“The prose is straightforward, direct and sober, and in the course of 240 short fragments, a dramatic family story is gradually uncovered to the reader. Life is shown in its nuanced diversity through an extremely efficient and concentrated story. Book of Grief is a deeply serious and refreshingly accessible novel with the potential to move many readers.”
From the EU Prize for Literature 2020 jury statement

“A beautiful, painful book about losing a brother … Firstly this is far more well-written than most biographies or any medical record I’ve ever read. Secondly, she more than hints that the borders between the many layers and genres of literature are fluid, and that the borders between “truth” and fiction are of less importance, as long as it’s done with empathy for any any possible living models, and a sensitive grasp of the literary devices that the universal theme of grief deserves”
Adresseavisen

“A refreshingly unpretentious novel about what grief does to people … In Navarro Skaranger’s sober prose grief is portrayed as ever changing, as waves that come and go … Book of Grief for its part, has rays of light, while at the same time being full of despair … a both insightful and, in purely literary terms, powerful novel about the many nuances of grief”
Aftenposten

“[Skaranger’s first book] was an unusually good debut, written in raw, roughly hewn immigrant language. Book of Grief (The Story about Nils in the Woods) is different, closer to standard Norwegian. In an outstanding way, the novel’s 240 numbered fragments circle around different reactions to a suicide … Book of Grief draws a complex picture of a family’s unreliable memory and their imprecise recollections”
Klassekampen

“This is a beautiful and touching story about trying to understand, trying to accept and trying to go on living. Few can write such child-like and at the same time wise prose as Skaranger … The stripped-down prose lets grief roll, even flow through”
5/6 stars, Bergens Tidende

“Skaranger shows that her successful debut was no stroke of luck … With originality and precision, Book of Grief conveys insights into mental illness and grief … Skaranger shows especially well how the distance between the closest ones can increase because we grieve in different ways”
5/6 stars, Dagbladet

“Maria Navarro Skaranger’s prose has an unusual, powerful confidence … Despite the strong, painful story, it’s the beautiful confidence in her voice that really infatuates. It took this reader a few dozen pages to notce, but then you feel the warmth in these sentences, and the intimacy in them, miles from the mannered literariness that bogs down the books of some of her fellow writers from the younger generation … The verisimilitude is immediate, even though it’s not easy to achieve. It’s more important to emphasize that the human lightness of the sentences isn’t disconnected from the novel’s story: For the story of Nils in the forest is filled with a deep, impressive tenderness … missing someone is connected to loneliness. The urgent and sincere attempt to give shape to this feeling, combined with the Skaranger’s rare naturalness in the way she uses her own language, makes her second novel a story to feel through”
Morgenbladet

“Maria Navarro Skaranger writes powerfully about grief”
Dagsavisen

“A simple and beautiful novel about a brother’s death”
Under Dusken

“Writing about grief is difficult. Maria Navarro Skaranger makes it easy … The new book is something completely different [than the debut novel], but it’s equally good, if not better. This is obviously a versatile literary talent”
5/6 stars, Fædrelandsvennen