susiejo124's review against another edition
3.0
There were many plot lines that kept me engaged especially the realistic characters. I was less interested in the business intrigue. A satisfying read.
lucyp747d4's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed reading this book and found all of the characters interesting in their own way. I particularly liked Chemal for his funny comments and caring nature. This book tells a lovely story of struggle, family and love. I think it also makes you think about what family means and if you were faced with a potential death sentence what would you do? I like that all the characters have their own mini story running throughout and there are some light hearted moments mixed in with the serious times. All in all this was a good read :)
lindseycstraub's review against another edition
4.0
Johnny MacKinnon has just been told he has a brain tumor. He's also facing an OSHA lawsuit that could very well be the death blow to his struggling ice factory. His wife Pauline is literally running away from a midlife crisis by exercising and flirting with the corporate attorney assigned to represent the factory in the OSHA appeal. With two weeks to go until his brain surgery, Johnny must decide whether to reach out to his estranged son in Scotland. According to Johnny's ex wife, Corran is supposedly clean and has taken custody of his own infant daughter. Against doctor's orders, Johnny enlists his neighbor's loud-voiced, KISS-loving stepson to accompany him to Scotland for a last attempt at reconciliation with Corran.
castlelass's review against another edition
5.0
Adult contemporary fiction about forgiveness, courage, and redemption disguised as a family drama about a couple who owns an ice factory. Contains one of the most well-drawn set of characters in a book I’ve read this year. One of the secondary characters, Chemal, is among my all-time favorites. Even the dog had a unique personality.
The story revolves around the factory owners, who are currently facing impending brain surgery and business-ending OSHA fines. In addition, difficult family relationships abound, such as a father with dementia and an adult son recovering from heroin addiction. The author transports the reader to both Jacksonville, Florida, and Loch Linnhe, Scotland, through her articulate descriptions. The author’ writing style enables the plot to flow seamlessly, and her use of imagery brings the scenes to life. I highly recommended this book to those who enjoy well-drawn characters and stories of family relationships. Also recommended to book clubs and those who appreciate intelligent fiction.
I received an advance copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for a candid review. This book will be released December 5, 2017.
The story revolves around the factory owners, who are currently facing impending brain surgery and business-ending OSHA fines. In addition, difficult family relationships abound, such as a father with dementia and an adult son recovering from heroin addiction. The author transports the reader to both Jacksonville, Florida, and Loch Linnhe, Scotland, through her articulate descriptions. The author’ writing style enables the plot to flow seamlessly, and her use of imagery brings the scenes to life. I highly recommended this book to those who enjoy well-drawn characters and stories of family relationships. Also recommended to book clubs and those who appreciate intelligent fiction.
I received an advance copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for a candid review. This book will be released December 5, 2017.
sandytfrench's review against another edition
3.5
The Ice House by Laura Lee Smith
~~~~~
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.5 stars
~~~~~
This was my Unseasonal Read for the Autumn #mixtapeathon
Johnny MacKinnon is on the verge of losing his ice factory following an industrial accident, and after a fainting spell, a tumour is found in his brain. Days away from his brain surgery, Johnny decides to take an impulsive trip back to his native Scotland to try and mend fences with his estranged son, Corran.
~~~~~
This is a decent family drama, following two storylines: one with Johnny in Scotland and the other in Florida with his wife Pauline, left behind, trying to keep their business afloat. I enjoyed the writing and thought the characters were well fleshed-out. It explores the destruction addiction can wreak on a family and how moving on and forgiveness can be difficult to attain for all involved.
There is a little mystery involving the industrial accident at the ice factory, which was very obvious and easy to solve, but thankfully not a major plot point.
The book kept me engaged and I read through it pretty quickly despite it being over 450 pages.
~~~~~
~~~~~
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.5 stars
~~~~~
This was my Unseasonal Read for the Autumn #mixtapeathon
Johnny MacKinnon is on the verge of losing his ice factory following an industrial accident, and after a fainting spell, a tumour is found in his brain. Days away from his brain surgery, Johnny decides to take an impulsive trip back to his native Scotland to try and mend fences with his estranged son, Corran.
~~~~~
This is a decent family drama, following two storylines: one with Johnny in Scotland and the other in Florida with his wife Pauline, left behind, trying to keep their business afloat. I enjoyed the writing and thought the characters were well fleshed-out. It explores the destruction addiction can wreak on a family and how moving on and forgiveness can be difficult to attain for all involved.
