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slipperbunny's review against another edition
4.0
I always try to find new interesting crime novels because I really do enjoy guessing who the killer is and so on. This is my first Liza Marklund book (I got this through bookcrossing) and I must say that I really enjoyed this. And it didn't really matter that I hadn't read the previous volumes. Annika is an interesting main character for a crime novel and I loved it that she wasn't perfect. She's a journalist, who just got promoted and is trying to balance between work and home. Maybe the best part of this book was how real everything seemed and in the end I couldn't stop reading and even in the last pages I got one last surprise.
Quite enjoyable book.
Quite enjoyable book.
tt569's review against another edition
fast-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
4.75
kpiter01's review against another edition
3.0
I'm on a Scandinavian crime (or krim, as they call it) kick. Again, I was a bit preoccupied when I started this book and it didn't grab me right away. I think I wasn't really into her writing style - some parts had a lot of unnecessary and almost boring detail. Bits of this book reminded me of Steig Larsson's books (this book was published first so I guess his storyline is actually reminiscent of her storyline...). By the time I got to the end, I liked it though.
joth1006's review against another edition
Såhär: detta är en väldigt klumpig text med ett medelmåttigt språk. Men i sin kontext är det fortfarande en viktig bok för sin genre, framförallt i sitt feministiska anslag. Då menar jag inte endast de uttalat feministiska passagerna, utan främst Annika Bengtzons gestaltning.
Men som sagt, som text är detta inget jag jublar över.
Men som sagt, som text är detta inget jag jublar över.
emupiter's review against another edition
3.0
this book was everything that i thought it wasn't gonna be, but it was also everything that i thought it was gonna be?
The Bomber is the first book (if you follow the published order) in the Annika Bengtzon series. The Olympics is about to take place in Sweden but all of a sudden, the head of the Olympic Organizing Committee, Christina Furhage dies in a bombing. Annika Bengtzon, who is a journalist at Kvällspressen keeps interviewing people about Furhage's death and she realizes that there were a lot of people that wanted Furhage dead. But she's still determined to solve this murder mystery and she might be on to something, something that the police might not even have thought about.
I really thought this book was going to be boring, i can't say that it was a couldn't stop reading book exactly but i did enjoy some parts of it a lot. The thought of this book being more about love drama than the actual murder mystery scared me, but it was, according to me a perfect balance. And also, can we talk about the lgbt+ rep in this book??? I was a 100 % sure that there were only going to be straight characters in this book, but there's a lgbt+ character in this book and they're super cool and loud about their identiy (as loud as you can be if you're in a swedish book writen by a straight person). You think that sounds cool? Well what if i told you that there aren't just one lgbt+ character, but two< lgbt+ characters in this book? Yeah, the lgbt+ rep was a nice surprise and it made the book a lot more interesting, at least for me.
The writing style is pretty good, and Liza Marklund didn't use words that i didn't understand that often. It was easy to follow the story, probably because it was so extremly slow. Now, i know some people like it when it's not rushed, and i do too, but this book was just too slow. This book is about 415 pages, but it feels like everything that happens in this book happens during two if not one week. Marklund realy drag things out, and i'm not the biggest fan of it. It made me really excited to see the film though. It was almost like reading a script for a film or a tv show, if the script was written as a book (does that make any sense?). And the chapters........there are less than 10 chapters in this 415 page book. And the chapters aren't really chapters either so if i'm gonna be totally honest with you, there are nochapters in this book. I am a person who don't like to stop reading in the middle of everything, but with this book, i just had to do it. the "chapters" were so long, and because i didn't find every part of the story interesting and good, i just had to stop in the middle of a page. And it was not satisfying at all.
But i did enjoy the characters, for the most part. And i really liked the different dynamics. I will forever adore Annika's and Schyman's relationship. I want to know more about their relationship and how it was formed. Annika really seem to look up to Schyman a lot, and he's almost like a father or a big brother to her and i absolutely love that! I alos liked the drama that was going on between Annika and multiply coworkers. I felt frustraded sometimes, when someone did or said something stupid, just like Annika did.
It's also realistic to some extent. Annika feeling like she has to choose between her job and her family is something people all over the world feel. That there is at least one lgbt+ person in a situation like this is realistic. And althought i think the last scene was overall realistic, i felt like cringing at some parts cause i just felt like some things would never happen in a situation like that.
The book was an alright book and i did like it. I look forward to read the other books, and hopefully, there will be a 5 star read in this series.
I'm giving this book: ★★★
The Bomber is the first book (if you follow the published order) in the Annika Bengtzon series. The Olympics is about to take place in Sweden but all of a sudden, the head of the Olympic Organizing Committee, Christina Furhage dies in a bombing. Annika Bengtzon, who is a journalist at Kvällspressen keeps interviewing people about Furhage's death and she realizes that there were a lot of people that wanted Furhage dead. But she's still determined to solve this murder mystery and she might be on to something, something that the police might not even have thought about.
I really thought this book was going to be boring, i can't say that it was a couldn't stop reading book exactly but i did enjoy some parts of it a lot. The thought of this book being more about love drama than the actual murder mystery scared me, but it was, according to me a perfect balance. And also, can we talk about the lgbt+ rep in this book??? I was a 100 % sure that there were only going to be straight characters in this book, but there's a lgbt+ character in this book and they're super cool and loud about their identiy (as loud as you can be if you're in a swedish book writen by a straight person). You think that sounds cool? Well what if i told you that there aren't just one lgbt+ character, but two< lgbt+ characters in this book? Yeah, the lgbt+ rep was a nice surprise and it made the book a lot more interesting, at least for me.
