June 2018-Final Thoughts-**Spoilers Allowed**-Out of the Ice

[Phrynne, Mystery lover!]

Final thoughts (and reviews if you like) on Out of the Ice by Ann Turner

[Rob]

Just finished Out of the Ice by Ann Turner.
I enjoyed the book although I felt it took awhile to really get going. I found the part where Laura chose to bath her still born son about as gut wrenching as it gets.
The end was maybe just a little too perfect. But all in all a very enjoyable and interesting read.

[Kylie H]

I just finished this book and although I enjoyed learning about Antarctica, in that respect the book was very well researched, I think it failed to deliver as 'gripping suspense' as noted on the cover. I found the storyline to be quite lacking, instead large tracts were dedicated to detail about the location (enjoyable to read) and the food being eaten (distracting and unnecessary). I really wanted to like this book but I am afraid I did not. I think the author should have written a historical fiction or factual book about the life of the whalers as that was the part that interested me the most.
I agree with Rob, the end was just too perfect and for me it made the whole thing even more unbelievable. I rated it 2 stars.

[Brenda, Suspense lover!]

Glad you enjoyed it Rob... bad luck Kylie :)

[Kylie H]

Thanks Brenda, we all have different tastes. I hate being critical of books but it is different perspectives that build a conversation. We cannot all like the same thing, it will be interesting to see how others feel after reading this. 😃

[Brenda, Suspense lover!]

It would be incredibly boring if we all liked or disliked the same things, that's for sure!

[Phrynne, Mystery lover!]

I have to agree with Kylie and Rob that the ending failed. It was all over too quickly and everything was too easily fixed.

[Kylie H]

Phrynne wrote: "I have to agree with Kylie and Rob that the ending failed. It was all over too quickly and everything was too easily fixed."

This book has SO much potential given its location but for me it just didn't get there. My imagination had far more terrible things happening than what actually was revealed to have happened. However, I found it quite educational as I now know what a 'katabatic wind' is, and the very next book I read used that term too.

[Rowena]

Hi all,
I have to confess to cheating this month...

I read Out of the Ice when it first came out (scored a freebie from Simon and Schuster!). Agree with everything said here. I felt it had some flaws in pacing and structure (that whole 'was she attacked' scene at the beginning was so obviously contrived to make us question her mental state), but I found it very compelling with some haunting images and I cried buckets over the baby!

And how amazing must that deserted village be to see in real life?

Here's a link to the review I did then https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Rowena]

Kylie wrote: "Phrynne wrote: "I have to agree with Kylie and Rob that the ending failed. It was all over too quickly and everything was too easily fixed."

This book has SO much potential given its location but ..."

I definitely agree with you there Kylie.

[Kerri_M]

Just finished in time, last day of the month!

I struggled to get into this book, because for some reason I was expecting it to turn into a full blown horror story with monsters coming out of the ice, and I don't normally read horror, being a bit of a scaredy cat.

But I persevered, and as usual, people are the worst monsters. I enjoyed some aspects of this book, the setting, the idea of the preserved abandoned village, with houses waiting for their families to come back, and the history of the village.

But I didn't believe in any of the characters, and the plot was average.

★ ★☆ because of how clearly I can see those waiting houses in my head.

[Kylie H]

Hi Kerri, I had exactly the same experience. What I imagined to be happening was far worse than the actual story. While I am pleased it didn't descend into a 'horror' story I was quite underwhelmed with the plot.