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kcfromaustcrime's review against another edition
5.0
The problem, if there is one, with the receipt of a new book by John Ajvide Lindqvist is the vague worry that one day there just could be a book by this author that doesn't quite work for me. If there is such a book in Lindqvist's imagination, LITTLE STAR isn't it.
I don't quite know what it is about Lindqvist's writing but he consistently takes this reader into territory that I'd normally run a mile from - be it vampires in LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, zombies in HANDLING THE UNDEAD or mysticism and profound parental attachment in HARBOUR, so nothing much has changed as I found myself deeply involved in a plot that culminates with an "Swedish Idol" styled TV program.... Without giving too much away, let's say that LITTLE STAR is about a family's musical stardom, an abandoned baby, ambition and the perversity of fame. LITTLE STAR is another clever morality play from this author, weaving a tale of manipulation, selfishness, and selective blindness in the face of raw ambition, into a narrative that's extremely readable, hypnotic and frequently very moving.
I'm not sure if it's a feature of the original language, but somehow there's a tone and a cadence to the prose in all of Lindqvist's books, that gives them a lyrical, beautiful and extremely readable style - it must, at the very least, be quite a feat of translation. However it's done, that style, cadence and tone were a part of the great appeal of the first book, and it's definitely continuing in LITTLE STAR. Which makes many of the less palatable elements of some of the characters, their actions, and their behaviour stand out even more starkly, and, in particular, make the mystical, the "other" (for want of a better description) just work. They become not just believable, but somehow expected, required if you like.
So yet again, I'm confounded by the use of another "other worldly" scenario in LITTLE STAR that was so simply and beautifully built into the narrative that I didn't bat an eyelid. I was amazed at the way that the narrative ebbed and flowed, the way that a story built and rolled out and around and into some of the dark places of the worst of behaviour. I was strangely relieved at the metering out of justice, albeit somewhat startled at the method... but mostly, I was extremely pleased to spend time with yet another superb book from a master storyteller like John Ajvide Lindqvist.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/content/little-star-john-ajvide-lindqvist
I don't quite know what it is about Lindqvist's writing but he consistently takes this reader into territory that I'd normally run a mile from - be it vampires in LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, zombies in HANDLING THE UNDEAD or mysticism and profound parental attachment in HARBOUR, so nothing much has changed as I found myself deeply involved in a plot that culminates with an "Swedish Idol" styled TV program.... Without giving too much away, let's say that LITTLE STAR is about a family's musical stardom, an abandoned baby, ambition and the perversity of fame. LITTLE STAR is another clever morality play from this author, weaving a tale of manipulation, selfishness, and selective blindness in the face of raw ambition, into a narrative that's extremely readable, hypnotic and frequently very moving.
I'm not sure if it's a feature of the original language, but somehow there's a tone and a cadence to the prose in all of Lindqvist's books, that gives them a lyrical, beautiful and extremely readable style - it must, at the very least, be quite a feat of translation. However it's done, that style, cadence and tone were a part of the great appeal of the first book, and it's definitely continuing in LITTLE STAR. Which makes many of the less palatable elements of some of the characters, their actions, and their behaviour stand out even more starkly, and, in particular, make the mystical, the "other" (for want of a better description) just work. They become not just believable, but somehow expected, required if you like.
So yet again, I'm confounded by the use of another "other worldly" scenario in LITTLE STAR that was so simply and beautifully built into the narrative that I didn't bat an eyelid. I was amazed at the way that the narrative ebbed and flowed, the way that a story built and rolled out and around and into some of the dark places of the worst of behaviour. I was strangely relieved at the metering out of justice, albeit somewhat startled at the method... but mostly, I was extremely pleased to spend time with yet another superb book from a master storyteller like John Ajvide Lindqvist.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/content/little-star-john-ajvide-lindqvist
yardchild's review against another edition
4.0
What a great book. This is the first time I have read John Lindqvist, and I hope to read more now. So much detail went into the characters and you could almost find yourself relating to them.
Two little girls who are very different than other kids their own age (or any age for that matter) find a friendship, and learn about empowerment. Never mind that it isn't an appropriate form of empowerment since it involves killing people who are standing in your way.
I would say to anyone who likes horror that this is a must read.
Two little girls who are very different than other kids their own age (or any age for that matter) find a friendship, and learn about empowerment. Never mind that it isn't an appropriate form of empowerment since it involves killing people who are standing in your way.
I would say to anyone who likes horror that this is a must read.
zoe_e_w's review against another edition
5.0
What to say about Little Star without spoiling it? I feel a need to gush, and yet, I’m worried that gushing will lead me to spoilers. Screw it, let me just give a spoiler warning first. And then I will start this review off with a random tangent.
