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jerbil's review against another edition
4.0
Despite the length, it was such a quick read. Author did a great job at making everything come full circle with no plot holes despite so much going on.
Lost a star cause of there being so many POVs without any title indicating who was talking. It would take almost a full page before I realized who it was. Definitely recommend writing down character names and just brief plot points for them cause some people tended to blend together for me.
Lost a star cause of there being so many POVs without any title indicating who was talking. It would take almost a full page before I realized who it was. Definitely recommend writing down character names and just brief plot points for them cause some people tended to blend together for me.
psyckers's review against another edition
4.0
An excellent and strange tale about the disappearance of a child and the historical tales of other disappearances in similar circumstances. The locals believe it is the work of trolls that live in the area, or giants. With some fascination to these myths, a group of investigators engage in an effort to find out the truth. Written in a similar fashion of the 'X Files' the book describes the adventure as it unfolds. There are certainly a lot of intrigue and the story garners a lot of suspense and surprise.
Its an easy read and great to feel immersed in such a story, with an equally intriguing ending.
Its an easy read and great to feel immersed in such a story, with an equally intriguing ending.
billies_not_so_secret_diary's review
"A very slow starting book, and on page 72 it still has yet to grab me. So I'm going to put it back on my to-read bookshelf and maybe it will be picked again."
alucinadalibros's review against another edition
3.0
un libro que me atrajo, me aburrió, me sorprendió, me encantó y me dejó enojada :p
Compré este libro con la colección de novelas negras nórdicas que venia con Clarin, y en cuanto leí la reseña me recordó a los capítulos de las primeras temporadas de X-files, o de Supernatural, y me entusiasmo muchísimo, así que, me tiré de cabeza a leerlo, sin hacer ninguna investigación.
¿Qué fue lo que me aburrió?
Para empezar te cuento que este libro tiene poco más de 600 páginas.
En las primeras 200 páginas del libro la narrativa es tan detallada, y está contada de forma tan sencilla que te transporta a la historia y ves cada detalle de la escena. Pero fue justamente ese nivel de detalle exquisito de la narración que me resultó aburrido.
Una vez superada esta gran de introducción y momentos con descripciones detalladas de situaciones bastante cotidianas de la vida de los personajes, me encontré familiarizada con los personajes y sobre todo con sus nombres. Pues culturalmente estamos acostumbrados a nombres latinos, o anglosajones, y si en algún libro hay personajes nórdicos les ponen Sven, Freya, Thor, Ragnar y el resto de los personajes de vikings, pero este libro es sueco de origen, entonces tenes nombres como Ejvor o Jan-Olof y otros que tienen un montón de consonantes juntas y me costó bastante terminar de ubicar quien era quien además de imaginarmelos.
Es a partir de la página 200 (aproximadamente) cuando la trama se empieza a poner interesante, y ahí me metí de lleno en la historia.
El misterio principal del libro es lo que cuenta la sinopsis, la foto de la criatura misteriosa y la desaparición de los niños en circunstancias extrañas. Pero detrás de este hilo, hay un misterio más grande, personajes que sugieren que son más complejos de lo que se ve a simple vista.
En algunas reseñas comparan a este libro con las novelas de Stephen King. No se si llegaría tan alto, pero si es muy del estilo, ese poder narrativo de meterte en la historia, y llevarte a conocer a los personajes al detalle, es genial.
Llegando ya al desenlace del libro, en las últimas 200 páginas, las cosas se pusieron tan emocionantes que no podía parar de leer, pero también tuve la confirmación de una triste sospecha: No se trataba de un libro autoconclusivo.
Vieron chiques? yo les dije, no se metan a leer sin investigar antes, o vuelven a caer en sagas. No importa cuanto nos gusten las sagas, si están inconclusas mejor esperamos!
Si bien el libro deja resuelto el misterio principal de la trama, queda abierto un tema de trasfondo, ese “algo más grande” que te dice que tenes que leer el segundo libro para saber cómo sigue todo. Eso fue lo que me emboló del libro, no tener una continuación disponible para leer enseguida, pues, ademas de #impaciente temo que en un tiempo, cuando Stalpi esté traducido al español, quizás haya perdido el entusiasmo por la historia y me cueste retomar.
