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Little Star
John Ajvide Lindqvist has been crowned the heir apparent to Stephen King by numerous sources, and he is heralded around the globe as one of the most spectacularly talented horror writers working today. His first novel, Let the Right One In, is a cult classic that has been made into iconic films in both Sweden and in the United States. His second novel, Handling the Undead, is beloved by horror fans everywhere. His third novel, Harbor, is a masterpiece that draws countless comparisons to Stephen King. Now, with Little Star, his most profoundly unsettling book yet, Lindqvist treads previously unmarked territory.
A man finds a baby in the woods, left for dead. He brings the baby home, and he and his wife raise the girl in their basement. When a shocking and catastrophic incident occurs, the couple’s son Jerry whisks the girl away to Stockholm to start a new life. There, he enters her in a nationwide singing competition. Another young girl who’s never fit in sees the performance on TV, and a spark is struck that will ignite the most terrifying duo in modern fiction.
Little Star is an unforgettable portrait of adolescence, a modern-day Carrie for the age of internet bullies, offensive reality television, and overnight You Tube sensations. Chilling, unnerving, and petrifying, Little Star is Lindqvist’s most disturbing book to date.
A man finds a baby in the woods, left for dead. He brings the baby home, and he and his wife raise the girl in their basement. When a shocking and catastrophic incident occurs, the couple’s son Jerry whisks the girl away to Stockholm to start a new life. There, he enters her in a nationwide singing competition. Another young girl who’s never fit in sees the performance on TV, and a spark is struck that will ignite the most terrifying duo in modern fiction.
Little Star is an unforgettable portrait of adolescence, a modern-day Carrie for the age of internet bullies, offensive reality television, and overnight You Tube sensations. Chilling, unnerving, and petrifying, Little Star is Lindqvist’s most disturbing book to date.
538 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2010
197 people are currently reading
8139 people want to read
About the author
John Ajvide Lindqvist
73 books4,282 followersJohn Ajvide Lindqvist (John Erik Ajvide Lindqvist) is a Swedish author who grew up in Blackeberg, the setting for
Let the Right One In
. Wanting to become something awful and fantastic, he first became a conjurer, and then was a stand-up comedian for twelve years. He has also written for Swedish television.
His Let the Right One In was a bestseller in Sweden and was named Best Novel in Translation 2005 in Norway. He also is the author of Handling the Undead and Harbor .
http://us.macmillan.com/author/johnaj...
Russian profile can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
His Let the Right One In was a bestseller in Sweden and was named Best Novel in Translation 2005 in Norway. He also is the author of Handling the Undead and Harbor .
http://us.macmillan.com/author/johnaj...
Russian profile can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 880 reviews
February 15, 2014
I came to Little Star after John Ajvide Lindqvist's debut novel Let the Right One In turned into the scariest book I'd read since Helter Skelter, more unsettling than Stephen King at his best. I was more reminded of David Lynch throughout. Lindqvist is not writing books for everybody. They're dark and disturbing, but at times also beautiful and tender. I believe you need both as a storyteller, otherwise you're taking aim at lukewarm junk, otherwise known as the Young Adult genre.
In the autumn of 1992, middle-aged Lennart Cederstrom drives his Volvo into the woods to hunt for mushrooms. He's almost run off the dirt road by a black BMW speeding in the opposite direction. Lennart, a songwriter who for a moment in his youth seemed poised for stardom, discovers a baby girl wiggling in a shallow grave. He rescues her, and is struck by the sound the child makes, which is less of a scream and more of a pure, beguiling musical note.
Lennart brings the bundle of joy home to his wife, a gimpy ex-singer named Laila who trembles under her husband's authority and has lost any respect he once had for her. In the first of several moments in which Lindqvist asks the reader to suspend disbelief, Lennart keeps the baby, dubbing her "Little Star", raising her in the cellar and developing her singing ability, rather than handing her over to social services and assign her the fate of Lennart & Laila's delinquent adult son, Jerry.
I was expecting a vampire, zombie or ghost story and was ready for Lindqvist to veer down one of those boulevards, so I won't give away where the story goes, except to say I was reminded of Stephen King's Carrie a bit. It's almost as if Lindqvist thought of doing his own version, except to make it Sweden, make it comment on pop music and televised singing contests, and make it far more disturbing. The result ends up 3,600 miles from Carrie.
Little Star, like Let the Right One In, taps into some seriously morbid self-intentions and instead of quieting down, cranks the disturbed amp to 9. Domestic abuse, child abuse, suicidal tendencies ... if these subjects disturb you, you may be better off with a less challenging book. Yet in spite of its darkness, Lindqvist has the ability to spin a narrative about innocence, friendship and creativity that's powerful.
The monsters and victims are not who I thought they would be when I started the book and when I finished, I had trouble walking in a straight line. It's wildly imaginative, surprisingly deep in its character development (Lindqvist knows the minds and moods of teenagers quite well) and when need be, gruesome.
I sped through this book in four days, much faster than Let the Right One In, with a story that picked up steam and carried me into the climax. There's a major section that deals with very little in the way of horror for what seems like 100 pages, but the author does such a terrific job dropping bread crumbs and luring you into the forest, you trust there's going to be a witch in there. Lindqvist delivers.
In the autumn of 1992, middle-aged Lennart Cederstrom drives his Volvo into the woods to hunt for mushrooms. He's almost run off the dirt road by a black BMW speeding in the opposite direction. Lennart, a songwriter who for a moment in his youth seemed poised for stardom, discovers a baby girl wiggling in a shallow grave. He rescues her, and is struck by the sound the child makes, which is less of a scream and more of a pure, beguiling musical note.
Lennart brings the bundle of joy home to his wife, a gimpy ex-singer named Laila who trembles under her husband's authority and has lost any respect he once had for her. In the first of several moments in which Lindqvist asks the reader to suspend disbelief, Lennart keeps the baby, dubbing her "Little Star", raising her in the cellar and developing her singing ability, rather than handing her over to social services and assign her the fate of Lennart & Laila's delinquent adult son, Jerry.
I was expecting a vampire, zombie or ghost story and was ready for Lindqvist to veer down one of those boulevards, so I won't give away where the story goes, except to say I was reminded of Stephen King's Carrie a bit. It's almost as if Lindqvist thought of doing his own version, except to make it Sweden, make it comment on pop music and televised singing contests, and make it far more disturbing. The result ends up 3,600 miles from Carrie.
Little Star, like Let the Right One In, taps into some seriously morbid self-intentions and instead of quieting down, cranks the disturbed amp to 9. Domestic abuse, child abuse, suicidal tendencies ... if these subjects disturb you, you may be better off with a less challenging book. Yet in spite of its darkness, Lindqvist has the ability to spin a narrative about innocence, friendship and creativity that's powerful.
The monsters and victims are not who I thought they would be when I started the book and when I finished, I had trouble walking in a straight line. It's wildly imaginative, surprisingly deep in its character development (Lindqvist knows the minds and moods of teenagers quite well) and when need be, gruesome.
I sped through this book in four days, much faster than Let the Right One In, with a story that picked up steam and carried me into the climax. There's a major section that deals with very little in the way of horror for what seems like 100 pages, but the author does such a terrific job dropping bread crumbs and luring you into the forest, you trust there's going to be a witch in there. Lindqvist delivers.
July 1, 2018
I finally got my revenge on ABBA. For most of my life I have been bombarded with these four well turned-out glistening Swedes with their blandly superior three minute wondersongs and their terrible terrible lyrics. Man, they were everywhere. At one point I think it was compulsory for every British household to have a copy of ABBA Gold, and if you didn’t have one, a burglar would break into your house and leave one on the top of your cd player.
There was an unspoken agreement that ABBA were the greatest group, greatest songwriters and biggest sellers of all time. (In fact no, no and no. Not even close.) When they finally divorced each other and sang perfectly harmonized and calibrated songs about their divorces and went their separate ways, there was peace in the land, but only for a short spell. Then came the stage show Mamma Mia and it all started again; and when that died down then came the film which it is compulsory to see, and now the film Part Two which very properly is called Mamma Mia – Here We Go Again.
So here comes John Lindqvist with his vastly amusing juxtaposition of ABBA and mass murder – as the simpering sickly sentiments of Thank You For the Music waft around the venue spouts and gouts of blood erupt and howls of agony blend with the melody line. Yes! Finally! Stick that in your cd player and smoke it.
