Alice is a stuck-up, middle-aged dentist on the verge of a complete nervous breakdown when her sister Melissa (who is the opposite to her in everything) treats her to a week away. Alice ends up disappointed when she finds herself not in a luxury spa, but barefoot and foraging for her own breakfast at a Viking retreat in Denmark. But the retreat could be the one thing to make Alice really take a look at herself and start changing things for the better.

This was a book with a lot of potential and unfortunately while most of the humour was there, and the overall feeling of ‘I am Woman, Here Me Roar’ was there, it just didn’t quite do everything I was hoping for.

I think if Alice had had one or two less items on all the baggage she has carrying around, this book and Alice’s character may flowed better. She was hard to read at times because she was just so tangled up within herself, and what she thought she should be and how others thought of her, she honestly made me tired. I needed her to loosen up quicker than she did and at times I definitely wanted to shake her a bit.

I would have liked more focus put on Alice’s past history of suffering from an ED, as I don’t like when they’re mentioned in books and not given the focus they deserve. There was some mention of how Alice still suffers but I just feel like if it was being mentioned, it needed focus. Alice could often be extremely critical towards other women, particularly younger, thinner women which is obviously tied in with her past and her eating, but was hard to read.

I liked seeing the camaraderie between the women on the Viking retreat (despite Alice’s constant comments towards Margot) and I really loved the heroine-worship relationship they had with Inge who honestly, seemed amazing.

Gone Viking by Helen Russel
A wonderful and funny novel, taking a look at contemporary life, and its effect on our relationships with those around us.
Sisters Alice and Melissa take an unexpected retreat holiday together, in Denmark, expecting a spa. However, the Spa turns out to be a holiday on how to find your inner Viking! The Sisters are the complete opposite of each other, Alice finds it hard to make friends being ‘too busy’, is married to slob and works really hard, trying to have it all. Melissa on the other hand lives her life as it comes, can’t be bothered with grooming, and seemingly doesn’t want children, and the usual settling down ritual.
It’s laugh out loud funny all the way through, although the book does also have a serious edge. I loved the characters, and the thoughtful ending. Definitely a must read.

Two chalk-and-cheese sisters go on an unusual holiday to Scandinavia. As a mother and dentist Alice has been spreading herself too thinly and burying her head in the sand about her marriage.

Helen Russell is a new author to me and a total joy to read, a great book about letting loose and finding the Viking in all of us. Poignant and at the same time hilarious a great read for the holidays and just be glad you’re not on a Viking retreat.

Gone Viking is a humorous, fun story about discovering what's really important, all told through the eyes of 'frazzled' mum Alice.

The characters are good fun (some more likable than others); I found main character Alice quite hard to warm to, especially at first - I suppose I don't have a lot in common with her as a character. However, following her and the group's adventures during their Viking 'holiday' is really amusing, and the story is uplifting and engaging. I really liked Inge, in particular - she is someone to aspire to in many ways!

Some parts of Gone Viking are ridiculous, but you kind of expect that, and there are some more emotional parts too, meaning this isn't completely light and fluffy. You follow Alice as she really changes during her time away, and see her grow as she realises what's really important, and learns to loosen up a bit! 

An amusing, fun read in the 'women's fic' category which doesn't just focus on relationships!

The book starts out feeling a little autobiographical before it has the fiction edge to it. The lead character Alison is easy to relate to, trying to do the right thing, keeping the peace, juggling work,life and kids. The first part of the book was my favourite. It made me think about my life, and behaviours, (and teeth brushing habits. I'm not sure if this was the reason I picked up new toothbrushes today). The promo for the book promised laugh out loud, which for me it wasn't. Instead I found an enjoyable story about two sisters who are rediscovering themselves and each other, realising that nobody is perfect. It's heartwarming and enjoyable.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This had me laughing out loud and could relate to Alice Ray completely.

Brilliant. Funny and sad in equal measures, Alice manages to repair her relationship with her sister, sort out her life's priorities and psychoanalyse herself by living as a Viking for the week. Loved it.

This book makes you stop and think about how life can be passing you by and sometimes you need to take time out and evaluate what is important and what makes you happy.

I think everyone can see something of themselves in one of the book characters - however scary that might be.

A good read and will read more by the author.

Alice Ray doesn’t have time to sit and relax. She has a full-time job as a dentist, two young children, and a husband who spends his days watching news on TV, while she cleans, cook, and takes the children to school. With a house full of animals and no wi-fi, her sister Melissa couldn’t be more different, but when she proposes a week away in a spa, Alice can’t say no. But the spa turns out to be a getaway in Denmark on how to be a Viking, learning to build boats, use swords, and become a warrior, together with two other women. For Alice this is also a chance to let herself go, improve her relationship with her sister, and face the fact that she is in an unhappy marriage.
This book is hilarious, the characters are hilarious, and the situations they get themselves in are hilarious. I laughed out loud from start to finish, although there are also a few moving moments. The characters are engaging and realistic, each of them with a different story to tell. An uplifting, very well-written, and witty novel with the perfect ending to a great story!

Helen Russell is just a master. If you ever needed convincing that going Viking or at least visiting Denmark is the best idea you can have, her non-fiction and fiction work should be more than enough to help you.
This is an incredibly fun, sweet and warrior-like novel about finding your inner Viking and accepting the ways of the Danes to help aid happiness in your life. We follow Alice, an uptight dentist who is dragged along to the Viking experience by her sister, and spends the holiday completely changing as a person.
I won't lie- I cried a lot at this book, it was just that sweet and heart-breaking. I loved the relationship between Alice and her sister. It reminded me so much of my own relationship with my younger sister, and seeing as I just went back to university after spending Easter with her, I was very susceptible to those tears. It's a powerful book, despite the fluffy nature of it, and something that will make you laugh, cry and cheer for these four women. Seeing strong, bad-ass females going Viking and living life in a way that makes you happy (i.e. with beer, coffee, cake, bread and HYGGE) just made me want to clap every time they did something awesome- axe-throwing anybody?
I highly recommend Helen Russell as a writer, just generally, and I hope and pray she continues to write more about Denmark, if only to give me even worse wanderlust for Scandinavia.

