michey2015's review
3.0
Woof. This book was ruthless. Full of twists, some I saw coming and others not. Not for the faint of heart. This one is graphic.
jcpdiesel21's review
3.0
Who would have thought that a simple snowman could be so menacing? Nesbø has crafted a meticulous, disturbing mystery spanning time and exploring relationships in this novel. I admit to getting impatient with the numerous red herrings midway, and some of the content was a bit too graphic. Nesbø also has a habit of detailing the motivations and backstories of minor characters when a brief synopsis or mention in conversation would suffice. I did thoroughly enjoy everything about Harry Hole as the main character, flaws and all, and he would be fun to follow through another mystery.
tuufa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-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? Yes
3.25
vellichor_lover's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
amandabw425's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
bhsmith's review
3.0
The bulk of this novel is great... a truly page-turning crime/mystery novel with plenty of twists and turns, unexpected revelations and a big payoff at the end that ties everything in the first 300 pages together. So, for those reasons, I like this book. It is always a pleasure to pick up a well-thought-out police procedural and find the ending is interesting and rewarding.
Now, my only complaint (and you can chalk this up to a personal character flaw or American self-centeredness, if you'd like) is that this book is a translation from the original Norwegian. It isn't that the translation is bad. In fact, it is quite good. My trouble was the names of people and places. They remain the same across the translation, and they're incredibly hard to a) read and b) keep track of. I found myself quite often reading something and having to pause and really think about who the character was, where they were, what was happening to them and how it all fit into the bigger picture. Not sure why it was especially problematic in this novel (it wasn't a problem for me in something like Lord of the RIngs where all the names and places are made up). But, it made it a bit harder to get through the book and truly appreciate the intricate storytelling that made this book so good.
Now, my only complaint (and you can chalk this up to a personal character flaw or American self-centeredness, if you'd like) is that this book is a translation from the original Norwegian. It isn't that the translation is bad. In fact, it is quite good. My trouble was the names of people and places. They remain the same across the translation, and they're incredibly hard to a) read and b) keep track of. I found myself quite often reading something and having to pause and really think about who the character was, where they were, what was happening to them and how it all fit into the bigger picture. Not sure why it was especially problematic in this novel (it wasn't a problem for me in something like Lord of the RIngs where all the names and places are made up). But, it made it a bit harder to get through the book and truly appreciate the intricate storytelling that made this book so good.
nikkucallian's review against another edition
1.0
Full of clichés, sexualized and misogynistic depictions of women, the story is driven by people being unprofessional and incompetent, and you can basically see the "twist" coming from the first quarter of the book on.