Another way of looking at Lucky Star is Swedish Idol meets Driller Killer, the video nasty from 1979. And a third way of looking at it is that Little Star is a 600 page long very silly shaggy dog story which has really wasted up my last three days but I really enjoyed it. But now I regret bothering with it. Because it’s very silly! 14 year old girls, one clearly some kind of alien, armed with power drills and hammers, wanting to turn into wolves, wanting to be dead, then wanting to be alive again, eating only baby food -YES - Baby Food
(other brands are available)
I mean, the whole bonkers shenanigans is enough to make a cat laugh. At the end of the 632 pages I thought come on THAT CAN’T BE IT! WHAT?? But it was it.
A comment on John Lindqvist’s prose style seems relevant here. I will quote a very typical example :
It turned out that Anna L and Ronja had passed their driving test, and Anna actually had a car. None of the others had thought of themselves as the kind of group where someone had a driver’s licence, but when it turned out to be the case, a heady feeling of liberation quickly took hold. They had a place to be, they had a way of getting there. Together they had resources and opportunities which they lacked when they were alone.
Oh boy.
I think this strange story could have been something but the author had no idea what to do with it so he sprayed every room with emo-style teen angst and added a lot of sharp edged tools and in time honoured fashion blew the whole thing up at the end. And walked away shrugging and muttering heck, you figure it out, I just wrote it. Don’t blame me.
2.5 stars
There was an unspoken agreement that ABBA were the greatest group, greatest songwriters and biggest sellers of all time. (In fact no, no and no. Not even close.) When they finally divorced each other and sang perfectly harmonized and calibrated songs about their divorces and went their separate ways, there was peace in the land, but only for a short spell. Then came the stage show Mamma Mia and it all started again; and when that died down then came the film which it is compulsory to see, and now the film Part Two which very properly is called Mamma Mia – Here We Go Again.
So here comes John Lindqvist with his vastly amusing juxtaposition of ABBA and mass murder – as the simpering sickly sentiments of Thank You For the Music waft around the venue spouts and gouts of blood erupt and howls of agony blend with the melody line. Yes! Finally! Stick that in your cd player and smoke it.
Another way of looking at Lucky Star is Swedish Idol meets Driller Killer, the video nasty from 1979. And a third way of looking at it is that Little Star is a 600 page long very silly shaggy dog story which has really wasted up my last three days but I really enjoyed it. But now I regret bothering with it. Because it’s very silly! 14 year old girls, one clearly some kind of alien, armed with power drills and hammers, wanting to turn into wolves, wanting to be dead, then wanting to be alive again, eating only baby food -YES - Baby Food
(other brands are available)
I mean, the whole bonkers shenanigans is enough to make a cat laugh. At the end of the 632 pages I thought come on THAT CAN’T BE IT! WHAT?? But it was it.
A comment on John Lindqvist’s prose style seems relevant here. I will quote a very typical example :
It turned out that Anna L and Ronja had passed their driving test, and Anna actually had a car. None of the others had thought of themselves as the kind of group where someone had a driver’s licence, but when it turned out to be the case, a heady feeling of liberation quickly took hold. They had a place to be, they had a way of getting there. Together they had resources and opportunities which they lacked when they were alone.
Oh boy.
I think this strange story could have been something but the author had no idea what to do with it so he sprayed every room with emo-style teen angst and added a lot of sharp edged tools and in time honoured fashion blew the whole thing up at the end. And walked away shrugging and muttering heck, you figure it out, I just wrote it. Don’t blame me.
2.5 stars
May 2, 2018
Little Star started strong but petered out for me. I guess it's because, rather than following a linear narrative the whole way through, Lindqvist divides the story into two separate sections each about the life of a different little girl - Theres, who's born a psychopath, and Teresa, who becomes one - before bringing them together for a terrible, blood-soaked finale. Unfortunately, while I found Theres's story deeply unsettling and morbidly fascinating, Teresa's story mostly fell flat.
It's hard to mess up the story of a psychopath (just add gratuitous violence) but even so Theres's story is something else. The appeal's almost immediately apparent, Lindqvist has a way of writing that's just so incredibly unsettling, somehow reading I just knew something was off, even if there wasn't anything out of the ordinary about the way Theres's parents treat her at first after her father finds her in the woods, well, except for the hiding her in the basement part. Average, everyday activities like shopping or dinner just didn't feel right, and that's before Lindqvist piles on the psychologically twisted details that made me realize there's just something very very wrong with these people. But most of all, it's the way Lennart and Laila can carry on with their mundane lives, yet, all of a sudden, do something so shockingly disturbing but at the same time appear so calm and rational that's most memorable - I had to reread paragraphs just to confirm, did they really just do that? Those bizarre interludes of violence, treated just as matter of factly as any other activity, are just so dark and disturbing I could not stop reading.
Then I get to Teresa's story. I have to say, after Theres's, it's kind of a letdown. Theres is completely crazy, Teresa I would say is quirky yet sane. Yeah, Lindqvist hints Teresa's different from most other people, but after how good Theres's story was, Teresa's really started to drag despite a few sections of dark humor here and there. As the story of a budding psychopath, I get Teresa isn't supposed to have the kind of abnormal childhood Theres had, isn't supposed to be exposed to all the random acts of violence Theres was, but the way Linqvist develops her character, as this lost girl looking for her purpose in life then getting picked on because she apparently looks like a pig until she finally breaks, it's not much different from the stereotypical pop culture psychopath childhood. Wasn't really impressed.
So it comes down to, after Little Star becomes more the story of a girl slowly descending into violent madness rather than the story of a girl already murderously insane, I started to like this book less and less because Teresa's story just isn't as dark, compelling, well-paced, or unique as Theres's. It’s like Lindqvist exhausted his best material on Theres and the rest of the book’s running on fumes. When Teresa finally breaks, I guess I was more indifferent than shocked or appalled because what happens is so trite and cliched I really was expecting more. And the ending, it all depends I guess on how much gore one can take too, after the craziness of Theres's story I was actually pretty much desensitized to all the violence so even though it was pretty outrageous and bloody, eh, didn't shock me as much as what Lennart, Laila, and Theres did before.
I guess Lindqivst couldn't have written an entire book just about Theres, it'd be gory yet engrossing but wouldn't have much of a plot except mindless violence, but adding Teresa detracted from the story because her part just wasn’t at the same caliber as Theres's. After that first section, I was pretty much disappointed by everything that came after.
It's hard to mess up the story of a psychopath (just add gratuitous violence) but even so Theres's story is something else. The appeal's almost immediately apparent, Lindqvist has a way of writing that's just so incredibly unsettling, somehow reading I just knew something was off, even if there wasn't anything out of the ordinary about the way Theres's parents treat her at first after her father finds her in the woods, well, except for the hiding her in the basement part. Average, everyday activities like shopping or dinner just didn't feel right, and that's before Lindqvist piles on the psychologically twisted details that made me realize there's just something very very wrong with these people. But most of all, it's the way Lennart and Laila can carry on with their mundane lives, yet, all of a sudden, do something so shockingly disturbing but at the same time appear so calm and rational that's most memorable - I had to reread paragraphs just to confirm, did they really just do that? Those bizarre interludes of violence, treated just as matter of factly as any other activity, are just so dark and disturbing I could not stop reading.
Then I get to Teresa's story. I have to say, after Theres's, it's kind of a letdown. Theres is completely crazy, Teresa I would say is quirky yet sane. Yeah, Lindqvist hints Teresa's different from most other people, but after how good Theres's story was, Teresa's really started to drag despite a few sections of dark humor here and there. As the story of a budding psychopath, I get Teresa isn't supposed to have the kind of abnormal childhood Theres had, isn't supposed to be exposed to all the random acts of violence Theres was, but the way Linqvist develops her character, as this lost girl looking for her purpose in life then getting picked on because she apparently looks like a pig until she finally breaks, it's not much different from the stereotypical pop culture psychopath childhood. Wasn't really impressed.
So it comes down to, after Little Star becomes more the story of a girl slowly descending into violent madness rather than the story of a girl already murderously insane, I started to like this book less and less because Teresa's story just isn't as dark, compelling, well-paced, or unique as Theres's. It’s like Lindqvist exhausted his best material on Theres and the rest of the book’s running on fumes. When Teresa finally breaks, I guess I was more indifferent than shocked or appalled because what happens is so trite and cliched I really was expecting more. And the ending, it all depends I guess on how much gore one can take too, after the craziness of Theres's story I was actually pretty much desensitized to all the violence so even though it was pretty outrageous and bloody, eh, didn't shock me as much as what Lennart, Laila, and Theres did before.
