Erica FerencikBesprekingen

I enjoyed this far more than I expected to. It is the story of a linguist who is called to the arctic to help out with a thawed out person speaking an ancient language.
The premise is impossible,but, if you can put that aside, characters are relatively interesting and
Story is different enough to hold interest

(2022)Starts slowly, but really picks up at the end. A young girl is found frozen in ice in Greenland. The ice is cut out and when she thaws out, she is alive. The scientific station that finds her, brings in Val, a linguist, to try to communicate. It's determined that she must be 100s of years old as her language is too archaic for modern times. The story is really a warning of global warming and its affect on weather. KIRKUS: When a girl frozen in ice at the Arctic Circle thaws out alive, an ancient Nordic languages specialist with troubles of her own is called to the scene.Ferencik�author of Into the Jungle (2019)¥specializes in thrillers set in wilderness environments with female protagonists; her latest takes us to the land of subzero temperatures and wind-whipped polar landscapes. But bad weather is just the beginning of the unpleasantness Val Chesterfield encounters when she overcomes her many phobias to fly out and help climate scientist Wyatt Speeks with his perplexing specimen. The girl he chopped out of the wall of a crevasse and defrosted is terrified, violent, and unintelligible. While Wyatt is creepy on many levels, creepiest of all is his unwillingness to discuss the death by exposure of his erstwhile lab partner, Val's twin brother, Andy. Andy's having gotten locked out of the house overnight in his underwear has been presented as a suicide, but neither Val nor her father, also a climate scientist, believe it. Belief is a problem all through this book¥the elements made up to serve the plot rest on a foundation of real climate science, linguistics, and cultural history but still don't manage to be convincing. The five characters¥Val, Wyatt, a nasty cook, and a pair of married marine scientists¥are also less than lifelike. Saddled with mental health issues and bad manners, their interactions range from rude to abusive except for the married couple, who are so in love it's nauseating. You really wouldn't want to be stuck in a room with these people, which poor Val is much of the time, and now someone has stolen her anxiety meds and hidden the booze! She finds herself becoming deeply attached to the mystery girl, but progress with communication is slow, and the girl's health takes a drastic turn for the worse. And then they all go outside and things get crazy.Tense, claustrophobic, and a bit hard to swallow.Pub Date: March 1, 2022ISBN: 978-1-9821-4302-2Page Count: 304Publisher: Scout Press/Simon & Schuster

An edge of your seat” adventure novel set in the jungle of Bolivia . Lilly, a 19 yr old American product of the foster care system is backpacking in Bolivia when she meets local Omar and falls in love heading into the jungle with him to his home. The rest of the novel is filled with high adventure, great descriptions of jungle life and some mysticism with Shaman( Beya) . Turns out Lily is a shaman too. Lots of gory food and slithering animals and it all comes together in a tense, action packed thriller of a read. I enjoyed “ Into the Jungle” very much.

Troubled Lily has had enough of bad foster homes and uncaring people so she packs a back pack and accepting a job offer heads to Cochabamba, Bolivia only to find that the job is non-existent. She does get a menial job at a hostel and there meets up with a couple of other travellers. The three girls spend much of their time drifting from bar to bar. Then one night Lily’s life changes forever when she meets and falls in love with Omar.

Omar is from the Amazonian jungle and when he is called to return home, Lily decides to go with him. She soon finds out that surviving the jungle with it’s poachers, remote tribes, shamens, killer animals and poisonous insects is not going to be easy. From horrible weather to countless dangers, Lily is totally out of her comfort zone and struggles to find how to fit in.

Into the Jungle is exactly what I was looking to read. An over-the-top adventure story about a young American woman living in the Bolivian jungle. The dangers and the strange mysticism that Lily experiences are a little melodramatic but had this reader rapidly turning the pages in order to find out what hazard Lily would next face.½

Reminds me a bit of a B-horror movies. Four friends go on a secluded white water rafting trip with an unknown instructor. Soon they end up without an instructor, no raft/supplies, and miles away from civilization.½

I don't read a lot of books in this kind of "modern thriller" genre, if that's what you call it. I'm more of a magic and aliens kinda guy, but my wife got this as a gift and we thought we'd give it a try. We both liked it a lot and couldn't wait to find out how it would all come together and whether there would be any monsters or anything supernatural involved.

The writing was good, the characters felt pretty well fleshed out and the setting was cool. It was a really easy read because there weren't a bunch of factions to keep track of and tons of background characters, no crazy names and new cultures/races to be described and ancient made-up histories.

