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abbie_'s review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
2.5
I’m making a fun challenge for myself where all the books I read for the StoryGraph’d 2024 Genre Challenge have to also be queer 🌈 So I found this one for ‘a crime or thriller novel in translation’. Snare follows Sonja, a newly single woman fighting for custody of her son while being entangled in a drug smuggling operation, plus a messy affair with a woman who is in denial about her sexuality.
If I can just talk about Agla for a minute - I was in the closet as a lesbian until I was 26 (though out as ‘bisexual’ before then) so I get the denial. Being out can be hard. But Agla is so deep in denial it was painful - and I couldn’t help but wonder why Sonja continued to put up with it. It must be so difficult to be with someone who clearly loves you, yet refuses to acknowledge a core part of herself.
Onto the drugs and smuggling and the like - this part did keep me guessing until a giant clue near the end and I was actually able to sort of work out who the kingpin was! I *mostly* enjoyed Sonja’s methods for smuggling until she poisoned two sniffer dogs. That was awful. I know she was pushed to the edge but I really had a bad taste in my mouth after that. It also felt a bit iffy that the only characters of colour that appear in the story are all drug dealers.
Probably the most compelling part of this book was Bragi’s storyline! A customs officer being pushed out of work due to his age, he’s desperate for a way to help his wife who has been placed in a subpar care-home due to severe dementia. Finding out what happens to those two would be my main motivation to pick up the sequel.
The narrator, Suzannah Hampton, does a decent job, but I do wish publishers would make an effort to find narrators who at least speak the language a book was translated from, if not someone from that country altogether. Can’t help but think the Icelandic names were often butchered.
Overall, I probably won’t be in a hurry to continue with the series, if I do at all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Drug use, Violence, and Dementia
tlaynejones's review against another edition
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, Violence, Trafficking, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual assault, Dementia, and Kidnapping
Minor: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Gaslighting
5teverin0's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This was a quick, but engrossing read that kept me guessing until the end. The characters are mostly sympathetic, but not without flaws, and the plot is fast-paced.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence and Violence
Moderate: Drug use
thalia_r's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Not my usual genre, but an enjoyable read with some solid twists and foreshadowing that did leave me wanting to read the next book to see where Sonja's story goes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use and Violence
Minor: Domestic abuse
readingwithkt's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Trafficking
Moderate: Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and Stalking
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment
glains's review
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use and Violence
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