I’m feeling generous enough to give this book 4 stars because it was ambitious. This author showed me the meaning of unreliable narrators by telling some portions through the eyes of the father, the daughter, and the mother, and making it clear that all of their memories of certain events aren’t the same.
One thing that i think people have to understand about this book is that it really isn’t about the courtroom drama as much as it is about family dynamics. The bottom line of this book is what parents will do for their children. I really appreciated the author telling the story of the hell loved ones go through when someone is charged with a crime. I think it is an underrepresented area of our world; people are quick to judge criminals and the accused, but fail to consider that there are parents, siblings, spouses, friends, etc who are going through a serious process along with the accused/convicted. I think the author does a good job with representing that perspective.
What this book isn’t is a thriller. There is nothing surprising in this book in that everything is pretty well laid out from the beginning, allowing the reader to make some educated guesses about who is doing what and why. By the time of the reveal, the paths have been so clearly laid out that no matter what had been said the reader would be like, “yup, that makes sense.” Although i did get tingles from reading the last line.
Also, i really did not like the daughter. I don’t think you’re supposed to though. She was just such a selfish spoiled brat. I did not like that she casually compared herself and her father to people on the autism spectrum/“aspies” simply for taking an interest in certain topics. It’s just so hard to be confronted with an 18 year old - it’s hard to be reminded of that tender line between feeling like an adult but being a child. I thought the father’s treatment of her like a child was preposterous until i continued reading and realized there was no other way he could see her.
There were also some things which seemed irrelevant to the story and even though it was explained a surface level, i don’t understand why it had to be done that way. Could be something i just don’t understand about Swedish law. It was interesting to see how their system operates as well, after becoming so familiar with the way the American system works.
One thing that i think people have to understand about this book is that it really isn’t about the courtroom drama as much as it is about family dynamics. The bottom line of this book is what parents will do for their children. I really appreciated the author telling the story of the hell loved ones go through when someone is charged with a crime. I think it is an underrepresented area of our world; people are quick to judge criminals and the accused, but fail to consider that there are parents, siblings, spouses, friends, etc who are going through a serious process along with the accused/convicted. I think the author does a good job with representing that perspective.
What this book isn’t is a thriller. There is nothing surprising in this book in that everything is pretty well laid out from the beginning, allowing the reader to make some educated guesses about who is doing what and why. By the time of the reveal, the paths have been so clearly laid out that no matter what had been said the reader would be like, “yup, that makes sense.” Although i did get tingles from reading the last line.
Also, i really did not like the daughter. I don’t think you’re supposed to though. She was just such a selfish spoiled brat. I did not like that she casually compared herself and her father to people on the autism spectrum/“aspies” simply for taking an interest in certain topics. It’s just so hard to be confronted with an 18 year old - it’s hard to be reminded of that tender line between feeling like an adult but being a child. I thought the father’s treatment of her like a child was preposterous until i continued reading and realized there was no other way he could see her.
There were also some things which seemed irrelevant to the story and even though it was explained a surface level, i don’t understand why it had to be done that way. Could be something i just don’t understand about Swedish law. It was interesting to see how their system operates as well, after becoming so familiar with the way the American system works.