This book had the perfect amount of suspense and scariness. Frightening, but not so much to give you nightmares. I thought it was funny that the book club suggestion at the end was to take a white water rafting trip with your book club. Uh, no thanks! 😆

The premise of this story is fascinating - a young girl unfrozen from the ice in Greenland with a scientist linguist brought in to try and decipher her language. The problem is that the linguist and all of the other scientists involved in this project are secretive, neurotic or just plain crazy - it was aggravating. The ending was handled so abruptly that within the space of one page, the setting moved from the icy shores of Greenland to the linguist talking on the phone to her father about strawberry licorice. I like Erica Ferencik's novels, but this one could have been handled so much better - somewhat disappointing.½

This literary speculative fiction thriller not only tackles issues of language and first-contact colonialism, as well as climate change and what we’re doing to the planet, but also what it means to overcome your greatest fears in order to do the right thing.

This sci-fi thriller is outside my normal wheelhouse. It is action-packed and suspenseful with a mystery wrapped up inside. I had heard a good review and the premise made me curious. Then I received a copy of it from Book Cougars in a random drawing. I liked it enough to finish it and bond with some of the characters. All of the characters had potential for being very intriguing, but their descriptions fell short as they were only in service to the plot.
The most impressive part of the book is the setting. Ferencik paints an atmospheric backdrop to an improbable storyline. If you enjoy stories set in the Arctic, this would definitely speak to you. The protagonist is a linguist. I would like to have learned more about her process as she worked with the Girl of the title. Call this a 3.5 star read worth the time, leaving me with some haunting memories.½

I love books about people managing in cold temperatures and what a story this was! The mysteries surrounding Val's brother, Andy, and Sigrid, the girl in ice....were great and I was left IN mystery right up to the end! Terrific writing ---the visual images Ferencik's words were able to create were impressive, especially since she was never there!

Val is a brilliant linguist, grieving the loss of her twin brother, and struggling with anxiety that is not fully addressed by her medication. There are very few places that she is comfortable enough or even able to force herself to go. Her life is basically work at the university, visiting her dying father, and home. But when she gets an email from her deceased brother's mentor that includes a recording of a girl he claims was frozen solid and defrosted alive in the Arctic, she decides to get on a plane not only to see if she can interpret this girl's language but to visit the place of her bother's death and find out what truly happened to him.
The small cast of characters being basically trapped together in a desolate sub zero setting created an instant atmosphere of dread and cabin fever. Add to that the mystery of how a child could be defrosted alive and the sci fi sub plot of climate change leading to people all over the world being flash frozen and I was hooked on this thriller from the start.

I received an advance copy for review.

Lily Bushwold never thought that one day she would follow a man she hardly knew into the jungle, to the village he was born. But love can change a lot in a person's life. Lily grew up in group homes and when she got a teaching job in Cochabamba, Bolivia, she took the chance for a change. The problem is that there was no teaching job and now she's stuck in Cochabamba showing off her thieving skills to some new girlfriends. But, when Omar enters her life is it like being hit by a train; she has met the man of her dreams. So, of course, Lily goes with him when he must return to his home village in the middle of the jungle after his brother's child has been killed by a jaguar. However, she soon learns that much in the jungle can kill...

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This will not be a long review. I just want to explain why I did not find this book enjoyable. And, it's because I really, really disliked the 4 main female characters in the book. I can take, the whole being stranded in a forest away from people and having to get back to civilization while facing dangerous situations. I love stuff like that. What I can't deal with are stupid characters. I honestly should have stopped reading the book, when I read that they spent 45 min in the car trying to find a toilet whiles driving through a forest.

Thre are many, many moments through the book when I wanted to either give up or throw something heavy on a character, but I managed to finish the book. Yes, I did start to skim a bit (or very much) towards the end just to put me out of the misery. I should have listened to reason and stopped at 30%, but I'm just a tenacious idiot sometimes...

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

Excellent suspenseful thriller.

Bara en bok i mängden. En blek "Sista färden" historia och väldigt stereotypa huvudkaraktärer. Fungerar som tidsfördriv, men inget som jag kommer att minnas.

3.5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Anxiety: the crippling kind. I'm tethered to the familiar, the safe, or what I perceive as safe.

Girl in Ice was a mystery, thriller, and touch of scifi story that took an intriguing idea but didn't completely deliver on all of its executions. Told in first person from Val, a linguist who has anxiety that keeps her from deviating from the known, she eats the same meals, can't bring herself to travel to new places, and lost her twin brother to suicide five months ago. She receives a phone call from her brother's mentor who he had been studying climate change with on a small uninhabited island off Greenland's northwest coast, Wyatt claims he found a young girl frozen in the ice and she has miraculously thawed out alive and is frantically speaking a language that no one can understand. Wyatt wants Val to put her linguistic genius to use and help him figure out what the girl is saying. Val's anxiety makes it nearly impossible for her to travel but she never believed the story of her brother's suicide and her father is pressuring her to go to the Arctic Circle to find out the truth of what really happened.