The writing style is pretty good, and Liza Marklund didn't use words that i didn't understand that often. It was easy to follow the story, probably because it was so extremly slow. Now, i know some people like it when it's not rushed, and i do too, but this book was just too slow. This book is about 415 pages, but it feels like everything that happens in this book happens during two if not one week. Marklund realy drag things out, and i'm not the biggest fan of it. It made me really excited to see the film though. It was almost like reading a script for a film or a tv show, if the script was written as a book (does that make any sense?). And the chapters........there are less than 10 chapters in this 415 page book. And the chapters aren't really chapters either so if i'm gonna be totally honest with you, there are nochapters in this book. I am a person who don't like to stop reading in the middle of everything, but with this book, i just had to do it. the "chapters" were so long, and because i didn't find every part of the story interesting and good, i just had to stop in the middle of a page. And it was not satisfying at all.
But i did enjoy the characters, for the most part. And i really liked the different dynamics. I will forever adore Annika's and Schyman's relationship. I want to know more about their relationship and how it was formed. Annika really seem to look up to Schyman a lot, and he's almost like a father or a big brother to her and i absolutely love that! I alos liked the drama that was going on between Annika and multiply coworkers. I felt frustraded sometimes, when someone did or said something stupid, just like Annika did.
It's also realistic to some extent. Annika feeling like she has to choose between her job and her family is something people all over the world feel. That there is at least one lgbt+ person in a situation like this is realistic. And althought i think the last scene was overall realistic, i felt like cringing at some parts cause i just felt like some things would never happen in a situation like that.
The book was an alright book and i did like it. I look forward to read the other books, and hopefully, there will be a 5 star read in this series.
I'm giving this book: ★★★
franziskalauer's review against another edition
4.0
Jag tyckte väldigt mycket om boken. I början var det kanske lite segt men efter de första 100 sidorna fastnade jag. Det var väldigt spännande att få några olika ledtrådar och fundera över fallet själv men blev väldigt överraskad till slutet ändå. Det är smart uppbyggt, jag tycker inte om när avslöjanden är ur det blå.
Jag har dessutom märkt att jag läser hellre deckare skrivna av kvinnor än av män, jag tyckte mycket om dem feministiska inslagen som fanns i boken.
Jag har dessutom märkt att jag läser hellre deckare skrivna av kvinnor än av män, jag tyckte mycket om dem feministiska inslagen som fanns i boken.
rkk104's review
4.0
I watched the TV series of this before reading any of the books. Thankfully, this book was not one of the ones included in the series so I didn't know the plot already. I think there are some translation issue, but it was still enjoyable.
adrianab's review against another edition
4.0
Mai multe explozii cu victime, in Stockholm, o determina pe Annika, ziarista la o publicatie cunoscuta, sa caute, in paralel cu politia, o legatura intre victime. Un thriller bun, dar pentru mine nu a fost Wow!
bethkemp's review
4.0
This was a great read for the festive period, as it takes place during the week leading up to Christmas and reveals Annika's struggles to get Christmas 'right' as a working Mum, as well as the pressures she faces at work and the very real danger she courts as leader of the crime section of the newspaper. There is plenty of atmospheric detail in this novel and Marklund makes it very easy to lose yourself in the world she captures on the page. Marklund was a journalist herself and it is plain that details such as procedures, legal concerns and office behaviour all come from an experienced voice.
There is also a great deal of domestic and personal detail in the story, which I found mostly constructive in establishing character, but I have seen reviews criticising the inclusion of (for example) each cup of coffee drunk. I found it overall an immersive experience and, for me, it helped in ratcheting up the tension, although this is on the whole a drawn-out rather than top-speed pacey kind of thriller.
The narrative is third person past, mostly from Annika's perspective, but there are occasional sections from others' points of view. There are also some short journal-type sections dotted throughout the novel which seem to be some kind of justification of the bomber's motivation and values, offering a very different view of the world.
Annika is a complex character, who seems to be struggling with balancing her demanding career with her family ties. I feel that this aspect of her is particularly well-drawn from a feminist viewpoint without implying that she should have to choose between work and family. She is shown suffering from sexism at work, and worrying about her ability to be a good wife and mother, but she is a realistic creation and does behave as an individual under stress. Again, I know there have been some reviewers who have struggled to accept her as a likeable narrator, but my personal opinion is that her environment is presented clearly enough for us to see her as a product of it. In other words, she may be sometimes moody, but I would suggest she has a right to, under the circumstances.
Overall, I would recommend this as a crime thriller from a slightly different angle, using a reporter as the main character rather than a police detective or private investigator.
There is also a great deal of domestic and personal detail in the story, which I found mostly constructive in establishing character, but I have seen reviews criticising the inclusion of (for example) each cup of coffee drunk. I found it overall an immersive experience and, for me, it helped in ratcheting up the tension, although this is on the whole a drawn-out rather than top-speed pacey kind of thriller.
The narrative is third person past, mostly from Annika's perspective, but there are occasional sections from others' points of view. There are also some short journal-type sections dotted throughout the novel which seem to be some kind of justification of the bomber's motivation and values, offering a very different view of the world.
Annika is a complex character, who seems to be struggling with balancing her demanding career with her family ties. I feel that this aspect of her is particularly well-drawn from a feminist viewpoint without implying that she should have to choose between work and family. She is shown suffering from sexism at work, and worrying about her ability to be a good wife and mother, but she is a realistic creation and does behave as an individual under stress. Again, I know there have been some reviewers who have struggled to accept her as a likeable narrator, but my personal opinion is that her environment is presented clearly enough for us to see her as a product of it. In other words, she may be sometimes moody, but I would suggest she has a right to, under the circumstances.
Overall, I would recommend this as a crime thriller from a slightly different angle, using a reporter as the main character rather than a police detective or private investigator.
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