When We Were Vikings by
Andrew David MacDonald:
A Book Review
Genre: Realistic Fiction
MacDonald’s When We Were Vikings is an unusual story, told in an unusual way, to say the least. Depicting the life of Zelda, a young woman with mental disabilities, When We Were Vikings shows us her legend in the making. Pairred with the conflict of becoming independent from her brother as well as overcoming obstacles placed by their past and current hardships, Zelda, herself, is an interesting narrator detailing herself as “not normal”, but okay with that. Through using her as the narrator, MacDonald is able to show how smart Zelda is through the workings of her brain/thoughts while also showing the mental disability affecting how she understands not only the world, but also the people in it.
Overall, it wasn’t bad. I liked the underlying message that those with mental disabilities are people too and should be treated as such, however, I do think MacDonald missed opportunities in his message. For one, Zelda seemed to be almost completely clueless about how she affects everyone’s lives and the trouble she causes. The main conflicts of the story, with person versus person, is almost purely her doing and yet there is no mentioning this. Her brother also seemed to be saintly in his patience: something I am sure is not realistic. Caregivers of those with mental disabilities are allowed to get frustrated with the person they are caring for. They are allowed to be human in their emotions. Zelda’s brother, Gert, seems to just take everything in stride as if none of it truly affected him. This goes the same with his girlfriend.
A second missed opportunity, would be the sexual assault aspect that MacDonald tried to gloss over. It is implied that Zelda was sexually molested as a child by their uncle which causes her to have different triggers in touch. It is also glossed over that Zelda was almost raped or was raped towards the end of the book. Sexual assault regarding those with mental disabilities is rarely ever spoke of – even though a quick Google search shows that 87% of caregivers have sexually abused their mentally disabled charges. While not something anyone would truly want to discuss, if you are going to mention it, I don’t approve of a gloss over on something so serious. In my mind, I think that glossing over it seeks to lessen how serious the subject is.
Who would most enjoy the work and who should stay clear (if necessary):
Those interested in the mentally disabled community, caregivers of those with disabilities, as well as those looking at a career in the psychology field would enjoy this book. However, those that are completely and strongly against the usage of the term “retard” or “retarded”, may want to avoid this novel.
Other books like the one reviewed:
Life Inside My Head by Jessica Burkhart (ed.)
What to Say Next by Julie Buxhaum
Turtles All The Way Down by John Green
| Plot: | 8 / 10 |
| Characters: | 8 / 10 |
| Writing: | 9 / 10 |
| Editor: | 10 / 10 |
| Total | 35 / 40 |
Title: When We Were Vikings: A Novel
Author: Andrew Bavid MacDonald
Edition: First Scout Press hardcover
Published: January 2020
Publisher: Simon&Schuster
ISBN: 9781982126766
If you want to get it: Amazon; Barnes&Noble
Rosey Reviews 