Grim and morose, much more so than any of the adaptations.

If you’re unfamiliar: this is a Swedish vampire novel. The vampire in question appears to be a 12-year-old girl, and the book mostly focuses on a young boy who lives in the same apartment complex as her, as they meet, while a serial killer terrifies the community.

It’s got Stephen King vibes for sure – and at points, it’s as chilling and gruesome as King’s best, but it falls short overall in a couple of ways.

First, it’s way too long and there’s a whole b-plot involving some barflies that adds almost nothing to the overall story. Part of what makes King a legend is his ability to write character and dialogue – even if the story is in neutral, his books are often absorbing because it’s fun to spend time in his world.

This isn’t that. The writing (or maybe the translation?) is choppy and the dialogue doesn’t flow. The story jumps around frequently to different perspectives within a chapter, which works sometimes to give different angles on a single moment, but too often it’s disorienting and took me out of the story. It’s easily 100 pages too long.

More troublesome for me though is the way this book sexualizes children. I get that bad guys are bad, but there are a few scenes in this book that were unnecessary. Yes, the book is unrelentingly dark, but it also felt punishing in a way put me off.

There were several scenes that were excellent, memorable stuff, but I think this is a rare case where you can safely watch one of the adaptations and disregard the book.

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