Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Kastanjemanden by Søren Sveistrup

56 reviews

azureye31's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I am always up for an intense, dark, Scandinavian thriller, so that is what attracted me to this book. I am also aware that this particular author is also a screen writer and has had several successful series on television, so I was very curious, and excited to read a piece of his work.  

 

What worked:  

 

The author made good use of atmosphere to draw the reader in. The book felt very dark, and the descriptions of the surroundings added to this feeling of sinister (snowy, cold, gray Copenhagen). I also enjoyed the plot, and it did keep me, at times, on the edge of my seat. This book is a mixture of plot driven, and an attempt to be character driven with a very dark tone. 

 

The translation from Danish was very good, and did not appear to lose anything in the process. Nothing felt awkward or out of place. 

 

 

What didn’t work: 

 

I felt confused with the characters because there were so many, and the author did not do a good job of developing them.  None of them had a distinct voice, and I did not feel a sense of empathy for any of them.  It was purely plot that kept me engaged in the book, and not an attachment to any particular character.  The reader is given very little insight into any of them.  The author’s attempt at creating a character driven story, in my humble opinion, failed.  Had it not been for the very strong plot, I would have not stayed engaged. 

 

The author chose to write in third person, limited and the constant shifting of characters got confusing.  At times, the chapter would start out without any sense of who we were talking about, and three pages later the another would drop a hint.  It felt disorienting, and detracted from the story. 

 

The plot itself was very intense, and did keep me on edge, however some of it was a little unbelievable and could have been edited out.  This book was very long, but needlessly so. 

 

I am giving it 3 out of five stars.  

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Body horror, and Kidnapping

clarabooksit's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Rape, Child death, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, Kidnapping, Body horror, Racism, Sexism, Misogyny, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Torture, Alcoholism, Stalking, Mental illness, and Gore

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

sarakuba's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Animal death, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Murder, Violence, Blood, Grief, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Torture, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Domestic abuse, Car accident, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, and Islamophobia

katybugggg's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Torture

Moderate: Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Stalking, Death, Gore, Islamophobia, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Rape, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

kim_ng's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

At first, It took me some time to grasp all the characters and storylines. I was also thinking about not reading any further because I didn't quite warm up to the female main character and the story dragged on a bit. However, it got better and the story on its own was good. 
Nevertheless, it is extremely (sometimes unnecessarily) graphic, dark, brutal and gory. 

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Die Story an sich war gut. Leider fand ich die deutsche Übersetzung manchmal sehr eigenartig. Mit Thulin (weiblicher Hauptcharakter) wurde ich nicht warm, Hesse mochte ich dafür recht gerne. Die Story war ganz gut, zog sich aber an manchen Stellen. Für meinen Geschmack ist das Buch teilweise aber sehr grausam und brutal. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gore, Rape, Murder, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, and Torture

Moderate: Alcoholism and Kidnapping

jettaparadis's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Gore, Blood, Torture, Body horror, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Car accident, Stalking, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Pedophilia

appurusakura's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Violence, Murder, Torture, Body horror, and Blood

Moderate: Rape, Child death, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and Pedophilia

Minor: Stalking, Mental illness, and Forced institutionalization

ehunsy's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Cursing, Murder, Violence, Sexual content, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Stalking

Minor: Child abuse and Kidnapping

essie__reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This book kept me hooked from the beginning. I tend not to enjoy thrillers because I often find them too predictable, but that was not the case with this book. I genuinely had no idea who the killer was or what their motive was, until it was revealed in the book. This book is over 500 pages but the chapters are short and fly by. There were several different characters introduced in the beginning which made the beginning a bit slow but they are easy to differentiate between and the rest of the book flowed very seamlessly. If you enjoy detective/police thrillers, I would highly recommend this one. I felt like the ending was left open enough for the possibility of a sequel, while still wrapping up the main plot very well. I am looking forward to watching the Netflix series adaptation!!

Please be advised to look up content warnings!!!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Murder, Grief, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Child death, Alcohol, Confinement, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Death

Minor: Stalking, Violence, Torture, Trafficking, and Vomit

sorcery_and_stories's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Blood, Child abuse, Torture, Death, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Mental illness