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A review by queenoftoads
The Crow Girl by Erik Axl Sund
3.0
6/10
"The Crow Girl" is a dark, gritty, slog of a book.
The story begins with the discovery of the mummified body of a young boy and follows the subsequent investigation run by DS Jeanette Kihlberg (which I was pronouncing wrong in my head the entire time). Not only does she have to deal with rampart sexism and corrupt politics, she also has to work her way through a messed up marriage and a possible new romance. Refusing to give up on the case, and seeing connections most others are choosing to ignore, she brings in psychologist Sofia Zetterlund to help. What they discover is shocking and runs deep into the core of their worlds.
The book is a trial to get through, full of repetitions. On the surface that can be it down to the fact this was originally three books, combined into one for the English edition. In reality it made the story drag to the point that I almost have up on it.
The mystery at the heart of "The Crow Girl" is what kept me reading. I was dubious at first because 'the twist' seemed obvious and when it came it was about a quarter of the way through the book. I wondered how they would be able to to keep the story going for another four hundred plus pages. Turns out they could.
What this Swedish duo is good at is tying everything up and having it make sense. When I was starting to think everything was a little convenient and convoluted, they had another reveal which changed everything AND made sense. There are several reveals through the book, all but one of them making sense (the timeline seems a little off for one of the threads).
The ending isn't satisfying, but it's (sort of) realistic given the circumstances in the book.
I'm not one for trigger warnings, but I will say that there are a lot for this book. It is DARK and cruel and depressing.
If you can get through the repetitions the underlying story is worth the read.
"The Crow Girl" is a dark, gritty, slog of a book.
The story begins with the discovery of the mummified body of a young boy and follows the subsequent investigation run by DS Jeanette Kihlberg (which I was pronouncing wrong in my head the entire time). Not only does she have to deal with rampart sexism and corrupt politics, she also has to work her way through a messed up marriage and a possible new romance. Refusing to give up on the case, and seeing connections most others are choosing to ignore, she brings in psychologist Sofia Zetterlund to help. What they discover is shocking and runs deep into the core of their worlds.
The book is a trial to get through, full of repetitions. On the surface that can be it down to the fact this was originally three books, combined into one for the English edition. In reality it made the story drag to the point that I almost have up on it.
The mystery at the heart of "The Crow Girl" is what kept me reading. I was dubious at first because 'the twist' seemed obvious and when it came it was about a quarter of the way through the book. I wondered how they would be able to to keep the story going for another four hundred plus pages. Turns out they could.
What this Swedish duo is good at is tying everything up and having it make sense. When I was starting to think everything was a little convenient and convoluted, they had another reveal which changed everything AND made sense. There are several reveals through the book, all but one of them making sense (the timeline seems a little off for one of the threads).
The ending isn't satisfying, but it's (sort of) realistic given the circumstances in the book.
I'm not one for trigger warnings, but I will say that there are a lot for this book. It is DARK and cruel and depressing.
If you can get through the repetitions the underlying story is worth the read.