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__sol__ 's review for:
Let the Right One In
by John Ajvide Lindqvist
THE GOOSEBUMPS SERIES DIDN'T RELEASE ITS FIRST BOOK UNTIL 1992 THUS OSKAR'S PURCHASE OF A SET OF USED(!) GOOSEBUMPS BOOKS AROUND 1981 IS A HORRIFIC ANACHRONISM
Another victim of hype. The core Oskar/Eli/Hakan story is interesting and creepy, and Virginia/Lacke provides a contrasting b-plot that slowly grows in pathos, but the book is held down by peripheral perspectives that merely serve as embroidery. Some of them do serve a purpose, like the scene where Johnny and Jimmy look at the photo album their father sent them, but most don't. Lindqvist does not have Stephen King's yarnspinning ability to give such minor characters enough quirkiness to seem worth reading about.
Which is a shame, because the main story has plenty of good stuff, like Hakan's perverse nobility of spirit, Oskar's trials and tribulations in his life, his romance with Eli, and the cat attack. It explores interesting ideas, like the degree to which we are driven by unaccountable desires, and whether children are innocent or amoral. And of course, whatever Lindqvist is saying. I also have to applaud him for giving the story an ending in which .
There's disappointingly no Swedish flavour to the vampires I could discern, it's all well worn concepts (garlic oddly doesn't come up). Lindqvist does put his own spin on the concept, with vampirism being a transmissible cancer forming its own neural system in its host, granting the powers and weaknesses of vampirism. Ludicrous as far as realism goes, but presented outside of a supernatural context. And despite that, there is one scene where what seems like a literal miracle occurs:.
Another victim of hype. The core Oskar/Eli/Hakan story is interesting and creepy, and Virginia/Lacke provides a contrasting b-plot that slowly grows in pathos, but the book is held down by peripheral perspectives that merely serve as embroidery. Some of them do serve a purpose, like the scene where Johnny and Jimmy look at the photo album their father sent them, but most don't. Lindqvist does not have Stephen King's yarnspinning ability to give such minor characters enough quirkiness to seem worth reading about.
Which is a shame, because the main story has plenty of good stuff, like Hakan's perverse nobility of spirit, Oskar's trials and tribulations in his life, his romance with Eli, and the cat attack. It explores interesting ideas, like the degree to which we are driven by unaccountable desires, and whether children are innocent or amoral. And of course, whatever Lindqvist is saying
Spoiler
with Eli being a castrated boySpoiler
Oskar's bullies get brutally murdered lmao get rekt while Oskar and Eli ride into the sunsetThere's disappointingly no Swedish flavour to the vampires I could discern, it's all well worn concepts (garlic oddly doesn't come up). Lindqvist does put his own spin on the concept, with vampirism being a transmissible cancer forming its own neural system in its host, granting the powers and weaknesses of vampirism. Ludicrous as far as realism goes, but presented outside of a supernatural context. And despite that, there is one scene where what seems like a literal miracle occurs: