Scan barcode
ketutar's review against another edition
5.0
yes, this is it. I read it already years ago.
I love it.
I love it.
karinlib's review against another edition
dark
2.0
The mythological sections were interesting, the romance sections, not so much. The blurb for this says that it's enchanting... nah.
grayjay's review against another edition
4.0
This book was fun and sexy. Although I skipped through a few of the textbook-like chapters, I enjoyed reading it. Unfortunately, I was fairly disappointed with the ending.
pronkbaggins's review against another edition
2.0
What the hell did I just read?
Granted, it was an easy and interesting read, but I am so confused.
Granted, it was an easy and interesting read, but I am so confused.
hyperion77's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- 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
Hyi vitun vittu. Purkauduin kuin tulivuori
sadetanssija's review against another edition
3.0
Holy hell the characters in this novel were horrible people. Manipulative, abusive, all-around shitty people. A difficult read for me, but I powered through. This started out way too slow and the lore-dumps were mostly unneccesary, but towards the end, when things started happening, it got better.
innodavid's review against another edition
1.0
1.5 STARS
Very underwhelming.
Spoilers ahead
The synopsis and cover alone screams weird creepy vibes, which is exactly my thing. I even thought this book would delve into some important topics and would have an emotional punch at the end.
But I should've probably learned by now not to expect too much whenever I found books that fit my taste.
The story begins with Angel, a Finnish gay man bounding back to his apartment drunk from a rejection and seeing a couple kids crowding on something behind a trash bin. And that something happens to be a troll. A baby troll. Trolls in this book are not mystical creatures that no one knows about. They're rare animals similar to bears and lynxes but not much are known about them since they've only emerged in the early 1900's. So, out of curiosity, he took the troll into his apartment and everything goes on from there.
The concept of this book is fascinating. It alternates between a couple Pov's along with snippets of different websites our main character is researching into about trolls. It's not something I've come across in books. Adding to that is the gloomy feel similar to early 2000's indie films. And I was so hoping that this would be a new favorite. But the execution was just lacklustre.
First thing, there was nothing gripping about this novel. While I'm reading it, I liked it, but when I put it down, I've no desire in picking it back up. There's essentially no plot keeping you engaged. It's just a repetitive cycle of Angel doing mundane things, getting laid, and looking up websites on how to feed and take care of the troll. The switching perspectives also didn't help. They're more dull than the main character. I don't even know if there's purpose for them having their own spotlights. They brought no interesting insight into the story nor to our main character. One is just there to simp for Angel, basically his only thought process is how obssess he is about this enigmatic blonde Finnish guy and how he wants to get pounded everytime he sees him.
But the most unnecessary perspective we've got is Palomita, Angel's Filipina apartment neighbor. As a Filipino myself, I loved when my country is getting represented in foreign literature. But after encountering this character, I wanted to rebuke that thought. Palomita is married to an old abusive Finnish guy who bought her off from some other country to fulfill his sexual and daily needs. And as the general impression of foreigners to Filipinos, the author wrote Palomita as this puny submissive "island girl" who doesn't even know how to speak a little english (which by the way is completely false since Philippines is known to have the most english speakers in the world, and is only second to Singapore in Asia).
There's even a scene where the author tries including Filipino sayings to justify Palomita's superstitious and religious beliefs, but it only shows how little the author did her research since the translation is incomprehensible. I even have to read it twice to conclude that it was, indeed a Filipino sentence.
Anyhow, Palomita contributed nothing, I mean NOTHING, to the development of the story. We got to see her interact with Angel a few times, but those interactions are so short and unrelated to the story that it was just filler. All she did was basically buy cat food for Angel's troll and that's it. And the rest of her scenes are her telling us how abusive her husband is, how sad she is in this country, and how she could admit to Angel her growing feelings for him.
Atleast for the other Pov's, they somehow have a relation to the main character since all of them have been his lovers. But Palomita is just there for what? To add diversity amongst these white boys?
The last thing I'd like to touch upon is the pacing. It's not all over the place like some other books I've disliked. It's actually very subtle, but not in a good way.
There was no climax. No great reveal, or any exciting plot point. It's just a drawn-out glimpse of this guy's life trying to feed his baby troll and
When I got to the last 20%, I thought "what even is the point of this book?" It did not even gave any commentary towards anything, which I thought it would've done, especially with the inclusion of fictional websites explaining the origins, past-experiences, theories, and reports about the species of trolls. It's all wasted potential.
