Reviews

The Moose Paradox by Antti Tuomainen

Only show reviews with written explanations

cassys's review

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I really enjoyed this mystery as told by an autistic-coded math nerd (I am also a math nerd and found him very relatable). I don't read a lot of mystery or Finnish literature so idk if this is a genre thing or a cultural thing or what but I found some parts very confusing and my confusion didn't necessarily resolve itself by the end. Still I enjoyed it a lot!

tschonfeld's review against another edition

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dark funny medium-paced

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

3.0

agnesreadsbooksuk's review

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lighthearted tense slow-paced

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

2.0

bmedvid's review

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

2.5

zassiu's review against another edition

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2.0

Tuntui kovasti vaan toisinnolta Jäniskertoimesta. Teksti oli kuitenkin rikasta ja nopealla tahdilla tuli kirja lukaistua. Odotan kyllä miten kaikki loppuu viimeisessä osassa.

regularmongoose's review

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

This book is the second in a crime comedy series, and although it starts to hold up on its own in the second half and I started to find it gripping in the last third, the first half really relies on you having read the previous book for the jokes to land. That's fine, but not a good standalone read. Found a couple of things rather irritating. For one, the protagonist / narrator feels like a very non-autistic person's idea of what a maths lover thinks like. Henri isn't explicitly described as autistic, at least not in this instalment, but much of the humour of the book depends on him not understanding social interaction at all, and constantly calculating the desirability of actions in terms of mathematical certainty; if nothing else, it feels like a lazy stereotype of mathematicians. Similarly, Henri's relationship with his (female) love interest feels veeery much like she exists purely to develop his character, not hers. The characterisation of minor characters is consistently strong, so this is a real shame.
On the other hand, I'm glad I perservered because when the jokes are good they really are good; full credit to the translator for how he dealt with abundant wordplay (It took me an embarrassingly long time to realise the joke in

Toy of Finland

). And as ever when comedic writing is parodying a genre it can end up hitting harder than the trope it's parodying: nothing bleaker than the bleakness revealed by a joke. The police chief's appearances stole the show for that reason; at the same time, though Henri's love interest Laura is poorly characterised, the descriptions of her art are truly beautiful and convincing.
tl;dr: humour subjective; worth a shot