Η παγωμένη πριγκίπισσα

Η παγωμένη πριγκίπισσα - Camilla Läckberg, Γρηγόρης Κονδύλης Originally posted on Book-o-Craze

I purchased and read this book translated to my native language - Greek. I wanted badly to read a Scandinavian mystery novel, after my first - and rather successful, I might add - attempt with The Snowman (Harry Hole, #7) by Jo Nesbø. Nesbø made me adore the Norwegian setting, with all its snow and darkness. But he also made me love mystery books. So, with that in mind - and seeing as the Greek editors dressed those two books with quite similar covers - I decided to pick The Ice Princess.

And, I have to admit, I was not disappointed. Not at all!
In fact, I quite liked both of the main heroes - even if the narration was mostly focused on Erica - as well as the fact that side characters' stories were also explained.

The story line was incredible, as well as the way it was all put together. I can't really say much about the writing style, as the book was translated, but I quite enjoyed it. And that says a lot. If the translation is not quite good I can't even finish the book.

I liked the fact that at no point was I bored or disinterested in the story. Everything was described for a certain reason. And, that was to make us more absorbed to the book. I have to admit, that the writer quite succeeded at that. Because even if at some point it was perfectly clear to me where the story was going, and what existed behind the crime - even if I'm not entirely sure that the writer herself didn't make us go towards that way with subtle comments here and there, to make us more accustomed to it - I still felt goosebumps all over my body when the truth came out. And this happened twice, following two of the three big revelations.

Which brings me to the third and final piece of the puzzle. I expected something else entirely. Well, I even thought that maybe someone else was the killer. It could have been a little more juicy the way I originally thought it would go. But, it was still all good.

Although I liked this book extremely, it didn't quite make it to my favorites list because of two reasons. First, I enjoyed the romance between the main characters alright, but it did seem to me a little bit too easy. I would have preferred something a little more challenging, and not all this lovey dovey feelings so soon. Second, at some points I couldn't help myself, and actually compared The Ice Princess to The Snowman - and not because of both titles referring to cold situations - (I even started the review of the book referring to Nesbø's book, for crying out loud). It just missed something. Not big. But that's exactly the reason why I can't quite put my finger on it.

All in all, this book was a great experience, with a very nice, mysterious story line, and quite evolved and perfectly described characters. I will totally give a chance to the rest of the books in the series about the adventures of Erica and Patrik.