A review by serendipitysbooks
Birdbrain by Johanna Sinisalo

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 This is the story of Heidi and Jyrki, a Finnish couple on a hiking adventure down- under. I really enjoyed the use of many distinct threads in this novel - first person accounts of a hike along Tasmania’s South Coast in 2007 narrated from alternating perspectives, the backstory of their meeting and earlier hikes in New Zealand and Australia, extracts from the novel Heart of Darkness, extracts from a natural history digest, plus some malevolent thoughts from another character or characters. The sense of foreboding increased throughout the novel, especially due to the tension between the two characters, as well as the risks from the environment, and of course the extracts. My one big reservation was the way the Kea, a mountain parrot unique to New Zealand, was mischaracterised and misused in the plot. 
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