The writing style wasn’t to my taste. It lacked punctuation.
The ending was very odd. This book is hard to read. It’s harrowing.

I was unable to finish this one, although I might revisit at a later date. A dark and brutal story. Best wishes with the publication to Karin.

This was dark and twisty. I love reading novels in translation because I never know where they're going to go, and this one was truly no exception!

Well written, addictive and unpredictable. This is a book I have really enjoyed and devoured. i definitely want to read more from this author. Full Review to follow.

Scandi Noir at its finest!
It took me a while to get used to the writing style of Smirnoff and it took me a couple of attempts before this book fully grabbed my attention but when it did, I was wholly captivated. The setting, the characters and plot all written with care and detail. I expected more of a thriller element to this book from the synopsis, but this isn't a complaint, this book was so much more. I really enjoyed My Brother and will look out from more from this author, I really admired her writing.

I found this novel a little difficult to get into with a difficult subject matter. However, I did enjoy the story, setting and characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review

This was a heavy story and at times I struggled to get through this. I feel I lost meaning in some parts due to the translation. A true story of trauma, perseverance and overcoming. Jana did not live an ideal childhood with her twin brother Bror. Growing up in an abusive household forced Jana and Bror to grow up quicker than necessary and left them with scars into their adulthood. When Jana moves home to her childhood home with Bror she is faced head on with the scars of her past. However, with hard work Jana is able to overcome her demons. Bror has his own demons as well that he eventually is able to overcome. I enjoyed the story overall.

Dark, really dark Nordic noir without the cops and murder mystery. (well, sort of). Jana and her twin brother Bror were raised in a small, rural town by horrible parents. She left, he didn't but now she's home for a visit and all the bad things come roaring back. This is a bleak town where there is substance and other abuse. Who is Marie? No spoilers from me. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. It's a challenging read but intriguing as well.

My Brother by Karin Smirnoff
I had noticed the publication of My Brother when it was published by Pushkin Press in early 2021 which i have just got to around to reading. .
My Brother is definitely distinguished from the usual styles of Nordic Noir. It tells the story of Jana who returns to her twin brother Bror in the remote family farmhouse they were bought up in the rural north of Sweden.

The prose translated by Anna Patterson stands out as unpunctuated, stark and uncensored.
Saved in a blizzard by a local man called John, Jana introduces us into a dark world of depravity and decrepit homes, of alcoholism, cancer suffers, victims of incest. Everywhere she goes she seems to follow the footsteps of a girl called Marie who died mysteriously just before she arrived. It is a bleak story of rural life, limited opportunities and only just a little hope.
It reminds me a little of Hurricane Season by Mexican author Fernanda Melchor, although the climate is obviously vastly different.
This is still Smirnoff's only English language translation although she has written other books and will be the next Millennium author.
My Brother be available on Kindle in Northern American from 27 September.

I LOVE a book where the setting is like another character and where it is so important to the story that you could picture it occurring anywhere else. This is that type of book! The stark and desolate landscape reflects the trauma that this brother and sister has dealt with in their lives. It has shaped them and made them who they are, the trauma and the landscape. This is not an easy read, the content and emotions are heavy, but it is at once beautiful and painful.

This was a difficult book to read and is difficult to review. But I did think the writing was outstanding, painful but outstanding.

Jana Kippo is heading back to Smalånger in northern Sweden to see her twin brother, Bror. I suppose it was time for her to set some demons to rest. One the way she gets caught in a blizzard and is rescued by John, another very complex character, with whom she ends up having a physical relationship but she never quite seems to trust him.

It was a harsh story set in a harsh climate. Jana ends up questioning everything about her past and it is a bleak and unforgiving past at that. Think of a trigger - this story has it. It could have been unremittingly bleak but somehow there were moments of hope. Her upbringing was harsh - ruled by a father who was always right, even when was being cruel, and a mother whose only solace was praying - there was little joy in Jana and Bror’s childhood.

She learns that the truth is a fluid thing depending on who is doing the telling and when. It seems in Smalånger everything is connected to everything and everyone else. I’m sorry to be so cryptic but the story was like trying to catch smoke in your hands. I’d like to think it ended on a comparatively happy note but I can’t be sure.

