Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

19 reviews

vlpfeiffer's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I've been curious about this book for quite a while and finally picked it up. I had seen the movie when I was much younger and remember the atmospheric and tense vibes that really appealed to me. After struggling to get through halfway I watched the film again and realized I much prefer the film, which is a rare phenomenon. But watching it did get me to finish the book to finish the comparison. 

There were several arcs that seemed unnecessary and it seems that the filmmakers felt the same. Several characters I was forced to slog through with little to no connection to the plot until the end. And the relationship to Hakan, which
in the film was more mysterious and felt more like a genuine father/daughter or thrall situation turned into an unnecessarily disgusting portrayal of a pedophile who has latched himself onto this child vampire in an attempt to assuage his proclivities by way of justifying it through the lens of 'she's not REALLY a kid so it's okay'. All the while some of the most vile descriptions of sexual attraction and behavior towards children seemed unnecessary and just there to horrify. Which, duh, horror, but for my personal tastes was not a thread I was happy about.
 

Otherwise, things were neatly tied together with a hint of sweet justice for Oskar's antagonists and a deserved outcome for Hakan. 

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kaanda's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Extremely dark in so many ways, but fantastic at holding tension. Truly horrific.

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sargasso_c's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

The book starts pretty strong, lags a bit in the middle, and definitely picks up towards the end. 

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lilbookishdragon's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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rbynski's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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jbcrue's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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illtakethenightshiftx's review against another edition

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I got just over 25% of the way through, but I wasn’t feeling the main POV/narrator. I’ll definitely revisit this, but not anytime soon.

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samtheoboeguy's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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jaedia's review against another edition

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Did not enjoy
the paedophile perspective. At all. Why? I'm sure something comes of it later but ew
. The writing style was fine enough to read but the story itself just felt too mundane and I couldn't get interested. None of the characters were interesting to me, or loveable. Even when
the vampire attacks somebody
there was no excitement there, I didn't feel gripped, no suspense. I was just bored. Decided not to waste my time further. It may well pick up but many books to read, little time!

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lizardgod's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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