I guess Lindqivst couldn't have written an entire book just about Theres, it'd be gory yet engrossing but wouldn't have much of a plot except mindless violence, but adding Teresa detracted from the story because her part just wasn’t at the same caliber as Theres's. After that first section, I was pretty much disappointed by everything that came after.
October 1, 2022
Well, that was quite the journey 😅
Little Star is definitely a lot weirder than Let The Right One In, but just as disturbing. Definitely has way more gore and graphic violence, and about as much depravity.
I think it’s best to go into this one as vague as possible, but it’s essentially about a baby that is found abandoned in the woods one day by a washed up Swedish musician. She has the ability to sing any musical note, and her voice is unlike anything ever heard before. Right from page 1, you know that shit is going to hit the fan, and the story is essentially about how things got to that tipping point.
I know that sounds very weird and vague, but you guys, this book was seriously messed up and it had me completely hooked!! My copy of the book is a very large hard back, is about 530 pages, and I read it in it’s entirety today in about 3 sittings. It’s addicting, incredibly fucked up, and totally unputdownable.
And did I mention disturbing? Yeah, this was gross 😂😅 Some pretty wicked body horror and graphic gore. The imagery was intense and unflinching. It’s long, but again, I could NOT put it down!! HIGHLY recommend if you like disturbing horror!!
Little Star is definitely a lot weirder than Let The Right One In, but just as disturbing. Definitely has way more gore and graphic violence, and about as much depravity.
I think it’s best to go into this one as vague as possible, but it’s essentially about a baby that is found abandoned in the woods one day by a washed up Swedish musician. She has the ability to sing any musical note, and her voice is unlike anything ever heard before. Right from page 1, you know that shit is going to hit the fan, and the story is essentially about how things got to that tipping point.
I know that sounds very weird and vague, but you guys, this book was seriously messed up and it had me completely hooked!! My copy of the book is a very large hard back, is about 530 pages, and I read it in it’s entirety today in about 3 sittings. It’s addicting, incredibly fucked up, and totally unputdownable.
And did I mention disturbing? Yeah, this was gross 😂😅 Some pretty wicked body horror and graphic gore. The imagery was intense and unflinching. It’s long, but again, I could NOT put it down!! HIGHLY recommend if you like disturbing horror!!
July 25, 2025
Този път ни съвпаднаха мненията с Димитър Цолов - Доктора.
Много добре написан трилър, половин звезда по-малко от мен, основно заради отворения край.
Линдквист надниква дълбоко в бездната, наречена лудост. Едната му героиня си е родена такава, другата постепенно пропада и събирането им е естествен завършек на процеса.
Вижда се, и колко лесно е в ерата на Интернета да намериш себеподобни. И не винаги това е нещо добро...
Стилът на автора е много плавен и приятен, удоволствие е да се прочете.
Поради някои моменти на кърваво и безпричинно насилие е добре да се избегне от хора, които се вживяват твърде много в това което четат.
Моята оценка -4,5*.
P.S. Научих и повече отколкото бих желал за шведската естрада, бие по точки и нашата, че и чешката, която имах за най-отвратителната до сега. :)
Много добре написан трилър, половин звезда по-малко от мен, основно заради отворения край.
Линдквист надниква дълбоко в бездната, наречена лудост. Едната му героиня си е родена такава, другата постепенно пропада и събирането им е естествен завършек на процеса.
Вижда се, и колко лесно е в ерата на Интернета да намериш себеподобни. И не винаги това е нещо добро...
Стилът на автора е много плавен и приятен, удоволствие е да се прочете.
Поради някои моменти на кърваво и безпричинно насилие е добре да се избегне от хора, които се вживяват твърде много в това което четат.
Моята оценка -4,5*.
P.S. Научих и повече отколкото бих желал за шведската естрада, бие по точки и нашата, че и чешката, която имах за най-отвратителната до сега. :)
January 29, 2012
I usually review books in the same language I read them in, but I'll make an expection here. This book sat on my shelf for more than a year. I bought it immediately upon publication, but after having read a review that totally slaughtered it, I was sceptical. I make a point of staying clear of bad books. Yes, this is a bad book, it is a terrible book and I LOVED it. The writing is fluid, words ran like water through my fingers. The story is captivating and catapulted me back into my teenage years. There was no point denying my dark side reading this book - if I had tried to, this book would have been painful and I would have hated it for the truth it stated about me. As it was, I felt the hunger and the claws. My claws.
The story is that of Theres. She is found in the forest as an infant, in a plastic bag - left for dead - by mushroom hunting Lennart. He brings her home and hides her in his cellar. Theres is exceptionally musically gifted from the very beginning. However, her upbringing is detrimental, accentuating her troubled soul. She lacks a sense of morality, probably because she has no empathy, which in turn probably is a result of a lack of fantasy. There are some strong autistic elements about her.
The other main person in this story is Teresa. She is the same age as Theres and grows up in a normal family, fat and bullied. She comes in touch with Theres and together they make music. Teresa writes and Theres sings and their work carries through myspace and youtube into the hearts of other troubled young girls.
It is almost inconceivable that a man could have captured teenage girl angst as well as this author does. I didn't think anyone with a Y chromosome would have imagination enough to write something like this. John Ajvide Lindqvist is a horror writer and this is not perhaps a book you would expect from him. There is no supernatural or paranormal evil at all. It is just the "normal" human evil, which all of us carry, veiled and hidden in our hearts. Although not as thinly veiled as in these girls. The world has treated them badly and revenge is sweet. So sweet.
The story is that of Theres. She is found in the forest as an infant, in a plastic bag - left for dead - by mushroom hunting Lennart. He brings her home and hides her in his cellar. Theres is exceptionally musically gifted from the very beginning. However, her upbringing is detrimental, accentuating her troubled soul. She lacks a sense of morality, probably because she has no empathy, which in turn probably is a result of a lack of fantasy. There are some strong autistic elements about her.
The other main person in this story is Teresa. She is the same age as Theres and grows up in a normal family, fat and bullied. She comes in touch with Theres and together they make music. Teresa writes and Theres sings and their work carries through myspace and youtube into the hearts of other troubled young girls.
It is almost inconceivable that a man could have captured teenage girl angst as well as this author does. I didn't think anyone with a Y chromosome would have imagination enough to write something like this. John Ajvide Lindqvist is a horror writer and this is not perhaps a book you would expect from him. There is no supernatural or paranormal evil at all. It is just the "normal" human evil, which all of us carry, veiled and hidden in our hearts. Although not as thinly veiled as in these girls. The world has treated them badly and revenge is sweet. So sweet.
August 29, 2016
I'm shocked right now
I changed my rating... It is a good book, it is very well written, I read it page after page, but I cannot say I really liked it so I'll go with a 3 star now.
I changed my rating... It is a good book, it is very well written, I read it page after page, but I cannot say I really liked it so I'll go with a 3 star now.
April 28, 2023
3.0 Stars
This was a strange and off-kilter narrative that didn't entirely work for me. Certain aspects were unsettling but overall the story did not come together in a satisfying way.
This was a strange and off-kilter narrative that didn't entirely work for me. Certain aspects were unsettling but overall the story did not come together in a satisfying way.
September 1, 2016
I am going to keep this short and sweet. I am honestly baffled how this made the top 20 list of scariest books out there. I was torn between boredom for a good 1/3 of this book and then just straight up baffled by the time I got to the end.
This story starts out with a man who finds a baby that is left for dead in a hole in plastic in the woods (did you follow that whole thing). Now don't think that you are going to find out why the baby was put there. Or even the backstory to the baby. Instead the book goes into the past of the man who finds the baby (Lennart) and his anger at his wife (Laila) and the disappointment with his son (Jerry). We find out Lennart and Laila were a rising singing duo in Sweden before they failed to make the charts on their newest song.
Lennart is just..I don't even know. I got the sense he felt his whole life was him being wronged and he lashed out at everyone around him. So for him to find a baby and think that keeping it in the basement where he would let no one around it and he would only teach her music that was "pure" because he realized that the baby had a special ability to sing perfectly (also how the hell do newborns or thereabouts sing?) was his ticket to something. I don't know.
