Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

 

Name & Author: Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

Publisher: Picador, Australia

Release Date: January 1st 2013

Genres: Historical Fiction, Crime

 

Summary:

A brilliant literary debut, inspired by a true story: the final days of a young woman accused of murder in Iceland in 1829. 

Set against Iceland’s stark landscape, Hannah Kent brings to vivid life the story of Agnes, who, charged with the brutal murder of her former master, is sent to an isolated farm to await execution.

Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family at first avoids Agnes. Only Tóti, a priest Agnes has mysteriously chosen to be her spiritual guardian, seeks to understand her. But as Agnes’s death looms, the farmer’s wife and their daughters learn there is another side to the sensational story they’ve heard.

Riveting and rich with lyricism, BURIAL RITES evokes a dramatic existence in a distant time and place, and asks the question, how can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others? -Goodreads

My Thoughts:

The book Burial Rites by Hannah Kent is a great story based on true events about Icelandic history. In the beginning of the book Hanna Kent explains the Icelandic letters, like á, í, ó, æ, ð and þ, which aren’t in other languages (excluding the letter æ, it is used in Scandinavian languages). She also explains the use of the words -dóttir and -son that are put after the name of the father and mean daughter and son. In Iceland there are rarely last names, there are the father’s (or mother’s) name with daughter or son at the end.

Burial Rites takes on the last execution in Iceland in 1830. The main character Agnes Magnúsdóttir is accused along with Friðrik  Sigurðsson of the murders of Natan Ketilsson and Pétur Jónsson. The story revolves about the time after the murder in Agnes’ life to the execution. Executions in Iceland were a seldom event after they stopped hanging thiefs in 1760. The last execution that took place in Iceland was in 1790, 40 years before the last. (In 1805 a man was sent to Norway and executed there).

I read about these murders in a history class as a child and never thought about it more. So this was really fun for me to read about this even though I don’t agree entirely with how Hanna Kent portrays the persona of Agnes. I had always imagined her as a cold blooded murderess. But in the book she is kind, deep down, and she doesn’t want to die. But this is an historical event and no one can be certain how it happened.

Agnes and Friðrik were executed, beheaded, on Januray 12th 1830. Their head were put on sticks to be a lesson for others. Soon after they disappeared. It is said that they were buried by a workman with the bodies outside of holy ground. It wasn’t until 1932 that the bodies (and heads) were buried in holy ground after a supposed haunting of Agnes and Friðrik.

I really enjoyed this book. The character development was very good and they felt real. The book is set over a long period of time, about 2 years, and I felt like the ending of the book was bit rushed, all of a sudden there were only 6 days to the execution. Otherwise it was very good. It was little hard for me to read the book in English. I didn’t feel like the people were speaking Icelandic, rather they were speaking English with a bad Icelandic accent.

5/5 stars!

 

If anyone wants to read more about this there is a great article here in Icelandic.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

 

Name & Author: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Publisher: Little, Brown Books

Release Date: September 3rd 2013

Genres: YA/Paranormal

 



Summary:

Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black. -Goodreads

My Thoughts:

This is the first Holly Black book I have read since I read The Spiderwick Chronicles when I was younger. The book is based on a short story by Holly Black with the same name from The Eternal Kiss. This is a really good book. Holly Black takes on most of modern time problems with a paranormal twist. One of these things are types of relationship. In the book there is all kinds of relationships, straight, gay, bi, which aren’t in many YA or fantasy books.

The world building in the book is very realistic. The story takes place in normal time US where there are closed towns for vampires, Coldtowns. When you enter one you rarely get out. Vampirism has been an epidemic in the US and is spreading through out the world. Once somebody is bitten they can go Cold, it takes 48 hours to know for sure. After that you can turn into a vampire by feeding or restrain from feeding for 88 days and return to normal.

The main protagonist is Tana. She wakes up after a party and discovers that everyone is dead. Her ex-boyfriend in chained to a bed and a vampire is chained to a wall next to him. Even after this crazy wake up she saves them both when more vampires come. The only problem is that she was bitten in the progress. After that they get on the road to the next Coldtown.

