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By: CHCH 557
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2025-05-14 22:00:25 |
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Mixed review. Some people did not finish the book. Everyone found the Sami theme interesting. |
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By: LOWER 024
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2025-03-25 17:10:00 |
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The very slow start was a deterrent to keep reading, but it was worth persevering. It was good that the loose ends were all resolved. We appreciated learning about Sami culture and life in the Arctic Circle, with its challenges. Some of us found many of the relationships quite shallow; although the relationship between Klemet and Nina developed well through the book. We also found the relationship between Klemet's uncle Nils Ante and Miss Chang provided some light relief as well as a delightful insight into the Joik traditional music. We found Racagnal quite abhorrent. |
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By: CHCH 001
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2025-02-17 13:04:19 |
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An informative story with well developed characters. Readers enjoyed the book with the political background and issues which are common among indigenous people around the world. |
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By: WAIHI 001
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2024-03-14 13:17:17 |
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Everyone felt the book increased their knowledge of the area and the people who live in that area of the world. The actual murder played a secondary role in the plot. Positive feedback from everyone. |
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By: UPMO 002
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2024-03-07 11:35:58 |
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Enjoyed by most - a good story, and informative about the Sami. |
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By: HINDS 001
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2023-11-28 13:13:23 |
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Excellent read. Learnt so much about Lapland, the Sami, and the reindeer police. |
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By: TURA 002
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2023-06-01 14:15:27 |
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All really enjoyed this one. A slow start, then we couldn't put it down until the end. A really interesting look at a very different culture. Definitely parallels in techniques of colonisation around the world. |
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By: AUCK 234
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2023-05-22 10:09:51 |
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A little slow to begin with. Good insight into how they live up there. Thoroughly enjoyed it. |
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By: WHAKA 017
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2022-03-02 12:08:30 |
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The book was very educational in many ways unfamiliar to us, and we enjoyed learning about the Sami way of life. A very good book, although a bit too long. |
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By: NAP 026
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2021-08-27 12:50:27 |
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We rated this book a 3. There was a range of views. The background of the Sami culture and Scandinavian influence/impact of colonisation was interesting. One of our members has a brother who is a mining engineer, so she could talk about these aspects, and what has happened over the years in similar type situations. The number of characters was challenging, especially at the beginning - difficult to keep track of who was who, and what was happening. Some members enjoyed the thriller, others found it a bit too convenient - the way everything fell into place. |
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By: WHITBY 002
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2020-11-10 16:49:26 |
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All but two managed to finish it and all and found it quite a page turner. Many topics were up for discussion, the country, the culture, the treatment of indigenous people, threats to the environment, community. The characters were well drawn, even the minor ones and we thought the translation was well done as we found it very easy to read. An excellent murder mystery set in a country we are not familiar with and we learnt a lot. |
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By: NELS 064
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2020-05-19 10:40:32 |
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Only 2 members managed to read the book in its entirety. It became repetitive and boring to most, and we were all very disappointed with the ending. Not a favourite. |
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By: CHCH 423
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2019-12-12 20:04:48 |
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This book split the team. Not in a good way. The person who had been to the general vicinity of the setting of the book really liked it. No one else did - although one person appreciated the book more following our discussion. |
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By: TAUR 051
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2018-10-01 15:00:20 |
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Most of us really enjoyed the book but we all found it slow or hard to get into; we agreed however that all the historical/cultural elements were important to set the scene. It took us 200 pages+ to become riveted. Well worth persevering though. |
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By: WELL 007
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2018-10-01 14:57:41 |
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Fascinating to learn about the Sami. |
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By: CHCH 088
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2018-10-01 14:55:25 |
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We all enjoyed the book - a good solid read.. It was so interesting to read about reindeer herders, their culture and the whole area in general. So many themes running through the story - not just a crime novel. |
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By: CHCH 001
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2018-05-03 10:26:42 |
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We had a great discussion. Most people scored the book 7 or 8. The writing was good and the story kept the tension required for a thriller. Some thought there was too much material in the book (enough for 2-3 books). We enjoyed learning about the life and culture of the Sami, and how this worked with the dominant culture. We were not surprised to learn that Olivier Truc has written 2 sequels (not yet translated) as he left open several possibilities. |
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By: DIAM 001
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2018-05-03 10:21:29 |
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A complex book with many layers. Two members did not like it - gave it a brief skim read. Other members appreciated reading about an area of the world we knew nothing about, the culture, the lives of the indigenous people and the present problems of a country being taken over by an unknown world. Raw, cruel and complex but beautiful writing of the tundra. A great discussion. |
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By: NELS 015
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2018-05-03 10:03:52 |
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Most people enjoyed the book though some felt it was quite clumsy in the plotting and characterisation. Also some thought it didn't read fluently, though this could be due to it being a translation. An interesting look into a culture and land we knew very little about, a fascinating insight into Sami culture with similar issues and problems to many other indigenous peoples. |
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By: DOUBT 002
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2018-05-03 09:59:45 |
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A fascinating insight into Sami culture and history of Sapmi. A complex and rewarding read. |
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By: CHCH 176
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2018-05-03 09:56:35 |
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The group loved the book. The discussion was lively and everyone felt they had learnt a lot about the area and culture. |
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By: AUCK 006
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2018-05-03 09:50:29 |
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We all read the book, but for some reason none of us felt that the story really gripped us. We all struggled with it, taking far longer than normal to complete it. A murder mystery usually has us turning pages rapidly as we rush to discover 'Who-dun-it'. It wasn't as if we struggled with the translation either, this was very good. The characters were clearly portrayed and any goriness in the story was central to the tale and not over written. The change however came with the discussion. We have not had such a spirited discussion in a long time, in fact it took up most of the meeting. |
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By: ASHB 016
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2018-03-05 22:38:18 |
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We all really liked this book. Quite different to what we usually read, some found it hard to figure out the different people initially but once started it was a good story. The first chapter was impressive and caught your attention straight away. Very cold setting - interesting to be reading about snow and ice in a 40 degree plus summer! There was quite a lot in it, especially once we started to discuss it. Felt sorry for the indigenous people and we also commented on the fact that this is still happening and so is greed. |
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