I didn't know it was based on real events until I finished the book and read the author's note. The amount of research that went into this book elevated my enjoyment of the book even more. It was a beautiful interpretation of the story backed by a lot of historical sources.

Content warning: murder, execution/capital punishment, animal death, violence, abuse, neglect, abandonment, death of parent, depression, suicidal thoughts, toxic relationship, assault, rape, child sexual abuse, panic attack, chronic illness, pregnancy, miscarriage, infidelity, ableism, classism, gaslighting

Definitely make sure to look through the content warnings (I'm sure I've missed some). Kent's writing was very atmospheric and painted a bleak picture of Agnes's last days. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook as Morven Christie gives an amazing performance to really bring Kent's words to life. If you usually speed up the audio, I wouldn't go any further than 1.5x; let yourself sink into the story. It's really slow, but just be patient with it

the catharsis at the end was such a relief. So sad but I felt much better after my sob fest

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I was compelled to get through this book but I can’t say I particularly enjoyed it. 
Much of the landscape and the plot is bleak, foreboding and inescapable so there is a dull misery and inevitability to the course of the story. There are no surprising twists and when Agnes finally tells her tale, it is much as the reader would anticipate.
This book therefore has very little in terms of plot development and is all about reflecting on the thoughts and actions of the characters.
There are a diverse range of complex characters which adds interest and the reader does become particularly sympathetic to Agnes. She is a well rounded character, illiciting a feeling of sympathy but also dread when she makes decisions and takes action to do things that are as damaging to herself as the actions and decisions of others.

I am unsure about why Tóti’s story includes some level of desire and romantic feeling for Agnes as this element didn’t have legs and didn’t develop into anything. Is this perhaps a spiritual aside- the difficulty for those that give their life to God to walk the line between feeling a higher spiritual purpose whilst experiencing carnal desires.

I am also unsure why Margrét laid out her clothes near to the end of the book. Obviously Lauga relinquishing her brooch was relevant to her realising all was not as it first seemed, but I don’t understand the relevance of Margrét’s actions.

I also don’t understand why Tóti suffered a long and debilitating illness- Agnes could have told her story through Tóti as easily as she did through Margrét so I’m unsure why the author chose to cut Tóti from the narrative for several months. 

I did not like the historical letters included. I found them dull and two dimensional and did not really add anything to the story. I understand it was important to the author to include them to nail the narrative to the true story but I felt they were unnecessary.

A dark and mostly depressing read- well written but uneventful and unsurprising. 

this was a good read, I enjoyed all the description of the Icelandic nature and how that impacted their lives in the 1800s. I think I set myself up for disappointment in that I thought it would have a great plot twist but it was what I thought it would be originally, so I was little saddened by that but as a true crime story, makes sense 

So tragic and beautifully written. Explores the complexity of life as a woman, as a worker, as a human. The power of narrative to shape our life is a strong feature.