Return to Book Reviews

Little Star by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Little Star by John Ajvide LindqvistPublisher: Quercus
Paperback (480pp)

John Ajvide Lindqvist hit the ground running with the excellent Let The Right One In, which resurrected the tired vampire trope into a new and darker being that showed paranormal romance how it should be done. He somehow managed to maintain this pace with the ‘difficult’ second and third novels, Handling The Undead and Harbour, setting expectations high for Little Star.

The plot of Little Star is both beautifully simple and incredibly complex. The tale revolves around an abandoned child and the family who find her, but beneath the surface is an incredibly weird narrative that cannot be sufficiently explored without spoilers. Singing babies, serial killing children and Abba feature heavily in what may well be the most surreal yet compelling story in years.

Perhaps it’s the Scandinavian darkness that pervades Lindqvist’s writing or maybe he is channelling the legacy of the Grimms, but this tale, with its overtones of raw nature and evil adults, has the qualities of a dark fairytale before spiralling into gory murder. It’s American Psycho meets Snow White. It’s worth remembering that this is a translation and may deviate from the original, but whether by design or chance the book has an otherworldly feel. Everything is imbued with an oddness that matches and complements the book’s mood perfectly.

The complex themes: nature versus nurture, the loss of childhood innocence, selfishness in the pursuit of fame, and animal instincts, are all beautifully woven into the plot without stifling the story. The book is full of memorable scenes from the fairytale beginning to the Carrie-like ending that is all written in Lindqvist’s engaging and unique prose.

There are some who might criticise the book for what it doesn’t tell us. There are several huge conceits that the reader has to go along with, the true nature of the central character being the most significant, but this adds to the mystery and intrigue.

A wonderful storyteller and wonderful story are a pretty powerful combination and John Ajvide Lindqvist has once again conjured up a magically engaging book.

COLIN LESLIE

If you enjoyed our review and want to read Little Star by John Ajvide Lindqvist, please consider clicking through to our Amazon Affiliate links. If you do you’ll help keep the This Is Horror ship afloat with some very welcome remuneration.

Buy Little Star by John Ajvide Lindqvist (UK)
Buy Little Star by John Ajvide Lindqvist (US)

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thisishorror.co.uk/read-horror/book-reviews/little-star-by-john-ajvide-lindqvist/

1 comment

  1. Thanks for the tip. I thought the American film adaptation of his Let The Right One In was brilliant, so I can only imagine how good this writer is! I’ll have to add his books to be TBR pile. It sounds great.

    -Jimmy

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.