The format took a bit of getting used to with words running into one other and minimal punctuation. I can’t say I really enjoyed the story as it was so, so bleak but I do commend the talent of the author. She does pull the emotions out of you and the book will stay with me for some time. Many thanks to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

Another book set in Sweden! I was drawn to this book from the description and the author does an amazing job of making you feel like you're actually in this cold, snowy town. This book is about dark family secrets and they are revealed throughout the book. I really enjoyed this and I can't wait for the follow-ups.

Took me a long time to adjust to the writing style and connect with the characters. Very atmospheric!

This was a difficult book to read for both the style and subject matter and yet it was hard to look away. Set in rural Sweden in a cold and harsh winter environment, it’s a story of family secrets, of violence and mental illness, alcoholism, generations of child abuse, small town knowledge/gossip and all the interlinked relationships. It’s mostly bleak but there is some love and kindness. It’s narrated by Jana, a woman returning to the family home where her alcoholic twin brother still lives. The writing makes it difficult to get into and to start with, I thought it was a shocking translation until I realised it was meant to be written with almost no punctuation including no capital letters for names, first and last names run together as do some other phrases, numbers and years are written out in full. This style made it hard to get close to the main character and those around her and also made the whole narrative more uncertain. An intense read.

I wanted to love this book and, to be fair, there were parts that I did love. Yet it often seemed a little impenetrable and difficult to understand who was who and what was going on. Great atmospheric writing that really set the scene, but felt like it could have been half the length.

Jana Kippo has returned to Smalånger to see her twin brother, Bror, still living in the small family farmhouse in the remote north of Sweden.

Within the isolated community, secrets and lies have grown silently, undisturbed for years.

Following the discovery of a young woman's body in the long grass behind the sawmill, the siblings, hooked by a childhood steeped in darkness, need to break free.

But the truth cannot be found in other people's stories. The question is: can it be found anywhere?

Absolutely loved this one! The evocative details and impeccable research make for a delightful reading experience.
The writing style is great and it's fantastically written. A wonderful story, beautifully told. I absolutely tore through it! A sparkling, emotional read! This authors books are one to look out for!

At the beginning, with the story of a family that lived in its inner world of violence/religion in the countryside, I felt "My Brother" was going to be in the vein of "The Discomfort of Evening", with all the issues of pain, mental health, family problems, growing up... However, Smirnoff surprised me in delivering something that I don't think I had ever read before: It is a family/community drama with some drops of mystery (of which the author doesn't seem to care much about), and an analysis of the power of religion, family, and direct, cultural and structural violence through the eyes of a character who returns to her hometown to visit her twin brother.

It is curious how Smirnoff, strange writing style nonetheless, goes for matter-of-factly plot development. There is little playing with the reader's expectations or silly twists. No, the assumptions a reader may have about the characters or the story are upended by 'how things are' (I can't think of a better way of saying it) and not by some desire to surprise the reader before every chapter ends. Even if the read can be difficult with the sentence construction and gluing of names, it is a quite straightforward story once you get used it.

This is a bleak read. If you can accept that, it is a totally worth read.

When you read a 300-page novel in 1.5 days you know it's good. This is the story of a woman returning to her childhood home in a village in Northern Sweden, where everybody knows everybody, where her brother still lives and where we knows some awful things happened long ago.

Lots of snow, derelict farms, alcohol, secrets, violence, and hunters, but most of all lots of broken families - which means one or the other family secret is revealed in almost every one of the 51 short chapters. Still, it never feels like a soap opera. An extremely compulsive read; I can see why it is such a success in Sweden and can't wait for the translation of parts 2 and 3 (and the TV adaptation).

Many thanks to Pushkin Press for the arc via Netgalley.

This book is unlike any I’ve read before.
The subject matter is a strong one, and the author is not afraid to tackle it head on.
What I did find difficult was the way it was written, the way it was laid out. It didn’t seem to flow very well and I found myself re-reading parts as it didn’t make sense the first time.
This isn’t a book that can be skimmed through, it takes concentration. So for that, it’s not one I’d say was a “summer/beach read”. It’s also not one I’d necessarily keep to read again, but I am pleased I read it.
Thank you to the author, the publisher & netgalley for my arc.

Childhood traumas, family secrets, relationship problems. It was not easy to read the book mostly because of unusual layout of the words, sentences, paragraphs..