Tana is a really strong character and has gone through more than most people her age. After she gets bitten she has to wait the 48 hours to know is she will go Cold. Even if that happens she has decided that she is not going to become a vampire. Her mother was bitten and went Cold. In her blood thirst state she attacked Tana and bit her. Losing her mother to vampirism and her father to depression, Tana has to take care of her little sister and her home. That responsibility has made a huge impact on how she deals with coming events.

There is one character, Gavriel (the vampire Tana saved at the party), who grew on me through out the story. Going from the tough, bad boy vampire to a caring and loving one. In the end of the book he stays with Tana in a cell while she goes through the 88 days of recovering from the Cold.

In the story there is a vampire celebrity, Lucien Moreau, who has his own TV show. You get to see him through Tana’s and her sister’s, Pearl’s, eyes. First he is the person who everybody wants to be or be friend to. But he evolves into a superficial and self observed vampire. This made me think of how we view real life TV celebrities. What part of their life do we see? How are they off camera?

The book is very well written. It is little bit slow at parts but there is a lot to take in. It’s a new take on vampire stories that everyone should give a chance.

4.5/5 stars!

Paper Towns by John Green

 

Name & Author: Paper Towns by John Green

Publisher: Dutton Books

Release Date: October 16th 2008

Genres: YA, Contemporary, Fiction

 



 

Summary:

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life – dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge – he follows.

After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues – and they’re for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer Q gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew. -Goodreads

 

My Thoughts:

This is the third John Green book that I have read (after An Abundance of Katherines and The Fault in Our Stars) and I love this book as equally as the other ones.

This book is about Quentin Jacobsen’s journey figuring out Margo Roth Spiegelman and in the end finding out who he is really. The book is about growing up and seeing how things are really, going past what you see in every situation, to see what’s really there.

I love all the characters in the book, Quentin, Margo, Radar, Ben and Lacey, they were all wonderful (Margo irritated me a little in the end). I was so happy when they decided to ditch graduation to go on a road trip to find Margo. (Spoiler, sorry). That is what I call a great friendship, when your friends are willing to sacrifice something for you. And graduation is a pretty big thing.

The book is split up in three parts: Paper Towns, The Grass and The Vessel. The first and the last part were the best. They were full of action, while the middle part dragged on at parts. All in all the book was great. One of my favorites.

It is not often when I remember quotes from book but I did after reading this book and I quite like this one:

“I don’t need you, you idiot. I picked you. And then you picked me back.”

 

5/5 stars!

 

Think of a Number by John Verdon

 

Name & Author: Think of a Number by John Verdon

Publisher: Crown Publishing

Release Date: July 6th 2010

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

 

 

Summary: 

An extraordinary fiction debut, Think of a Number is an exquisitely plotted novel of suspense that grows relentlessly darker and more frightening as its pace accelerates, forcing its deeply troubled characters to moments of startling self-revelation. 

Arriving in the mail over a period of weeks are taunting letters that end with a simple declaration, “Think of any number…picture it…now see how well I know your secrets.”  Amazingly, those who comply find that the letter writer has predicted their random choice exactly.  For Dave Gurney, just retired as the NYPD’s top homicide investigator and forging a new life with his wife, Madeleine, in upstate New York, the letters are oddities that begin as a diverting puzzle but quickly ignite a massive serial murder investigation.

What police are confronted with is a completely baffling killer, one who is fond of rhymes filled with threats and warnings, whose attention to detail is unprecedented, and who has an uncanny knack for disappearing into thin air.  Even more disturbing, the scale of his ambition seems to widen as events unfold.

Brought in as an investigative consultant, Dave Gurney soon accomplishes deductive breakthroughs that leave local police in awe.  Yet, even as he matches wits with his seemingly clairvoyant opponent, Gurney’s tragedy-marred past rises up to haunt him, his marriage approaches a dangerous precipice, and finally, a dark, cold fear builds that he’s met an adversary who can’t be stopped.

In the end, fighting to keep his bearings amid a whirlwind of menace and destruction, Gurney sees the truth of what he’s become – what we all become when guilty memories fester – and how his wife Madeleine’s clear-eyed advice may be the only answer that makes sense.

