Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

So finster die Nacht by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Paul Berf

58 reviews

rmnedder's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

What a gorgeous, deeply nauseating book. The shifting perspectives never felt overwhelming or odd; it helped stitch together this really complicated story. The complicated friendship/puppy love/something deeper between Eli and Oskar was really gorgeous to read on the page. This is actually one of the only vampire stories I've ever read that doesn't romanticize vampirism (and don't get me wrong, I do love that); it's not something sensual or erotic, it's a deeply isolating burden. It's seen as and treated like the curse it really is, which is a really refreshing take on vampirism. I only wish it moved faster - the events of the book take place over the course of a matter of days, but with how much happens and how dense it gets, it does drag a little.

To this day, one of my favorite vampire stories. I watched the film when I was younger and still navigating who I was, and Eli's "I am not a boy, I am not a girl, I am nothing" speech has always struck something in me. I'm glad I finally got to know the full story.
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buffalomj's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Incredible. It’s easy to call this a game changer in vampire fiction, but what I appreciate almost more is how much Lindqvist knows the tropes and goes “you’ll like it anyway.” Because of that, the book is able to feel familiar and fresh at the same time. The evil at play is neither glorified nor glossed over, and I don’t think there’s been such a happy bad ending in literature. I can go on for days about how good this is, but I’ll leave it at this: for as good as the movie was, the book has lived up to my expectations. Well worth the time.
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solnit_and_sebastian's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I watched the film years ago and finally got around to reading the source material. Certainly not for the squeamish! This is the type of story that had me chuckling and then cringing with discomfort on the same page. A hell of a ride, and kept my interest!
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witchboyofboston's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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perstephanie353's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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chrishham's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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bfrederick's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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ruthmoog's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense slow-paced

3.75

Narrated by Steven Pacey.

The narration was a bit hard to follow, some of the accent choices for characters were random and distracting, and given that they did a good job pronouncing Swedish words and places I was confused! It wasn't always clear when the context changed which made the story hard to follow as we would change character often, and so I would lose the thread and get distracted - I'm disappointed I didn't enjoy it as much as other readers, I think this was why. I couldn't get lost in it.

It's disgusting, but gripping and interesting. The pace is choppy going from high drama to mundane quite sharply. 
Sections start with quotes (which is a trait I don't enjoy) but I did smile to get a Bob Hund quote in there!
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mimishake's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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salalamander's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.75

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