Author residence: Norway

Rosie Hedger was born in Scotland and completed her MA (Hons) in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Edinburgh, where she graduated with a distinction. Her translation accolades include the the English PEN Translates Award and the short lists for the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year and Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize.

Translator residence: UK

"Bjerkeland's writing is beautiful. A quick, enjoyable read."

[STAR] "Bjerkeland's propulsive tale is sleek and elegant, a subtle blend of fable and realism that increasingly reflects many of today's desperate refugees' experiences. Every sentence is direct and brief, vivid with eventfulness... The story's brevity and abrupt forcefulness, and the characters' stalwart courage and love, make this tale unusually compelling."

"Rosie Hedger's [translation] is crisp and spare, the lines lean as picked-clean bones... The siblings anchor the book, and their emotional journey is as riveting as the physical one... Bjerkeland walks a careful line between being mindful of her audience's age while refusing to shrink from the truth... Beasts is likely to garner praise from far more readers than that in the United States and beyond."

"Bjerkeland paints a bleak picture of postapocalyptic monster survival reminiscent of media like 28 Days Later and The Last of Us... A simple yet effective monster story that will appeal to fans of postapocalyptic fiction."

"Harrowing... Abdi's perspective is gripping, and the vagueness of detail and backstory adds to the suspense... Highly appealing for a great many horror readers, new and old."

"Drips with eerie atmosphere and moves at a taut pace... Middle-grade readers looking for something scary but not too gory will appreciate the mood cultivated here."

"For those just beginning to learn the [horror] genre, this is a magnificent introduction--spare, tense, gory just at the edges, and tightly focused on the siblings, creating a heightened sense of connection and investment in their survival."

"A sense of urgency simmers beneath every line of prose, relentlessly driving the characters--and the reader--forward... Beasts will appeal to readers of survival classics such as Hatchet... but will also please those who enjoy stories with supernatural antagonists in pursuit of their prey, like The Walking Dead or The Last of Us. Rippling with constant tension, Beasts is an eerie, quick read for readers who can handle a bit of horror and unease."