A work that defies easy labels — at once a propulsive masterpiece of suspense and an absorbing immersion in the lives of characters so real we seem to hear their heartbeats – Think of a Number is a novel you’ll not soon forget.           -Goodreads

 

My Thoughts:

I picked this book up at a whim at my local library not really expecting much of it. The book took me by surprise, I really liked it. This is John Verdon’s debut novel. There are two other books out in this series: Shut Your Eyes Tight and Let the Devil Sleep.

The book revolves around Dave Gurney, a retired NYPD top homicide investigator. He struggles to adapt to his new life, a calm and comfortable one.
One day an old classmate of Gurney’s, Mallery, turns to him for help. Soon Gurney is deep into an investigation that turns into a murder mystery when Mallery is murdered. More bodies turn up. All the men who have been murdered have gotten the same mysterious letters. A letter that someone knows them extraordinary well and is keeping tabs on them.

I really liked the murder mystery in the book. There are lots of details that are unsettling, especially the steps that stop in the middle of nowhere.  And all the details that lead the investigators in the wrong direction.

Dave Gurney is a genius when reading a murder scene, but is rubbish at noticing that his marriage is going down the drain. His private life is a big part of the book. As the investigation moves on, he slowly takes more part in his marriage. He and his wife talk about the problems in their life, about their dead son. And in the end Gurney talks to his son, from former relationship, and connects to him, something that he has never really done before.

The book is very well written. It keeps you guessing and on your toes till the end. It’s original, not like anything else I have read before. It’s a true brain puzzle. However it is a slow read, there is a lot to take in and to not miss anything it takes a while to get through.

I read a translation and I think that some of John Verdon’s charm may have gotten lost in the process. I wish I had read it in English.

 

4/5 stars!

 

The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen

Name & Author: Kvinden i buret/Mercy/The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen

Publisher: Politiken (DK), Penguin (UK), Dutton (USA)

Release Year: 2007 (DK), 2011 (UK & USA)
Paperback (Penguin edition), 512 pages

Part of the Department Q series (Afdeling Q) #1

Genres: Thriller, crime, fiction



Summary:

At first the prisoner scratches at the walls until her fingers bleed. But there is no escaping the room. With no way of measuring time, her days, weeks, months go unrecorded. She vows not go mad. She will not give her captors the satisfaction. She will die first. 

Copenhagen detective Carl Mørck’s been taken off homicide to run a newly created department for unsolved crimes. His first case concerns Merete Lynggaard, who vanished five years ago. Everyone says she’s dead. Everyone says it’s a waste of time. He thinks they’re right.

The voice in the dark is distorted, harsh and without mercy. It says the prisoner’s torture will only end when she answers one simple question. It is one she has asked herself a million times:

WHY is this happening? -Goodreads

My Thoughts:

This is one of many Scandinavian crime thriller I have read. And this one of the best.

The book tells you about Merete Lynggaard, who is held captive by some people. I loved the chapters with Merete. Jussi describes her inner battle to survive very well. I like to think that Jussi is able to describe feelings so well is because he grew up in many Danish mental hospitals during the years of 1955-1963, where his father was a psychiatric doctor.
You can really feel her emotions, the will to survive and her moments of despair.

Carl Mørck is the typical cop/investigator in Scandinavian crime thriller. He is grumpy, lazy and irritating. A man who no one wants to work with him. Which is the reason he gets his own department, Department Q, where he is supposed to go through open cases.
When Carl gets his assistant, Assad, things start to happen. Assad who isn’t supposed to read confidential papers, reads them and is in a way the head of the investigation. Together they find things that were left out in the original report and things that no one could find.

In my opinion Scandinavian crime thrillers are the best. Currently I am reading the second book, Disgrace/The Absent One (Fasandræberne). Books three to five haven’t been translated to English yet, so I probably am going to read them in Danish. I can’t wait.

There is a movie coming soon based on the book, directed by Mikkel Nørgaard (Borgen, Klovn, Anna Phil and more).  I really want to see it. Here is the trailer (with English subtitles):

4.5/5 stars

Love, Diljá