Haunting and compulsive, Hjorth writes about the feeling of being watched and interrogated as a sixteen year old girl by an anxious mother. That feeling of wanting to be your own person, yet terrified of the consequences of making your own choices.
A tense, taut novel to be consumed over a cold evening.

Well-written and thoughtful, but it just didn’t quite land for me. Maybe it’s the short length, but I never felt like I had enough time to really settle in or connect with it. I think there’s a lot of literature lovers that would be falling over themselves for this but sadly not for me overall.

This ended up being a short, quick stream of consciousness novella about a sixty year old woman remembering what she was like as a teenager and what that transition feels like as you're experiencing it (read: friggin miserable). Finished this in two sittings.

I was intrigued by this book as I definitely gravitate towards memoirs/non-fiction that have a mental health/familial relationship aspect. I found it difficult at times to connect with this story however unsure if this was simply just due to translation (original language Norwegian). Reading this felt as if I was reading a series of journal entries/therapeutic reflections from the author, at times I was left wanting just a little bit more on topics she shied away from fully exploring such as her recovery journal from child sexual assault. She talks of finding her voice but in parts it still felt a whisper, when I wanted her to yell from deep in her lungs. Nevertheless I commend the author for stepping into a new genre of writing to bring a very important element of her history to life

Unfortunately, I lost interest in this book after just a few chapters. I don't usually mind a stream of consciousness style of writing, but it didn't work for me this time. I don't think this had anything to do with the translation. The writing just seemed distant and dragged on and on, and I couldn't connect with the narrator.

Beautifully written and devastatingly real. From the first 20 pages, you feel the kinship just based on being human and once being young and then being older. The small details and cyclic nature of the prose made this a beautiful piece about life and time. I was pleasantly surprised by the way I was engaged by the voice and the story. This author has a true true gift for writing that was able to impact me deeply. Get ready to cry

Repetition by Vigdis Hjorth ★★★★★ Intense, thought-provoking, and emotionally raw. Hjorth dives deep into memory and identity with writing that’s sharp and disorienting in the best way. It’s the kind of book that sticks with you and begs to be discussed.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

A very good tale about reflection on formative childhood and teenage years in adulthood. Speaking to the repetition it takes sometimes to uncover blocked memories and childhood trauma.

Sometimes it takes healing your former self to move forward and become our best selves. In doing so one must give themselves permission to move on.

I really enjoyed this book.

Thank you very much to Netgalley for an early copy of this translated work in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was such an interesting work telling the story of childhood to adulthood. I haven’t been able to read any of this authors work before, but heard very good things. I really enjoyed this translation, it still felt as if it was truly in the author’s voice without diminishing the original language. This was fantastic and I am looking forward to reading more of Vigdis Hjorth’s work!

When a novelist observes family tension at the opera, it triggers memories of her own sixteenth year under the watch of an overbearing mother and distant father. This is clearly well-crafted literary fiction that builds to a devastating revelation about hidden family trauma, and Hjorth knows how to create that suffocating atmosphere of adolescent anxiety and parental control. The writing is spare and deliberate, but somehow I never felt fully drawn in - it felt more like I was appreciating the technique than actually experiencing the story. For such a short book dealing with serious subject matter, I expected it to hit harder than it did.

Well, this was intense. At first I was going to give 4 stars but honestly I think it’s due to the way it made me feel which I think is actually intended! Haha so 5 stars since it delivered on actually giving emotion. Not only that but I know it’s a book I won’t forget for a while. I don’t feel like we get books like this one often talking about the impact mothers have etc so even though it’s haunting in it’s own way, it’s def well written (despite some translation issues)

Reading Repetition is like stepping into a psychological fever dream, where reality twists, memory loops, and trauma speaks in riddles. The narrator, probably, loosely autobiographical and devastatingly vulnerable walk us through a girlhood marked by silence, control, and emotional erasure. There are no melodramatic revelations, no single moment to point to and say, there, that’s when everything broke. Instead, Hjorth gives us accumulation. Insidiousness. A creeping dread that tightens like a noose.

I feel like hugging the little girl in that 48 year old body. I hope she healed.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this lovely book!

I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading REPETITION by Vigdis Hjorth. It was immersive, fast-paced, and gripping through the end. This was my first introduction to the author, and I will certainly be seeking out more.

Since this work is originally in Norwegian, there were a few minor instances where the translation didn't quite land in English, but I will still able to decipher what the intention was. There are also several spelling/grammatical errors that I hope will be edited prior to the widespread release.

The second act of the story was certainly the strongest and where I found myself lost in the story the most. I would have liked to see a stronger link between the scenes in the first act with the closing of the story in act three, as we are brought back to the same timeline at that point in the novel. Additionally, the first act could benefit from another reference to the journal, which was a strong thematic device later in the story, but its function was predictable by the time it was fully introduced. If it were brought in earlier, the impact would have been more subtle and less expected.

Hjorth's writing style is captivating and unique. She delivers this story with fresh perspective, and a level of empathy for villains (and those who are villains through their complicity) that is daring, bold, and compassionate. Absolutely worth the read.

This was an interesting read and not really what I had expected after applying for the ARC.