I actually did like Laila a bit better than Lennart. I guess I was more confused about what made her stay. She went from one extreme to the other in the book.
Jerry I felt indifferent towards until things picked up after the halfway point.
We also have the baby which is called Little One, Theres and then Tesla as she grows. Don't think reading this book is going to give you any insights into her. I really don't get what she is supposed to be (some type of vampire, ghoul, etc.?)
The book then shifts other to following the family of a newborn girl named Theresa. We have Theresa who does not fit in with her family, who is okay with that after she meets a boy named Johannes. Theresa and Johannes are able to fill each other up in a way there home life does not allow. Until one day Theresa finds she is left behind and feels more apart, until she sees a girl singing on the show "Idol".
There is just so much going on here that I can't really unpack. I think that breaking up the book into so many different sections that had us following Theres, then Theresa, then Jerry, then Theresa, etc didn't help matters any.
We also have so many other characters in this book it was hard to track them all. I ended up really hating Theresa more than Theres though by the end of this book. At least you could excuse Theres for having a really messed up mindset towards big people (adults), but Theresa did not have that excuse. Her final act before going along with a plan thought up by Theres actually ticked me off.
The writing just turned me off halfway through, it was just gruesome after a while and reading how other people were murdering/hurting others just made me a bit sick.
The flow was off. I think it's because there was so much time spent on setting up the backstories to these girls and we stay focused on people who in the end didn't matter to the main story at all (or at least I didn't think they mattered) I found myself bored.
I would have just DNFed it, if it wasn't on one of my must read lists.
This story starts out with a man who finds a baby that is left for dead in a hole in plastic in the woods (did you follow that whole thing). Now don't think that you are going to find out why the baby was put there. Or even the backstory to the baby. Instead the book goes into the past of the man who finds the baby (Lennart) and his anger at his wife (Laila) and the disappointment with his son (Jerry). We find out Lennart and Laila were a rising singing duo in Sweden before they failed to make the charts on their newest song.
Lennart is just..I don't even know. I got the sense he felt his whole life was him being wronged and he lashed out at everyone around him. So for him to find a baby and think that keeping it in the basement where he would let no one around it and he would only teach her music that was "pure" because he realized that the baby had a special ability to sing perfectly (also how the hell do newborns or thereabouts sing?) was his ticket to something. I don't know.
I actually did like Laila a bit better than Lennart. I guess I was more confused about what made her stay. She went from one extreme to the other in the book.
Jerry I felt indifferent towards until things picked up after the halfway point.
We also have the baby which is called Little One, Theres and then Tesla as she grows. Don't think reading this book is going to give you any insights into her. I really don't get what she is supposed to be (some type of vampire, ghoul, etc.?)
The book then shifts other to following the family of a newborn girl named Theresa. We have Theresa who does not fit in with her family, who is okay with that after she meets a boy named Johannes. Theresa and Johannes are able to fill each other up in a way there home life does not allow. Until one day Theresa finds she is left behind and feels more apart, until she sees a girl singing on the show "Idol".
There is just so much going on here that I can't really unpack. I think that breaking up the book into so many different sections that had us following Theres, then Theresa, then Jerry, then Theresa, etc didn't help matters any.
We also have so many other characters in this book it was hard to track them all. I ended up really hating Theresa more than Theres though by the end of this book. At least you could excuse Theres for having a really messed up mindset towards big people (adults), but Theresa did not have that excuse. Her final act before going along with a plan thought up by Theres actually ticked me off.
The writing just turned me off halfway through, it was just gruesome after a while and reading how other people were murdering/hurting others just made me a bit sick.
The flow was off. I think it's because there was so much time spent on setting up the backstories to these girls and we stay focused on people who in the end didn't matter to the main story at all (or at least I didn't think they mattered) I found myself bored.
I would have just DNFed it, if it wasn't on one of my must read lists.
December 17, 2020
This book is so bloody amazing, it’s been days since I finished it and I still can’t get over it! It is one of the most brutal and goriest books I have ever read and I just DEVOURED it. I was a bit hesitant at first because I wasn’t a huge fan of Let the Right One In but Little Star is on a whole different planet compared to that one and I’m so glad I gave it a chance because I couldn’t have loved it more. The whole story is just BRILLIANT, I have never read anything like it and I doubt I ever will again. It’s just so gruesome and chilling that I actually felt shivers down to my bones at certain moments. It gets so damn brutal and it is freaking GLORIOUS. By far one of the best and most horrifying horror novels I’ve read in a LONG time, this is what I CRAVE from horror!
August 17, 2014
From a relatively promising, almost incendiary start to a story, this book practically flat-lines as soon as the tale of 'The Other Girl' is introduced to the extent of very nearly breaking into the realm of utter tedium. It is only through a degree of force of will that I have even delved as deeply into the tale as I have.
It is with such a stench of tedium so endemic throughout that the book that the effect is to be almost offensively inactive to the degree that even when someone is being bloodily slaughtered in the text your intrique is still barely unaffected.
This had such great promise not only from who the author is - and the legacy of the superb 'Let The Right One In' - but also from a relatively good start but it just falls flat on every score afterwards, making it seem far more amateurish and unknowing of what it's trying to achieve than you first think.
I bought this in a well-known national discount store and paid a single £1 for it. In hindsight I'd feel quite aggrieved if I'd paid more than that for it.
The sole reason this gets a two-star not 1 star is the fact that it at least STARTS well, even if it does nosedive pretty swiftly afterwards.
It is with such a stench of tedium so endemic throughout that the book that the effect is to be almost offensively inactive to the degree that even when someone is being bloodily slaughtered in the text your intrique is still barely unaffected.
This had such great promise not only from who the author is - and the legacy of the superb 'Let The Right One In' - but also from a relatively good start but it just falls flat on every score afterwards, making it seem far more amateurish and unknowing of what it's trying to achieve than you first think.
I bought this in a well-known national discount store and paid a single £1 for it. In hindsight I'd feel quite aggrieved if I'd paid more than that for it.
The sole reason this gets a two-star not 1 star is the fact that it at least STARTS well, even if it does nosedive pretty swiftly afterwards.
December 13, 2012
John Lindqvist has become one of my favorite writers whose books I eagerly look forward to. When I have his book in my hand, I know I'm going to be setting aside as much time as possible to race through through the story because his books are hard to put down. I enjoy his literary style and his character development is outstanding. His books have unique plots with none of the cliches found in a lot of other books.
Little Star is somewhat hard to describe because it's about so many things. It has a dash of supernatural, but touches on subjects found in his other stories, such as bullying, teen despondency and violence, depression, nature vs. nurture, and family dynamics.
A man hunting mushrooms in a forest discovers a baby half buried in a hole in the ground, and he takes it home to raise in secrecy with his wife. He and his wife were once a popular folk duo, and he is drawn to the baby because of her ability to make beautiful song. He knows there is something different and...off...about the girl, so she is kept locked in a basement room and warned about the Big People in the outside world who would hunt her down and kill her. He knows that the authorities would institutionalize her rather than adopt her into a loving home. This is also a second chance for him and his wife, whose older son Jerry turned out to be petty criminal with a cruel disposition.
The book chronicles the life of the baby—whom her "brother" Jerry names Theres—to teenhood and her rise to pop stardom thanks to a stint on the TV show Idol and a video uploaded to YouTube. In a parallel story we learn about an overweight girl named Teresa who is battling depression, family problems, and bullying at her school, and whose path eventually leads to Theres' doorstep and a friendship that raises her low self-esteem and self-worth to an all-time high as she is rocketed into a world of violence and vengeance.
I would have given this book 5 stars, but the odd and somewhat unbelievable ending ruined a possible perfect rating.
Anyone interested in the subject of teen friendships that lead to pacts of violence (Heavenly Creatures, Harriet Said) will enjoy this book.
Little Star is somewhat hard to describe because it's about so many things. It has a dash of supernatural, but touches on subjects found in his other stories, such as bullying, teen despondency and violence, depression, nature vs. nurture, and family dynamics.
A man hunting mushrooms in a forest discovers a baby half buried in a hole in the ground, and he takes it home to raise in secrecy with his wife. He and his wife were once a popular folk duo, and he is drawn to the baby because of her ability to make beautiful song. He knows there is something different and...off...about the girl, so she is kept locked in a basement room and warned about the Big People in the outside world who would hunt her down and kill her. He knows that the authorities would institutionalize her rather than adopt her into a loving home. This is also a second chance for him and his wife, whose older son Jerry turned out to be petty criminal with a cruel disposition.
