agsztyl's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
allandanybooks's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
charity1313's review
4.0
Everything I want in a women's fiction novel, plus some quirkiness. The main character is definitely not likeable for a large portion of the book, but you also know that she doesn't really seem to like herself and she's uncomfortable in her own skin. You know she's going to have that watershed moment of change, it's just a matter of when and what triggers it. Excellent, light-hearted summer read that focuses on family, particularly sister, relationships.
wordsofclover's review
3.0
I received a free digital copy of this book from the publishers/author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Alice is a stuck-up, middle-aged dentist on the verge of a complete nervous breakdown when her sister Melissa (who is the opposite to her in everything) treats her to a week away. Alice ends up disappointed when she finds herself not in a luxury spa, but barefoot and foraging for her own breakfast at a Viking retreat in Denmark. But the retreat could be the one thing to make Alice really take a look at herself and start changing things for the better.
This was a book with a lot of potential and unfortunately while most of the humour was there, and the overall feeling of ‘I am Woman, Here Me Roar’ was there, it just didn’t quite do everything I was hoping for.
I think if Alice had had one or two less items on all the baggage she has carrying around, this book and Alice’s character may flowed better. She was hard to read at times because she was just so tangled up within herself, and what she thought she should be and how others thought of her, she honestly made me tired. I needed her to loosen up quicker than she did and at times I definitely wanted to shake her a bit.
I would have liked more focus put on Alice’s past history of suffering from an ED, as I don’t like when they’re mentioned in books and not given the focus they deserve. There was some mention of how Alice still suffers but I just feel like if it was being mentioned, it needed focus. Alice could often be extremely critical towards other women, particularly younger, thinner women which is obviously tied in with her past and her eating, but was hard to read.
I liked seeing the camaraderie between the women on the Viking retreat (despite Alice’s constant comments towards Margot) and I really loved the heroine-worship relationship they had with Inge who honestly, seemed amazing.
Alice is a stuck-up, middle-aged dentist on the verge of a complete nervous breakdown when her sister Melissa (who is the opposite to her in everything) treats her to a week away. Alice ends up disappointed when she finds herself not in a luxury spa, but barefoot and foraging for her own breakfast at a Viking retreat in Denmark. But the retreat could be the one thing to make Alice really take a look at herself and start changing things for the better.
This was a book with a lot of potential and unfortunately while most of the humour was there, and the overall feeling of ‘I am Woman, Here Me Roar’ was there, it just didn’t quite do everything I was hoping for.
I think if Alice had had one or two less items on all the baggage she has carrying around, this book and Alice’s character may flowed better. She was hard to read at times because she was just so tangled up within herself, and what she thought she should be and how others thought of her, she honestly made me tired. I needed her to loosen up quicker than she did and at times I definitely wanted to shake her a bit.
I would have liked more focus put on Alice’s past history of suffering from an ED, as I don’t like when they’re mentioned in books and not given the focus they deserve. There was some mention of how Alice still suffers but I just feel like if it was being mentioned, it needed focus. Alice could often be extremely critical towards other women, particularly younger, thinner women which is obviously tied in with her past and her eating, but was hard to read.
I liked seeing the camaraderie between the women on the Viking retreat (despite Alice’s constant comments towards Margot) and I really loved the heroine-worship relationship they had with Inge who honestly, seemed amazing.
fianaigecht's review
This wouldn't usually be my thing -- I rarely request anything from NetGalley that's classified under "women's fiction", as it tends to aimed at readers who are both older than me and more interested in romance. But this said it was funny, and I like Vikings, so I figured I'd give it a go.
It took a while to get into it, I'll admit. I like books that I can relate to on a personal level, but I have almost nothing in common with the protagonist of this book, so it took a while for me to find an emotional way into the story. But I got there eventually. I loved Inge (she is honestly #goals), and I liked the the book's central focus was on the relationship between two sisters.
It's also very much a book about female friendship. It features a group of women who start out bitchy and competitive and judging each other on their appearance and their background and so on, but become friends and realise they're not actually in competition with each other and don't have to put the others down in order to succeed. It's a sisterhood story -- not just literally, as with Alice and Melissa, but metaphorically too.
It manages to do that without being horribly cringey, though. And their bonding experiences may be rough and outdoorsy, but it lacks the condemnation of femininity it could have had. Alice admires Inge for her housekeeping and parenting skills as much as for her ability to forge a sword or build a boat -- though, granted, she's mostly just overawed that Inge can do both. The novel combines the pursuit of rough outdoorsy Viking life with emotional growth and compassion, which I found really refreshing.
It also gets surprisingly deep at times, and deals with grief: both past grief (a lost parent) and the anticipation of future grief (an illness). The latter was something I didn't see coming, and while in some ways it might have been more admirable if the character growth had occurred without that dramatic push, it was realistic that it would take something like that to trigger change. (And to be fair, it had been happening already.)
I didn't always gel with the writing style and, like I said, it took me quite a while to get into the book, but I ended up enjoying it a lot. I'm by no means a Viking purist, despite my degree (I actually avoid the Vikings as much as possible), and I enjoyed the disclaimer at the beginning aimed at those who are. It wasn't really trying to present any historical facts (though I didn't spot much to object to in those that were given): it's more about the cultural idea of Vikings, rather than Vikings themselves. And really that's Viking Age people rather than Vikings themselves, since the word basically means pirates. But yunno.
Anyway. This was surprisingly fun yet deep, once I got into it.
It took a while to get into it, I'll admit. I like books that I can relate to on a personal level, but I have almost nothing in common with the protagonist of this book, so it took a while for me to find an emotional way into the story. But I got there eventually. I loved Inge (she is honestly #goals), and I liked the the book's central focus was on the relationship between two sisters.
It's also very much a book about female friendship. It features a group of women who start out bitchy and competitive and judging each other on their appearance and their background and so on, but become friends and realise they're not actually in competition with each other and don't have to put the others down in order to succeed. It's a sisterhood story -- not just literally, as with Alice and Melissa, but metaphorically too.
It manages to do that without being horribly cringey, though. And their bonding experiences may be rough and outdoorsy, but it lacks the condemnation of femininity it could have had. Alice admires Inge for her housekeeping and parenting skills as much as for her ability to forge a sword or build a boat -- though, granted, she's mostly just overawed that Inge can do both. The novel combines the pursuit of rough outdoorsy Viking life with emotional growth and compassion, which I found really refreshing.
It also gets surprisingly deep at times, and deals with grief: both past grief (a lost parent) and the anticipation of future grief (an illness). The latter was something I didn't see coming, and while in some ways it might have been more admirable if the character growth had occurred without that dramatic push, it was realistic that it would take something like that to trigger change. (And to be fair, it had been happening already.)
I didn't always gel with the writing style and, like I said, it took me quite a while to get into the book, but I ended up enjoying it a lot. I'm by no means a Viking purist, despite my degree (I actually avoid the Vikings as much as possible), and I enjoyed the disclaimer at the beginning aimed at those who are. It wasn't really trying to present any historical facts (though I didn't spot much to object to in those that were given): it's more about the cultural idea of Vikings, rather than Vikings themselves. And really that's Viking Age people rather than Vikings themselves, since the word basically means pirates. But yunno.
Anyway. This was surprisingly fun yet deep, once I got into it.
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