Es algo muy mío.
En general debo decir que la historia esta muy buena, tiene sus cositas, pero fue una buena lectura.
Tengo muchas ganas de leer la segunda parte. Espero que llegue pronto y cuando llegue, agarrar el libro con entusiasmo.
Ahora voy a hacer una mención a la trama con spoiler:
Esto es lo que mas me gusto de la historia.
En este relato pintan a los trolls, como criaturas con un poder psíquico de transmitir sus sentimientos y conocimiento a la mente de un humano. Al principio te muestran cómo, con sus miradas fijas y su poder incomodan mucho a la gente, ya que se meten a la mente sin permiso y hasta parece que son medio malitos. Pero llegando al final del libro, me di cuenta que estos seres no son malos ni buenos, simplemente son y pueden beneficiar a un ser humano o perjudicarlo según la situación, no por capricho, ya que la mayoría de las veces que hacen mal porque el humano que los cuida se los pide. Esto hablando de los duendecitos más chicos. También hay otros mas grandes, que se los muestra como que son peligrosos, pero la trama se explaya mucho en estos trolls. La verdad es que a mi me parecieron actitudes muy de gato. Y yo amo a los gatos. Como me imagine a estos duendecillos en mi cabeza eran la cosa más amorosa adorable y abrazable del mundo. Aunque ya cerca del final Uno de los personajes toma a un duendecillo con esta actitud y termina con unos tremendos dolores de cabeza :)
Compré este libro con la colección de novelas negras nórdicas que venia con Clarin, y en cuanto leí la reseña me recordó a los capítulos de las primeras temporadas de X-files, o de Supernatural, y me entusiasmo muchísimo, así que, me tiré de cabeza a leerlo, sin hacer ninguna investigación.
¿Qué fue lo que me aburrió?
Para empezar te cuento que este libro tiene poco más de 600 páginas.
En las primeras 200 páginas del libro la narrativa es tan detallada, y está contada de forma tan sencilla que te transporta a la historia y ves cada detalle de la escena. Pero fue justamente ese nivel de detalle exquisito de la narración que me resultó aburrido.
Una vez superada esta gran de introducción y momentos con descripciones detalladas de situaciones bastante cotidianas de la vida de los personajes, me encontré familiarizada con los personajes y sobre todo con sus nombres. Pues culturalmente estamos acostumbrados a nombres latinos, o anglosajones, y si en algún libro hay personajes nórdicos les ponen Sven, Freya, Thor, Ragnar y el resto de los personajes de vikings, pero este libro es sueco de origen, entonces tenes nombres como Ejvor o Jan-Olof y otros que tienen un montón de consonantes juntas y me costó bastante terminar de ubicar quien era quien además de imaginarmelos.
Es a partir de la página 200 (aproximadamente) cuando la trama se empieza a poner interesante, y ahí me metí de lleno en la historia.
El misterio principal del libro es lo que cuenta la sinopsis, la foto de la criatura misteriosa y la desaparición de los niños en circunstancias extrañas. Pero detrás de este hilo, hay un misterio más grande, personajes que sugieren que son más complejos de lo que se ve a simple vista.
En algunas reseñas comparan a este libro con las novelas de Stephen King. No se si llegaría tan alto, pero si es muy del estilo, ese poder narrativo de meterte en la historia, y llevarte a conocer a los personajes al detalle, es genial.
Llegando ya al desenlace del libro, en las últimas 200 páginas, las cosas se pusieron tan emocionantes que no podía parar de leer, pero también tuve la confirmación de una triste sospecha: No se trataba de un libro autoconclusivo.
Vieron chiques? yo les dije, no se metan a leer sin investigar antes, o vuelven a caer en sagas. No importa cuanto nos gusten las sagas, si están inconclusas mejor esperamos!
Si bien el libro deja resuelto el misterio principal de la trama, queda abierto un tema de trasfondo, ese “algo más grande” que te dice que tenes que leer el segundo libro para saber cómo sigue todo. Eso fue lo que me emboló del libro, no tener una continuación disponible para leer enseguida, pues, ademas de #impaciente temo que en un tiempo, cuando Stalpi esté traducido al español, quizás haya perdido el entusiasmo por la historia y me cueste retomar.
