Reviews with content warning for Blood - Let the Right One In

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

68 reviews

seawarrior's review against another edition

dark emotional

4.0

Let the Right One In is a winding, intricately planned horror story that examines vampire lore in a fresh way. At the heart of the novel is the understanding that life, death, love and everything else in between them feel different when you are young and adulthood still looms far on the horizon.

While the first half of the book is rather slow-paced, I never felt that it was tedious to read. This pleasantly surprised me since I typically avoid books of this length. As the story progresses, we are introduced to a variety of characters whose lives start to converge due to Eli's innocent yet ruthless will to survive. Lindqvist provides a humanity to each of these characters, even the ones who are most despicable or only show up on a few pages. Any scene from Håkan's perspective was disgusting to read, though he is thankfully tortured throughout the narrative and never given a moment of peace. It was definitely rewarding to envision him growing more and more grotesquely wounded throughout the corse of the book.

The second half of the novel was paced quicker, and by the last hundred pages I felt it impossible to put the book down as I prepared to go into work. Though horrific and mysteriously worrying, the book is given a satisfying ending in line with the themes of youth providing a film over the reality of violence and toxic romance. This was a unique, memorable horror story that deserves the international interest that has swirled around it since its release.

Content Warnings

ellislilylovestoread's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

Content Warnings

derberner's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

nakutski's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

Content Warnings

lupitabaeyongo's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.75

Content Warnings

agentshellfish's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

wanderingnorth's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Fantastic character development and great inversion of a romance novel while keeping very strong horror elements. Just be warned: this is not an easy book to read at times and can get pretty graphic. The content warnings for this one are very applicable.

Content Warnings