Reviews

One of Us: Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway by Åsne Seierstad

synfje's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

lilla_my's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

5.0

The book is heartbreaking, poignant, and has beautiful descriptions. I loved that she focused so heavily on the victims, their families, and the smallest details of what they experienced on the island. One of the worst details was

Spoiler

Viljar reaching up and feeling something soft, then realizing it was his exposed brain. He sings and hums as he tries to stay awake and stay alive.

It’s a tough book and I definitely need to take a breather and find some fluffy comedy books to read. 

rachel_the_managing_editor's review against another edition

Read the last 300 pages in two days. Lots to think about here. I wish we had more answers.

giancarlon's review against another edition

3.0

A really hard book to read and to rate. Not because of how it is written (the research and the in-depth-ness behind it are phenomenal), but because of the subject matter. Sometimes it feels like it goes in-depth on details and stories that somehow make then "main event" secondary. It makes the book feel a bit too long. Anyhow, a great way to put things a bit in perspective about one the world episodes in modern history.

hjdutton's review against another edition

5.0

Thoroughly researched and well-written. I only wish the author had delved deeper into what (if any) reckoning this brought forth in Norway regarding disaster/ terrorism preparedness. The deficiencies and flawed systems described undoubtedly contributed to the outcome, and I am interested in how those deficiencies were addressed.

babblinglib's review against another edition

5.0

I kept seeing this book on Best of 2015 lists and was interested in what it had to say. It was a hard read, but you know that going in. It had been all over the news. A man named Anders Breivik had murdered 76 people, many of them very young, on a rainy day in July. When these things happen, you want to know why. It reminded me of reading Columbine by Dave Cullen, hoping that a skilled journalist looking at it from every angle could answer that question. In the end, you feel that all the evidence has been examined, all the witnesses interviewed, but the heart and mind of the killer is still unknown. Seierstad begins at Breivik's birth and follows his rather mundane life year by year. She interweaves his story with biographies of families all over Norway, who while dealing with their own challenges, all had great pride in their young and promising sons and daughters. It is chilling knowing under what circumstances they will finally meet. I learned about character of a country I know little about, except through the random Scandinavian mystery novel. There were times I felt I knew exactly how this would have played out in the US and was surprised and interested in the differences, especially political system, police responses and the judicial system. But for all of that the story is captured in the heartbreaking details, such as a crime scene investigator at the massacre watching dozens of cell phones on the ground light up and ring, many showing the same caller "Mum".

debigo's review against another edition

5.0

Gripping and disturbing

This book is a GRAPHIC, true crime, page turner. Be warned that it is very violent, scary and upsetting I give it 5 stars because of the excellent writing. I could not seem to put it down.

blok_sera_szwajcarskiego's review against another edition

5.0

nawet nie do końca wiem co napisać, bo mi słowa odebrało, ale jeśli się zdecydujecie sięgnąć, to uwierzcie mi – nie zawiedziecie się

lianne_rooney's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense slow-paced

4.75

glennmiller5309's review against another edition

5.0

Minute-by-minute account of the horrific mass killing that occurred in Norway. More than representing a thoroughly-researched accounting of this incident, author Seierstad paints a picture of the radical right influences in Norway and the parallel movements throughout much of Europe.