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theqwerty's review
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Car accident and Death of parent
dhain's review
3.0
Hit and Miss
All the stuff about the volcanoes was interesting. All the relationship stuff got tedious. However, I powered through and it didn’t finish too bad. I was annoyed that there weren’t any quotes when people were speaking. It made some sections difficult.
All the stuff about the volcanoes was interesting. All the relationship stuff got tedious. However, I powered through and it didn’t finish too bad. I was annoyed that there weren’t any quotes when people were speaking. It made some sections difficult.
tamunra's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I got this book for free from Amazon First Reads last year, and finally picked it up now. Based on the description, I didn't expect it to be happy. And, it was as expected.
I just finished this book yesterday, and I feel compelled to review it immediately, just so I can get it out of my head. Often when a book is stuck in your head, it's a good thing. Not so for me with this one.
My gut feeling, from the beginning, didn't change. I didn't like this book. I slogged through it because I wanted to read about a disaster. I didn't expect that Anna's life would be the primary disaster in the novel, though. I tried to start skimming just to reach the end; it's a bit of a surprise that I made it at all. I think I'm writing this review mainly to complain.
The good: I liked the way Bjornsdottir juxtaposed Anna's failing, flailing relationships with the progression of the volcanic eruption/earthquake(s).
The intermediate: Yes, this read a bit too sciencey. I didn't mind much. I'm very interested in natural disasters, and used to adore disaster movies. Although, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to appreciate the scale of the issue without a full map of Iceland.
The bad: so, many, commas, I found it hard to parse them, I found it hard to read them, hard to care. Is this common in Icelandic? Is this how Bjornsdottir wrote the novel, with all these commas, or was this a stylistic choice that the translator made? I really didn't like it. I didn't like that I couldn't always identify who was speaking. I didn't like the stream-of-consciousness effect that commas gave. It helped me speedread, which is nice because I found I really didn't like Anna or what was going on, but it blunted any emotional effect I possibly should have experienced while reading this.
While I was interested in the disaster, I was not interested in Anna's family or love life. I didn't like her.I didn't like the affair sub/plot. I found their instalove unrealistic. Tomas was unappealing and one-dimensional. Anna was unappealing. It's not a romance (nor do I expected it to be), but it doesn't feel plausible; it's just a plot device that the author put there. That said, I had no problem believing that Anna could love her husband (platonically, complicatedly) while she's infatuated with Tomas. Perhaps it's believable because her instalove is unbelievable.
This book was slow, and largely uninteresting, until the eruption actually starts. I got irritated at the complacency of almost all officials, including Anna, toward the impending crisis. (But that, too, was believable enough.)
The ending was perhaps the only ending there could have been. I don't like it, but I understand it. After I read Anna's last chapter, I needed to go cuddle with my own 9-year-old daughter so I could fall asleep. Anna's choice to stay with her daughter is perhaps the most believable thing that she did. I wish I could have found her sympathetic and understandable before that.
I just finished this book yesterday, and I feel compelled to review it immediately, just so I can get it out of my head. Often when a book is stuck in your head, it's a good thing. Not so for me with this one.
My gut feeling, from the beginning, didn't change. I didn't like this book. I slogged through it because I wanted to read about a disaster. I didn't expect that Anna's life would be the primary disaster in the novel, though. I tried to start skimming just to reach the end; it's a bit of a surprise that I made it at all. I think I'm writing this review mainly to complain.
The good: I liked the way Bjornsdottir juxtaposed Anna's failing, flailing relationships with the progression of the volcanic eruption/earthquake(s).
The intermediate: Yes, this read a bit too sciencey. I didn't mind much. I'm very interested in natural disasters, and used to adore disaster movies. Although, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to appreciate the scale of the issue without a full map of Iceland.
The bad: so, many, commas, I found it hard to parse them, I found it hard to read them, hard to care. Is this common in Icelandic? Is this how Bjornsdottir wrote the novel, with all these commas, or was this a stylistic choice that the translator made? I really didn't like it. I didn't like that I couldn't always identify who was speaking. I didn't like the stream-of-consciousness effect that commas gave. It helped me speedread, which is nice because I found I really didn't like Anna or what was going on, but it blunted any emotional effect I possibly should have experienced while reading this.
While I was interested in the disaster, I was not interested in Anna's family or love life. I didn't like her.
