TBR & Tangents by Rachel

Disclaimer: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley on behalf of Atria books!

This was my first jump into Nordic thrillers, and I was pleasantly surprised. I think urban exploration is super interesting, mixed with my favorite genre I knew I had to pick this up. I didn’t notice a language or culture barrier at all, and if anything I honestly would have liked a little bit more of it to feel more immersed. I truly loved the imagery of the location of the story, it’s something that stuck with me the entire read though. It truly felt like 2 completely different worlds, with very stark differences between the wilderness and the city. This plays into the very core of our protagonist, who is stuck in the middle of the two worlds.

Regarding “Leo” Asker; I loved her through the story as she navigates not only the case, but her past and the memories that arise against her will. I appreciate that she held herself true through the entire novel, and I absolutely cheered for how badass she is. She has so many layers and I felt the more I read the better I understood her. None of the realizations about her came too early or didn’t eventually fit into the puzzle.

As always with this genre I expected twists, and this did not disappoint!! I had something in mind and of course I was nowhere close when the book ended. That did not upset me in the slightest, and it was worth all of the frantic page turning and misbelief. I swear I was 3/4th done and was wondering when shit would hit the fan.. The answer was a lot more close to be expected!

I know that mixed pov’s sometimes get a bad rap, but I think this was done in a very balanced way. It kept the story flowing smoothly and allowed the reader to see the entire story while still leaving enough gaps to keep us on our toes.