shh_fbi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Murder, and Torture
Moderate: Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, and Rape
azureye31's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I am always up for an intense, dark, Scandinavian thriller, so that is what attracted me to this book. I am also aware that this particular author is also a screen writer and has had several successful series on television, so I was very curious, and excited to read a piece of his work.
What worked:
The author made good use of atmosphere to draw the reader in. The book felt very dark, and the descriptions of the surroundings added to this feeling of sinister (snowy, cold, gray Copenhagen). I also enjoyed the plot, and it did keep me, at times, on the edge of my seat. This book is a mixture of plot driven, and an attempt to be character driven with a very dark tone.
The translation from Danish was very good, and did not appear to lose anything in the process. Nothing felt awkward or out of place.
What didn’t work:
I felt confused with the characters because there were so many, and the author did not do a good job of developing them. None of them had a distinct voice, and I did not feel a sense of empathy for any of them. It was purely plot that kept me engaged in the book, and not an attachment to any particular character. The reader is given very little insight into any of them. The author’s attempt at creating a character driven story, in my humble opinion, failed. Had it not been for the very strong plot, I would have not stayed engaged.
The author chose to write in third person, limited and the constant shifting of characters got confusing. At times, the chapter would start out without any sense of who we were talking about, and three pages later the another would drop a hint. It felt disorienting, and detracted from the story.
The plot itself was very intense, and did keep me on edge, however some of it was a little unbelievable and could have been edited out. This book was very long, but needlessly so.
I am giving it 3 out of five stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Body horror, and Kidnapping
kyra_joy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
When I first looked at the size of this book I was like that’s a lot of pages but I sat down and finished it in one sitting. It was gripping and I didn’t want to put it down, any thrillers or mysteries I read after this will have big boots to fill.
The characters were all pretty typical of your classic CSI/ criminal minds show but more enjoyable as the length of it allowed for so much for detail.
I always enjoy reading books set in other parts of the world so I really loved it for that aspect.
And the mystery in my opinion really caught me off guard! I am normally pretty good at figuring out endings but this one was a complete surprise.
Definitely will be reading more from this author!
The characters were all pretty typical of your classic CSI/ criminal minds show but more enjoyable as the length of it allowed for so much for detail.
I always enjoy reading books set in other parts of the world so I really loved it for that aspect.
And the mystery in my opinion really caught me off guard! I am normally pretty good at figuring out endings but this one was a complete surprise.
Definitely will be reading more from this author!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Sexual violence, Confinement, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Stalking, Torture, Violence, Domestic abuse, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, and Rape
sarakuba's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Animal death, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Murder, Violence, Blood, Grief, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Torture, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Domestic abuse, Car accident, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, and Islamophobia
kim_ng's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
At first, It took me some time to grasp all the characters and storylines. I was also thinking about not reading any further because I didn't quite warm up to the female main character and the story dragged on a bit. However, it got better and the story on its own was good.
Nevertheless, it is extremely (sometimes unnecessarily) graphic, dark, brutal and gory.
-----------
Die Story an sich war gut. Leider fand ich die deutsche Übersetzung manchmal sehr eigenartig. Mit Thulin (weiblicher Hauptcharakter) wurde ich nicht warm, Hesse mochte ich dafür recht gerne. Die Story war ganz gut, zog sich aber an manchen Stellen. Für meinen Geschmack ist das Buch teilweise aber sehr grausam und brutal.
Nevertheless, it is extremely (sometimes unnecessarily) graphic, dark, brutal and gory.
-----------
Die Story an sich war gut. Leider fand ich die deutsche Übersetzung manchmal sehr eigenartig. Mit Thulin (weiblicher Hauptcharakter) wurde ich nicht warm, Hesse mochte ich dafür recht gerne. Die Story war ganz gut, zog sich aber an manchen Stellen. Für meinen Geschmack ist das Buch teilweise aber sehr grausam und brutal.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gore, Rape, Murder, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, and Torture
Moderate: Alcoholism and Kidnapping
jettaparadis's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Gore, Blood, Torture, Body horror, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Car accident, Stalking, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Pedophilia
ehunsy's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Cursing, Murder, Violence, Sexual content, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Stalking
Minor: Child abuse and Kidnapping
victoriakuo13's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
***CHECK TWs!!!***
I would agree with a lot of the other reviews saying this book was slow to start. The varying POVs are interesting once you get a hold of the characters. Before that, it’s like a swamp in your brain where you’re constantly trying to think back and remember whose life you’re reading about.
