A review by acaciathorn
Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby
4.0
Part mystery, part survival tale, and part love-letter to the power of stories, Icefall takes place over the course of one winter. The book centers on Solveig, the overlooked middle daughter of a Norse king, who is forced into hiding inside a mountain fortress along with her siblings, a small contingent of servants and warriors, and a group of her father's berserkers. As the winter presses on, she begins to learn the art of storytelling from her father's skald (“poet of the living past”) and also forms a bond of fatherly/daughterly affection with the most fearsome berserker of the bunch. However, the unending ice refuses to break, and terrible acts of treachery soon make it clear that a traitor lurks in their midst. In the end, Solveig discovers and learns to wield her own form of power, but it comes at a great cost.
Perhaps the most compelling feature of this book is the way the author weaves in little snippets and side-stories at the beginning of each chapter...until finally, in the last third of the book, they all come together, and you finally realize the context in which Solveig is telling them. It was also refreshing to read a YA book with no romance to speak of...it gave the author more time to flesh out and develop a couple of really compelling platonic relationships. In fact, romantic love was portrayed comparatively negatively in this book. If I had to nitpick, I'd say my primary complaint was the fact that the heroine's thought process was a bit...modern at times? I'm not sure. Something was a little off about it. But other than that, I would definitely recommend this if you're looking for a quick read.
Perhaps the most compelling feature of this book is the way the author weaves in little snippets and side-stories at the beginning of each chapter...until finally, in the last third of the book, they all come together, and you finally realize the context in which Solveig is telling them. It was also refreshing to read a YA book with no romance to speak of...it gave the author more time to flesh out and develop a couple of really compelling platonic relationships. In fact, romantic love was portrayed comparatively negatively in this book. If I had to nitpick, I'd say my primary complaint was the fact that the heroine's thought process was a bit...modern at times? I'm not sure. Something was a little off about it. But other than that, I would definitely recommend this if you're looking for a quick read.