Following the central character Marta from a first person perspective, the reader is served tension, fear, love and compassion. Also picking up some Norse mythology on the way, after all it’s set in Norway.
The story is centred on a remote cabin, there are few characters, one of them being a spooky tree. The reader really gets to know the characters, the main ones being teenagers Marta and a gothic chap. Featuring teen angst of kids finding their way in life, although sexual tension and romance is not the prime feature in their developing relationship. Dealing with complex issues that challenge the readers view of the some times oversimplification of what is at the root of an individuals nature. The characters efforts to overcome their perceived shortcomings makes fine narrative.
There were a few niggles, the way Marta shrugs on and off a coat was used too much, you can only shrug off a coat. Also there were a few parts of the plot which were a little too predictable, there could have been a braver approach as we draw to the end of the story, I would have liked the underworld to have featured more heavily, with a harder journey for the protagonist. But there were a few loose ends that hinted that there was more to the ending. Perhaps leaving the reader the freedom to imagine their own ending, or leaving a space for a second book. If it is the latter, then I hope that the author does not produce a gothic horror version of the famous five series.
The story is centred on a remote cabin, there are few characters, one of them being a spooky tree. The reader really gets to know the characters, the main ones being teenagers Marta and a gothic chap. Featuring teen angst of kids finding their way in life, although sexual tension and romance is not the prime feature in their developing relationship. Dealing with complex issues that challenge the readers view of the some times oversimplification of what is at the root of an individuals nature. The characters efforts to overcome their perceived shortcomings makes fine narrative.
There were a few niggles, the way Marta shrugs on and off a coat was used too much, you can only shrug off a coat. Also there were a few parts of the plot which were a little too predictable, there could have been a braver approach as we draw to the end of the story, I would have liked the underworld to have featured more heavily, with a harder journey for the protagonist. But there were a few loose ends that hinted that there was more to the ending. Perhaps leaving the reader the freedom to imagine their own ending, or leaving a space for a second book. If it is the latter, then I hope that the author does not produce a gothic horror version of the famous five series.