What is she saying, what does she want, what has happened to her?

The Arctic Circle setting with it's isolation helps to add a sense of eerie and helplessness and the small cast of characters, Val, Wyatt, the brusque mechanic Jeanne, the married couple scientists, and the girl found in the ice, Sigrid, narrow the focus and add to the thriller feel of urgency for Val to figure out what is going on before it's too late. The story was a bit bottom heavy with the slower creeping of Val arriving in the Arctic Circle, introduction of characters, very gradual growing of understanding between Val and Sigrid, and then the rush to understanding and some reveals in the last 20%. That very ending rush left some answers in its wake, the scifi component and some of the mystery but left others missing, like the ultimate answer about some deaths. The author almost gave too much backstory to some characters because their inclusion left some threads dangling. I also was a little disappointed in how Jeanne's character was utilized and the ending.

To be encased in this glacial prison, eyes frozen open in terror, how long had she been like that?

The use of a very real crisis, climate change, and then adding in some danger of ice winds (a changing of temperature so quick it instantly freezes people) and then adding in the scifi-ish elements made this story's basics intriguing but the rushing in the ending gave this more of a deflated balloon feeling. Some side stories and secondary characterizations ending up not feeling needed because of how they weren't wrapped up, not puzzle piece explained, and ultimately felt needed to be edited out. However, there were some memorable scenes, like the mass grave site of flash frozen people caught in mid-battle, and the mystery/thriller feeling of dread is definitely felt in the middle with questions of is Val's anxiety the culprit or is she really in danger. If looking for a touch of scifi in your mystery and thriller reading, this would provide an easy afternoon chilling read.

This book has four friends going on their annual trip to hang out. This year Pia has decided white water rafting in northern Maine sounds grand. Win, our heroine, is annoying. She can’t decide if she wants to go. She gets her list from Pia and doesn’t know what water shoes or wicking fabric is. But at the end of the book she can name all the flowers in a field. She is an almost 40 year old living in Boston! Sharon is our cancer survivor, and Rachel is a recovering alcoholic. This book seemed too formulaic for me. If you have something in your TBR pile, go with that

Val Chesterfield has spent her life building a successful career as a linguist learning dead languages. But she lives a very quiet and sheltered life. She has spent her life living in her twin brother Andy's shadow. But when she finds out that Andy is gone from suicide she doesn't believe he would have killed himself.
While still grieving for the lost of her brother Val receives a phone call from her brothers mentor Wyatt. He has made an amazing discovery and needs her expertise as a linguist. You see Wyatt has found a young girl frozen in the ice and by some miracle she is alive!

I really liked the relationship between Val and the little girl! Here Val thinks she is teaching the girl to speak but really the girl was teaching Val that it's ok to feel and express what you feel. The setting is a remote island off Greenland’s coast and just adds the creepy feel. The desolation, the freezing temperatures and the sound of the howling wind. The stories pace does seem drawn out in some places but not unnecessarily! A lot of the elements that make up the story are very different but I enjoyed the differences! Overall a very enjoyable read! Definitely one you'll want to curl up with a blanket and snuggle down for a nice freezing read!

Very interesting book, not my “normal” type of read, but I enjoyed it. It’s a bit science fiction, mystery, and thriller all mixed together for an exciting ride. I didn’t see anything coming because it was all rather strange…to me. But fun in a scary kind of way!

It did seem to take a long time to get moving but once it did, I read it straight through!

fascinating concept in this science fiction/thriller. In the near future, a woman, Val, suffering from agoraphobia joins an arctic expedition in Greenland to figure out the language a young girl who has been buried in ice and then, when thawed out, lives. Val is a linguist, an expert in obscure languages. There is dissention among the team members, with the possible murder of Val's brother by the leader. Very vivid descriptions of Greenland.

Review of Advance Reader’s Edition

When Wyatt Speeks, a researcher at a remote Arctic facility, discover a young girl frozen in the ice who is miraculously alive when thawed out, he seeks the help of linguist Valerie Chesterfield, an expert in long-forgotten Nordic languages. The girl from the ice speaks a language no one understands, and he’s hoping Val can help.

Despite her fears, Val decides to make the journey to the Arctic, certain she will be able to solve what she feels is the mystery surrounding her brother’s death. And the idea of investigating the girl's language fascinates her. But she finds the girl sick, possibly dying, and Wyatt’s research may be the only thing that can save her.

Will Val, who has a strong connection with the girl, find a way to understand her language? And what is the truth about her brother’s death?

