Outside by Ragnar Jonasson
Ragnar Jonasson’s Outside is set in Iceland. There are four friends, out for a weekend hunting trip, when they find themselves trapped in a blizzard. Luckily for them, they come upon a hut, but they discover something startling inside. Will they make it out of this weekend alive? What secrets are each of the four friends harboring?
After reading Ragnar Jonasson’s The Girl Who Died, I was super excited to dig into this book. Outside is relatively fast paced, and it feels more like a novella than a full-length novel. Outside starts off with an extremely engaging introduction and rotates between the four friends’ perspectives.
What I loved about The Girl Who Died, I kept wondering is this going to have a scientific explanation or a supernatural one? However, Outside did not really have that vibe.
Please keep in mind that this is an ARC (Advance Reader Copy) so the final version might be a bit different. However, I think that the writing needs to be cleaned up a bit. What do I mean by that? First, there is a bit too much telling and not enough showing. In one scene, the characters have an argument. There isn’t any further explanation about what the argument was even about. Second, some parts of this book don’t make sense. For example, a character would say how they never want to see this other character again and then in the next sentence talk about how he would go to such great lengths for this person that he never wants to see again.
Did these characters watch The English Patient? You never leave an injured person behind!
The ending is extremely abrupt, and I didn’t even understand that the book was over.
Overall, the plot is interesting, and this book is quite the page-turner. However, the reader must be prepared to suspend reality, and the ending should be stronger.
*Thank you, NetGalley, for a free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and honest opinion.
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