The book chronicles the life of the baby—whom her "brother" Jerry names Theres—to teenhood and her rise to pop stardom thanks to a stint on the TV show Idol and a video uploaded to YouTube. In a parallel story we learn about an overweight girl named Teresa who is battling depression, family problems, and bullying at her school, and whose path eventually leads to Theres' doorstep and a friendship that raises her low self-esteem and self-worth to an all-time high as she is rocketed into a world of violence and vengeance.
I would have given this book 5 stars, but the odd and somewhat unbelievable ending ruined a possible perfect rating.
Anyone interested in the subject of teen friendships that lead to pacts of violence (Heavenly Creatures, Harriet Said) will enjoy this book.
June 7, 2017
So. SO. This book... I think this is the goriest, most violent, brutal, graphic book I've ever read. And it was inspired by ABBA... so that's fun! Little Star is the horrifying story of an abandoned baby who is found to have a powerful and sinister talent; as she grows up her talent for singing increases and her influence grows to an alarming rate among her fans. Much violence and murder ensues.
.
This is a unique book, but it's not without its flaws. At 630 pages it could stand to be edited down, especially as it loses its way somewhere around the 450 mark and doesn't pick back up until the last 50 pages. I also noticed little mistakes with grammar and spelling which was just irritating. Some of the dialogue felt clumsy and insincere but as it's a translation from Swedish it's understandable that things will be lost; I was impressed that the translator managed to translate original lyrics, as that must have been difficult to achieve the same effect!
.
Apart from those things (I realise there's quite a few) and a couple of loose ends concerning subplots, I did enjoy it! If 'enjoy' means being creeped out and feeling sick because of graphic descriptions. I liked that the main characters were all young girls as that's rare in the horror genre, and the idea of horror novel emerging from an X-factor type scenario is very cool and original! And yeah it's 600+ pages but the chapters are short and snappy and it's very compulsive.
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Be warned though, some of the characters are the lowest of the low and some scenes are very uncomfortable and unsettling. Definitely not one for the faint-hearted (which I think I am), but perfect if you're after a dark, unique gore-fest!
.
This is a unique book, but it's not without its flaws. At 630 pages it could stand to be edited down, especially as it loses its way somewhere around the 450 mark and doesn't pick back up until the last 50 pages. I also noticed little mistakes with grammar and spelling which was just irritating. Some of the dialogue felt clumsy and insincere but as it's a translation from Swedish it's understandable that things will be lost; I was impressed that the translator managed to translate original lyrics, as that must have been difficult to achieve the same effect!
.
Apart from those things (I realise there's quite a few) and a couple of loose ends concerning subplots, I did enjoy it! If 'enjoy' means being creeped out and feeling sick because of graphic descriptions. I liked that the main characters were all young girls as that's rare in the horror genre, and the idea of horror novel emerging from an X-factor type scenario is very cool and original! And yeah it's 600+ pages but the chapters are short and snappy and it's very compulsive.
.
Be warned though, some of the characters are the lowest of the low and some scenes are very uncomfortable and unsettling. Definitely not one for the faint-hearted (which I think I am), but perfect if you're after a dark, unique gore-fest!
August 26, 2013
What a strange and unexpected book Little Star is. I found it shelved under Horror in my local library, yet it’s unlike any horror novel I’ve ever read. It’s also about teenage girls, but it’s not YA. It’s about murder, but it’s not Crime. In fact, Star’s genre-defying narrative is part of what makes it so wonderful.
Wonderful might seem a strange word to describe a book as openly macabre as Star, yet it is wonderful. John Ajvide Lindqvist imbues death with humour and finds unexpected light within pitch darkness. This is a book where I smiled and smiled and smiled through a chapter where one character attacks another with a champagne flute. I smiled! Because it was… cute? (And, no, I’m not unhinged. It’s just that kind of book.)
Nominally about a washed-up-and-dysfunctional Swedish pop singer who finds a baby abandoned in the woods and decides to raise her away from outside influences that might damage her other-worldly singing talent, Star’s narrative takes a number of surprising twists. This is a book that is, variously, about reality TV singing competitions, internet trolling and murder. Soundtracked by the songs of Abba and Bright Eyes (as in Conor Oberst, not bunnies), this is – to put it mildly – not your average murder novel.
I found Ajvide Lindqvist’s break-out first novel Let the Right One In captivating in places, but weighed down by too much build-up. Star suffers a little from the same kind of overwriting, but Ajvide Lindqvist keeps a much tighter handle on this narrative. The novel may be long, but it’s gripping. (Tip: even if you hate the first 50 pages of Star, keep reading. I almost gave up on it and, wow, am I glad I didn’t!)
Star is not a book that everyone will enjoy, but if you like your fiction a little bit fucked-up, I’d wager you’ll love it.
Wonderful might seem a strange word to describe a book as openly macabre as Star, yet it is wonderful. John Ajvide Lindqvist imbues death with humour and finds unexpected light within pitch darkness. This is a book where I smiled and smiled and smiled through a chapter where one character attacks another with a champagne flute. I smiled! Because it was… cute? (And, no, I’m not unhinged. It’s just that kind of book.)
Nominally about a washed-up-and-dysfunctional Swedish pop singer who finds a baby abandoned in the woods and decides to raise her away from outside influences that might damage her other-worldly singing talent, Star’s narrative takes a number of surprising twists. This is a book that is, variously, about reality TV singing competitions, internet trolling and murder. Soundtracked by the songs of Abba and Bright Eyes (as in Conor Oberst, not bunnies), this is – to put it mildly – not your average murder novel.
I found Ajvide Lindqvist’s break-out first novel Let the Right One In captivating in places, but weighed down by too much build-up. Star suffers a little from the same kind of overwriting, but Ajvide Lindqvist keeps a much tighter handle on this narrative. The novel may be long, but it’s gripping. (Tip: even if you hate the first 50 pages of Star, keep reading. I almost gave up on it and, wow, am I glad I didn’t!)
Star is not a book that everyone will enjoy, but if you like your fiction a little bit fucked-up, I’d wager you’ll love it.
March 14, 2015
Thank goodness that's over. I was really enjoying the first third of the book. The middle just went down hill for me. It was just too tedious. I had no interest in the chapters about Idol or Max. I feel like the book could have easily been 200 pages shorter. I do not understand how the media could consider him to be " Sweden's Stephen King". I have read three novels by this author and he can't compare to SK.
April 5, 2014
For some reason this book left me cold – cold in a, really, type of a way. I didn’t find it as good as Handling the Undead or Let Me In.
While the book starts off very well, it seems to descend into a maelstrom of violence intended to shock. Maybe it’s because I live in America where there is too much violence among children that this book feels so facile in it’s look and development of a duo that take up violence. Maybe it’s because to me, violence doesn't necessary equal fear when reading.
The characterization is good overall, but I wanted more, something deeper perhaps.
Crossposted at Booklikes
While the book starts off very well, it seems to descend into a maelstrom of violence intended to shock. Maybe it’s because I live in America where there is too much violence among children that this book feels so facile in it’s look and development of a duo that take up violence. Maybe it’s because to me, violence doesn't necessary equal fear when reading.
The characterization is good overall, but I wanted more, something deeper perhaps.
Crossposted at Booklikes
January 30, 2022
Human beings are strange. They always struggle, to the bitter end—no matter how hopeless the situation is.
Lennart, một nhạc sĩ tìm thấy một bé gái (Theres) bị bỏ rơi trong rừng. Mê mẫn trước chất giọng của Theres, Lennart đã đưa cô bé về nhà - nuôi nấng cô bé trong bí mật. Lennart luôn cảnh báo cho Theres rằng "Thế bên ngoài đầy những kẻ to lớn muốn ăn thịt những người nhỏ bé - như Theres."
Và ở một nơi khác, Teresa, một cô bé lớn lên trở thành một thiếu niên cảm thấy cô đơn.
Những phần đầu của cuốn sách, tác giả dành rất nhiều thời gian để xây dựng nhân vật. Rõ ràng Lennart đã sai trong cách nuôi dạy Theres - cô bé đã hiểu sai cách để cảm nhận "tình yêu thương" và không thể hiểu rõ về "thế giới bên ngoài". Và mình dành sự quan tâm cho câu chuyện của Teresa, nó khiến mình đồng cảm với sự cô đơn hay cách tâm trí cô bé thay đổi.