Unfortunately I couldn't get into this - the start while aiming to shock wasn't funny enough to carry it off and I'm afraid I found all the dentist stuff really off-putting (I'm sure lots of people wouldn't mind that). Not for me, sadly.

A fun read about breaking free from expectations and living your life honestly. I liked the principles of this, and I imagine it will be very popular.

This wouldn't usually be my thing -- I rarely request anything that's classified under "women's fiction", as it tends to aimed at readers who are both older than me and more interested in romance. But this said it was funny, and I like Vikings, so I figured I'd give it a go.

It took a while to get into it, I'll admit. I like books that I can relate to on a personal level, but I have almost nothing in common with the protagonist of this book, so it took a while for me to find an emotional way into the story. But I got there eventually. I loved Inge (she is honestly #goals), and I liked the the book's central focus was on the relationship between two sisters.

It's also very much a book about female friendship. It features a group of women who start out bitchy and competitive and judging each other on their appearance and their background and so on, but become friends and realise they're not actually in competition with each other and don't have to put the others down in order to succeed. It's a sisterhood story -- not just literally, as with Alice and Melissa, but metaphorically too.

It manages to do that without being horribly cringey, though. And their bonding experiences may be rough and outdoorsy, but it lacks the condemnation of femininity it could have had. Alice admires Inge for her housekeeping and parenting skills as much as for her ability to forge a sword or build a boat -- though, granted, she's mostly just overawed that Inge can do both. The novel combines the pursuit of rough outdoorsy Viking life with emotional growth and compassion, which I found really refreshing.

It also gets surprisingly deep at times, and deals with grief: both past grief (a lost parent) and the anticipation of future grief (an illness). The latter was something I didn't see coming, and while in some ways it might have been more admirable if the character growth had occurred without that dramatic push, it was realistic that it would take something like that to trigger change. (And to be fair, it had been happening already.)

I didn't always gel with the writing style and, like I said, it took me quite a while to get into the book, but I ended up enjoying it a lot. I'm by no means a Viking purist, despite my degree (I actually avoid the Vikings as much as possible), and I enjoyed the disclaimer at the beginning aimed at those who are. It wasn't really trying to present any historical facts (though I didn't spot much to object to in those that were given): it's more about the cultural idea of Vikings, rather than Vikings themselves. And really that's Viking Age people rather than Vikings themselves, since the word basically means pirates. But yunno.

Anyway. This was surprisingly fun yet deep, once I got into it. Probably 3.5*s, because it did take me quite a while to get invested.

The above review is on Goodreads; my book blog is currently on hiatus due to university pressure (I'm a finalist), but will be up and running again soon, at which point I'll cross-post this or a similar but expanded review.

This is a brilliant story that will make you laugh and possibly cry (if you are like me and cry at anything a little soppy). Alice is a juggling her career, her two children and her stay at home husband. Her sister Melissa picks her up from a work convention in a right state, returns her home and sees first hand what Alice is facing. Melissa suggests they take a break together which Alice reluctantly agrees to thinking she’ll embark on a lovely spa retreat. What actually happens is something she would never expect.

The Viking retreat turns out to be just what Alice needs. She finds herself and forges a new relationship with her sister and makes great friends along the way.

All of the characters are well written and each have their own inner demons that their Viking leader Inge brings to the surface.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and I’m sure lots of women will be able to connect with at least one of the characters in this story, I know I did.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Very, very funny and just a bit mad!

Alice is a control-freak dentist who had a bit of an incident at a dental conference and was persuaded to have a break with her sister, Melissa, who arranged the get-away. Alice though it would be a spa, but it turned out to be a Viking get-away in the middle of nowhere in Denmark, led by a guy called Magnus, living outside and being 'Viking-like', foraging for food, no shoes, living in a hut they made themselves, no mod cons, doing tasks each day, with two other women, Tricia and Margot, all such completely different characters.

After Magnus fell ill and the ladies saved him and brought him back to his Amazonian wife, Inge (who was absolutely amazing!) things got a little bit easier as she took over and was so much better at everything than her husband, including the girl talks they all had after a few beers. Alice had really not wanted to be there at all, but the place kind of grew on all of them, helping them think about their lives without any other distractions.

Lots of issues were finally resolved, for all of them, along with lots of long buried feelings between Alice and Melissa from when their Mother died when they were younger.

Very funny, but also quite thought provoking and sad at times. Something just a little bit different, but memorable. Very entertaining story.

I really enjoyed this book - it made me laugh out loud, prompted me to reflect on what matters, and I was eager to read through to the end as fast as possible. The latter because I wanted to know the outcome, and found the story compelling. Having lived in Denmark (and given birth to a child there ...) I appreciate the contrast of style and rustic life, too.

Helen Russell has a distinct style and humour which is most appealing, and I heartily recommend Going Viking as a well-written, engaging and delightful novel.

I had an ARC through Net Galley. I really enjoyed it. I did find that the Viking talk a little overplayed at points, but the plot and characters were engaging and I really enjoyed seeing how things progressed. I loved the relationship between Alice and Melissa, and found it very believable. And I really rather want to be Inge...

A wonderful feel good book that is both comforting and empowering at once. Lovingly realistic and flawed characters ensure that this book really gets under your skin as you join the girls on their self discovery trip to Scandinavia.

I loved this book. I found it funny, refreshing and entertaining. Highly recommended.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Helen Russell for the copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.