Rating: 
Summary: About as interesting as watching water freeze
Review: Smilla's seems to be the only person who realizes that the death of a young boy is not an accident, and she persues the truth relentlessly, and I mean relentlessly, until she uncovers a vast conspiracy. In the meanwhile, she gets bruised and banged up, nearly dies several times, and has the weirdest sex I have ever heard of. (Don't get the wrong idea, there's nothing particularly titillating in "Smilla' Sense of Snow.")I gave this book 2 stars because I like intelligent protagonists. Other than that, I thought it was way too long and I had a hard time keeping all the bad guys straight. Plus, I like mysteries where the reader has a least some small chance of figuring out what's behind it all, and with "Smilla" I had little to go on. My advice: say "no" to "Smilla's Sense of Snow."
Rating:
Summary: disappointing-over a book I looked forward to reading
Review: I felt the book began well with the first few chapters,
but the middle 400 plus pages dragged on, and really did
not have any "technothriller" or mystery elements in them.
Also, Smilla's "sense of snow" is only scattered in some
pages, not as much as I thought would be written.
Rating: 
Summary: Give the book to Hades
Review: When I have started reading this book Smilla's Sense of Snow I really thought it would be interesting...I thought wrong. I was thinking that it would be engaging because Greenland would be similar to Alaska-my homeland. Alaska and Greenland have a large verity of similarities: large, cold winter nights, small villages, and small amount of population. However, there are difference between these two vast lands: the culture, the language, the people are all different. In some ways you can find some similarities within the difference for example some natives that can speak their native tongue can understand the dialect.
Although Hoeg tries his best to keep my attention, nonetheless the first part of the novel was slow as a glacier receding up the highest mountain. That is where I put the book down and could not pick it up again. There were times were I could not even relate to what Hoeg is trying to say or what he wants me to find in his book. I thought it was a waste of my time trying to read this book and comprehend of what he has written. Many people fine that his novel is the best thing that they have ever read, as for me it is the opposite...it is the worst novel I have ever read. I agree with Katie London from Albuquerque, NM "I found myself rolling my eyes at the page; groaning aloud" as it became "more and more of a boring mess."
Another critic I agree with is Affefrau from Irving, TX he said, "the rest is not worth reading," there are no other words that I can use to describe this novel. Another person that I agree with is Lazza from London says, "...he is trying to much..." to add more characters and put a character with in the character. It got more and more characters the more that there were in the novel the more I got confused. I got "really disappointed" when I could not find any thing that can hook me and reel me in and continue reading.
I think that I couldn't find anything that can interest me into reading this novel again. Once I do not like something I let it be known. I really do not like this book! In fact if I were to read any other books by Hoeg I would not even touch the book because I think that his writing is cursed. Cursed into boring, waste of my time, it does not deserve to be read or even put on the self for others to read. Put the book into a volt and throw the away the key. Throw the book into the fire and watch with joy as the ash blow into the sky. Give the book to the dog and watch with bliss as the pages of the book gets torn to pieces. Give to the book to Hades and yet he him self would reject the book. Whatever you do, who ever you are I would not recommend this novel to any one whom it may be.
Rating: 
Summary: not serious in the end
Review: There was a time back in the mid 90s when this book first came out in paperback when I couldn't seem to go anywhere without running into a colleague who was reading this book. That struck we as ironic, since I am a scientist and this book is virulently anti-science and anti-technology. Smilla's mother seems to represent a sort of aboriginal virtue while her father represents the decadence of civilization. Smilla is split right down the middle, which leaves her exactly nowhere. She is the ultimate outsider, at home in neither the frozen wilderness of her mother's homeland nor the swishy cocktail-party universe of her father's world (he is a famous surgeon). I suppose that Hoeg wanted Smilla to represent all of us in some way. Her mother is our "good" pre-industrial self and her father is our "bad" technological self. I am told that Mr. Hoeg is fond of walking the winter streets of Copenhagen in his bare feet on occasion. He is an eccentric and perhaps even a crank with a axe to grind. He is, however, also a very good writer. He apparently also isn't all that fond of his reading public. This book would seem to me to be a send-up of both the mystery and thriller genres, the two genres that are consumed by the largest slice of the reading public. He is really making fun of that audience by giving them a mystery that doesn't have much of a resolution and a thriller that has all the plot elements of one of those silly movies that they (used to) make fun of on Mystery Science Theater 3000. So the book ends up being frustrating because Hoeg can't really seem to help writing well and yet the structure and plot of the book are essentially a joke. Oh, and the movie was even worse, although I liked seeing Copenhagen in a film for the first time.