=========

Well-developed characters, a strong sense of place, and an intriguing puzzle all combine to keep the pages turning in this captivating narrative. The snowy, frozen arctic comes alive, taking on the role of a character in the telling of this tale. The climate change threat and the folklore of the Inuit both add rich nuances to the unfolding narrative.

The interplay between the characters keeps the story moving, often in unexpected ways. The twisting plot reveals unexpected surprises and keeps readers guessing. Threaded throughout the story is an engrossing subplot, that of the death of Val’s twin brother, Andy. As it plays out, characters reveal their true selves and, although many are unlikable, the interplay between them plays an important role in the ongoing story.

Character-driven, compelling, and intense, the evolving thriller shines when Val is working with Sigrid, trying to communicate, seeking common ground in language. There’s a strong menacing undercurrent throughout the telling of the tale; readers will find moments when holding their breath seems appropriate because of the ominous nuances woven into the narrative.

Val’s grief over the loss of her brother, her belief that his death was something other than suicide, compels her to leave her sheltered existence and venture to the far north where Andy died and where she’s sure to find the answers she seeks. But here she discovers her own strength as she conquers her fears. It’s a story with much to offer, much to contemplate, much to enjoy.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Girl in Ice is Erica Ferencik's third novel. I am not sure how to categorize it. Environmental thriller is the closest description but this is not an end of the world horror story. The story is about a girl who is found frozen in the ice in a deep crevice in Greenland and the climate scientists who are trying to communicate with her. Valerie Chesterfield is a linguist who loves the dead Nordic languages. She languishes in the shadow of her twin brother, Andy, an accomplished climate scientist who was stationed on a remote island off Greenland’s coast. Andy has recently committed suicide. He ventured into unprotected into 50 degree below zero weather wearing nothing but boxer shorts. Valerie suspects foul play though. She knows her brother loved life and would not have killed himself.

When Wyatt, Andy’s fellow researcher in the Arctic, discovers the girl, he immediately calls Val. Despite her agoraphobia Val journeys to Greenland to solve the mystery of the girl's language as well as her brother’s death. However, the moment she steps off the plane, her fears almost overwhelm her. She medicates herself with pills and alcohol. The landscape is tough and Wyatt, brilliant but difficult, is an enigma. The girl, Sigrid, is intriguing, and Valerie has a special connection with her. A few weeks after she thaws out, Wyatt believes that Sigrid may be ill. Valerie thinks that the answer to healing Sigrid lies in discovering the truth about Wyatt’s research. She does not know whether his data can be trusted and wonders if it has anything to do with her brother's death.

Whew! This was a riveting read. I was hooked from the first page with its foreshadowing narrative: "There would be no bursting into tears at school. Grief was for after hours, for the nightly bottle of merlot, for my dark apartment, for waking on the couch at dawn, the blue light of the TV caressing my aching flesh." I couldn't put the book down until I finished reading it. Not only did each chapter end with suspense to keep me reading, but practically every page did also.

I enjoyed reading about the Greenland setting. It is an integral setting where the physical landscape, climate, weather and culture become part of the story. In addition, it's harsh landscape matched Valerie's emotions. Both were frozen. While the characters were careful when they went outside, I couldn't help but see the beauty in the snowy scenes they were navigating. Snow is always beautiful when you don't have to go outside yourself! It was fascinating to learn about the three languages that are spoken in the island: West Greenlandic, East Greenlandic and the Thule Greenlandic called Inuktun. Val was an expert in these languages. She stated in the novel "A language is far more than a means of communication. It is the very condition of humanity." Her problem in communicating with Sigrid was that Sigrid did not speak any of these languages. She spoke a few words from each language but Val could not determine what Sigrid was trying to tell her.

The author did a great job creating her characters. Val's emotional state matched the landscape of the novel. The agoraphobia that she suffered from was shown, not told. We saw Val medicating herself in order to be able to leave her home and later, leave the the comfort of her workspace in Greenland. Wyatt Speeks was the perfect villain. The climate scientist was impatient with others and this caused Val to be wary of him. She was not sure whether she could trust him or any of his decisions. Wyatt's assistant, Jeanne, was equally as emotionally frozen as Val. Her conversations were always cryptic but she suffered the loss of family members too. Jeanne was the cook and mechanic at the station. I thought it was odd that someone who wasn't a scientist was working at the station. The two other scientists working at the Greenland station were married to each other. Polar marine scientists Nora and Rajeev Chandra-Revard were way too lovey-dovey and their passion for each other was a little sickening. However, they did provide a break from the three other dark personalities.

Val goes to a remote scientific outpost in arctic Greenland seemingly to help determine the language a child who has been found by the researchers. Her real motivation is to discover what really happened to her twin brother who has been reported to have committed suicide. This is a true page turner. Is Val safe? Is the child she has come to study? Did one of the personnel at the base murder her brother?½