This book was weird. Confusing. There were too many perspectives in not enough space. And even though I kind of liked the plot, I was really having trouble attaching myself to this story.

First of all, let's talk about our main character. Liv/Miriam (depending on the part of the story we're in) is such an unlikable person. And I usually don't mind that very much, as long as I can relate to them. Here, I just couldn't be convinced that I want to identify with her. Decisions she's making, the way she's behaving - I just don't get it. Author was trying to tell me that she was having a really bad relationship with her mother and brother, that this was the main point which shaped her the way she was in adulthood. Maybe because it was just hinted here and there and not really brought up to light it didn't do a very good job of convincing me to buy this whole story. I didn't feel connected, I didn't believe her at all. If there was any feeling that I had for Liv/Miriam it was mostly disbelief and kind of disgust because of what decisions she's making in her life.

Then after, there's the whole problem with the snake. I mean, why? Do we really need to get its part to be said? I think it was unnecessary and just confusing. I don't get why the author decided to make the animal so human-like. It did not add anything of value to the story, it was simple there to tell some parts of the book that were important in revealing the final twist of the plot without too much effort from the author's part.

As much as I think it was an interesting enough story, I'd wish for a better execution of it. After some time it was just trying to follow all of those characters and plot twists weren't that hard to guess. Over-complicating everything in this book didn't do it good in the end. I have the feeling that the author wanted to make it mysterious and sticking out but in reality she has put a fresh idea into boring writing.

Found this very strange and not in a good way. I'm afraid by the time the snake started to narrate the story, I wondered if I had been drugged or poisoned in some way. Not for me.

Interesting concept of book. I enjoyed getting the know the characters as time went on. I haven't read any other books like this before.

Reptile Memoirs is a thrilling and complex crime novel told over multiple timelines, beginning with the disappearance of Mariam’s daughter Iben. As we begin to follow the police investigation, the story then shifts back in time over a decade to introduce Liv who, together with her two flatmates, adopts a baby python. As all of the intricate pieces of the story fall into place, it becomes clear that these two seemingly unrelated characters are linked by a terrible trauma - the shocking consequences leading to revenge, obsession and murder.

This book had plenty of the classic Nordic Noir police procedural elements but was wrapped up in the middle of a much more unusual and gut wrenching horror story. There was one particular twist, and one truly disturbing event that actually left me speechless - this is certainly not a novel for the faint-hearted.

Reminiscent of Catriona Ward’s ‘The Last House on Needless Street’ (with some chapters written from the snake’s point of view), but mixed with the emotional resonance of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. The narrative was dark, challenging and unforgettable – a completely unique voice in this genre.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atlantic Books, Grove Press UK for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for a fair review.

Family secrets and dark trauma burst from the pages of Reptile Memoirs, a truly unusual and terrifying debut novel by Silje Ulstein. Liv has lots of secrets. She becomes obsessed with pythons and her and her flat mates decide to get one. Liv develops a highly disturbing bond with Nero the python leading to devastating consequences for her and all those around her. Skip forward thirteen years, and in a nearby town, the daughter of a local politician goes missing after a shopping trip with her mother. Detective Roe Olsvik is assigned the case and events from the past and present merge and collide. Who is responsible for the girl’s disappearance and what secrets are going to be uncovered?

Wow… oh wow…. what an absolutely stunning debut novel. Reptile Memoirs is a true page-turner with parts equally dark, heart-wrenching and creepy/weird. When I started reading the book I was thinking ‘what in the world is happening here???’. Multiple timelines, multiple stories but somehow Ulstein weaves the various components together to make this book a cohesive and disturbing read.

The characters are an eclectic mix of upstanding members of society (a 60 year old detective, the CEO of a successful company, a local politician), wayward teens/young people, and some very unsavory characters (including an illegal animal trader and drug dealers). Your perceptions of what these people are will be absolutely be turned on its head when you read this book. One of the strangest characters is Nero the python whose inner dialogue is truly creepy, adding to the fantastical and bizarre aspect of this book. It’s a very unusual book with the snake being a central character and I absolutely adored it. Reptile Memoirs is a fascinating discussion of the cold-hearted side of humanity.

It is a unique, exhilarating read that makes your teeth hurt from clenching your jaws so hard when you are racing to see what is going to happen next. One of these best debut novels I have read in a very long time. Not for the faint-hearted but a captivating Scandi-Noir crime story nonetheless.