There is a little mystery involving the industrial accident at the ice factory, which was very obvious and easy to solve, but thankfully not a major plot point.
The book kept me engaged and I read through it pretty quickly despite it being over 450 pages.
~~~~~
u311082's review against another edition
4.0
The writing is a little hard to get used to in the beginning and the story doesn't grab you straight away. But I have to say that I am glad I persevered with this book. It was an extraordinary expose on family and the ways we communicate, or don't communicate with each other.
lucyp747d4's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed reading this book and found all of the characters interesting in their own way. I particularly liked Chemal for his funny comments and caring nature. This book tells a lovely story of struggle, family and love. I think it also makes you think about what family means and if you were faced with a potential death sentence what would you do? I like that all the characters have their own mini story running throughout and there are some light hearted moments mixed in with the serious times. All in all this was a good read :)
bookphenomena_micky's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
THE ICE HOUSE centres on the character of Johnny and his son. Johnny was a quirky guy with everything falling apart at the seams, it was a read with richness and depth. Johnny had family problems, health problems and business problems. His son, Corran has had big, big addiction issues but he was now clean. In the face of Johnny’s looming health crisis these two come to an impasse and it made for great reading once we got there.
I found this quite a slow read to start but it did pick up pace as it got going. The story takes the reader from the US to Scotland, from hospitals to places of business. There is despair and forgiveness, frustration, understanding and restoration. This was an ultimately satisfying read.
THE ICE HOUSE centres on the character of Johnny and his son. Johnny was a quirky guy with everything falling apart at the seams, it was a read with richness and depth. Johnny had family problems, health problems and business problems. His son, Corran has had big, big addiction issues but he was now clean. In the face of Johnny’s looming health crisis these two come to an impasse and it made for great reading once we got there.
I found this quite a slow read to start but it did pick up pace as it got going. The story takes the reader from the US to Scotland, from hospitals to places of business. There is despair and forgiveness, frustration, understanding and restoration. This was an ultimately satisfying read.
sstansell's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A really great look into life in Jacksonville, interesting story too!
xalrynne's review against another edition
4.0
Caution: For erudite audiences only.
That was seriously my first reaction to this book once I finished it. There are so many sesquipedalian words in this book that I had to read it with a dictionary on hand to look up new words every few pages. At first, I thought that the author is very intelligent and has a large lexicon, but when the book ended and I counted 91 words that I needed to define, I decided that Smith probably wrote this book with heavy assistance from a thesaurus. The "thesaurus writing" was severe for the first quarter of the book, but it mellowed out after that. Although, I still did really enjoy the writing style in this book and the fact that it challenged me intellectually with all the new words. The way she writes had me engrossed in the story. There were times where the story took a tangent for half a chapter, but I didn't even notice because the way she described the small town of Little Silver and the maintenance of the machines in the ice house had me enthralled and I was seriously interested in what was happening, even if it wasn't pertinent to the plot.
After having had to look up a lot of words, I realized that there were quite a few regional Scottish words, but there were also quite a few words specific to North American dialects. This led me to two conclusions: the American author is writing about a Scottish man and therefore attempts to include Scottish words to give credence to the story, but she still uses American-specific words because she is American; or, the Scottish man in the story has lived in America for many years and has picked up dialects from both countries and therefore the author uses words from both countries for his character. I am not sure which of these theories is true, if either, but it was just something that I noticed while reading.
At first, I didn't really want to read this book (I can't remember why I requested it in the first place), but once I reluctantly started I couldn't get enough. The author's style pulled me right in, as did the plot. Not to mention the unique setting. I've never read nor heard of another book that's set in an ice factory. And I actually learned a lot about that business while reading this novel. I think The Ice House was thoroughly researched, in mechanics, in medicine, and in the scenery. It felt real, like real people having real conversations, and that's something I loved about the book. You know far too often that characters fall flat and confabulations (to use a word from the book, meaning conversations) feel forced and stiff, but I didn't see that happening here. The characters, especially Johnny and Pauline, were fluid and they experienced trials and growth throughout the novel. And Chemal was my favourite character, of course.
