The idea of this was much better than the execution. There was no character development so the small clusters of suspense meant nothing and the story goes nowhere. The open ending made the whole thing feel pointless.

A sweet, heart breaking novella about two children trying to survive in dystopian Norway. Perfect for fans of The Road or A Quiet Place, a brother and sister walk through the ravaged county side on their way to the sea in the hopes of finding their father. Along the way, they meet people who both help and hinder them, all the while evading the beasts that hunt them. Usually, I hate such ambiguous endings but this one felt right. Highly recommended.

Bleak, unsettling and fantastically stressful in the best possible way. This felt almost dystopian and the familt dynamics and fractured relationships were pitch perfect. Perfect pick for a spooky season read.

reading this had me STRESSED. i wish i could have read it in the original language; something about the way its written makes me think there’s something rich in that version of the text. not that this text isn’t rich— interesting, original, and terrifying at times. shockingly bleak for a children’s book. there are unanswered questions, LOTS of death, and a broken family of two siblings, a dead mother, and a mia father. i loved this; truly, i wish there was more just because i got so attached to our main characters in such a short time, and i wanted to see them be okay— but that’s not what this book is doing, and i find that equally frustrating and incredible. a must read.

I can absolutely see the comparison to McCarthy’s The Road. This was bleak, yet hopeful by the end. So many valuable lessons can be learned from this fast paced journey that Bjerkland has provided us with— sometimes it’s better to run being a stand out for me. I believe that while this type of story has been reworked many different ways, this author still brought something fresh to the table. Well done!