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hannas_ink_prints's review against another edition
Boring, slow and story didn't catch me
katrinepoetry's review against another edition
4.0
Who doesn't love a good story about trolls? The book brings to life common Nordic tales while at the same time grounding it in the present through the theme of kidnapping. As someone who's grown up in Norway, it brings back traces of my childhood, which feels like an odd discovery in between a few more horrific scenes. Spjut uses an interesting alteration between first and third person, shifting between the various characters. The novel follows two main plot lines which slowly weave their way together. And despite its size, it is a surprisingly quick read.
diesmali's review against another edition
4.0
The story begin with how a woman brings her young son to a small cabin in the deep woods for a summer vacation. With this opening chapter the author sets a brilliant, chilling and eerie mood, as the reader is infused with a sense of wild nature and mysticism. But then the writing takes on another tone entirely. What follows is a more plain detective story, told from two sides of the mystery. The reader rather soon learns what the story is really about. The author manages to keep things interesting to the end, with a pretty unique tale, but as a reader I cannot help but lament the loss of the tone from the opening pages. After my initial disappointment I was still engaged enough to enjoy the story, and the author manages to finish in a satisfying way, an end without too much closure.
nessla's review against another edition
3.0
Hyvin hankalaa päättää antaako kaksi vai neljä tähteä. Voi olla, että muutan arviotani myöhemmin.
Spjutin tapa kuvata asioita on hyvin, hyvin arkisen realistinen ja hyvin, hyvin tarkka. Luontokuvaukset ovat paikoin upeita, mytologia kiedotaan tarinaan kiinnostavasti ja kirja lähti vetämään loppua kohti. Juonta kirja osaa kuljettaa mahtavasti, vaikka ihan kaikkea ei paljastetakaan.
Silti. Alkukirjan kyllästytti ja hermostutti, juuri räkärealismin ja hahmojen etäisyyden takia. Kesti silmittömän kauan saada hahmoista minkäänlaista otetta, ja esimerkiksi Torbjörn on vieläkin vähän mystinen tapaus. Näkökulmien pyörittelyssä ei ollut mitään järkeä, varsinkaan kun yksi hahmoista (ei edes päähenkilö, mikä ei kyllä sekään olisi ollut hyvä ratkaisu) on aivan sattumanvaraisesti minäkertoja. Puolet kirjasta meni miettiessä että miksi hitossa. Ehkä kirjassa oli liikaa kertojia jotka menivät sekaisin ja Spjut keksi tällaisen luovan ratkaisun? Tämä on ainoa selitys jonka keksin ja se ei ole kovin hyvä? vinkki: jos lukija jää miettimään kertojaratkaisua kirjan tarinan sijaan, jossakin on pahasti vikaa.
Kirjan pituudesta en osaa sanoa vielä mitään. Alussa jäi yöpöydälle moneen otteeseen, lopussa vähän paremmin perusteltua. Alussa kiukuttelin aviomiehelle että eikö maailmassa ole enää kustannustoimittajia, jotka leikkaisivat rönsyjä pois, lopussa en jaksanut enää välittää. Mistään räiskivästä seikkailuromaanista tässä ei ole kyse, pikemminkin pohjoisen (mytologian) kuvaamisesta.
Kaksi tai neljä. Sanoisin että kolme on hyvä.
Spjutin tapa kuvata asioita on hyvin, hyvin arkisen realistinen ja hyvin, hyvin tarkka. Luontokuvaukset ovat paikoin upeita, mytologia kiedotaan tarinaan kiinnostavasti ja kirja lähti vetämään loppua kohti. Juonta kirja osaa kuljettaa mahtavasti, vaikka ihan kaikkea ei paljastetakaan.
Silti. Alkukirjan kyllästytti ja hermostutti, juuri räkärealismin ja hahmojen etäisyyden takia. Kesti silmittömän kauan saada hahmoista minkäänlaista otetta, ja esimerkiksi Torbjörn on vieläkin vähän mystinen tapaus. Näkökulmien pyörittelyssä ei ollut mitään järkeä, varsinkaan kun yksi hahmoista (ei edes päähenkilö, mikä ei kyllä sekään olisi ollut hyvä ratkaisu) on aivan sattumanvaraisesti minäkertoja. Puolet kirjasta meni miettiessä että miksi hitossa. Ehkä kirjassa oli liikaa kertojia jotka menivät sekaisin ja Spjut keksi tällaisen luovan ratkaisun? Tämä on ainoa selitys jonka keksin ja se ei ole kovin hyvä? vinkki: jos lukija jää miettimään kertojaratkaisua kirjan tarinan sijaan, jossakin on pahasti vikaa.