Bên cạnh đó, sự kinh dị của cuốn sách xuất phát từ những phân đoạn bạo lực và đẫm máu - nó bạo lực theo một cách hoàn toàn "đáng lo ngại". Và mình thích cách Lindqvist miêu tả những ham muốn và bản chất con người; ước mơ, tình yêu và dục vọng, những điều đó được miêu tả một cách "thực" đến mức có thể gọi là "kinh tởm". Ranh giới đúng và sai trong câu chuyện hoàn toàn bị kẹt lại ở sự mâu thuẫn.
Và điều luôn ám ảnh mãi trong suy nghĩ của mình, là lời cảnh báo của Lennart cho Theres - đó là một cách ông ta kiểm soát Theres, nhưng nó cũng chẳng hề sai. Những "kẻ to lớn" sẵn sàng chà đạp và ăn thịt những "người nhỏ bé" - như Theres và Teresa.
Và khi Theres, Teresa và những cô gái khác được kết nối, họ như những con sói được gặp bầy đàn của chúng. Cái ác bên trong con người họ hiện lên với danh nghĩa "sự dũng cảm".
Và từ "sự dũng cảm" đó, nó bắt đầu cho một cái kết hoàn toàn ĐẪM MÁU.
Lennart, một nhạc sĩ tìm thấy một bé gái (Theres) bị bỏ rơi trong rừng. Mê mẫn trước chất giọng của Theres, Lennart đã đưa cô bé về nhà - nuôi nấng cô bé trong bí mật. Lennart luôn cảnh báo cho Theres rằng "Thế bên ngoài đầy những kẻ to lớn muốn ăn thịt những người nhỏ bé - như Theres."
Và ở một nơi khác, Teresa, một cô bé lớn lên trở thành một thiếu niên cảm thấy cô đơn.
Những phần đầu của cuốn sách, tác giả dành rất nhiều thời gian để xây dựng nhân vật. Rõ ràng Lennart đã sai trong cách nuôi dạy Theres - cô bé đã hiểu sai cách để cảm nhận "tình yêu thương" và không thể hiểu rõ về "thế giới bên ngoài". Và mình dành sự quan tâm cho câu chuyện của Teresa, nó khiến mình đồng cảm với sự cô đơn hay cách tâm trí cô bé thay đổi.
Bên cạnh đó, sự kinh dị của cuốn sách xuất phát từ những phân đoạn bạo lực và đẫm máu - nó bạo lực theo một cách hoàn toàn "đáng lo ngại". Và mình thích cách Lindqvist miêu tả những ham muốn và bản chất con người; ước mơ, tình yêu và dục vọng, những điều đó được miêu tả một cách "thực" đến mức có thể gọi là "kinh tởm". Ranh giới đúng và sai trong câu chuyện hoàn toàn bị kẹt lại ở sự mâu thuẫn.
Và điều luôn ám ảnh mãi trong suy nghĩ của mình, là lời cảnh báo của Lennart cho Theres - đó là một cách ông ta kiểm soát Theres, nhưng nó cũng chẳng hề sai. Những "kẻ to lớn" sẵn sàng chà đạp và ăn thịt những "người nhỏ bé" - như Theres và Teresa.
Và khi Theres, Teresa và những cô gái khác được kết nối, họ như những con sói được gặp bầy đàn của chúng. Cái ác bên trong con người họ hiện lên với danh nghĩa "sự dũng cảm".
Và từ "sự dũng cảm" đó, nó bắt đầu cho một cái kết hoàn toàn ĐẪM MÁU.
July 22, 2013
'Little Star' or 'How Listening to ABBA Leads to Massacres'.
No, but seriously ... this is a downright creepy book, with lots of beautifully interwoven themes on adolescence, bullying, the modern preoccupation with fame for its own sake, consumer culture, the repression of the primal and poisonous adults. Like several reviewers I was kind of miffed at the lack of explanation at times, but if you're reading about mad people doing mad things, there isn't necessarily an answer to the question 'why'? (Y'know, because they're crazy)
Overall, a very memorable and consuming story.
No, but seriously ... this is a downright creepy book, with lots of beautifully interwoven themes on adolescence, bullying, the modern preoccupation with fame for its own sake, consumer culture, the repression of the primal and poisonous adults. Like several reviewers I was kind of miffed at the lack of explanation at times, but if you're reading about mad people doing mad things, there isn't necessarily an answer to the question 'why'? (Y'know, because they're crazy)
Overall, a very memorable and consuming story.
October 5, 2012
Last year I decided I needed to man up (woman up?) and get over my wussiness regarding horror. One of the books I read in that pursuit was John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel
Harbor
. To my utter surprise I loved it. Yes, it was scary, yes it was utterly, dreadfully creepy, but I loved it to pieces. At the time, Little Star had already been released in the UK – I had read the US edition – and from some of the reviews I'd already read and some conversations on Twitter, I knew that at some point I really wanted to read this book. Imagine my excitement when I received an ARC for the American edition in the mail earlier this year! Since I always try to put up reviews close to their publication dates – and the past months have been busy for various reasons – I put off reading the book until last week, when I finally dove in to the strange and twisted tale Lindqvist has spun in Little Star. It was everything it was promised to be and more.
Lindqvist doesn't rely on gore to make his tale horrific; he gets there by masterfully displaying the deepest and darkest foibles of human nature. In the case of Little Star, there is nothing quite as scary as the mind of a teenage girl – oh lord, grant me strength me in ten years time! – and Lindqvist plumbs the depths of said teenage psyche to great effect, playing off a completely strange and unrelatable teen girl against one that is eerily familiar if taken to the extreme limits of plausibility. This contrast between the two storylines in roughly the first half of the book is created with consummate skill and one has to look closely to see the seeds that the author plants in them; seeds that he'll later use to entwine two to a whole that only amplifies the horror of the situation and left me feeling powerless because the reader can't intervene in Teresa's descent into madness, even if she might recognise the signs of what is going on with her.
The titular Little Star is Theres. She's a fascinating and contradictory character; how can you not sympathise with an abandoned baby – an innocent, discarded – found and raised in captivity and isolation in a situation reminiscent, but quite different, of that of Natascha Kampusch and Elizabeth Fritzl? At the same time there is something off about Theres, or Little One as she's called for much of her early life, from the beginning, and it's hard to put a finger on what that is and on whether it's inherent to her genetic makeup or created by the way she is brought up and the lies she's been told by Lennart to keep her in line. I loved the way she transforms herself into something resembling a guru to this tribe of teenage girls, by empowering them in the most frightening of ways, by indoctrinating them to the way of thinking she's been thought by Lennart and the experiences of her early life.
If Theres is alien to the human experience, Teresa is all too familiar with it. As such, Teresa's journey in the book is the scarier of the two. She starts out a seemingly normal child. One that asks somewhat strange questions, but children are wont to ask the weirdest and sometimes deepest questions out of the blue. Still, she seems normal, if shy, until puberty and then her slow descent begins. It starts with her best friend moving away, just as she reaches the cusp of puberty and her body starts changing. These changes are unkind to her to say the least – Teresa turns into a bit of an ugly duckling it seems – and combined with the loss of her best friend and the move to secondary school, it serves to isolate her and make her the prime target for the class bullies. What makes Teresa's story scary is that it's so believable, it's easy to see how a young girl could get so isolated and depressed at that age—we hear or read about teenagers like that all the time. It's also easy to imagine the kind of idolising devotion Theres inspires in Teresa; one has only to think of the screaming girls at any given Bieber concert to prove the point. I connected more to Teresa than I did to Theres, as Theres was too other to comfortably form an attachment too, and I kept hoping against hope that she'd come to her senses and see what was happening to her.
Throughout the novel Theres personifies control. Despite everything, she is in control of first Laila and Lennart, the people who keep her, by dint of their fascination with her vocal gift and later of Jerry, her 'adoptive' brother, who feels a kinship and love for her he hasn't felt for anyone else. Ultimately she controls Teresa and their pack of girls by giving them a sense of control over their emotions and their lives, a sense which is ultimately an illusion. Lindqvist plays with Theres' apparent and real positions of power; for most of the novel she seems submissive and powerless, even if she is subconsciously pulling everyone's strings. She exudes a weird sense of fascination, enthralling everyone who comes into her sphere.
