelandic. In my opinion, this isn't a book that will have you on the edge of your seat waiting to find out what the "family secret" is (I predicted to my husband by the end of chapter four how the book would end). What you will get out of it, as I did, is an adoration for Freya the child and for her sweet imagination and innocence. You'll have a love-hate relationship with her aunt, and you'll have an urge to google recipes for pönnukökur. If you're anything like me, you'll stop reading the book only to watch a documentary on Iceland. You'll see a little of yourself in Freya and maybe even in her relatives. You'll try to pronounce the name Ingibjorg aloud and laugh at how utterly ridiculous you sound. You'll look up flights to Reykjavik (and find one for $550 round trip from NYC!), then proceed to resist the urge to buy said ticket.

tl;dr: this book made me feel a lot of things, and I'm so glad I read it. I recommend it wholeheartedly to you, fair review reader.

leavingsealevel's review against another edition

3.0

omg so good again. creepy, iceland, norse things, awesome. maybe deserving of five stars. i read a LOT on vacation.

isabelh27's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

jsmithborne's review against another edition

5.0

Really enjoying this so far--love the insights into Icelandic culture and landscape! I think the description is a little misleading--I thought that the obsession with the family secret is what would drive the main character to go to Iceland and make things happen, but it's more like the obsession is causing her to remember the stuff that happened when she was a kid. So far the adult version of Freya hasn't done anything except write letters, but the kid version has had an AMAZING and scary life. Maybe the adult version will take some action by the end--I've got about 1/3rd of the book to go....

ETA: The adult Freya did have major adventures. I take back what I said about the description--it's correct, but the stuff it describes doesn't happen until a LONG way into the book. So happy that I totally knew all the stories from the saga, and have even read most of them--[b:The Prose Edda|24658|The Prose Edda|Snorri Sturluson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311645358s/24658.jpg|1198450], check; [b:The Poetic Edda|381112|The Poetic Edda|Anonymous|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174329501s/381112.jpg|370900], check; [b:Laxdæla Saga|287064|Laxdæla Saga|Anonymous|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266515450s/287064.jpg|1328955], check; [b:Egil's Saga|331089|Egil's Saga|Anonymous|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311645407s/331089.jpg|1753073], check!

juliaem's review against another edition

3.0

First work of fiction in three months. Lordy.

Anyway, I stole this from my mom; it was one of her beach reads. For me, it was a fantastic "sneak in chapters between writing a final paper" read. Sunley's clearly done her research on Icelandic mythology, which was new & fun territory for me to experience, and keeps the pace & plot lively. I'm always impressed when a writer manages to capture the nuances of different psychological disorders, which Sunley also does quite deftly. The story is ultimately about family secrets, and in that regard, I wish I hadn't figured the secret out so quickly, but that didn't diminish my pleasure in the ending.

Good fluff, with a bit more thrown in.

anaya13's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is one of the best books I’ve ever read! I had never heard of it and stumbled on in a used bookstore. It’s very slow to start and you have to be patient with it. But the emotional build is amazing and everything fits together in the end. Some sections are incredible tense. The narrative voice is so strong and I felt like everything was happening to me. I loved this book and highly recommend someone give it a chance and read it. If you have any experience with mental illness yourself or in your family it will be ever more special. More people should know about this. 

vickis's review against another edition

4.0

Interesting look at family and secrets and culture.

books4days's review against another edition

3.0

Cool to have characters mention Egil Skallagrimsson on the second page! It is a plot point that characters in the novel are said to be descended from Egil! Some of the plot was a bit slow, as this focuses on family drama which unfolds over a period of years. I did guess the ending revelation early! Interesting to hear about Icelandic transplants to Canada, which is definitely not an immigrant population I was already familiar with. Not my usual choice of book, but interesting nonetheless.

lholla02's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.0