TW: domestic abuse, sexual abuse, rape, infant death, trauma, graphic details.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. Reptile Memoirs is out on the 17th of March 2022 (fitting day to release it seeing as that’s St. Patrick’s Day here in Ireland- the man who got rid of all our snakes 😉 ) Get a copy- you will not be disappointed.

Thank you for giving me the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was not able to complete this book. Unfortunately it hasn’t grabbed my attention even though I really wanted it to and I didn’t want to continue reading it, Really sorry.

Just how it is to be a reptile with human thoughts and narrative, a weird one but unervingly intriguing....

As a big fan of Scandinavian authors this is one i was looking forward to and it did not disappoint. Like the snake at the center of the story the plot line shifts and turns and sheds its skin leaving the reader twisted up in its coils trying to figure out the connections.
In 2003 we see Liv, a student bring a small python into the house she shares with two friends. As the snake grows so it comes to represent something that Liv just can't overcome from her past. In 2017 a young girl disappears while shopping with her mother, well known local businesswoman Mariam Lind. What are the connections? Who are these woman and where is the snake? Why is the local policeman obsessed with this case?
The characters all in some way resemble the skin shedding reptile of the title and throughout the book even in translation there are references to snakes in all forms.

This was an unusual book, and in some places hard to follow. Although with saying that with perseverance I enjoyed it

Reptile Memoirs is a gripping and thrilling book, set across different moments in time. I guessed where some of the book was going but there were also several twists that kept me guessing and I didn't expect. Enjoyed and would recommend!

Thank you for this ARC in return for an honest review. An interesting premise. I was really interested in this title. It is well-written, but found it to be a bit of a slow-starter, and sadly my enthusiasm waned.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Atlantic Books for an advance copy of Reptile Memoirs, a stand-alone thriller set in Norway.

Ålesund 2003. The very troubled Liv becomes obsessed with her python, Nero which she bought after watching a documentary. Kristiansund 2017. Mariam has a fight with her 11 year old daughter, Iben, who runs off and disappears. Detective Roe Olsvik has Mariam as his prime suspect.

Reptile Memoirs is a most unusual novel, so kudos to the author for inventiveness and daring. I’ve been in a lather of indecision about my rating, because it is chock full of things I don’t like and yet I found it hypnotically compulsive. I finally chose the compulsion side, because even when it got annoying and I put it down, it wasn’t long before I picked it up again.

The novel is quite disjointed, switching between timelines and points of view, although it is never particularly difficult to understand because each change is clearly marked with a name and date, except for the voice of the snake which is handily entitled reptile memoirs. I assume that this voice is a metaphor for something, but I couldn’t be bothered trying to work it out as I’m all about the story, not literary devices. I really liked the plot, which is basically the hunt for a child with extra bells and whistles. The problem is that it is character driven and dwells on thoughts and reactions, which would be ok, if it weren’t for the fact that the main characters are universally unpleasant. Nevertheless, they are strongly drawn and credible in their frailties. On the other hand I did like the way their secrets and misdeeds are teased out over the course of the novel and that is the root of my compulsion. I wanted to know where the novel was going.

It should be noted that this is a dark novel and not for the faint hearted as there are several yucky (can’t think of a better word) scenes, mostly involving Nero, and it explores the worse side of human behaviour. It has fantastical elements, like Nero, but, underpinning it all is a good crime novel with a neat ending. I say neat in that it resolves most of the issues in a clever way with nothing being quite as it seems.

Reptile Memoirs is an interesting read that I found both compulsive and repulsive in parts. I would read more from the author as I like her imagination and style, but I don’t think it will be for all readers.

If you have a fear of snakes definitely leave this book on the shelf! Sara/Liv/Mariam is the main character whom we meet as a student sharing a flat with two young men. All three have had difficult childhoods and perhaps this explains their enthusiasm to agree with Liv that Nero, a young python, would be an ideal house pet! Nero moves in and soon has become the centre of Liv's life. Basically she becomes besotted with it.
Thirteen years later we meet up with liv - now known as Mariam - only she is now a married woman with a young child called Iben. Iben goes missing and the investigating officer suspects Mariam. Mariam certainly seems to act oddly and indeed disappears following what is assumed to be a case of child abduction. Nero now re-enters her life and there are many twists and turns as Mariam returns to her past life to try and find her child.
This is a truly grim and constantly shifting tale which gradually reveals the secrets of family tragedy and leaves Mariam to deal with the legacy of trauma.
The time jumps, allied to the numerous characters and name changes, don't make for a flowing narrative but nonetheless Reptile Memoirs is a book you'll remember for a long time.