At the close of Little Star two questions remained for me: what happens to Jerry and why was Theres dumped as an infant? Was she inherently flawed, even evil, and did her upbringing just (re)enforce this or was she made into what she was by the way she was treated from infancy? It's the age-old discussion on nature versus nurture and once again, inevitably, we are left without the answer. In the end, I think I prefer not knowing Jerry's fate and the truth behind the mystery of Theres' nature; it leaves us the space to hope–hope for a happy ending for Jerry and hope that Theres wasn't just a product of her upbringing, that there has to be a crack for abuse to shatter someone's humanity so completely. Little Star leaves us with plenty of gristle to chew over and Lindqvist's tale will haunt me for a while longer. I think I can now also safely say that Lindqvist has single-handedly cured me of my horror of Horror. Little Star is another stunning novel and Lindqvist is truly a name to be reckoned with in his field and beyond.
This book was provided for review by the publisher.
Lindqvist doesn't rely on gore to make his tale horrific; he gets there by masterfully displaying the deepest and darkest foibles of human nature. In the case of Little Star, there is nothing quite as scary as the mind of a teenage girl – oh lord, grant me strength me in ten years time! – and Lindqvist plumbs the depths of said teenage psyche to great effect, playing off a completely strange and unrelatable teen girl against one that is eerily familiar if taken to the extreme limits of plausibility. This contrast between the two storylines in roughly the first half of the book is created with consummate skill and one has to look closely to see the seeds that the author plants in them; seeds that he'll later use to entwine two to a whole that only amplifies the horror of the situation and left me feeling powerless because the reader can't intervene in Teresa's descent into madness, even if she might recognise the signs of what is going on with her.
The titular Little Star is Theres. She's a fascinating and contradictory character; how can you not sympathise with an abandoned baby – an innocent, discarded – found and raised in captivity and isolation in a situation reminiscent, but quite different, of that of Natascha Kampusch and Elizabeth Fritzl? At the same time there is something off about Theres, or Little One as she's called for much of her early life, from the beginning, and it's hard to put a finger on what that is and on whether it's inherent to her genetic makeup or created by the way she is brought up and the lies she's been told by Lennart to keep her in line. I loved the way she transforms herself into something resembling a guru to this tribe of teenage girls, by empowering them in the most frightening of ways, by indoctrinating them to the way of thinking she's been thought by Lennart and the experiences of her early life.
If Theres is alien to the human experience, Teresa is all too familiar with it. As such, Teresa's journey in the book is the scarier of the two. She starts out a seemingly normal child. One that asks somewhat strange questions, but children are wont to ask the weirdest and sometimes deepest questions out of the blue. Still, she seems normal, if shy, until puberty and then her slow descent begins. It starts with her best friend moving away, just as she reaches the cusp of puberty and her body starts changing. These changes are unkind to her to say the least – Teresa turns into a bit of an ugly duckling it seems – and combined with the loss of her best friend and the move to secondary school, it serves to isolate her and make her the prime target for the class bullies. What makes Teresa's story scary is that it's so believable, it's easy to see how a young girl could get so isolated and depressed at that age—we hear or read about teenagers like that all the time. It's also easy to imagine the kind of idolising devotion Theres inspires in Teresa; one has only to think of the screaming girls at any given Bieber concert to prove the point. I connected more to Teresa than I did to Theres, as Theres was too other to comfortably form an attachment too, and I kept hoping against hope that she'd come to her senses and see what was happening to her.
Throughout the novel Theres personifies control. Despite everything, she is in control of first Laila and Lennart, the people who keep her, by dint of their fascination with her vocal gift and later of Jerry, her 'adoptive' brother, who feels a kinship and love for her he hasn't felt for anyone else. Ultimately she controls Teresa and their pack of girls by giving them a sense of control over their emotions and their lives, a sense which is ultimately an illusion. Lindqvist plays with Theres' apparent and real positions of power; for most of the novel she seems submissive and powerless, even if she is subconsciously pulling everyone's strings. She exudes a weird sense of fascination, enthralling everyone who comes into her sphere.
At the close of Little Star two questions remained for me: what happens to Jerry and why was Theres dumped as an infant? Was she inherently flawed, even evil, and did her upbringing just (re)enforce this or was she made into what she was by the way she was treated from infancy? It's the age-old discussion on nature versus nurture and once again, inevitably, we are left without the answer. In the end, I think I prefer not knowing Jerry's fate and the truth behind the mystery of Theres' nature; it leaves us the space to hope–hope for a happy ending for Jerry and hope that Theres wasn't just a product of her upbringing, that there has to be a crack for abuse to shatter someone's humanity so completely. Little Star leaves us with plenty of gristle to chew over and Lindqvist's tale will haunt me for a while longer. I think I can now also safely say that Lindqvist has single-handedly cured me of my horror of Horror. Little Star is another stunning novel and Lindqvist is truly a name to be reckoned with in his field and beyond.
This book was provided for review by the publisher.
January 17, 2021
Jag kan med handen på hjärtat säga att John Ajvide Lindqvist är Sveriges bästa skräckförfattare, om inte den allra bästa i genren skräck. Han skriver på ett sätt som gör att du från första meningen och som håller dig fast till slutet, till och med efter boken är slut då du inte kan sluta tänka på den. Det kan inte bli bättre än så här.
Jag hade faktiskt inte en aning vad den här boken handlade om när jag plockade upp den så blev skapligt förvånad när det var om idol och musik. Jag vet inte varför men det förvånande mig något enormt och jag som inte egentligen har något stort musik intresse blev nervös, vilket jag inte behövde bli. Det var så mycket mer än bara det som utvecklades till något så mycket större.
Jag vet inte hur Ajvide Lindqvist gör det men han skriver om känslor på ett sätt som känns så verkliga. Man känner verkligen känslorna själv, det tar sig in i dig på ett sätt som jag inte kan förklara. Det är bara så vackert men ändå så mörkt på något sätt.
Och vad var det där för slut? Vilket jävla slut. Jag kan inte ens säga, jag kan inte tänka något. Bara - herrejävlar.
Jag hade faktiskt inte en aning vad den här boken handlade om när jag plockade upp den så blev skapligt förvånad när det var om idol och musik. Jag vet inte varför men det förvånande mig något enormt och jag som inte egentligen har något stort musik intresse blev nervös, vilket jag inte behövde bli. Det var så mycket mer än bara det som utvecklades till något så mycket större.
Jag vet inte hur Ajvide Lindqvist gör det men han skriver om känslor på ett sätt som känns så verkliga. Man känner verkligen känslorna själv, det tar sig in i dig på ett sätt som jag inte kan förklara. Det är bara så vackert men ändå så mörkt på något sätt.
Och vad var det där för slut? Vilket jävla slut. Jag kan inte ens säga, jag kan inte tänka något. Bara - herrejävlar.
April 3, 2014
How to describe such a horrible book??…Perhaps something like, "Teenage Scandinavian Thelma & Louise Gone Totally Over The Top"! I should have known from the opening chapters of the novel that this was going to be not only bizarre, but meaningless. I'm amazed that the Washington Post could tag the author as "Sweden's Stephen King"! No more Lindqvist novels for me! Save your money & invest in something with some substance.
April 27, 2014
I'd actually give this 3.5 stars, if I could. The writing was great and the characters were well fleshed-out, as is always the case with Lindqvist. The problem was that the book started out so delightfully creepily, with such a strange and unsettling premise, and then kind of floundered into ultraviolence. It's worth a read, but it could have been so so so much better.
October 15, 2024
SpookTober read 2024 - #4
Oh my! I am gobsmacked right now. Little Face left me horrified and wanting to gag. It is without a doubt disturbing, creepy, gross, nauseating, chilling. It’s also an out-and-out twisted story, a tough read but a brilliant one!
Finished this a few days ago and this book is still living in my head.
Oh my! I am gobsmacked right now. Little Face left me horrified and wanting to gag. It is without a doubt disturbing, creepy, gross, nauseating, chilling. It’s also an out-and-out twisted story, a tough read but a brilliant one!
Finished this a few days ago and this book is still living in my head.
March 6, 2021
Very creepy, very dark, disturbing, unsettling. I’m giving this 4 stars because it delivers on the horror. The book has a long slow buildup and is a fascinating commentary, but in terms of enjoyment...- I can’t say I enjoyed it- if I was giving stars just for that it would be a lower rating.
