Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup

8 reviews

dev921's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Medical content, Animal death, Confinement, Kidnapping, Death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence

kendrac_117's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Infertility, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Violence, Torture, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Death, Grief, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Mental illness, and Murder

azureye31's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I am always up for an intense, dark, Scandinavian thriller, so that is what attracted me to this book. I am also aware that this particular author is also a screen writer and has had several successful series on television, so I was very curious, and excited to read a piece of his work.  

 

What worked:  

 

The author made good use of atmosphere to draw the reader in. The book felt very dark, and the descriptions of the surroundings added to this feeling of sinister (snowy, cold, gray Copenhagen). I also enjoyed the plot, and it did keep me, at times, on the edge of my seat. This book is a mixture of plot driven, and an attempt to be character driven with a very dark tone. 

 

The translation from Danish was very good, and did not appear to lose anything in the process. Nothing felt awkward or out of place. 

 

 

What didn’t work: 

 

I felt confused with the characters because there were so many, and the author did not do a good job of developing them.  None of them had a distinct voice, and I did not feel a sense of empathy for any of them.  It was purely plot that kept me engaged in the book, and not an attachment to any particular character.  The reader is given very little insight into any of them.  The author’s attempt at creating a character driven story, in my humble opinion, failed.  Had it not been for the very strong plot, I would have not stayed engaged. 

 

The author chose to write in third person, limited and the constant shifting of characters got confusing.  At times, the chapter would start out without any sense of who we were talking about, and three pages later the another would drop a hint.  It felt disorienting, and detracted from the story. 

 

The plot itself was very intense, and did keep me on edge, however some of it was a little unbelievable and could have been edited out.  This book was very long, but needlessly so. 

 

I am giving it 3 out of five stars.  

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Body horror, and Kidnapping

katybugggg's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Torture

Moderate: Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Stalking, Death, Gore, Islamophobia, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Rape, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

overbookedteacher's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Incest, Child abuse, Death, Rape, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

brandon_the_beldam2993's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Confinement, Cursing, Kidnapping, Murder, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Blood and Sexual content

apersonfromflorida's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Child death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, Rape, Trafficking, Stalking, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

kaidoz's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The main plot of the book surrounds a serial killer, and I find the idea of it very interesting. The murders and the way the plot thickens isn’t too slow. The main characters are pretty cliche. The main woman is a headstrong/independent type and the main man is a carbon copy of the rugged detective with a mysterious past who was kicked off the force. The story itself made it readable but because of the characters’ cliche-ness I wasn’t too much of a fan of the <slight romance toward the end>. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Murder, Kidnapping, Gore, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Stalking, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, and Medical content

This book contains mentions of graphic child abuse, physical and sexual. Many people are murdered and it is mentioned in detail due to the main characters being detectives.