Kirjan pituudesta en osaa sanoa vielä mitään. Alussa jäi yöpöydälle moneen otteeseen, lopussa vähän paremmin perusteltua. Alussa kiukuttelin aviomiehelle että eikö maailmassa ole enää kustannustoimittajia, jotka leikkaisivat rönsyjä pois, lopussa en jaksanut enää välittää. Mistään räiskivästä seikkailuromaanista tässä ei ole kyse, pikemminkin pohjoisen (mytologian) kuvaamisesta.
Kaksi tai neljä. Sanoisin että kolme on hyvä.
reettis's review against another edition
3.0
In the beginning of the book, a young boy is having his own little adventure in the woods, all by himself. To me personally, there is something very familiar in that scene. That is how I spent most of my childhood, every detail hits a memory of some sort. But at the same time, there is something very scary about it... you know something bad is about to happen.
And it´s somehow very easy to believe, that in those endless forests there are mysterious creatures hiding. It is a very exciting thought experiment to wonder whether this could all be true. All the trolls, all the crazy humans. All the darkness and cold (yes, that much is certainly true). All those remote places, how much do we know actually? The atmosphere in this book was very realistic, everything was realistic actually, even the trolls. The story was addicting, the main characters slightly thin but very likable. Not so scary as I expected, just disgusting mostly. Very well cooked up story, but I would have wanted to know more about the trolls, about their personalities. About their relationships to humans. I would have wanted more depth into the story and the characters.
Philosophically thinking, there is always that gap between us humans and the rest of the natural world. A fence we cannot break. Yes, we can research and we can analyze, but we won´t ever understand everything. There will always be a mystery, a great place for stories and imagination. The writer has definitely embraced this thought while working on this book, that was the best part of this!
And it´s somehow very easy to believe, that in those endless forests there are mysterious creatures hiding. It is a very exciting thought experiment to wonder whether this could all be true. All the trolls, all the crazy humans. All the darkness and cold (yes, that much is certainly true). All those remote places, how much do we know actually? The atmosphere in this book was very realistic, everything was realistic actually, even the trolls. The story was addicting, the main characters slightly thin but very likable. Not so scary as I expected, just disgusting mostly. Very well cooked up story, but I would have wanted to know more about the trolls, about their personalities. About their relationships to humans. I would have wanted more depth into the story and the characters.
Philosophically thinking, there is always that gap between us humans and the rest of the natural world. A fence we cannot break. Yes, we can research and we can analyze, but we won´t ever understand everything. There will always be a mystery, a great place for stories and imagination. The writer has definitely embraced this thought while working on this book, that was the best part of this!
outi's review against another edition
3.0
3,5. Really liked the story, but I think it would've been even better if it was a bit shorter.
kirstend's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- 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? It's complicated
3.5
skogsheks's review against another edition
slow-paced
0 stars.
I started this book with high expectations, as I really liked the plot. I am also very interested in nordic folklore, so it looked perfect. Too bad it was not what I expected. The characters and their behaviour are not realistic at all; no one in the real world would ever behave like that. In the beginning it is also very confusing, and the reader takes a while to understand the relationship between the characters.
The plot seems interesting at the start of the novel, but there are so many things that didn’t make sense to me as I went on. Also, many of the events were quite predictable.
Another aspect I did not appreciate is the fact that this book could have been slightly more enjoyable had it been shorter. There are many scenes that don’t add anything to the already not very fascinating story, and that brings the score further down.
I’m probably not going to read anything else by this author. It’s a shame that such interesting themes were so poorly handled.
I started this book with high expectations, as I really liked the plot. I am also very interested in nordic folklore, so it looked perfect. Too bad it was not what I expected. The characters and their behaviour are not realistic at all; no one in the real world would ever behave like that. In the beginning it is also very confusing, and the reader takes a while to understand the relationship between the characters.
The plot seems interesting at the start of the novel, but there are so many things that didn’t make sense to me as I went on. Also, many of the events were quite predictable.
Another aspect I did not appreciate is the fact that this book could have been slightly more enjoyable had it been shorter. There are many scenes that don’t add anything to the already not very fascinating story, and that brings the score further down.
I’m probably not going to read anything else by this author. It’s a shame that such interesting themes were so poorly handled.
maybeitsmallory's review against another edition
4.0
This book was translated fro Swedish, so my title is Shapeshifters. This is a pretty interesting story about trolls and giants living among us. The story was a little longer than it should have been, a bit too descriptive in some areas. I enjoyed this story though and was hooked into finding out the mysteries. An enjoyable read!
autocorrecttodemons's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5