This book was slow, and largely uninteresting, until the eruption actually starts. I got irritated at the complacency of almost all officials, including Anna, toward the impending crisis. (But that, too, was believable enough.)
The ending was perhaps the only ending there could have been.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Infidelity
jessslibrary's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
dannie11e's review
3.0
Loved the concept but couldn't finish. The spoken parts are not in quotes and it makes it difficult for my brain to sort.
rusty_greer's review
4.0
An emotional ride through some grim territory, but the author does a marvelous job of pulling you in without pushing the character's trauma onto you. Don't try to skip the science - it's a beautiful and meaningful part of the plot.
bookph1le's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
This was such a devastating book, and so unexpected for me. Minor spoilers to follow with major spoilers behind the tags.
I picked this up thinking it was going to be a disaster book, which it was in some respects, but what I pictured was far too small. It's a moving portrait of a woman's messy life, how she feels torn between her lover and her family, how her father's influence has shaped her, how her insistence on rationality above all else fails her. It was complex and multi-faceted, and I was really blown away by it.
I was also surprised by how much I liked it, considering how dense and science-heavy it is at times. I don't live anywhere near a volcano, so my interest in them was negligible at best, and yet I was still fascinated by everything this book had to teach me about volcanoes and how they work. Since Anna's work is so central to who she is as a person, I thought the details about volcanology went a long way toward making her characterization strong and believable.
There were two things I didn't like so much about this book, though. One was Anna's encounter with an interior designer. I understood that it was a metaphor for Anna herself and how she was living her life, but it felt weirdly out of place to me, and there are so many other details that reinforce the idea that Anna chafes against her self-imposed restraints that I didn't see the purpose the interior decorator character served. (Aside: I was weirded out by the way characters in this book open other people's unlocked doors and invite themselves on into other people's homes. That's like one of my worst nightmares.)
The other thing I disliked was Tomas. That relationship felt off to me. To me he came across as immature and controlling, and I couldn't see how he and Anna would ever work out in the real world, where you have to pay bills and do laundry and attend to any number of mundane details. I didn't find it out of keeping that Anna would be so irresponsible because of her affair, but it did bother me. I couldn't help but think of how adults will mock teenage love and infatuation, yet when Anna is pretty much in the same boat, it's meant to be this grand love affair.
This was truly a standout book for me, especially since I find a lot of the Kindle First books I get are either disappointing and just okay.
This was such a devastating book, and so unexpected for me. Minor spoilers to follow with major spoilers behind the tags.
I picked this up thinking it was going to be a disaster book, which it was in some respects, but what I pictured was far too small. It's a moving portrait of a woman's messy life, how she feels torn between her lover and her family, how her father's influence has shaped her, how her insistence on rationality above all else fails her. It was complex and multi-faceted, and I was really blown away by it.
I was also surprised by how much I liked it, considering how dense and science-heavy it is at times. I don't live anywhere near a volcano, so my interest in them was negligible at best, and yet I was still fascinated by everything this book had to teach me about volcanoes and how they work. Since Anna's work is so central to who she is as a person, I thought the details about volcanology went a long way toward making her characterization strong and believable.
There were two things I didn't like so much about this book, though. One was Anna's encounter with an interior designer. I understood that it was a metaphor for Anna herself and how she was living her life, but it felt weirdly out of place to me, and there are so many other details that reinforce the idea that Anna chafes against her self-imposed restraints that I didn't see the purpose the interior decorator character served. (Aside: I was weirded out by the way characters in this book open other people's unlocked doors and invite themselves on into other people's homes. That's like one of my worst nightmares.)
The other thing I disliked was Tomas. That relationship felt off to me. To me he came across as immature and controlling, and I couldn't see how he and Anna would ever work out in the real world, where you have to pay bills and do laundry and attend to any number of mundane details. I didn't find it out of keeping that Anna would be so irresponsible because of her affair, but it did bother me. I couldn't help but think of how adults will mock teenage love and infatuation, yet when Anna is pretty much in the same boat, it's meant to be this grand love affair.
Spoiler
Even though I'm not going to explicitly give away the ending, I'm still placing a spoiler tag here because that ending came roaring up at me out of nowhere. I didn't expect it, didn't see it coming, and found it absolutely devastating and heartbreaking--though I did think it fit in with the rest of the book and with Anna as a character.This was truly a standout book for me, especially since I find a lot of the Kindle First books I get are either disappointing and just okay.
anndudzinski's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Really interesting plot. Poignant yet pointless ending.