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| ★★★✰✰ |
Synopsis: On 24th November Yasmin and her deaf daughter Ruby arrived in Alaska. Within hours they were driving alone across a frozen wilderness. Where nothing grows. Where no one lives. Where tears freeze. And night will last for another 54 days. They are looking for Ruby's father. Travelling deeper into a silent land. They still cannot find him. And someone is watching them in the dark.
***
Review: There was a lot I really liked about this book. Being me, and a fan of the cold, I loved the setting, and I also thought the premise was great. In fairness, to be able to spend an entire novel describing cold, snow, and darkness without being repetitive requires talent.The writing was engaging, enjoyable to read and I tore through it fairly quickly because I was dying to find out what happened in the end - which means the mystery behind Ruby's father's disappearance was compelling. All of these are signs of a good book, but unfortunately a poor ending can really let down any good writing that has gone before, and that is definitely what happened to me with this book. There was too much explaining, which is not something you want towards the end of a book - you want the pieces that have been building up all along to fall into place.
The main characters were mostly likeable, even if Yasmin made some seriously questionable decisions. You're stuck with just Yasmin and Ruby for a significant portion of the book, so it's pretty important that you don't hate them. Ruby is impossible not to like - she's intelligent, sweet, and her unique view of the world is captivating. I loved the inclusion of her tweets, but did feel they were too few and too sporadic to really any anything to the book. The villians I really didn't care for at all, and their intentions fed into what I felt was a convoluted ending thrown on the reader at the last minute.
I've swung back and forth between three and four stars on this novel. Initially I thought three, then I thought four, and now I'm back to three. The reason is I'm mentally comparing it with other books I've read recently and and am rating it relatively, which is not something I want to do. Objectively speaking, I think good writing versus mostly unengaging characters and a real let-down of an ending means I have to only give it three.
Rating: 3/5
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