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A review by kaivega
Nyckeln by Mats Strandberg, Sara Bergmark Elfgren
5.0
I read the first two first books in 2014 and I've been waiting since for the third book to get translated into Spanish so I could finish my collection. Well, that didn't happen, but at least I have a very decent knowledge of English so I bought it in that language.
Because of the length and the language, I assumed that it would take me very long to read it, perhaps a month, but I've managed to read it in less than a week. I actually finished it yesterday after marathoning 300 pages in an afternoon, but I was too speechless to write a coherent review for this book.
I was scared that, after almost four years since I read the first two books, I would have lost interest in the story/characters, or that my opinion about them would change. However, I was very pleased to discover that my obsession with Engelsfors is as alive as it was when I read it when I was fifteen, perhaps even more.
Although now I realise that the author's writing style is not as elegant as I thought it was years ago, I found myself jumping into the pages without realising, and immersing myself in this marvelous story. I accept that the book might be too long, but I didn't find any scene that I considered irrelevant to the plot or the character's development, so there wasn't any moment in which I wanted to put the book down.
The characters felt realer than ever. They make mistakes, they learn from them, they love and they hate and they have conflicting emotions. Sometimes I wondered if the characters are all like Felix and they can make the reader feel what they feel.
Now let's go to the spoilers:
The Council's circle fascinated me, to be honest. I loved Viktor and Clara during the whole book, the relationship they have and how much they love and care about each other. When Minoo sees that Walter has killed Viktor I physically felt a knot in my stomach. I really liked him.
From the Council's circle, however, my favourite character is Felix. He's so cute, I only wanted to put him in my pocket and carry him to happiness-land. I don't know why, but his character really carved a Felix-shaped hole in my heart, and he plans to stay there for a long time. Honestly, I knew from the beginning that this circle wouldn't be enough, and although I liked Sigrid at the beginning, I started mistrusting her and Walter after a while.
I found it amazing that Evelina, Rickard and Gustaf turned out to be witches too! I felt very happy, especially because of Evelina. I'm glad she got to be with the Chosen Ones while Vanessa and Linnéa had broken up and that she could support her.
And talking about it, Linnéa and Vanessa desperated me for the whole book. I had been waiting YEARS for them to get together, and when they finally do, they break up soon after. I was in pain. I'm glad that they got together again after everything ended, they truly belong together. I was also very happy for Minoo and Gustaf! They were my second OTP (well, actually it was an OT3, but the authors had the great idea of killing Rebecka. It would have been an amazing polyamori).
Minoo really worried me when she started using the powers on herself. I'm glad that the Chosen Ones convinced her to break her blessing, I really feared throughout the whole book that she was going to die or she would get stuck in the Borderland.
Talking about the Borderland, I almost (almost) cried when they meet with the dead Chosen Ones, especially when Elias and Linnéa meet each other again :( I felt so bad for them. When they say goodbye and Minoo is with Rebecka and Linnéa is with Elias i truly felt bad for Ida, but I'm glad that Anna-Karin went to talk to her. She's such a sweetheart and doesn't deserve anything that happened to her.
Also, the fact that Minoo lost her powers FOREVER felt so big to me. I was very shocked, but I'm glad that she doesn't have to deal with the guardians' powers anymore.
In conclusion, I think that The key was a perfect ending for a trilogy that has managed to be my all-time favourite trilogy for years. I'm honestly going to miss Engelsfors and its characters, but I'm happy to know that, whenever I want, they'll be ready to welcome me back.
Because of the length and the language, I assumed that it would take me very long to read it, perhaps a month, but I've managed to read it in less than a week. I actually finished it yesterday after marathoning 300 pages in an afternoon, but I was too speechless to write a coherent review for this book.
I was scared that, after almost four years since I read the first two books, I would have lost interest in the story/characters, or that my opinion about them would change. However, I was very pleased to discover that my obsession with Engelsfors is as alive as it was when I read it when I was fifteen, perhaps even more.
Although now I realise that the author's writing style is not as elegant as I thought it was years ago, I found myself jumping into the pages without realising, and immersing myself in this marvelous story. I accept that the book might be too long, but I didn't find any scene that I considered irrelevant to the plot or the character's development, so there wasn't any moment in which I wanted to put the book down.
The characters felt realer than ever. They make mistakes, they learn from them, they love and they hate and they have conflicting emotions. Sometimes I wondered if the characters are all like Felix and they can make the reader feel what they feel.
Now let's go to the spoilers:
From the Council's circle, however, my favourite character is Felix. He's so cute, I only wanted to put him in my pocket and carry him to happiness-land. I don't know why, but his character really carved a Felix-shaped hole in my heart, and he plans to stay there for a long time. Honestly, I knew from the beginning that this circle wouldn't be enough, and although I liked Sigrid at the beginning, I started mistrusting her and Walter after a while.
I found it amazing that Evelina, Rickard and Gustaf turned out to be witches too! I felt very happy, especially because of Evelina. I'm glad she got to be with the Chosen Ones while Vanessa and Linnéa had broken up and that she could support her.
And talking about it, Linnéa and Vanessa desperated me for the whole book. I had been waiting YEARS for them to get together, and when they finally do, they break up soon after. I was in pain. I'm glad that they got together again after everything ended, they truly belong together. I was also very happy for Minoo and Gustaf! They were my second OTP (well, actually it was an OT3, but the authors had the great idea of killing Rebecka. It would have been an amazing polyamori).
Minoo really worried me when she started using the powers on herself. I'm glad that the Chosen Ones convinced her to break her blessing, I really feared throughout the whole book that she was going to die or she would get stuck in the Borderland.
Talking about the Borderland, I almost (almost) cried when they meet with the dead Chosen Ones, especially when Elias and Linnéa meet each other again :( I felt so bad for them. When they say goodbye and Minoo is with Rebecka and Linnéa is with Elias i truly felt bad for Ida, but I'm glad that Anna-Karin went to talk to her. She's such a sweetheart and doesn't deserve anything that happened to her.
Also, the fact that Minoo lost her powers FOREVER felt so big to me. I was very shocked, but I'm glad that she doesn't have to deal with the guardians' powers anymore.
In conclusion, I think that The key was a perfect ending for a trilogy that has managed to be my all-time favourite trilogy for years. I'm honestly going to miss Engelsfors and its characters, but I'm happy to know that, whenever I want, they'll be ready to welcome me back.