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A review by prolificliving
The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson
5.0
You have to listen to the audio version of this book to really enjoy it. The characters doing the voices are truly entertaining. I read my first book by this author - The 100 Year Old Man ... - and loved it and I listened to this one on Audible and absolutely ADORED it. This is not my typical go-to fiction, but I feel like I'm developing a bit of fanship for Swedish authors ever since reading A Man Called Ove.
So what made it so great? Total unpredictability. Amazing little feisty protagonist, Nambeko Mayeki. The sheer hilarity of the situations and changing circumstances. The subplots of Holger and Holger, Celestine, the Potato Countess, Agent A and B, the Chinese prime minister, Swedish head of state and PM, the 3 Chinese sisters, and oh my goodness, the Engineer. Coming from electrical engineering myself, I found that bit to be particularly hilarious.
You know what? Most of all, I was blown away by the author's imagination. It takes an incredible power of creativity and imagination to write a novel of this genre, to go in all the directions that he did without losing my interest, to tie up every single loose end and to educate on politics and the state of the world - opinionated as it might be, well-done with the sarcastic sense of humor - in one shot.
I found Nambeko's journey to be beyond fascinating. Her smarts, her persistence to educate herself against all odds, and thus, her accumulated knowledge over time, not only saved her life on multiple occasions, it made for much entertainment along the way.
This book is not everyone's cuppa tea, and you can't go into it thinking "Oh I like it! Oh I hate it!" If you want to experience a new book, you need to go with it. The other day, my husband showed me a terrible TERRIBLE movie. It was voted one of the most terrible movies by millions of viewers and in fact, it was so terrible that it became popular as a result. The movie was called The Room. I can't say I'm glad I watched it, but sometimes, it's about experiencing something very different.
My point is this. I loved this book. It might be one of the best books I experienced reading. I laughed so much. I marveled at Nambeko's ingenuity countless times. I enjoyed learning about Sweden, and the rest of the world as it appeared and disappeared from the story, and I celebrate this author's true genius.
So what made it so great? Total unpredictability. Amazing little feisty protagonist, Nambeko Mayeki. The sheer hilarity of the situations and changing circumstances. The subplots of Holger and Holger, Celestine, the Potato Countess, Agent A and B, the Chinese prime minister, Swedish head of state and PM, the 3 Chinese sisters, and oh my goodness, the Engineer. Coming from electrical engineering myself, I found that bit to be particularly hilarious.
You know what? Most of all, I was blown away by the author's imagination. It takes an incredible power of creativity and imagination to write a novel of this genre, to go in all the directions that he did without losing my interest, to tie up every single loose end and to educate on politics and the state of the world - opinionated as it might be, well-done with the sarcastic sense of humor - in one shot.
I found Nambeko's journey to be beyond fascinating. Her smarts, her persistence to educate herself against all odds, and thus, her accumulated knowledge over time, not only saved her life on multiple occasions, it made for much entertainment along the way.
This book is not everyone's cuppa tea, and you can't go into it thinking "Oh I like it! Oh I hate it!" If you want to experience a new book, you need to go with it. The other day, my husband showed me a terrible TERRIBLE movie. It was voted one of the most terrible movies by millions of viewers and in fact, it was so terrible that it became popular as a result. The movie was called The Room. I can't say I'm glad I watched it, but sometimes, it's about experiencing something very different.
My point is this. I loved this book. It might be one of the best books I experienced reading. I laughed so much. I marveled at Nambeko's ingenuity countless times. I enjoyed learning about Sweden, and the rest of the world as it appeared and disappeared from the story, and I celebrate this author's true genius.