Lastly, what even is the relevance of that title? And why is this book categorized as romance? There's nothing romantic about this book and it has no love story. It might give readers false expectations.
“It is said, once a wise man from the far North told me; it is said that there are in certain parts of Scandinavia cities within cities like there are circles within circles; existent yet invisible. And those cities are inhabited by creatures more terrible than imagination can create : man-shaped but man-devouring, as black and as silent as the night they prowl in.”
Very underwhelming.
Spoilers ahead
The synopsis and cover alone screams weird creepy vibes, which is exactly my thing. I even thought this book would delve into some important topics and would have an emotional punch at the end.
But I should've probably learned by now not to expect too much whenever I found books that fit my taste.
The story begins with Angel, a Finnish gay man bounding back to his apartment drunk from a rejection and seeing a couple kids crowding on something behind a trash bin. And that something happens to be a troll. A baby troll. Trolls in this book are not mystical creatures that no one knows about. They're rare animals similar to bears and lynxes but not much are known about them since they've only emerged in the early 1900's. So, out of curiosity, he took the troll into his apartment and everything goes on from there.
The concept of this book is fascinating. It alternates between a couple Pov's along with snippets of different websites our main character is researching into about trolls. It's not something I've come across in books. Adding to that is the gloomy feel similar to early 2000's indie films. And I was so hoping that this would be a new favorite. But the execution was just lacklustre.
First thing, there was nothing gripping about this novel. While I'm reading it, I liked it, but when I put it down, I've no desire in picking it back up. There's essentially no plot keeping you engaged. It's just a repetitive cycle of Angel doing mundane things, getting laid, and looking up websites on how to feed and take care of the troll. The switching perspectives also didn't help. They're more dull than the main character. I don't even know if there's purpose for them having their own spotlights. They brought no interesting insight into the story nor to our main character. One is just there to simp for Angel, basically his only thought process is how obssess he is about this enigmatic blonde Finnish guy and how he wants to get pounded everytime he sees him.
But the most unnecessary perspective we've got is Palomita, Angel's Filipina apartment neighbor. As a Filipino myself, I loved when my country is getting represented in foreign literature. But after encountering this character, I wanted to rebuke that thought. Palomita is married to an old abusive Finnish guy who bought her off from some other country to fulfill his sexual and daily needs. And as the general impression of foreigners to Filipinos, the author wrote Palomita as this puny submissive "island girl" who doesn't even know how to speak a little english (which by the way is completely false since Philippines is known to have the most english speakers in the world, and is only second to Singapore in Asia).
There's even a scene where the author tries including Filipino sayings to justify Palomita's superstitious and religious beliefs, but it only shows how little the author did her research since the translation is incomprehensible. I even have to read it twice to conclude that it was, indeed a Filipino sentence.
Anyhow, Palomita contributed nothing, I mean NOTHING, to the development of the story. We got to see her interact with Angel a few times, but those interactions are so short and unrelated to the story that it was just filler. All she did was basically buy cat food for Angel's troll and that's it. And the rest of her scenes are her telling us how abusive her husband is, how sad she is in this country, and how she could admit to Angel her growing feelings for him.
Atleast for the other Pov's, they somehow have a relation to the main character since all of them have been his lovers. But Palomita is just there for what? To add diversity amongst these white boys?
The last thing I'd like to touch upon is the pacing. It's not all over the place like some other books I've disliked. It's actually very subtle, but not in a good way.
There was no climax. No great reveal, or any exciting plot point. It's just a drawn-out glimpse of this guy's life trying to feed his baby troll and
Spoiler
sexualizing it as he masturbated a couple of times in its presescenceWhen I got to the last 20%, I thought "what even is the point of this book?" It did not even gave any commentary towards anything, which I thought it would've done, especially with the inclusion of fictional websites explaining the origins, past-experiences, theories, and reports about the species of trolls. It's all wasted potential.
Lastly, what even is the relevance of that title? And why is this book categorized as romance? There's nothing romantic about this book and it has no love story. It might give readers false expectations.
ivan_of_the_endless's review against another edition
challenging
dark
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Osasi yllättää. Stressaavaa luettavaa mutta super hyvin kirjoitettu. Suoraan sanottuna melko ällöttävä, mutta en jättäisi lukematta sen takia.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pedophilia
annanas1864's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
eva_ave's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75