3.5 stars. This was a slow burning legal thriller / murder trial which I enjoyed. Full of lies and I genuinely don't know who to trust or how it was going to pan out. There was a good build up of tension but it was just a little long-winded for my liking.

Wow! What can I say. This book really drew me in after an initially slow start. I prefer normally to read home-grown books but I enjoyed every minute of 'A Nearly Normal Family'.

18 year old Stella stands accused of murder and by all means she seems the very guilty party in the initial build up narrated by her father but we all know that books like these are never quite as they seem. The three narratives told by Adam - Stella's father, Ulrika - Stella's mother and Stella make for a well rounded narration of how a family are torn apart by these claims.

Stella is portrayed as an out of control, rebellious and troubled teenager but I felt so much sympathy for her that I was rooting for her throughout. Adam, a pastor, finds his faith and loyalty being tested as the details of the murder emerge and Ulrika, who works as a lawyer, finds that sometimes the truth must be hidden.

While I did find the book a bit of a slow burner it is well worth sticking with and I can't wait to read more from Edvardsson.

I enjoyed this book, but think that it lacked action and suspense. I didn’t predict the ending, but I wasn’t surprised either. I did find the storyline interesting and enjoyed the characters, but it wasn’t an amazing thriller. There wasn’t much buildup to anything which led to it being a little bit disappointing. It wasn’t a terrible book and I did still enjoy it, I was just expecting it to be more action-packed. I would still recommend this book to people and I’ve seen a lot of good reviews about it. Unfortunately, this one just wasn’t for me.

This was a very intriguing premise, but the story fell a little short for me. It was a very slow burner, which in itself isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the choppy style of writing was alighlty unsettling.

Wow! I have heard so much about this book - mostly good. I feared that it would not live up to the hype - I need not have worried - I absolutely loved this book! It was very clever, different and so well written. I could imagine watching this as a mini series on Netflix. I was sucked into the plot from the get go and right until that last word I was invested. The characters were real, flawed, emotional and believable. It was a quick read and I seriously did not want to stop reading. So be warned, once you pick this book up make sure you have plenty of time to read.

This is the story of a normal family - mum, dad and teenage daughter. Adam is the local pastor and well liked in the community. His wife Ulrika is a high powered lawyer. And the daughter Stella is a teenager - strong willed, impulsive and rebellious. Life is good until Stella is arrested - for murder. How far will a parent go to protect their child? Could Stella really be a killer? Told from the point of view of all 3 family members we learn what happened in the lead up to the crime - and after through to the trial. As soon as you think you have it all figured out you will be served a curve ball. It is sooooo good!!

Thanks to Netgalley and Pan McMillan for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

This was a good gripping read. Very Scandinavian in the writing - somewhat dark and definitely thrilling. Wanted to keep reading. At first thought it was going to be predictable but I was so wrong. On the whole, it was a great read and I will recommend it to others for sure.

A superb story that takes family life to its limits in a way that I would imagine all readers could have some identity with. I did think I Knew who killed Chris very early on but the revealing and the outcome was so unexpected and beautifully embroidered all the way through. This has inspired me to read more Scandi novels as I had been turned off by so many extremely dark novels. This was an eye opener and I read it in one day as I could not put it down - I even created my cardinal sin of reading whilst I was eating and ignoring my other half!
This is an author who has the knack of drawing the reader in to understand how and why the characters behave as they do.
Thank you so much Netgalley for an early read of this fantastic novel.

What would you do to protect those that you live the most? This is a story of ethics, morals, guilt, regret, friendship and love.

Set in Lund in Sweden, the story starts with Stella, an 18 year old in court for a murder she may or may not have been guilty of. The story unfolds in two different narratives and examines how far a parent would go to protect their daughter. Adam - a pastor is Stella’s father and Ulrika - a lawyer is Stella’s mother, both roles that carry significant moral boundaries.... but when it’s your only child, would you hide the truth or expose it?

I enjoyed the pace of the book, told in short chapters. We learn more about Stella, both her experiences and behaviours, and I am not sure whether I liked her or felt that she was a bit of a psychopath. We do learn of her loyalty to her best friend Amina and this is her redeeming feature. To this end I did guess what had happened but enjoyed the way this all played out at the end.

A Nearly Normal Family is split into three parts. The first part being the account of events from the point of view of the father (Adam) , the second form the daughter (Stella) and the third from the mother (Ulrika). I thought this was a really interesting way to present the story and I was also really intrigued when the daughters point of view appeared second instead of last considering she is the one being accused. I was also secretly gutted every time each second ended as I was pretty absorbed in their part of the story.

Edvardsson has created some really great characters for this book. The daughter Stella was much more relatable than I initially expected her to be and I found myself wanting to help her throughout the book. Yet on the other hand, even though Adam and Ulrika both have jobs that are so incredible far from anything I know (a pastor and a criminal defence attorney) Edvardsson managed to pull me in by creating a story that almost every single person can relate too – family!

A Nearly Normal Family is so much more than simply finding out whether or not Stella killed Christopher Olsen. It is a story of family, trust, love and belief. It’s a story of how conclusions are determined and most importantly, what the most important people in our lives decide to do with the decisions they come too.

To top it off I loved how fast paced and gripping the whole book was. I continuously wanted to know more which meant I struggled to put it down.

