Wonderful atmospheric the setting in the Artic was so unique drew me right in.I really enjoyed the story the characters the writing.Will be recommending.#netgalley #guernicabooks

NetGalley review
Capturing the remoteness of the Arctic, beautifully described. Irina accepts a teaching contract in Iqaluit, seeking solitude and forced to confront her past. Her relationship with Liam exposes the trauma they have both suffered, and the provides a comprehensive insight into Inuit culture.

So incredible! I was so looking forward to reading a book set in Nunavut as I've never seen a book set there before. It was very atmospheric, I loved reading about the little town. It felt like it's own character at times. Would definitely recommend if you're looking to change up the scenery in the books you read. Lots of love for this book.

I wanted to read this book mostly because of the setting. And that part did not disappointed me. I loved reading about the little community, the harshness of the weather, and the difficulties residents battle on daily basis. I also enjoyed the history lessons about Arctic expeditions and the re-telling of local legends. However, I did not like how those lessons and legends were included in the overall story. It almost felt as if I was a student in a class room and a history teacher walked in and started a lecture. In addition, I could not stand the main character, Irena (is that her name?) She is way too preachy and judgmental, a big hypocrite (in her mind, she is the only one who is allowed to have her secrets but no one else is allowed the same courtesy). The book itself was written in a weird way and has a very open-ended finale (is this a door to a sequel?). There were several jarring plot holes (if you will): on one page Irena said that she's never re-read Yannis' email and literally on the next page she is telling us how she read and read them multiple times. Also, on one page she talks about the dangers of canned food and therefore she only gets fresh fruits and vegetables, but literally a page down, she is taking tons of canned goods from her pantry to cook for Ana. Huh? Where did all the canned goods come from if she is not buying them? Another word about the ebook itself. For whatever reason, about 90% of time letter "f" was missing, so the words like "officer" would appear like "of icer" and "find" would appear like "ind". Took me a while to figure out what the heck was going on and sort of retrain my brain to automatically put an "f" in front of the word that doesn't make any sense.

Irina, a teacher of French from Montreal, accepts a posting to a remote arctic town in the north of Canada, a place where she hopes to find healing from some difficult events in her past, a place to escape to. Iqaluit is a long way from anywhere, and the community there is tight knit and often censorious. Irina is constantly in the spotlight as she grapples with an alien society in a place unlike anything she has ever known. It’s cold and dark and isolated, and it’s never easy for her, not even when she gets involved with Liam, a local police officer, a relationship that creates its own problems. I found the book an intelligent, nuanced and insightful portrait of this remote community, one which avoided stereotypes and remained down-to-earth and believable. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of traditional life compared to contemporary life and the conflicts that arise form changing times and the modern world. An unusual and original novel that I found compelling and very enjoyable.

In 2001, when Nunavut was designated a city, Iqaluit was selected as its capital. Iqaluit, the newest and most northerly capital in Canada, is located on the remote Arctic tundra. The Inuit called Iqaluit "the place of many fish". It is on the southern coast of Baffin Island at the head of Frobisher Bay.

"The unknown has attracted people to the Arctic for centuries." Irina, a French teacher from Montreal, was lured by a posting for a nine month teaching position in Iqaluit at "l'ecole francophone la plus nordique au monde...L'Aurore Boreale School". Ninety registered students populated the elite school...children of government workers, lawyers, engineers, doctors, and an occasional mixed race Inuit student. "Some [teachers working here] were waiting for retirement, others for a male relationship, still others for the sky to fall down". "...like many other individuals coming up North, [Irina] was on a kind of mission. My main goal was to forget." An old magazine story...my discord with destiny...from ten years past.

"The first big challenge to me was the weekend, when I was left to my solitude. The polar night had not yet settled in, but my mind was already sunk in a sea of dark thoughts." She was encouraged by upcoming after school gatherings at the Royal Canadian Legion where Inuit men and women offered local crafts for sale including soapstone carving and sealskin mittens.