A couple years back, I wrote a book about a bard, a book with musical numbers and singing and dancing and magic spells composed in notes. After I finished it, I begged for others to please, please do the same thing. Some people said it was a neat idea, but nothing ever came of it.
Until now.
I’ve probably made it clear in past reviews of Lindqvist’s books that I’m deeply in love with his writing, with his objective narrators who can describe the most horrific details in a manner similar to a seasoned weatherman speaking of an approaching hurricane. I’ve loved every one of his books, and within pages, it became clear to me that Lindqvist wasn’t just writing a musical book. He was writing about a bard as a monster. I was elated, because the new literary love of my life was writing the very book that I had begged for someone, anyone to attempt.
Despite my love for his words, it took me the better part of three months to work my way through this massive tome. Early on in the book, there’s an act of domestic violence so brutal, I had to put the book down for two weeks to get over my loathing for a character. Many other scenes were just as hard for me to read, and I had to take chapters in stages and decompress over days or weeks before I could move on.
Once I passed the middle of the book, my need to know what happened overcame my need to decompress, and even if the book was churning my guts up and tearing open a lot of old emotional scars, I read even faster. I read two hundred pages in one night, and right before writing this review, I read the final hundred pages in a blur.
This story starts off with a man in the woods, Lennart, who happens upon an infant buried in a plastic bag and left to die. Lennart gives her mouth to mouth resuscitation, and with her first inhaled breath, the infant begins to sing.
Had anyone else found the child, this might have been a happy story. But Lennart is a bastard, and a wife abuser with a terrible secret. When that secret was revealed, I loathed him, and I almost threw the book down for good in my hatred of him. Lennart’s son Jerry is just as wretched at first, but in his case, it’s the result of living with an abusive father as his role model. So at the time, the only character who I could feel any sympathy for was Laila, Lennart’s long suffering wife. I wished for Lennart to die, but there was a tragic air around Laila that told me she would die first, and horribly.
Lennart becomes obsessed with this singing baby, who he calls Little One, and who Jerry names Theres. Lennart wants no one else to see this child and corrupt her pure musical gift with pop “poison.” He resolves to train her in music himself, and he even threatens to kill his wife if she should try to report the child to the authorities.
Over time, it becomes clear that Theres has a power to manipulate emotions, and Lennart changes from being a complete bastard into something of a smaller monster. He still fears giving up his chance at success, and so as Theres ages, he crafts a terrible lie about how the world is full of big people who want to eat his Little One. He tells her that he and Laila and Jerry are different, because they have love in their heads. While this very effectively convinces Theres to stay indoors, it also creates in her a psychotic understanding of other people, and of her own adoptive parents, who she eventually kills to find the love in their heads. Jerry stumbles into this literal mess, and he takes Theres to safety before reporting the crime.
And then...the story changes over to completely different girl, Teresa, who grows up in a normal home with a normal family. And yet, there is something very wrong with Teresa, and she is an outsider with only one real friend. Teresa’s life at school is unhappy, being that she is not attractive and cannot find a place among the cool kids. Over time, her distance and increasing weight leads to more and more torment from the other kids, and I wondered at what point she might snap and do something terribly violent. Then one night Teresa watches a young girl perform on Idol, and she begins to feel euphoria. A girl in search of an answer, Teresa has found it in the eyes of a singer not much younger than herself.
The story flips back to Theres and Jerry to explain how Jerry constructed a fake ID for Theres, giving her the name Tora Larson. And it is Theres who Teresa has fixated upon. By a stroke of dumb luck, Theres and Teresa are members of the same internet forum, and after Teresa defends Tora’s performance, Theres asks to arrange a meeting.
But Teresa is not alone in this fixation, and the magic power of Theres’ voice begins to draw in others, like Max Hansen, a “talent scout” who is more of a sexual predator using his job as an easy method of seducing young girls. Theres and Teresa meet, and Teresa writes songs for Theres. She films one of these songs as a simple video, and it goes viral. And soon, there are many other girls flocking to Theres, seeking her out as their guru and guide.
What follows beyond this point is a descent into madness, although I admit, it’s hard to spoil a book when the prologue tells the ending before getting into the actual story. In any case, Theres’ understanding of the world infects Teresa, and the two begin a killing spree, first starting with a random store owner, and ending in a mass murder that’s publicly televised.
This is not a book I’d say I enjoyed. This book tormented me, and it dragged me down into the darkest, worst parts of my own past. It stirred my inner animal, and it made me feel ill many times.