Rating:
Summary: Great start - disappointing ending
Review: "Smilla's Sense of Snow" starts off as a mystery and ends as a thriller. I liked it better while it was a mystery. The ending was a huge letdown! (...) Smilla should have stayed in Copenhagen. What makes the ending such a dispointment is the novel had a promising beginning. I was completely taken in by page 2 with Hoag's writing style and the excellent translation. I enjoyed reading of Smilla's memories of Greenland and the historical relationship of Denmark with it's frozen colony. Smilla was a tough, cynical cookie but also a spoiled, shallow brat - definately one of the most interesting, complex female characters ever created. Towards the middle, however, Smilla's constant recollection of her homeland and the endless details about ice became tiresome. Okay, she had a great time growing up in in Greenland and missed it, and her mother, fiercely - I got it the first dozen times. Around this point, the novel starts to fall apart and we're left with that horrible ending. I recommand this book but only up until page 300 or so. The rest isn't worth reading. Mr. Hoag, Smilla is still standing in the snow in the middle of Greenland waiting for you to finish the novel. Please do so.
Rating: 
Summary: A thinking person's thriller
Review: Peter Hoeg proves that serious literature can be both entertaining and artful. On the surface, "Smilla's Sense of Snow" is genre fiction. But dig a little deeper, and there is a character study of great sensitivity, a setting with symbolic value and profound themes about loss. Unlike other densely-plotted thrillers, this book rewards re-reading
Rating:
Summary: Snow good
Review: I heard great things about this book. Frankly, it started off really good. What happened to the little boy? How are all of these shady characters involved? What's beneath the ice up there in Greenland? As this book became more and more confusing, I cared less and less about that stuff. And then when U find out... LET DOWN! The big climax was a big bomb! KA-POW!!! It does get 2 stars. One for interesting sciency stuff. And another for Smilla, who -- after all was said and done -- is a real kewl gurl. Just like me!
Rating: 
Summary: A suspenseful read
Review: This is not your typical mystery where there's blood and gore ~~ this is a mystery where there is a dead body that leaves a trail of clues for Smilla to find and a cliffhanger of a book that leaves you wanting more. It is superby written and translated very well ~~ I enjoyed Hoeg's descriptions of snow, ice and the studies of glaciers. I was left reaching for my blankets at night whenever I picked up this book ~~ it's so cold and so impersonal in the Artic! Smilla's neighbor Isiah was found in the snow dead. And Smilla thought there was something fishy about his death ~~ for one thing, the boy was terrified of heights. And there were other clues as well ~~ that lead Smilla on a terrifying chase for the truth. She didn't intend to play detective ~~ but she didn't trust the police in Denmark either, especially since Isiah was a Greenlander. I must say, if you need to read this book, read it on a hot, sweltering day. Don't read it in the wintertime as you'll never look at snow the same way! And I would recommend this book as a good mystery read ~~ but it's not your typical mystery either. It goes much further than that ~~ combine a good story with a good mystery and good writing ~~ you have a book that is enjoyable in every way!!
Rating:
Summary: ugh!
Review: To be frank, I thought this book was pretty much ... The characters (which there were way too many of) were largely unbelievable, the plot was plodding even as it moved through various locations, and the ending was ridiculous. At first, I was intrigued... the icy landscape and detached narrator pulled me in; I thought I could almost feel the chill of Coppenhagen. Unfortunatly, the book turned into an unbelievable action movie. Smilla, the main character, is 5'2, and self described as small and thin (later in the book, as emaciated), yet manages to kick butt continually, throwing men twice her weight around; getting beat to a pulp and yet still managing to continue on with her crusade. The typical best selling thriller cliches are shaded by a surplus of scientific jargon that only makes for a difficult read. I found myself rolling my eyes at the page; groaning aloud as the plot became more and more of a boring mess. A lot of people liked this book, so the appeal I initially saw in it must suceed and withstand for other readers. My main warning for those of you considering this book is that if you don't like main stream thrillers with the same general characteristics hidden underneath whatever coating the author decides to employ, don't bother with this.
Rating:
Summary: Suspenseful! Drew Me Right In!
Review: I found this to be an incredibly well-written book! Full credit also goes to the translator, Tiina Nunnally. I found it necessary to remind myself that I was reading a translation of Hoeg's original work. The characters were interesting and well-developed. I was quickly caught up in this story and felt myself, like Smilla, wanting to get to the bottom of the mystery. I found the combination of the mystery of Isaiah's death and the political intrigue to be very compelling. I couldn't put the book down! This book would have been a "five star" book for me but the ending let me down. It didn't come to enough of a conclusion for me. I wanted there to be more. I will definitely read another book by Hoeg.
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