Es algo muy mío.
En general debo decir que la historia esta muy buena, tiene sus cositas, pero fue una buena lectura.
Tengo muchas ganas de leer la segunda parte. Espero que llegue pronto y cuando llegue, agarrar el libro con entusiasmo.
Ahora voy a hacer una mención a la trama con spoiler:
Esto es lo que mas me gusto de la historia.
En este relato pintan a los trolls, como criaturas con un poder psíquico de transmitir sus sentimientos y conocimiento a la mente de un humano. Al principio te muestran cómo, con sus miradas fijas y su poder incomodan mucho a la gente, ya que se meten a la mente sin permiso y hasta parece que son medio malitos. Pero llegando al final del libro, me di cuenta que estos seres no son malos ni buenos, simplemente son y pueden beneficiar a un ser humano o perjudicarlo según la situación, no por capricho, ya que la mayoría de las veces que hacen mal porque el humano que los cuida se los pide. Esto hablando de los duendecitos más chicos. También hay otros mas grandes, que se los muestra como que son peligrosos, pero la trama se explaya mucho en estos trolls. La verdad es que a mi me parecieron actitudes muy de gato. Y yo amo a los gatos. Como me imagine a estos duendecillos en mi cabeza eran la cosa más amorosa adorable y abrazable del mundo. Aunque ya cerca del final Uno de los personajes toma a un duendecillo con esta actitud y termina con unos tremendos dolores de cabeza :)
kahvikissafin's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
pointeluv's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
5.0
I wish I was able to read Swedish, so I could read this book in it's original form. There are definitely things in the writing that are confusing and I had to re-read carefully a few times to understand, but I'm guessing it was because things can get jumbled in translation. Even despite the lost in translation bits it was a unique, can't put it down five star story and I'm very eager to read the sequel.
catladylover94's review against another edition
3.0
way to long could have told what they wanted in 300 pages, i doubt i'll read any more of his. if they are all like this.
justinlife's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
This book was alright. I’m sure if you’re a fan of Scandinavian crime novels, adding a folklore twist would be fun. I couldn’t place most of the locations, so it felt like I was lost though the book. I could’ve even keep all the characters straight. The book wasn’t as tense nor as mystical as I was expecting. It’s not bad, but I know why I waited years to pick this up.
bretille's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Kidnapping
fictionfan's review against another edition
5.0
Weirdly wonderful...
In 1978, a small boy and his mother are staying in a holiday cabin in the forests near Falun, in Sweden. All seems well until the mother accidentally kills a bat that was flying around her. She throws it into the undergrowth, but the next day, when she goes to the fridge, there is the dead bat lying crumpled on a shelf. Now some of the forest animals begin to behave strangely, sitting motionless staring at the house. The mother tells the boy to stay in but he wants to see them, so he runs out of the house into the forest - and is never seen again. His distraught mother claims that she saw him being taken by a giant...
In the present day, Susso visits an elderly woman who claims she has seen a strange little man watching her house and her grandson. Susso believes in trolls and is on a personal mission to prove that they still exist. Most of the reports she receives via her website are obviously false or hoaxes, but something about this woman convinces her to investigate further. Elsewhere, Seved is busily clearing up the havoc caused by the Old Ones who live in the barn – a sure sign they are getting restless...
This is one of the weirdest books I've read in a long time – weirdly wonderful, that is. The world it is set in is undeniably the Sweden of today, but in some isolated places the creatures of myth and folklore still exist. It's essential that the reader can accept this, because there's no ambiguity about it, but Spjut's matter-of-fact way of writing about them somehow makes the whole thing feel completely credible. But although their existence is established he leaves them beautifully undefined – the reader is never quite sure what exactly they are or whether they are fundamentally good or evil or perhaps, like humanity, a bit of both. They're not all the same, either in appearance or behaviour, and there seems to be a kind of hierarchy amongst them. Although most humans remain unaware of them, some are very closely involved with them. And every now and then, a child goes missing.