June 3, 2012
Having become a genuine fan of Lindqvist's work, it brings me no pleasure to say that Little Star comes as a great disappointment. The story revolves around a young girl we come to know as Theres, whom at the beginning of the tale is a baby found left for dead in a plastic bag. Theres is discovered by an ex-pop singer called Lennart, who takes it on himself to raise the child in total isolation from what he perceives to be the corrupting influences of the outside world. Theres is a very strange child, not least for her (possibly) supernatural and superb singing voice. The opening to the book will be familiarly eerie to fans of Lindqvist, but despite the drama of Lennart's highly dysfunctional household and a bloodthirsty plot, Little Star consistently fails to evoke compelling elements of Lindqvist's previous writing. Indeed, even the haunting tone becomes frayed as the novel descends into an uninspired narrative that is reminiscent of a mediocre teen melodrama with some horror elements. The small cast of characters are a mixed bunch, but none are particularly compelling or rendered with a great deal of depth or sophistication. While the character of Theres promises a great deal, the book quickly loses its way, and ultimately fails to deliver a great deal more than boredom. It was a challenge to muster the interest to get to the rather ridiculous conclusion.
March 12, 2015
I just finished Little Star and I am not at all sure how to describe the book. Because of the genre (contemporary horror), I understand the comparisons to Stephen King, but John Ajvide Lindqvist has a different writing style. One of the main characters and part of her storyline thread reminded me of Lisbeth Salander (“Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.) Who knew there was a Swedish “Idol?”
I know I’m not making sense, but I do not know how to talk about this book without spoilers. It is well written and interesting. As I read, I became more and more uncomfortable; a nagging sense of dread grew with each chapter until the conclusion of the book. This is a masterfully crafted story. If you enjoy the genre, read this book.
I know I’m not making sense, but I do not know how to talk about this book without spoilers. It is well written and interesting. As I read, I became more and more uncomfortable; a nagging sense of dread grew with each chapter until the conclusion of the book. This is a masterfully crafted story. If you enjoy the genre, read this book.
November 22, 2016
Музиката, която убива: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/m...
Не знам защо Йон Айвиде Линдквист е написал “Малка звезда”. Не зная и не искам да знам. Рядко книга ме е ужасявала така, дори и крайни сплатерпънк романи като “Градска готика” на Брайън Кийн и “Лаведа” на Ричард Леймън. А че харесвам автора, и това си е вярно - “Покани ме да вляза” е страхотна, “Когато мъртвите се пробудят” не е хич лоша, но и в двете фантастичният елемент маскираше насилието, правеше го нереално. Тук това облекчение липсва. Книгата е болезнена. Изправя косите. И става по-лошо с всяка страница.
Издателство "Изток-Запад"
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/m...
Не знам защо Йон Айвиде Линдквист е написал “Малка звезда”. Не зная и не искам да знам. Рядко книга ме е ужасявала така, дори и крайни сплатерпънк романи като “Градска готика” на Брайън Кийн и “Лаведа” на Ричард Леймън. А че харесвам автора, и това си е вярно - “Покани ме да вляза” е страхотна, “Когато мъртвите се пробудят” не е хич лоша, но и в двете фантастичният елемент маскираше насилието, правеше го нереално. Тук това облекчение липсва. Книгата е болезнена. Изправя косите. И става по-лошо с всяка страница.
Издателство "Изток-Запад"
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/m...
May 15, 2022
Let the Right One In was one of the best horror novels I’d read in a long time, so naturally I had to see what else Lindqvist had to offer. Little Star was very good, compelling and exciting, but I didn’t take it to heart quite as much as Let the Right One In. There were some similarities, dealing with young people, bullying, predatory adults, revenge, etc. It just wasn’t as easy to sympathize and relate to the characters in Little Star. Not that I need to be able to have that connection to enjoy the book. It was a weird combination of Being There and Carrie.
The Carrie connection is probably obvious: teenage girls, one with strange power, getting back at the world for being abused, for being used, for being ignored. I always felt for Carrie though; King made her a sympathetic character. Theres and Teresa are colder. Though they are vulnerable just by virtue of being young girls, Lindqvist keeps the story in gray areas. You never root for them and the rest of their followers.
The Being There similarity might be something that exists only in my head but it makes sense. Theres is a child of unknown origins, kept from the world, and with no documentation or proof that she exists. Once she comes out into the world, she makes a huge impression and people project a tremendous amount onto her. They don’t understand her at all unfortunately, and this is mutual. This will sound familiar if you’ve read Being There.
This is a good horror book in terms of there being many chilling, disturbing scenes and plenty of gore. I have ambivalent feelings about the final scenes. This was a story full of tragic characters doing terrible things rather than an “innocent must suffer/guilty must be punished” variety. I can see it being cathartic if you’re in a certain mindset or mood while reading.
The Carrie connection is probably obvious: teenage girls, one with strange power, getting back at the world for being abused, for being used, for being ignored. I always felt for Carrie though; King made her a sympathetic character. Theres and Teresa are colder. Though they are vulnerable just by virtue of being young girls, Lindqvist keeps the story in gray areas. You never root for them and the rest of their followers.
The Being There similarity might be something that exists only in my head but it makes sense. Theres is a child of unknown origins, kept from the world, and with no documentation or proof that she exists. Once she comes out into the world, she makes a huge impression and people project a tremendous amount onto her. They don’t understand her at all unfortunately, and this is mutual. This will sound familiar if you’ve read Being There.
This is a good horror book in terms of there being many chilling, disturbing scenes and plenty of gore. I have ambivalent feelings about the final scenes. This was a story full of tragic characters doing terrible things rather than an “innocent must suffer/guilty must be punished” variety. I can see it being cathartic if you’re in a certain mindset or mood while reading.
April 28, 2018
I really wanted to like this book. I fell in love with Let the Right One In, but then was terribly disappointed with Harbor. This is the third book I read by Lindqvist, and I would say that it falls somewhere in between Harbor and LTROI, but nearer to Harbor.
In this novel we find many similarities with LTROI; first we have Theres, mysterious and fascinating, pure in the evil acts she commits. Then we have Teresa, a loner, introverted and bullied. She becomes entranced by Theres and ultimately devotes her life to her. We also have Jerry, the outcast adult guardian of Theres. He was the only character I liked and started to care about. Compared to LTROI, Theres was not as interesting as Eli and Teresa was a bit obnoxious and much more difficult to relate to than Oskar.
The early parts of the book were engaging. I found myself interested by the very dysfunctional family in which Theres was raised. The book kept my attention right up until Theres and Teresa start their little gang. After that, it became quite a chore to read through pages and pages of the girls’ attempts to create their own silly credo and philosophy to justify their acts of violence.
In this novel we find many similarities with LTROI; first we have Theres, mysterious and fascinating, pure in the evil acts she commits. Then we have Teresa, a loner, introverted and bullied. She becomes entranced by Theres and ultimately devotes her life to her. We also have Jerry, the outcast adult guardian of Theres. He was the only character I liked and started to care about. Compared to LTROI, Theres was not as interesting as Eli and Teresa was a bit obnoxious and much more difficult to relate to than Oskar.
The early parts of the book were engaging. I found myself interested by the very dysfunctional family in which Theres was raised. The book kept my attention right up until Theres and Teresa start their little gang. After that, it became quite a chore to read through pages and pages of the girls’ attempts to create their own silly credo and philosophy to justify their acts of violence.
May 24, 2021
Абсолютно брутална. Линдквист затвърждава мнението ми за него като един от най-добрите съвременни хорър автори. "Малка звезда" ни поднася неподправен, смахнат и лесно ескалиращ ужас, който не ни обременява с морални рамки, а директно ни хвърля в екшъна.
Хареса ми непредвидимостта на сюжета. Нещата се развиват непрекъснато до самата кулминация. Авторът отново демонстрира умело пресъздаване на детски образи и очертаването на трудностите при израстването - семейство, училище, социум.
Все пак, "Покани ме да вляза" си остава на върха на моите Линдквистови четения, но "Малка звезда" се нарежда с единия крак на първото място на подиумчето.
Хареса ми непредвидимостта на сюжета. Нещата се развиват непрекъснато до самата кулминация. Авторът отново демонстрира умело пресъздаване на детски образи и очертаването на трудностите при израстването - семейство, училище, социум.
Все пак, "Покани ме да вляза" си остава на върха на моите Линдквистови четения, но "Малка звезда" се нарежда с единия крак на първото място на подиумчето.
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