Let the Right One In by John Ajvide LindqvistMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Time Taken To Read - 3 days
Blurb From Goodreads
Let the Right One In Takes Top Honors at Tribeca Film Festival!
It is autumn 1981 when the inconceivable comes to Blackeberg, a suburb in Sweden. The body of a teenage boy is found, emptied of blood, the murder rumored to be part of a ritual killing. Twelve-year-old Oskar is personally hoping that revenge has come at long last---revenge for the bullying he endures at school, day after day.
But the murder is not the most important thing on his mind. A new girl has moved in next door---a girl who has never seen a Rubik’s Cube before, but who can solve it at once. There is something wrong with her, though, something odd. And she only comes out at night. . . .
Sweeping top honors at film festivals all over the globe, director Tomas Alfredsson’s film of Let the Right One In has received the same kind of spectacular raves that have been lavished on the book. American readers of vampire fiction will be thrilled!
My Review
This book is a bizarre wee read. A teenage boy is found killed, upside down and drained of blood with the authorities speculating the murder is ritualistic. Oskar is our main character and hoping it is revenge for the bullying he has suffered for as long as he can remember.
There is so many parts to this book, the bullying, the budding friendship between Oskar and Eli (the new kid who only comes out at night and is weird in many aspects). The victims and the one who survives and the impact it has upon them and their close (est) friends and what follows from there.
It is hard to do a full review without giving away spoilers. Some of it makes for uncomfortable reading, Eli's "carer" has an unnatural obsession for children and some scenes are quite descriptive and stomach turning. I loved reading about how Eli came to be where and how she is, I would have liked to have known more about their time before she came to live in Oskar's estate and a few other questions answered but overall it was a good read so 3/5 for me. (I need to go find a spoiler discussion now to go over some of the finer details I like and disliked!).
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I don't know if I'd be able to stomach the caretaker but overall this sounds like a gripping read.
ReplyDeleteI have had this to read for ages. I enjoyed Handling the Undead which I read last year and was quite thought provoking for a zombie book.
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