_Astrid & Veronika_, Linda Olsson
Jul. 18th, 2020 03:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
walkitoutThis book attracts really odd reviews, sometimes with basic errors (in no universe is it reasonable to interpret Veronika as a New Zealand writer, and yet, the in NYT review when this thing came out, the reviewer described her thus).
So, you know, here is another odd review!
The body count in this thing is kinda bonkers! I mean, one grows to expect Scandinavian writers to produce stark landscapes, colorful traditional garb and odd food that the people eating it absolutely love. And body counts! But you know usually those are murder mysteries. This is a book that is nominally about friendship. And yet, so many bodies.
SPOILERS!
Astrid’s mother kills herself when Astrid is a young girl.
Astrid kills her own baby, when the baby is less than one year old.
Veronika’s boyfriend dies in the New Zealand surf that he loved so much.
Astrid’s much hated husband “dies” in a care home; it is quite possible that Astrid sped that along, but the book does not say as much.
Finally, Astrid dies at her own hand. If you live in a universe with Astrid, and you are not Veronika, look out! It does not go well for you.
There are a lot of descriptions, many of them involving women passing their hands over their flat stomachs. *shrug*
If you love the “Forced Proximity” trope in romance novels, but are looking for a little something with along the lines of young woman with recent tragedy in her life rescues an old woman from lifelong depression, and ultimately inherits the old woman’s house a little later, this is your book!
Hopefully, you don’t actually need to have things spelled out to you, like, what is up with the whole oh, red hair, that is bad, thing. Also, why can’t these people actually talk to each other with words, instead of with minor gestures and so forth?
This was a Mayberry book selection which we will be discussing in zoom on Monday. Looking forward to what other people make of it. I signed up for it because it was supposed to be a great depiction of friendship. I now have a _lot_ of questions of what the person who recommended it thinks friendship is all about.
So, you know, here is another odd review!
The body count in this thing is kinda bonkers! I mean, one grows to expect Scandinavian writers to produce stark landscapes, colorful traditional garb and odd food that the people eating it absolutely love. And body counts! But you know usually those are murder mysteries. This is a book that is nominally about friendship. And yet, so many bodies.
SPOILERS!
Astrid’s mother kills herself when Astrid is a young girl.
Astrid kills her own baby, when the baby is less than one year old.
Veronika’s boyfriend dies in the New Zealand surf that he loved so much.
Astrid’s much hated husband “dies” in a care home; it is quite possible that Astrid sped that along, but the book does not say as much.
Finally, Astrid dies at her own hand. If you live in a universe with Astrid, and you are not Veronika, look out! It does not go well for you.
There are a lot of descriptions, many of them involving women passing their hands over their flat stomachs. *shrug*
If you love the “Forced Proximity” trope in romance novels, but are looking for a little something with along the lines of young woman with recent tragedy in her life rescues an old woman from lifelong depression, and ultimately inherits the old woman’s house a little later, this is your book!
Hopefully, you don’t actually need to have things spelled out to you, like, what is up with the whole oh, red hair, that is bad, thing. Also, why can’t these people actually talk to each other with words, instead of with minor gestures and so forth?
This was a Mayberry book selection which we will be discussing in zoom on Monday. Looking forward to what other people make of it. I signed up for it because it was supposed to be a great depiction of friendship. I now have a _lot_ of questions of what the person who recommended it thinks friendship is all about.