Book Review: Icefall

Summary: Critically acclaimed author Matthew J. Kirby deftly weaves a stunning coming-of-age tale with chilling cleverness and subtle suspense that will leave readers racing breathlessly to the end.
  Trapped in a hidden fortress tucked between towering mountains and a frozen sea, Solveig--along with her brother the crown prince, their older sister, and an army of restless warriors--anxiously awaits news of her father's victory at battle. But as winter stretches on, and the unending ice refuses to break, terrible acts of treachery soon make it clear that a traitor lurks in their midst. Solveig must also embark on a journey to find her own path. Yet, a malevolent air begins to seep through the fortress walls, as a smothering claustrophobia slowly turns these prisoners of winter against one another.
  Those charged with protecting the king's children are all suspect, and the siblings must choose their allies wisely. But who can be trusted so far from their father's watchful eye? Can Solveig survive the long winter months and expose the traitor before he manages to destroy a kingdom?

Thoughts: Well...I obviously hadn't read up on this book before I picked it up at the library, but I wasn't disappointed. While not the fantasy story I was hoping for, this wonderful piece of historical-fiction is still a great read! The characters and (most likely) the war the story is set in, among other events, are fictitious; but there is a wonderful atmosphere in the Norwegian setting. Filled with fascinating stories of the Norse myths and the power of story telling and all told through young Solveig's voice through a journal like writing. The one funny thing I found about this book is that, rather than use the normal past tense for phrasing, as you might when writing in a journal later, the story is told in present tense as though they were the thoughts of the girl as things happened around her. This was an interesting way to read the story and unpleasant. I'll warn you right now though, this book while have you mentally playing Clue and pointing fingers everywhere, always trying to guess who the culprit might be! And it's not pretty when you find out! On a side note, Sloveig and Harald are precious siblings (their eldest sibling, Asa, sits and mopes through half the book and is a bad big sister!) and I greatly enjoyed Solveig's interactions with Hake and Alric! A great read and a pleasurably light one at that!

Content: Not much. There is some flirting, questioning whether a man has been treating a girl in an honorable way and another man sort of hangs on and starts stroking a girl's cheek just to make her uncomfortable while there is worry about sleeping arrangements. Most would go over kid's heads and none is too pronounced, all of it being resolved without anything actually having happened.