None of these are complaints. This is a horror book, and Lindqvist steps up and delivers a brutal story that’s worthy of the word horror. That’s why I’m giving Little Star 5 stars, and I would recommend it to any horror fan looking for something to push them into feelings of genuine discomfort. No, I can’t say I enjoyed this book. But I devoured it, and I know it’s going to stay with me for a long, long time.
A couple years back, I wrote a book about a bard, a book with musical numbers and singing and dancing and magic spells composed in notes. After I finished it, I begged for others to please, please do the same thing. Some people said it was a neat idea, but nothing ever came of it.
Until now.
I’ve probably made it clear in past reviews of Lindqvist’s books that I’m deeply in love with his writing, with his objective narrators who can describe the most horrific details in a manner similar to a seasoned weatherman speaking of an approaching hurricane. I’ve loved every one of his books, and within pages, it became clear to me that Lindqvist wasn’t just writing a musical book. He was writing about a bard as a monster. I was elated, because the new literary love of my life was writing the very book that I had begged for someone, anyone to attempt.
Despite my love for his words, it took me the better part of three months to work my way through this massive tome. Early on in the book, there’s an act of domestic violence so brutal, I had to put the book down for two weeks to get over my loathing for a character. Many other scenes were just as hard for me to read, and I had to take chapters in stages and decompress over days or weeks before I could move on.
Once I passed the middle of the book, my need to know what happened overcame my need to decompress, and even if the book was churning my guts up and tearing open a lot of old emotional scars, I read even faster. I read two hundred pages in one night, and right before writing this review, I read the final hundred pages in a blur.
This story starts off with a man in the woods, Lennart, who happens upon an infant buried in a plastic bag and left to die. Lennart gives her mouth to mouth resuscitation, and with her first inhaled breath, the infant begins to sing.
Had anyone else found the child, this might have been a happy story. But Lennart is a bastard, and a wife abuser with a terrible secret. When that secret was revealed, I loathed him, and I almost threw the book down for good in my hatred of him. Lennart’s son Jerry is just as wretched at first, but in his case, it’s the result of living with an abusive father as his role model. So at the time, the only character who I could feel any sympathy for was Laila, Lennart’s long suffering wife. I wished for Lennart to die, but there was a tragic air around Laila that told me she would die first, and horribly.
Lennart becomes obsessed with this singing baby, who he calls Little One, and who Jerry names Theres. Lennart wants no one else to see this child and corrupt her pure musical gift with pop “poison.” He resolves to train her in music himself, and he even threatens to kill his wife if she should try to report the child to the authorities.
Over time, it becomes clear that Theres has a power to manipulate emotions, and Lennart changes from being a complete bastard into something of a smaller monster. He still fears giving up his chance at success, and so as Theres ages, he crafts a terrible lie about how the world is full of big people who want to eat his Little One. He tells her that he and Laila and Jerry are different, because they have love in their heads. While this very effectively convinces Theres to stay indoors, it also creates in her a psychotic understanding of other people, and of her own adoptive parents, who she eventually kills to find the love in their heads. Jerry stumbles into this literal mess, and he takes Theres to safety before reporting the crime.
And then...the story changes over to completely different girl, Teresa, who grows up in a normal home with a normal family. And yet, there is something very wrong with Teresa, and she is an outsider with only one real friend. Teresa’s life at school is unhappy, being that she is not attractive and cannot find a place among the cool kids. Over time, her distance and increasing weight leads to more and more torment from the other kids, and I wondered at what point she might snap and do something terribly violent. Then one night Teresa watches a young girl perform on Idol, and she begins to feel euphoria. A girl in search of an answer, Teresa has found it in the eyes of a singer not much younger than herself.
The story flips back to Theres and Jerry to explain how Jerry constructed a fake ID for Theres, giving her the name Tora Larson. And it is Theres who Teresa has fixated upon. By a stroke of dumb luck, Theres and Teresa are members of the same internet forum, and after Teresa defends Tora’s performance, Theres asks to arrange a meeting.
But Teresa is not alone in this fixation, and the magic power of Theres’ voice begins to draw in others, like Max Hansen, a “talent scout” who is more of a sexual predator using his job as an easy method of seducing young girls. Theres and Teresa meet, and Teresa writes songs for Theres. She films one of these songs as a simple video, and it goes viral. And soon, there are many other girls flocking to Theres, seeking her out as their guru and guide.
What follows beyond this point is a descent into madness, although I admit, it’s hard to spoil a book when the prologue tells the ending before getting into the actual story. In any case, Theres’ understanding of the world infects Teresa, and the two begin a killing spree, first starting with a random store owner, and ending in a mass murder that’s publicly televised.
