Wednesday, June 4, 2014

The Book Review Club (June 2014)


Welcome to our June Book Review Club! After this we'll be taking a hiatus until September. During the summer, we'll be grilling, traveling, hanging out with fam and friends and basically having loads of fun. Of course, we'll also be reading, always on the lookout for great books to review. For now, though, please enjoy the JUNI* reviews!  *pronounced "yoonee," that's June in Danish. Yes, yes, there's a reason I'm speaking Danish. See my review. :)


THE BOY IN THE SUITCASE (adult, Scandinavian thriller)
 by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis

This is one of those books you finish and immediately start casting about for the next one in the series. It was that good!


THE BOY IN THE SUITCASE was short-listed for the Nordic Glass Key Award (yes, you actually win a glass key) and won the 2008 Harold Morgensen Crime Award. This fast-paced thriller bounces between Lithuania and Denmark and is told from several perspectives. The reader is lost for a while (in a good way) before finally figuring out how all the threads link up.  I loved all the ambiguity.

Nina Borg is a Red Cross nurse working at a refugee center in Copenhagen, Denmark. She gives her all for the underdog. Which makes her a great nurse and humanitarian, but leaves her wanting in the wife and mother areas. A friend from nursing school calls to say she's in trouble and asks Nina to pick up a suitcase from the train station. You can imagine Nina's shock when she opens said suitcase to find a naked, drugged three-year-old boy. When Nina goes to see her friend, she finds her friend's murdered body. Much page time is also given to Sigita's point of view. She's the young Lithuanian single mother of the boy. In addition, there are chapters told by Nina's husband, the kidnappers, and the person who organized the kidnapping.

The only thing that was a meh for me was the kidnapper. He or she (see? no spoiler!) seemed too carboardy, too black and white. He or she had endured an abusive childhood, blah, blah, blah. The other characters, particularly Nina and Sigita are so incredibly human and flawed and real, that I expected a similar treatment of the villain.

That aside, I truly, truly enjoyed this book and have already ordered Nina Borg's 2nd adventure: INVISIBLE MURDER

"Her er resten af vores anmeldelser. Nyde!" This is apparently Danish for: Here are the rest of our reviews. Enjoy!


MIDDLE GRADE/YOUNG ADULT BOOK REVIEWS

Sarah Laurence: BRUTAL YOUTH by Anthony Breznican (YA/adult)

Stacy Nyikos: WE WERE LIARS by E LOCKHART (YA)

ADULT BOOK REVIEWS

Linda McLaughlin: NAAMAH'S KISS by Jacqueline Carrey (fantasy)

Prairie Rose of Prairie Rose's Garden: THE INVENTION OF WINGS by Sue Monk Kidd (historical)


NONFICTION REVIEWS

Jenn Jilks of Cottage Country: THE BILLION DOLLAR PAPERCLIP by Gregory Short

Lucy Sartain of Ranting and Raving: LOVE LIFE by Rob Lowe (autobiography)

Patti Abbott:  UPDIKE by Adam Begley



Note to Reviewers: Any errors (broken link, missed review, etc), just shoot me an email or leave a comment. Thank you so much for your reviews!