The Ice House follows Johnny and Pauline, owners of an ice-manufacturing plant. The ice factory has just been served a lofty fine by OSHA for a recent accident that occurred in the building. Amidst trying to combat the possibility of the factory being permanently shut down, one of the protagonists experiences a sudden seizure, which leads to a potentially devastating diagnosis. While all this chaos is happening down in Florida, Johnny's estranged son, Corran, is up in Scotland experiencing some turmoil of his own. We read from multiple perspectives in this book, which I found to be an asset to the story; I loved the limited viewpoint each character offered and how the details in each person's life connected to create the satisfying revelations by the end of the book.
Ultimately, I don't think the book sounds overly interesting from an outside viewpoint, but the writing style had me hooked the whole way through, and I was actually quite absorbed in the plot. I became attached to these characters and I became emotional in their struggles. Every piece of this story is important and rich with detail as the narrative is woven together. Laura Lee Smith is an author that I will definitely keep on my radar because I would love to read more works by her after enjoying this one so much.
By the way, I looked up where Corran lives, Loch Linnhe, on a map of Scotland, and there's a ferry line that shares his name. That can't be a coincidence.
Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.
That was seriously my first reaction to this book once I finished it. There are so many sesquipedalian words in this book that I had to read it with a dictionary on hand to look up new words every few pages. At first, I thought that the author is very intelligent and has a large lexicon, but when the book ended and I counted 91 words that I needed to define, I decided that Smith probably wrote this book with heavy assistance from a thesaurus. The "thesaurus writing" was severe for the first quarter of the book, but it mellowed out after that. Although, I still did really enjoy the writing style in this book and the fact that it challenged me intellectually with all the new words. The way she writes had me engrossed in the story. There were times where the story took a tangent for half a chapter, but I didn't even notice because the way she described the small town of Little Silver and the maintenance of the machines in the ice house had me enthralled and I was seriously interested in what was happening, even if it wasn't pertinent to the plot.
After having had to look up a lot of words, I realized that there were quite a few regional Scottish words, but there were also quite a few words specific to North American dialects. This led me to two conclusions: the American author is writing about a Scottish man and therefore attempts to include Scottish words to give credence to the story, but she still uses American-specific words because she is American; or, the Scottish man in the story has lived in America for many years and has picked up dialects from both countries and therefore the author uses words from both countries for his character. I am not sure which of these theories is true, if either, but it was just something that I noticed while reading.
At first, I didn't really want to read this book (I can't remember why I requested it in the first place), but once I reluctantly started I couldn't get enough. The author's style pulled me right in, as did the plot. Not to mention the unique setting. I've never read nor heard of another book that's set in an ice factory. And I actually learned a lot about that business while reading this novel. I think The Ice House was thoroughly researched, in mechanics, in medicine, and in the scenery. It felt real, like real people having real conversations, and that's something I loved about the book. You know far too often that characters fall flat and confabulations (to use a word from the book, meaning conversations) feel forced and stiff, but I didn't see that happening here. The characters, especially Johnny and Pauline, were fluid and they experienced trials and growth throughout the novel. And Chemal was my favourite character, of course.
The Ice House follows Johnny and Pauline, owners of an ice-manufacturing plant. The ice factory has just been served a lofty fine by OSHA for a recent accident that occurred in the building. Amidst trying to combat the possibility of the factory being permanently shut down, one of the protagonists experiences a sudden seizure, which leads to a potentially devastating diagnosis. While all this chaos is happening down in Florida, Johnny's estranged son, Corran, is up in Scotland experiencing some turmoil of his own. We read from multiple perspectives in this book, which I found to be an asset to the story; I loved the limited viewpoint each character offered and how the details in each person's life connected to create the satisfying revelations by the end of the book.
Ultimately, I don't think the book sounds overly interesting from an outside viewpoint, but the writing style had me hooked the whole way through, and I was actually quite absorbed in the plot. I became attached to these characters and I became emotional in their struggles. Every piece of this story is important and rich with detail as the narrative is woven together. Laura Lee Smith is an author that I will definitely keep on my radar because I would love to read more works by her after enjoying this one so much.
"I think most of us take for granted that the foundations of our life are solid."
By the way, I looked up where Corran lives, Loch Linnhe, on a map of Scotland, and there's a ferry line that shares his name. That can't be a coincidence.
Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.