At the beginning of the book, the unnamed narrator is at the theatre and commenting on an interaction between a 16 year old girl and her parents, before the narrator delves into reminiscing on her ownexperience.

To be completely honest, I resonated more with the comments on the 16 year old girl in the theatre than the narrators story. Not sure if this had more to do with my own experience as a 16 year old though. I did really feel for the narrator towards the end given all she had put up with with her parents and family in general. Despite having some close friends, she was very much alone with no one to truly open up to.

I feel this story is meant to be a bit more of a harder read given it talks about SA. This is done in a very roundabout way and isn't on the nose, but regardless, it is still a hard topic. I applaud the author for writing this story because it is something that needs to be talked about more.

This is a story I will not forget.

This is one of the books I don't think I’ll ever forget. The story haunted me in the best way. It stayed with me because it left me speechless. I was still sitting with it after finishing.

The story follows a woman reflecting on a pivotal year in her life when she was 16 and trying to navigate friendship, sex, and her own identity under the weight of a deeply anxious, controlling mother and a silent distant father. There’s tension everywhere: in the house, in her body, in what isn’t being said. And as she looks back, she’s trying to understand how much of her life has been shaped by those early experiences, and whether she can ever really move beyond them.

The title, Repetition, is so fitting. It’s not just a theme, it’s the whole structure of the book. Thoughts circle back. Phrases echo. Memories loop and twist. It never felt boring or overdone to me instead, it made the story feel more real, more emotionally true because that’s how the mind works, especially when you’re dealing with trauma: it keeps returning to the same moments, trying to make sense of them, trying to survive them.

The writing is was beautiful and full of metaphors I’ll probably carry with me for a long time. Not gonna lie, there were parts where I felt a little lost but I'm glad I kept going because there's something heartbreaking in how subtle the book is. It never spells things out. The emotional pain & the damage, the trauma—it’s all beneath the surface. I found myself rereading certain passages just to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. And the more I read, the more I realized how much was left unsaid. It’s devastating in the quietest way.

This novel won't be for everyone. But if it finds you when you need it and if you’re ready to sit with discomfort, memory, and quiet truth, it will really stay with you.

Thank you so much Verso Books for my early copy.

A short novel about a teenaged girl growing up with a very neurotic mother who spews anxiety like it’s going out of fashion. We follow the protagonist as she navigates friendship, romance and her mother and we see how her Mother’s anxiety exacerbates her own.

The twist at the end was completely unexpected and made the story all the more sad and profound.

An interesting read for sure.

The unnamed protagonist revisits the time when she was 16 and her mother was constantly monitoring her behaviour in case she went off the rails with boys and alcohol. What follows is the story of a difficult period, of self awareness and also secrecy.

As the novel is translated from the original Norwegian, the book is quite wordy and less adjectives would have served the writing more. Sexual abuse by the protagonist's father is very hidden in the text although the author may have wanted it this way., I had to reread several passages to ensure I hadn't missed any details.

Overall more of a novella, it would have benefitted from some more editorial decisions..

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Judging by the reviews from other readers in the native language of this book, I am beginning to feel the defect is less so with the story and more so with me.

Unfortunately, I simply didn’t connect with the main character, and I didn’t find the prose was particularly standout either. I think I hoped for something with more punch based on the description of the book, but it just didn’t have much at all.

Perhaps I was just not quite the kind of teenager that this book refers to, and I just didn’t feel anything when it came to the connection that the reader is clearly meant to have to the protagonist.

Even though the book is short, certainly short enough to be considered novella length, I found it repetitive in places (given the title, perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised!). I just felt like I was reading drips and drabs of consciousness that didn’t quite come together for me, and it left me feeling that it was a rather empty story.

Not for me, but perhaps for others it’s a far more engaging read!

this book floored me. i really couldn't anticipate "the twist," though it doesn't feel right to call it that. i loved the stream-of-consciousness style, and at first i thought it was a book about the psychological effects of a controlling mother. the horror that ensued when i reexamined small details in light of her reveal that nothing at all was as it seemed--the house was from nightmares, her father's attitude a dismissal, and the truth behind his wonder if she bled...wow. short and masterful, and definitely wants to make me read more by this author. really a book that will stay with me forever.

Repetition captures the essence of being a sixteen year-old girl, when everything matters so intensely, with a simultaneous, desperate sense that everything will matter even more in a few short years. The novel is a short read, clocking in at 144 pages in my edition, most of which are spent on one month in the narrator’s life at sixteen. The novel emphasizes the loneliness of this age, while acknowledging the narrator’s limited perspective as a teenager through flashforward to the frame narrative of the narrator’s contemplation.
The narrator, her mother, and her father are strongly characterized, with incredibly specific and nuanced relationships. Similarly, there is a profound and melancholy sense of distance between the narrator and those in her life, including her friends and siblings. Again, this reflects something inherent in being a teenager – the sense that no one else “gets it”, regardless of whether they do or don’t.
I found the novel to be well-paced. It never plodded like highly contemplative literary fiction can, even with the motifs of repetition throughout the back third of the book. The sense of Norwegian November is also very atmospheric.
Ultimately, this is a novel that will stick with me as perhaps one of the best examples of those tender, aching moments before adulthood.