I enjoy a good scandi noir but this one left me cold. I found the timelines confusing and the characters, though damaged, were also highly unsympathetic and, I suppose, cold blooded, like the snake, who also adds its perspective to the story. One of those books that I appreciated rather than loved.

This is a refreshingly different style of literary thriller and is as twisty as the snake that features so prominently in the story. At first, I wasn't sure I would like it. The writing style is unusual with multiple narrators and timelines, but a few chapters in, I was totally hooked. There are scenes which aren't really credible, but this is fiction after all, and I could not put it down. Highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC download of this novel. This is my unbiased review.

Well, what an unusual story this was. Tale told from the perspective of multiple characters (including the reptile in the title) which added to the intrigue and twists in the storyline. I did struggle a little with the unfamiliar names (due to the Nordic author and me being from the UK) and the many names which need to be kept in mind as the story unfolded, but managed! Very different to the usual crime tales and I did enjoy it. Can see this being made into a TV drama or a movie. Will look out for other books from this author.

2.5 rounded up to 3.

Part of the story takes place in Ålesund, Norway in 2003/4 when flatmates Liv, Egil and Ingvar decide to get a snake. They select a metre long tiger python whom they name Nero and he becomes central to the dark events to come. In August 2017 in Kristiansund, Mariam Lind is having a disagreement with her eleven year old daughter Iben’s magazine choice. Shortly after this Iben disappears, presumably to punish her mother and Mariam counters this by driving off and leaving her at the shopping centre which isn’t too far from their home. Also in 2017, Chief Inspector Roe Olsvik contemplates his impending 60th birthday with a resigned heart. He will take charge of the Lind case when Iben fails to return home. The story is told from several perspectives across the two timelines.

This is one strange book, in places it’s very surreal especially as the snake narrates part of the story. The first part of the book is particularly weird, there are sections that make me feel very uncomfortable, it’s extremely messed up and unpleasant in places especially in connection with the snake which is disturbing. I find the two timelines to be ambitious and not always easy to follow as it jumps from one to another, made harder by a large cast of characters most of whom are not particularly likeable especially Mariam. I nearly don’t finish this one but I guess the ‘originality’ of the story makes me keep going. It definitely improves as you progress but it’s only from about 40% into the book that things start to click into place as the little hints of truth in the first part start to make sense. The plot has several good twists in the latter stages, there’s plenty of tension especially as you realise that what is occurring in 2017 is deeply personal. It’s a sad, grim tale which is icily chilling.

Overall though, I can’t get around the fact that it’s a disturbing read which is hard to take in places. It’s certainly original but I can’t in all honesty say it’s one I enjoy.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Atlantic Books, Grove Press for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Thank You to Netgalley and the publishers for an advance copy.
A very interesting book that defies any easy classification. The basis of the plot is a missing girl and the police search to find her and this holds the story together. But this is not a run-of-the-mill crime book far from it. The past life of the mother Liv/Miriam is explored in detail and explores the different identities she has assumed. Through the center of the story, there is a python, the reptile of the title. In her earlier life, Liv has almost a sexual attraction to the snake and we are at various points treated to the things from the python's perspective. The changing identities of the mother are seen like the snake shedding its skin. This book is at times horrific , disturbing, and thought-provoking but never boring.

The central character of this book is someone who changes from being Sara or Liv or Miriam. She is also obsessed with a snake, Nero, thus the title. Then her child, Iben, goes missing. Buried in this book is a good murder story but the reader is distracted by the unlikely contribution written by the snake as well as a large number of extraneous characters. Slimmed down to the murder investigation, it would be a good read. As it stands, it is not credible.

Reptile Memoirs is a strange hybrid with oddly quirky writing that didn't really work for me.

It involves an ever shifting timeline which usually I like but again in this case I did quite honestly find it a bit irritating. I also thought it lost cohesion at points. However I did find the snake related parts fascinating although if you have a phobia this may not be for you.

On the plus side this is a unique story told in literary style which will play well with lots of readers. I think this is probably a marmite book that overall was not really for me.