This is not a book I’d say I enjoyed. This book tormented me, and it dragged me down into the darkest, worst parts of my own past. It stirred my inner animal, and it made me feel ill many times.
None of these are complaints. This is a horror book, and Lindqvist steps up and delivers a brutal story that’s worthy of the word horror. That’s why I’m giving Little Star 5 stars, and I would recommend it to any horror fan looking for something to push them into feelings of genuine discomfort. No, I can’t say I enjoyed this book. But I devoured it, and I know it’s going to stay with me for a long, long time.
linwithane's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
ceredonia's review against another edition
5.0
Picked this up on a whim at the library, read in one sitting. Wow.
youreadtoomuch's review against another edition
3.0
2020 Reread Updated Review: So this book is a lot. Yes, it's quite unlike any other book I've read because the author just threw any and all caution to the wind. It is indeed the most disturbing book I've read? Maybe. In Sweden, Theres is a child psycopath, murdering her adoptive parents looking for the love they supposedly have inside and eventually starting a cult of other teenage girls that commit atrocious murders to find happiness and feel alive. And somehow this is the part that is easy to understand and not disturbing at all? So some content warnings! Also in his dedications, he thanks Abba for the inspiration. Did we listen to the same Abba?
TW: pedophilia, attempted child sexual abuse, graphic depictions of sex and violence
2015 Review: This book is a great breather as in I feel I'm taking breaks along with it because it is divided into parts. Refreshing seeing that the last book I read that was broken down into parts was Dickens' Our Mutual Friend.
TW: pedophilia, attempted child sexual abuse, graphic depictions of sex and violence
2015 Review: This book is a great breather as in I feel I'm taking breaks along with it because it is divided into parts. Refreshing seeing that the last book I read that was broken down into parts was Dickens' Our Mutual Friend.
pineconek's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The twists! The turns! The dark scandinavian vibes! The detachment in descriptions of violence!
I don't want to spoil too much, so I'll say this: Little Star is the story of two girls. One of them is found as a newborn in the woods and is raised in... questionable conditions. The other grows up as the youngest sibling in a comfortable nuclear home. Both have an affinity for music and poetry. Both have curious perceptions of morality. Both know that they are little, and the big people of the world will gobble them up.
I read this in about three sittings and generally found it hard to put down. The rhythm of the book is odd - fast paced when we meet one of our protagonists, and then a slow burn when the second comes into play. It was impossible for me not to be sucked into the dynamic of "obsessor" and "object of obsession". And there were many "I... can't believe the author went there" moments in this book, which is something I love.
If violence, disturbing expressions of sexuality, and people generally doing horrible things are not your cup of tea, stay away. But if you loved Let The Right One In and are looking for more of "two creepy children feed each other's worst instincts" then you'll absolutely love this. 4.25 stars on tSG, rounded down for GR.
I don't want to spoil too much, so I'll say this: Little Star is the story of two girls. One of them is found as a newborn in the woods and is raised in... questionable conditions. The other grows up as the youngest sibling in a comfortable nuclear home. Both have an affinity for music and poetry. Both have curious perceptions of morality. Both know that they are little, and the big people of the world will gobble them up.
I read this in about three sittings and generally found it hard to put down. The rhythm of the book is odd - fast paced when we meet one of our protagonists, and then a slow burn when the second comes into play. It was impossible for me not to be sucked into the dynamic of "obsessor" and "object of obsession". And there were many "I... can't believe the author went there" moments in this book, which is something I love.
If violence, disturbing expressions of sexuality, and people generally doing horrible things are not your cup of tea, stay away. But if you loved Let The Right One In and are looking for more of "two creepy children feed each other's worst instincts" then you'll absolutely love this. 4.25 stars on tSG, rounded down for GR.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Gore, Violence, and Murder
lindseysparks's review against another edition
4.0
Teenage girls are terrifying. As is the need to be noticed and adored. My edition calls the author a Swedish Stephen King and that definitely seems accurate. Super creepy and I couldn't put it down.
cc197's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship
aaronlindsey's review against another edition
4.0
I have to be careful when reviewing longer books. So much time has been spent reading, I don't want to NOT like any 500+ page books.
But with Little Star, there is no doubt. I really liked it.
Lindqvist is being compared to Stephen King. That's an insult to John. He writes much better than King, especially when writing dialog. But this novel is a lot like a King story. Lots of action, a little gore, and tons of tense scary moments.
I recommend this one!
But with Little Star, there is no doubt. I really liked it.
Lindqvist is being compared to Stephen King. That's an insult to John. He writes much better than King, especially when writing dialog. But this novel is a lot like a King story. Lots of action, a little gore, and tons of tense scary moments.
I recommend this one!