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jettaparadis's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy
appurusakura's review against another edition
- 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
•••
While it took me a while to finish this book I must say that I enjoyed reading this story quite a lot.
Since I watched the Netflix series first - yes I know silly me but to my defense I didn't realise the show was based on this book before I was almost done watching it - I already knew who was behind everything. Which, yes, took away from the overall experience of everything and was probably the reason why it took me so long to actually finish this book.
I think if I hadn't watched the series beforehand, this book would have definitely kept me at the edge of my seat. And the ending would have totally shocked me because I remember very vividly how shocked I was when the murderer was revealed in the show. So yes, don't make the same mistake as I did and read the book before watching the show. It's totally worth it.
•••
Now back to the book. The writing was amazing. The author did an amazing job and I'm still salty about the missed opportunity of experiencing the full potential of this book. Because it would have totally shocked me.
I don't know if I just missed loads of details - I probably still wouldn't have realised even from the book - but for me the reveal of who was behind everything was super shocking and unexpected. Now after reading this book and experiencing the whole story for a second time, I still find the reveal quite surprising because for me nothing really pointed in that direction. Maybe I'm just super bad at that kind of thing. I have a feeling I would be a terrible detective.
•••
I really loved Hess and Thulin. Those two had so much chemestry and I would have loved to see those two end up together. For me it would have fit perfectly. Maybe a bit chliché I know but I liked the idea of it.
What I also really liked about them is how they had a kind of rocky start but then gradually learned to trust (and care for) each other and really work together. By the end of this story they were a total power duo.
Now to the characters I really hated because I need to rant about them for a bit.
Nylander was a total douchebag and he totally deserved a slap on the wrist. I wish I could have witnessed his dumbass being fired because damn did he deserve that. The way he was acting was unbearable. He only cared for himself and his "reputation".
Same goes for Jansen. A misogynistic prick that also deserved a lesson. I already highly disliked him because of all the details revealed from Thulin's PoV. His PoVs made my dislike (hatred really) for him even worse as they revealed some very nasty and misogynistic thoughts about Thulin and really showed his character.
Ok ok, I'm done now.
•••
Overall this book was great and I can totally recommend it if you like thrillers. I can also totally recommend the Netflix series.
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Stalking
fictionaladventures's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
jessicas_bookshelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Torture, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Pedophilia and Rape
tajosima's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape
overbookedteacher's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Alcohol
sarah_speaks's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Mental illness, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Alcoholism and Forced institutionalization
jessy_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
3.5
Yet, I still picked this book up, hoping that it would be different. The Chestnut Man follows several third-person perspectives, including several police officers and Rosa Hartung, a minister who makes a comeback to the political scene a year after her daughter disappeared. I was hoping that the latter perspective would counteract some of the issues I tend to have with detective thrillers.
The reason that I don't pick up detective thrillers anymore is that I find some type of personal investment lacking. The main character, often a police officer, is given a case and simply does their job, but they are not personally attached to the crime that they are trying to solve. Additionally, detective thrillers follow many police characters, and those usually blend together for me. I find it hard to keep the characters apart and be involved with them.
The Chestnut Man is like other detective thrillers in that way. It has a large cast of police characters who are simply doing their job by trying to solve this case. For some reason, I didn't have any trouble keeping those characters apart, though. They are given backstories, although those play a minor role in the story, which might explain the difference. I had hoped that Rosa Hartung's perspective would provide the personal attachment to the murders, but we didn't follow her perspective as much as I would've liked.
Yet, I know that there are many people who do not have these issues with detective thrillers, and to them I'd like to say: pick up this book. Of all detective thrillers, this might be the best that I have ever read. It is put together cleverly, and the ending was surprising yet made sense. The story is fast-paced, making these 500-something pages fly by, and the writing is vivid, making you gruel at the murder scenes, cringe at the abuse scenes, and your heart will race during the action scenes. There is always something going on, yet the story remains easy to follow without straying too far from what it set out to do. I really enjoyed this book, as much as I could.
(And a little sidenote: I really enjoyed the descriptions of the Danish cities and landscapes. Took me back to two summers ago, and it was a lovely trip down memory lane.)
The Chestnut Man is a debut by Soren Sveistrup, who is also known as the author of the successful series The Killing. This book has also been made into a series and is available on Netflix.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence
apersonfromflorida's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail
carmenvillaman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder