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A review by stubbornjerk
Cirkeln by Mats Strandberg, Sara Bergmark Elfgren
5.0
I'm reviewing this after I've finished reading The Key and honestly, this whole trilogy is a wild ride. I've never seen a piece of work continue to improve right before my eyes. The girls' stories get progressively more developed throughout the books, but what ultimately tacked them onto my memory was how they all got together.
Six girls meet at an abandoned theme park after the gruesome alleged suicide of a fellow schoolmate, Elias Malmgren. There's Minoo Falk Karimi, the smartest in her class, Anna-Karin Nieminen, the large silent girl who hides in her stuffy clothing, Linnea Wallin, the alt-punk girl whose best friend allegedly killed himself after speaking with their school principal, Vanessa Dahl, who everyone calls that girl, Rebekah Mohlin, an anorexic teenager who's dating the nicest guy in town, and Ida Holmstrom, the village bitch. Under the blood-red moon, they are told that they are the Chosen Ones who will save the world from demonic invasion and, subsequently, the apocalypse itself.
A majority of them can tolerate each other, but honestly, not Ida. And just because of that rocky beginning, I couldn't help but keep an eye on Ida. Not in the she might end up killing the others way, but more in the she has the most room for development kind of way.
Apart from the diversity in character (and, as a headcanon, also in race), what I loved from this book and the premise in general is that the Council and the legend of the Chosen One's idea of demonic supremacy is complete control and order. I can see how every little thing can be read in a political context.
I also loved the fact that this had a shit ton of female friendship themes, female empowerment, and that the ratio of girls to boys is like, 6:3, majority being girls.
If that's not enough of a review for you, whoever's reading this, idk what to say. This was extremely fantastic. This whole series was. I'm hoping to reread it someday, when I have more free time.
Six girls meet at an abandoned theme park after the gruesome alleged suicide of a fellow schoolmate, Elias Malmgren. There's Minoo Falk Karimi, the smartest in her class, Anna-Karin Nieminen, the large silent girl who hides in her stuffy clothing, Linnea Wallin, the alt-punk girl whose best friend allegedly killed himself after speaking with their school principal, Vanessa Dahl, who everyone calls that girl, Rebekah Mohlin, an anorexic teenager who's dating the nicest guy in town, and Ida Holmstrom, the village bitch. Under the blood-red moon, they are told that they are the Chosen Ones who will save the world from demonic invasion and, subsequently, the apocalypse itself.
A majority of them can tolerate each other, but honestly, not Ida. And just because of that rocky beginning, I couldn't help but keep an eye on Ida. Not in the she might end up killing the others way, but more in the she has the most room for development kind of way.
Apart from the diversity in character (and, as a headcanon, also in race), what I loved from this book and the premise in general is that the Council and the legend of the Chosen One's idea of demonic supremacy is complete control and order. I can see how every little thing can be read in a political context.
I also loved the fact that this had a shit ton of female friendship themes, female empowerment, and that the ratio of girls to boys is like, 6:3, majority being girls.
If that's not enough of a review for you, whoever's reading this, idk what to say. This was extremely fantastic. This whole series was. I'm hoping to reread it someday, when I have more free time.