“A little gem about a person struggling to break out of their shell … had me hooked right from the start … Aanestad whittles her sentences down to the bare minimum, leaving the rest of the imagery to unfold in the reader’s mind.”
***** 5/6 stars Knut Hoem, NRK

“A short but impressive novel … Aanestad challenges our view of gender and makes us ask ourselves: ‘Would we have viewed the relationship between Idun and Liv differently if it had been a man and a woman?’ How big a role does gender play in an asymmetrical power relationship? … The star of A Real Life is the language… It reflects Liv’s state of mind with extreme precision”
Mai-Lene Fløysvik Hæåk, Stavanger Aftenblad

“Ingrid Z. Aanestad writes convincingly about kindness and vulnerability … Aanestad’s sentences are abrupt, effectively mirroring Liv’s anxious shortness of breath. At the same time, the novel’s world is rich and sensitive … A Real Life shows just how paradoxically quiet something as drastic as self-annihilation can be.”
Emilie Johnson Godal, Klassekampen

“A Real Life – a book about love, or something else entirely disguised as such? … Aanestad brings out the truth, just as literature does at its best … Aanestad shows us how easy it is to end up somewhere you shouldn’t be, and how difficult it can be to get away”
Anna Marie Haug, Framtida