Reviews

The Cuckoo by Camilla Läckberg

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cj_mo_2222's review

dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Camilla Läckberg is one of my favorite crime fiction authors, and I was completely engaged in this book!. It has been several years since there has been a new book in the Fjallbacka/Patrik Hedstrom-Erica Falck, so I was so excited to read this one. It's the eleventh in the series and I have read all of the prior books. The central mystery stands on its own, but it's easier to appreciate some of the developments in the lives of the main characters if you've read some of the earlier books.

The book includes two timelines, the present and 1980. This method works well in telling this story when it's clear that current crimes could be tied to events from the past. I love how Erica, a true crime writer, is able to make huge contributions to the case her police detective husband, Patrik, is working on. I love their marriage and the way they work together, so it's always great catching up with what is going on in their lives. Readers also get to catch up on the other members of Patrik's team and some of them are going through their own issues.

The initial case involves a renowned photographer who is shot in his gallery right before the opening of his latest show. Things get very dark as there are further deaths. Although there aren't graphic descriptions, this may not be the book for everyone because the deaths of children are involved. There are several plot twists in this book, some I predicted but many were very surprising. Although parts of the story were heartbreaking, I still enjoyed the book and hope the wait for a new Patrik and Erica book is shorter this time.

I received an advance copy of this book at no cost from NetGalley and Harper Collins UK. My review is voluntary and unbiased.

Content Warnings

thebookfaerie's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

samlamb04's review

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

thaiteconta's review

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emotional informative mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

Não estou familiarizada com a escrita da autora e tão pouco sabia que esse livro é parte de uma série de thillers que acompanham alguns personagens, portanto não sei dizer se essa características são exclusivas desse livro ou se todos são assim. O livro é contado em dois períodos de tempo e somado ao número gigante de personagens que a história acompanha, fiquei sobrecarregada de informações nos primeiros capítulos. Minha cabeça ficava tonta tentando manter o controle de quem é quem e io me fez demorar muito pra de fato ser pega pela história e a leitura fluir. Além diso, em muito casos os personagen não agregavam em nada no contexto geral do plot e etavam ali talvez pra serem feitos menção já que é uma série e os fã já o conhecem ? -. Pra mim que li pela primeira vez, foi em desnecessário e atrapalhou o ritmo.

No entanto, depois que me familiarizei com isso, gostei do passeio geral com esse grupo de personagens, os cenários na Suécia e como a história se desenrolou. Minha única reclamação, além da sobrecarga de personagens, é o final. Tipo, eu gosto de uma grande revelação, mas aqui temos uma revelação, depois outra e outra, até que você sente que a autora entrou em pânico e jogou o máximo que conseguiu no final. Realmente prejudicou a experiência, porque precisei engolir mais um momento “Meu Deus” no que até então era uma história bem pensada e contida.

I'm not familiar with the author's writing and I didn't know that this book is part of a series of thrillers that follow some characters, so I can't say if these characteristics are exclusive to this book or if they are all like that. The book is told in two time periods and added to the huge number of characters that the story follows, I was overwhelmed with information in the first chapters. My head would get dizzy trying to keep track of who was who and it took me a long time to actually get caught up in the story and the reading could flow. Furthermore, in many cases the characters did not add anything to the general context of the plot and were there perhaps to be mentioned since it is a series and fans already know them? -. For me, reading it for the first time, it was unnecessary and disrupted the pace.

However, once I got familiar with it, I enjoyed the overall ride with this group of characters, the settings in Sweden, and how the story unfolded. My only complaint, besides the overload of characters, is the ending. Like, I like a big reveal, but here we have one reveal, and then another, and another, until you feel like the author panicked and threw as much as she could at the end. It really detracted from the experience, because I had to swallow yet another “Oh my God” moment in what until then was a well thought out and contained story.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

baileysbear's review

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3.0

I've not read anything by this author before, so unable to compare how it is compared to the others in the series.
It took a while for this to get going - I believe partly due to the sheer number of characters introduced so it takes some time to remember who is who etc.
Also, I'm not sure if this was down to the format of the arc, the translation, or just how the author writes, but the jumping from one set of characters to another happens within a chapter without knowledge quite often which I'm not a fan of. I enjoyed the dual timeline aspect and that's always explained by chapter title so we know when we are.
I liked the storyline of the 80s in particular.
I did find I'd guessed a chunk of the ending before it unfolds, and I found the pace of the ending drastically different to the rest of the book, so it did feel a little rushed.
Overall I'm giving 3 stars for the elements I enjoyed. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc ebook.