In Iqaluit, "anonymity was an illusion...what were to me just evening strolls...were reported to the principal when and where I had been seen. The locals watched me from behind the windows...I soon noticed that during my short walks...a police car would pass by me a few times." Especially in sub-zero temperatures, Constable Liam O'Connor, bundled in his parka, would shout, "Get in the car, I'm taking you to school...I understood that he had planned this rescue all along." What was Liam's agenda? "What's the point of hooking up when you know I am leaving in a few months? My colleagues already warned me people will do anything to survive the polar night...An Arctic fling won't make the year any shorter or warmer. I would be nothing more than a commodity to him."

Both Irina and Liam had experienced trauma, had trust issues, and seemed unable to share their deepest feelings and secrets. Liam said, "I could love you very much if you only let me." Irina was "surrounded by women waiting for a man,...I was running away from one deemed eligible and suitable...Everybody was aware of the constable's pursuit, but the mystery...was why I would turn him down."

"Pineapple Kisses in Iqaluit" by Felicia Mihali is a complex literary novel with three main protagonists. Irina, perpetually shy, maintained her isolation and solitude. She was unfamiliar with child rearing mores in Iqaluit. Parents and elders seemed to have a different understanding of childhood needs. Irina had difficulty working with nine year old Eli, Liam's niece. Liam was often out of town handling criminal acts and court appearances in the area. The third protagonist is the thoroughly researched Inuit people of the Canadian Arctic, "the land of darkness and polar bears". This fascinating tome is replete with history, language and culture, and the realization that you can run but you cannot hide from yourself. An excellent read.

Thank you Guernica Editions and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a wonderful story! The author takes you on a twisted road that ultimately exposes one of the golden rules in life: you can't simply run from your past and think that it will all go away. After ten years of becoming famous from a magazine photo cover, Irina escapes looking for a different life. After a series of trials and tribulations, she discovers that the real person she should be running from, is looking her right back in the mirror!!!!

There is a pleasant , and unexpected psychological aspect to this one that I didn't expect. We then meet Liam, and learn yet another sweet lesson in life that I will not share in an effort not to spoil it, but this book was incredible.

The arctic setting was almost a living character in itself. The cold and dark of the long arctic night permeates down to the bone. Slowly the sun returns and the annual cycle of freeze and thaw is completed again. The narrative follows Irina, a teacher from Montreal who arrives on a one year contract at the northernmost Francophone school in Canada. Early on she meets Liam, the local constable, who pursues a relationship with her.

But really, Felicia Mihali writes about the miniature communities within the city of Iqualiut as well as the history of arctic exploration and then settlement by white Europeans. White people in the arctic north have had a complicated relationship with the Inuit people. I have been an expat living overseas, and this captured that feeling of being the new outsider in a very different cultural landscape. Not as a tourist, but living and working as a part of the community. Simultaneously belonging but not belonging. Irina is from a family that immigrated to Canada just a generation or two ago from Romania.

Irina and Liam do not have a comfortable relationship. They both vigilantly guard secrets and traumatic wounds. Irina hoped she could escape from herself in this environment, instead she is confronted with the things she buried. She also confronts Liam about the secrets he withholds from her. They find comfort in physical intimacy, but have great difficulty meeting each other emotionally.

The atmosphere and the writing are well done. The characters are unapologetically complex. Irina is not interested in being likeable. She knows she can be quite selfish at times. Liam is like a bulldozer trying to force Irina's walls to come down. Even the featured side characters have dimensions. Themes of identity, colonization, and immigration are well developed and the pieces of history are interesting. Iqualuit and the French School felt like a real, living community.

Possible trigger warnings for suicide, addiction, and cancer.

Felicia Mihali has carefully crafted the remote, far North setting of Iqaluit. The bleakness, the barren nature and the cold permeate the book.

Irina moves to the North on a nine month teaching contract. She moves to escape her past and seek her own solitude. As she settles into life and winter in the North, you can feel the isolation she feels and you get a sense of the awkwardness she feels as an outsider.

The history of the Arctic, including the traditional ways of surviving the harsh environment and the unsuccessful exploration attempts of the British are weaved throughout the story. I've always found the Arctic fascinating but know woefully little, so I found the historic insights fascinating.

There's great character development and I found myself swinging between liking and not liking Irina. But no matter how I felt about Irina, her story had me hooked. I needed to learn about the past she was trying to escape and find out what was going to happen.

The book is moody and often bleak. It gives a great look into life in the North, especially for those living there as outsiders.