Reviews

Little Star by John Ajvide Lindqvist

scottjp's review

4.0

I'm not sure if Little Star is my favorite of the four Ajvide Lindqvist novels I've read, but it was the most compulsively readable. The story begins as Lennart Cedarström is hunting for mushrooms in the forest when he finds an abandoned baby. He brings it home and, instead of turning it over to the authorities, convinces his wife to let him raise the girl secretly in their cellar. To keep her from wanting to go outside, he tells the child, who comes to be called Theres, stories of "big people" outside who want to eat her up. That this is somewhat true metaphorically is touched on, but Theres doesn't understand metaphor, and that ultimately proves to be Lennart's undoing.

It is rare for anything I read in a book to literally make my jaw drop, but that is exactly what happened at the end of part one. And yet, this twist (if you want to call it that) is perfectly logical and in tune with what we've been shown so far. If you don't see it coming either, don't feel bad; it just means that you probably aren't a sociopath. Little Star is a breathless ride about teen angst, the need to belong to something, and fighting the monsters that want to eat us up--even if it means we have to become monsters ourselves.

_mox_'s review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

justcaryn's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

malinr's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

elin_asplund's review against another edition

3.0

Förväntade mig en del av den här boken och det levde den upp till under första halvan. Kuslig och spännande, precis så som John Ajvide Lindqvists böcker ska vara. Men i andra halvan ballade berättelsen ur och den kändes inte längre trovärdig, vilket var synd.

metasbokhylla's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

marais90's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.75

sarahblessing's review

4.0

wow I absolutely adored this. definitely dragged in parts, could’ve been whittled down a bit, but overall I am in love with these characters. it’s honestly unbelievable to me that a man wrote this, he got like the loneliness and the weird sapphic obsession/possessiveness of best friends and the general humiliation you experience during girlhood down so well it really blew me away, I related to Teresa in a way I haven’t with a fictional character in so long. this brought me right back to being a teen girl and it made me remember how much I loved the other Lindqvist book I read as a kid and now I’m definitely gonna climb back down the rabbit hole of his writing.

kateryderbooks's review

dark sad 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

4.75

alan_g's review

4.0

Horrifying in detail. Well written. Should come with a million trigger warnings