4 Out of 5 Stars
Pros
- Great action
- Suspenseful Read
- Genuinely Creepy
- Sticks to the classic rules of Vampirism while molding some new one
- Characters you actually care about
Cons
- Constant jumping point of views
- Too Many side characters
Oskar is a boy who doesn’t fit in is obsessed by murder and confused; one day when he comes home he finds that someone new has moved into town. A girl, her name is Eli she has seemingly moved in with her parents and is strange. Oskar is fascinated by his new acquaintance; they become fast friends, but when he finds out Eli’s secret will it last?
Let the Right One In swept across Sweden and claimed American audiences. With its deadly protagonists and dark view on society John Ajvide Lindqvist’s premiere novel is original with a classic Gothic taste. Lindqvist was born in Stockholm and before becoming an author preformed both as a standup comedian and street magician, as well as working as a screen play writer for Swedish television and Drama. He had a large hand with bringing Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In) to screen in Sweden. He is also a devoted Morrissey fan; the novel’s name taken from the song Let the Right One Slip In.
The book is set in the Stockholm suburb of Blackberg for the most part taking it’s scenery and feel from there, and why not the author was born in the same area. It speaks of Eli as eternal child, not only in body but mind having not been able to grow up for some time. The relationship between Oskar and Eli is the polar opposite of that of her and her “father” Håkan who is in actuality a former teacher who was fired for being too friendly with the children. The relationship grows and blossoms as Eli helps Oskar try and overcome his school bullies.
Accompanied by a revolving cast of characters, the book deals with the vampire subject in a more realistic stance, even more so than that of Anne Rice, or Stephanie Meyer. In many ways this is superior to the popular culture stand point on vampires now or days, where Meyer has clumsy delivery and rather one dimensional characters Linqvist has fully realized and aware characters who not only tell you the story but take you along for the ride.
The faults of this book are readily apparent about forty pages in; while the author has wonderful characters and writing he has too many of them. Here is just a small sample of the cast of characters
- Oskar
- Eli
- Håkan
- Tommy
- Jonny
- Micke
- Staffan
Given time the story will make your head spin and cause some minor frustration because it seems like he wants to tell the whole towns point of view instead of the characters you are here for. But I can tell you that it is worth it in the end and that all of it ties all too well together as to why he choose to do it that way. I was sad to have to close the book on the world he had invited me in on and yearning to see where the book took us, but in the end I think Lindqvist does the story justice and stops it at the right time just enough to let you catch your breath and realize what you’ve read. Many say this is a vampire romance; and in some ways they are right/ But this book is also a great piece of social conscious showing real characters with real problems and not being afraid to show you that dark underbelly that most books now or days will not give you.
My recommendation: buy it, read it and digest. However if you are too weak of heart then please, go to something more fluffy and suited for you, because this book isn’t a fantasy it’s about as close to reality as you can come with a vampire story, and that my dear reader is what will scare the crap out of you.
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