{Book Review} Let the Right One In by John Lindqvist

Rating: 3.5/5; Fascinating but not necessarily re-readable. Not really for me.

Age R: not for kids or the faint of heart.

Release Date: 2008 (in the U.S)

Synopsis:

Gah! I expected so much from this book! I saw the movie last year and thought the book might be better because it seems like it would delve more into the two main characters’ history. I was especially looking forward to learning more information about the vampire. Unfortunately the author only spoke about Oskar which was great because he was a great character albeit being a little crazy but that’s because of those darn bullies! I will miss him especially because aww I just felt so bad for him! I liked the story because it was very interesting, but it was a chore to not read about the vamp and instead get all this information on the lives of the people affected by Eli and even random people/animals. I swear, the author even delved into the life of a squirrel for about 1-2 pages. See? Even teeny tiny characters get their story told. I’m sorry but I just don’t give a crap about that.

If you want a vampire story this might not be the book for you. The story is just mostly about Oskar who’s bullied and one night meets a strange girl and how she affects his life and those around them (mostly in negative and violent ways mind you). It’s part horror story too, but not as much as I would have liked. I got this book honestly thinking I’d get a great story about a vampire and instead I got all that so you can easily tell how disappointed I was. It was great but the author should not have spent so much time with the tons of secondary characters. On one hand I liked that he developed them really well. They were completely 3 dimensional and you could clearly see everything in your head as you read along, but again, I did not care about those people’s lives. I thought it was extremely fascinating how the author managed to make me feel sorry for a lot of the characters no matter how crazy they were. Most of them have problems like being a pedophile, being drunkards, not being human, etc. It’s weird to think you’d feel bad for them but the author really gets you in their head (HATED that he did that with the pedophile by the way).

Let the Right One In had incredible moments but that wasn’t enough to make this book worth it. I just wanted a vampire story! It’s fine that it wasn’t just about the vampire but it did not have to be so long. Most of the time pages were just being filled up with unimportant and boring information. It would have greatly helped me enjoy this book if it hadn’t been listed as being a horror story. I read all over the place that it’s scary blah blah blah. It’s slightly scary but the story deals more with people and their messed up lives not vampires. The great thing about this book though is that it is very unpredictable and I loved that at least.

Go watch the movie before American remake that I’m scared will suck (I have hope!) comes out.

Quotes:

"you either love someone or you don't."

"really?"

"yes."

"in that case I have to think about it."

His response to his mother being overprotective:

"But Oskar had promised to scream to high heaven if anyone so much as said 'hi' to him, and then his mom had given in"

Oskar is nervous when talking to the vampire:

"Hey there." 

"Hi." 

"Hi." 

He was never in his life going to say "hey there" to someone ever again. It sounded incredibly stupid.

Looking at the vampire:

She turned toward him. Her pupils were so large that they almost filled the whole iris, the lights from the building reflected in the black surface and it looked like she had a distant city in her head.

This one really shows you how great Lindqvist can write:

Once he was inside the gate to the graveyard Tommy stopped and looked at the map; the different sections were marked with diferent letters. His dad was in secion D.

If you thought about it, it was actually pretty sick. To do this. Burn people up, save the ashes, bury them in the ground, and then call the spot 'Grave 104, section D.'

Trailer:


Related:
Bullying
Homosexuality
Vampires
Unique tales
Let the Right One In (movie)
Horror
Life