While most other thrillers I’ve read have been undeniably fast paced, this is the first one I’ve felt has been a slow burn. I’m not sure how I liked it— it was definitely a fridge at times, but I do feel like it made the payoff that much better. I liked feeling like the puzzle pieces were slowly coming together in my head.
I really enjoyed the partnership between Thulin and Hess even though I wish they actually worked together more. I thought they had good chemistry and would love to read another mystery with them in it. There’s so much room for relationship development there and I’m sad it has to end here.
I’m usually absolutely awful at guessing who the murderer is, so I’m kinda shocked that I actually did guess this one. This person was my main suspect from the beginning, and again, I SUCK at piecing these things together so if you’re the type of person who wants to be surprised, you may not be in this case? Or it’s possible I just had very good luck this time around.
There are also a few questions that I still have that I don’t feel were answered in the book but the way the chapters are structured so that something is revealed and then the author explains it fully many chapters later may be the reason why. I may have just missed it.
I would agree with a lot of the other reviews saying this book was slow to start. The varying POVs are interesting once you get a hold of the characters. Before that, it’s like a swamp in your brain where you’re constantly trying to think back and remember whose life you’re reading about.
While most other thrillers I’ve read have been undeniably fast paced, this is the first one I’ve felt has been a slow burn. I’m not sure how I liked it— it was definitely a fridge at times, but I do feel like it made the payoff that much better. I liked feeling like the puzzle pieces were slowly coming together in my head.
I really enjoyed the partnership between Thulin and Hess even though I wish they actually worked together more. I thought they had good chemistry and would love to read another mystery with them in it. There’s so much room for relationship development there and I’m sad it has to end here.
I’m usually absolutely awful at guessing who the murderer is, so I’m kinda shocked that I actually did guess this one. This person was my main suspect from the beginning, and again, I SUCK at piecing these things together so if you’re the type of person who wants to be surprised, you may not be in this case? Or it’s possible I just had very good luck this time around.
There are also a few questions that I still have that I don’t feel were answered in the book but the way the chapters are structured so that something is revealed and then the author explains it fully many chapters later may be the reason why. I may have just missed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Blood, Violence, Child abuse, Murder, Torture, Sexual violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Gore, Domestic abuse, and Confinement
essie__reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This book kept me hooked from the beginning. I tend not to enjoy thrillers because I often find them too predictable, but that was not the case with this book. I genuinely had no idea who the killer was or what their motive was, until it was revealed in the book. This book is over 500 pages but the chapters are short and fly by. There were several different characters introduced in the beginning which made the beginning a bit slow but they are easy to differentiate between and the rest of the book flowed very seamlessly. If you enjoy detective/police thrillers, I would highly recommend this one. I felt like the ending was left open enough for the possibility of a sequel, while still wrapping up the main plot very well. I am looking forward to watching the Netflix series adaptation!!
Please be advised to look up content warnings!!!!!!
Please be advised to look up content warnings!!!!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Murder, Grief, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Child death, Alcohol, Confinement, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Stalking, Violence, Torture, Trafficking, and Vomit
michelles_book_nook's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
⚠️ TW: murder, torture, animal death, sexual assault, rape, child abuse, paedophilia, domestic violence, abduction ⚠️ Wow this is such an intense and addicting crime thriller! This book follows the Danish police as they begin discovering brutally murdered women alongside Chestnut Man dolls and as Naia Thulin and Mark Hess become partners on this high profile case they find a mysterious piece of evidence that sends all of their theories reeling as it links to the disappearance of a young girl a year prior who was never found and presumed dead with the killer being behind bars and the case long since closed. And now with a suspected serial killer waiting to strike again they are racing against the clock to figure out all the pieces to this complex and harrowing case. This book left my brain like mush for all the right reasons! It is such an heart pounding page turner filled with twists that will send your mind racing to connect the dots. Admittedly I found it a bit slow to begin with before it really hooked my attention but from that point on I could not put it down or stop thinking about who the killer could be (and trust me I considered all possibilities, or at least who I thought were possibilities) and when it was finally revealed I was speechless. One of my favourite things was how the book was finished so well by explaining the beginning of the book and tied off a couple loose ends perfectly. Overall, I highly recommend this book and I will definitely be on the look out for more books from this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Animal death, Rape, Murder, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Child abuse, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Domestic abuse