It's the writing that makes it work. Spjut builds up a chilling atmosphere, largely by never quite telling the reader exactly what's going on. Normally that would frustrate me wildly, but it works here because the reader is put in the same position of uncertainty as the humans. There's a folk-tale feel about the whole thing as if the fables of the old days have somehow strayed back into the real world. But despite that, fundamentally this is a crime novel with all the usual elements of an investigation into a missing child. As with so much Nordic fiction, the weather and landscape plays a huge role in creating an atmosphere of isolation – all those trees, and the snow, and the freezing cold.
There's a real air of horror running beneath the surface, though in fact there's not too much in the way of explicit gruesomeness – it's more the fear of not knowing what might happen. The beginning is decidedly creepy and sets up the tone for the rest of the book brilliantly. It takes a while to get to grips with who everyone is and how the various strands link, but gradually it all comes together. I admit there were bits in the middle that dragged slightly and felt a little repetitive at times, but the bulk of it kept me totally absorbed. And the last part is full of action building up to a really great ending that satisfies even though everything is far from being tied up neatly and tidily. So much is left unexplained, not in the way of careless loose ends, but more as if some things just are as they are and must be accepted.
If you can cope with the basic idea, then I do highly recommend this as something very different from the normal run of things. 4 stars for the writing, plus one for being one of the most original books I've read in a while – I do hope there's going to be a sequel...
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
In 1978, a small boy and his mother are staying in a holiday cabin in the forests near Falun, in Sweden. All seems well until the mother accidentally kills a bat that was flying around her. She throws it into the undergrowth, but the next day, when she goes to the fridge, there is the dead bat lying crumpled on a shelf. Now some of the forest animals begin to behave strangely, sitting motionless staring at the house. The mother tells the boy to stay in but he wants to see them, so he runs out of the house into the forest - and is never seen again. His distraught mother claims that she saw him being taken by a giant...
In the present day, Susso visits an elderly woman who claims she has seen a strange little man watching her house and her grandson. Susso believes in trolls and is on a personal mission to prove that they still exist. Most of the reports she receives via her website are obviously false or hoaxes, but something about this woman convinces her to investigate further. Elsewhere, Seved is busily clearing up the havoc caused by the Old Ones who live in the barn – a sure sign they are getting restless...
This is one of the weirdest books I've read in a long time – weirdly wonderful, that is. The world it is set in is undeniably the Sweden of today, but in some isolated places the creatures of myth and folklore still exist. It's essential that the reader can accept this, because there's no ambiguity about it, but Spjut's matter-of-fact way of writing about them somehow makes the whole thing feel completely credible. But although their existence is established he leaves them beautifully undefined – the reader is never quite sure what exactly they are or whether they are fundamentally good or evil or perhaps, like humanity, a bit of both. They're not all the same, either in appearance or behaviour, and there seems to be a kind of hierarchy amongst them. Although most humans remain unaware of them, some are very closely involved with them. And every now and then, a child goes missing.
It's the writing that makes it work. Spjut builds up a chilling atmosphere, largely by never quite telling the reader exactly what's going on. Normally that would frustrate me wildly, but it works here because the reader is put in the same position of uncertainty as the humans. There's a folk-tale feel about the whole thing as if the fables of the old days have somehow strayed back into the real world. But despite that, fundamentally this is a crime novel with all the usual elements of an investigation into a missing child. As with so much Nordic fiction, the weather and landscape plays a huge role in creating an atmosphere of isolation – all those trees, and the snow, and the freezing cold.
There's a real air of horror running beneath the surface, though in fact there's not too much in the way of explicit gruesomeness – it's more the fear of not knowing what might happen. The beginning is decidedly creepy and sets up the tone for the rest of the book brilliantly. It takes a while to get to grips with who everyone is and how the various strands link, but gradually it all comes together. I admit there were bits in the middle that dragged slightly and felt a little repetitive at times, but the bulk of it kept me totally absorbed. And the last part is full of action building up to a really great ending that satisfies even though everything is far from being tied up neatly and tidily. So much is left unexplained, not in the way of careless loose ends, but more as if some things just are as they are and must be accepted.
If you can cope with the basic idea, then I do highly recommend this as something very different from the normal run of things. 4 stars for the writing, plus one for being one of the most original books I've read in a while – I do hope there's going to be a sequel...
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com