Reviews

Animal Life by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir

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sharkybookshelf's review against another edition

4.0

In the days leading up to Christmas and with a terrible storm on the way, Dómhildur, a midwife, delves into her grandaunt’s written reflections on life, death and human nature…

There’s not much of a plot to this one - it kind of quirkily meanders around, but I found it enjoyable nonetheless. Since Dómhildur is a midwife from a long line of midwives, I had expected more of the story to revolve around that, and certainly with more detail. However, the story (insomuch as there is one) is more of a fairly abstract series of reflections on life and death, our relation to animals and human nature more generally.

I loved the moments of daily life in Iceland, but also the glimpses of life for previous generations of midwives. With the darkness of winter hanging over everything and the impending storm, it’s an atmospheric read, too. But there’s the glimmer of Spring on the horizon - unsurprisingly, a thought-thread around light vs darkness runs through the book.

An atmospheric, meandering series of reflections on life and death, human nature, and light vs darkness.

annamack2023's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective 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? No

3.5

litanydeshincoe's review

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1.0

so boring

kate_cunningham's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

kaiguerrero's review against another edition

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3.0

Prou interessant!

storysteph's review against another edition

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4.0

I'm going to pretend that there wasn't what appeared to be an awkward beginning to a long distance romance blooming at the end there, because that suits my reading preferences. Otherwise, I really enjoyed this!