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james_ronald's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Overly graphic and unnecessary descriptions of violence towards women. The movement of the plot is also dependent on violence, there’s no real “the mystery is solved”, more the mystery is battered out of people.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, and Torture
saltycorpse's review
1.0
This is what happens when you get a white male author trying to write about female oppression, while at the same time trying to emulate and out-rape Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, all while patting himself on the back for knowing what women go through and writing just such an amazing book about it.
I couldn't even finish this steaming turd-pile. It was so poorly written, and I get that the dude was trying to make a point about violence against women but this was so over-the-top it was practically satire. The lead detective in the case, who is a woman, is a one-dimensional moron whose greatest concern in life is whether or not to have a baby. Because that's what being a woman is about. Having babies and/or getting brutally raped and murdered. Oh, and the men in the novel are no better.
One character is basically a brute, like Kallentoft has assembled some D&D team to solve rape/murder cases. The Brute Detective was (surprise) abused by his father so now he beats up people but it's totally fine because he's on the good side and the people he's beating up are bad! There is no more reflection on this. That's it. That's the entire thing about this guy. He's dumb and he beats people up and is always angry about his dad. Like, that's fucking insulting to the reader's intelligence.
The Inspector of the detectives is an immigrant from Iran who is writing a controversial book about how immigrants need to integrate and learn English. So the author is really transparently using him as a vehicle to uncritically push his personal thoughts about immigration....and immigration factors in no way into this novel because it's about pretty white girls getting super graphically raped and tortured and murdered. I think at one point the Inspector actually thinks or says "I am brown therefore I'm allowed to say this", smugly satisfied. Except he's being written by some rando white dude. So. I don't know. When he's not writing his super controversial pretty much anti-immigration book he's busy banging the prosecutor who is successful AND somehow an elite member of a secret women's society hellbent on bringing down powerful men who rape and murder. We don't find this out until over halfway through the book when she fucking randomly gets a folder of names of those involved. What!?
Oh yeah, and the main detective inexplicably hates the prosecutor because she's prettier and more successful. But when she gets the folder she changes her mind and has a revelation about how women can work together. Kill me now.
And guess what? IT'S POWERFUL MEN WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THE RAPIN' AND MURDERIN'. WHO COULD'VE SEEN THAT COMING!? It's literally only the plot of almost every crime novel with serial murders of women at the center of the plot ever.
Seriously, skip this piece of garbage. It's just chronicles of ridic. This author has his head so far up his ass he's somehow tricked himself into believing he's "edgy" and "subversive." Also, fucking quit it with the choppy internal monologues making every character "tortured" by some boring aspect of life. Nobody cares. Oh, and the dead girl monologue interjections are not doing you any favours. You can practically hear the dulcet slapping as the author jerks himself off while writing these italic ghost monologues. Get a kleenex and get over yourself.
I couldn't even finish this steaming turd-pile. It was so poorly written, and I get that the dude was trying to make a point about violence against women but this was so over-the-top it was practically satire. The lead detective in the case, who is a woman, is a one-dimensional moron whose greatest concern in life is whether or not to have a baby. Because that's what being a woman is about. Having babies and/or getting brutally raped and murdered. Oh, and the men in the novel are no better.
One character is basically a brute, like Kallentoft has assembled some D&D team to solve rape/murder cases. The Brute Detective was (surprise) abused by his father so now he beats up people but it's totally fine because he's on the good side and the people he's beating up are bad! There is no more reflection on this. That's it. That's the entire thing about this guy. He's dumb and he beats people up and is always angry about his dad. Like, that's fucking insulting to the reader's intelligence.
The Inspector of the detectives is an immigrant from Iran who is writing a controversial book about how immigrants need to integrate and learn English. So the author is really transparently using him as a vehicle to uncritically push his personal thoughts about immigration....and immigration factors in no way into this novel because it's about pretty white girls getting super graphically raped and tortured and murdered. I think at one point the Inspector actually thinks or says "I am brown therefore I'm allowed to say this", smugly satisfied. Except he's being written by some rando white dude. So. I don't know. When he's not writing his super controversial pretty much anti-immigration book he's busy banging the prosecutor who is successful AND somehow an elite member of a secret women's society hellbent on bringing down powerful men who rape and murder. We don't find this out until over halfway through the book when she fucking randomly gets a folder of names of those involved. What!?
Oh yeah, and the main detective inexplicably hates the prosecutor because she's prettier and more successful. But when she gets the folder she changes her mind and has a revelation about how women can work together. Kill me now.
And guess what? IT'S POWERFUL MEN WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THE RAPIN' AND MURDERIN'. WHO COULD'VE SEEN THAT COMING!? It's literally only the plot of almost every crime novel with serial murders of women at the center of the plot ever.
Seriously, skip this piece of garbage. It's just chronicles of ridic. This author has his head so far up his ass he's somehow tricked himself into believing he's "edgy" and "subversive." Also, fucking quit it with the choppy internal monologues making every character "tortured" by some boring aspect of life. Nobody cares. Oh, and the dead girl monologue interjections are not doing you any favours. You can practically hear the dulcet slapping as the author jerks himself off while writing these italic ghost monologues. Get a kleenex and get over yourself.
stephend81d5's review
3.0
felt the latest in the malin fors series could of been shorter as was slightly long winded but apart from that still the dark Swedish crime thriller
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