Told from the Father’s, Daughter’s and Mother’s perspectives, A Nearly abnormal Family is the story of eighteen year old Stella who is on trial for murder. It focuses on how far you would go to protect the ones you love and how well you actually know your children.

I enjoyed the plot line unfolding in three parts, however I didn’t gel well with any of the characters and also felt the whole book progressed at a snails pace. It just didn’t entice and grip me as I thought it would. I’m sure others will love this book but sadly it wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Pan Macmillan and the author for the chance to review.

I found this book a bit slow and disappointing in the beginning but I am very glad I continued to read. Once I got to the section where the narrator changed to a different person the book became much more interesting as different things were revealed. This switch up continued throughout the novel with different characters revealing things about individuals which they chose not to themselves reveal. At the beginning I would have given this book just a couple of stars but by the end I was much more satisfied by the story.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this book.

When their teenage daughter Stella is arrested for the murder of a successful businessman, her parents Ulrika and Adam are at a loss. Adam is a pastor who has spent most of his life upholding morals and honesty, whilst Ulrika, a successful lawyer, has devoted her life to the law. Their daughters arrest will not only test their relationship, but their morals. Just how far would you go to protect your daughter?

This plot did sound really intriguing to me but it just didn't live up to the hype. It wasn't a terrible read but it wasn't gripping for me and I wasn't really invested in the outcome. The plot was obvious in terms of who had murdered the man because there was only ever two characters in the frame for that so it loses some of the intrigue there. I do think that Edvardsson did a really good job of showing how unreliable narrators can be; we observe the same incidents but told by three different perspectives and the differences are glaring and it really makes you question each character.

What I really struggled with with this book was the characters. I've said time and time again that if I can't connect with characters I can't connect with the book and this was just the case for me here. I couldn't stand either Ulrika or Adam; they were just both very unlikable characters and acted in ways that I couldn't understand. Considering Stella is the focus on the plot we spend the least amount of time with her but she at least had some strong motivation and sense of self throughout her storyline. Ulrika was honestly the most baffling to me and I just couldn't understand her motivation in what she did.

Overall a solid three from me, but not a book i'd be getting in a physical copy.

This was not my type of book and I was very disappointed in it.
I had such high hopes just just couldn't finish it.

I think 2.5/5 might be a good rating for this one. As a story it was pretty decent, and it took me almost the whole of the book to even begin to guess what had happened. The problem was the translation, which was, pretty awful. The conversations all felt bizarre, just slightly off, and the text was peppered with awkward phrasing and repetitions. Some examples of clumsy sentences: "Do pastors have confidentiality?"; "I thought pastors had confidentiality"; or "She has full restrictions" (which was repeated many times); or a bizarre reference to a "gal from a news desk".

Translations are tricky, I know. It is often impossible to translate certain expressions or metaphors from one language to another. But a round of basic copy-editing would have taken care of most of the problems -- maybe it will by the time it's ready for the market. It's a good book but as it stands not very well written.

(Review copy from NetGalley)

3.5 stars

A great premise, how would any of us react if one of our own was accused of murder? Would we trust in the system to be fair and assume justice would be served, or would we take action to ensure the odds were stacked in our favour? So, thought provoking and slightly uncomfortable.

The book is split into 3 parts told through the points of view of the father, daughter and mother. The downside to this is that if one of the characters doesn’t quite cut it, or you don’t enjoy, there is a lot of reading until you get to the next part. It may have worked better if the points of view were intermingled via chapters. The father’s part I found a bit frustrating and his section seemed to take up more time than the other two (that may not be actuality, it could be because of my lack of empathy towards this character). All in all though, well worth a read and Edvardsson is definitely an author to watch.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A new author for me and OH my god WHAT A READ!!!!!
A real page turner, twisted, sinister and definitely an edge of your seat read.
What would you do if your daughter has been accused of murder? I was hooked. This read was so hard to put down. Mum is a lawyer, Dad is a pastor and Stella the teenager who has definitely got a mind of her own. Nail biting storytelling. This read makes you question everything and everyone you know. I LOVED IT!!!! An easy five stars and so Highly Recommended. ANOTHER author to add to my MUST READ list.
I would like to thank the author, Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

We're going to hear this story through the viewpoints of three different people: Adam Sandell, his wife, Ulrika and his daughter Stella. Adam's a pastor in the Church of Sweden and Ulrika is a lawyer. Stella is, well, just difficult. You sense that she's always been difficult and there have even been occasions when Ulrika has let slip that she wishes that Stella was more like her best friend, Amina Bešic - and no one has ever said that if they don't think that the other person is better. We first meet the family on Stella's 18th birthday and we get a sense of Adam's controlling nature. Permission has to be given for a glass of wine for Stella at the celebration meal.

When I heard about Stella from her father I didn't like her. I sensed too that whilst Adam might love his daughter, he didn't like her either. Sometimes she's difficult for the sake of being difficult and there were signs from the age of eight that she could be violent. She's said to have poor impulse control and sometimes she appears to have none at all. The combination of a father who is a control freak (coercive and controlling, we'd say these days) and a daughter with no impulse control could only lead to problems. It came to a head on Stella's birthday.

Her plan had been that she was going to Asia. She was working at H&M and saving for this. She'd been hoping that for her 18th birthday her parents would give her money: instead they bought her a pink Vespa, which she didn't want. Rather than take it home Stella went off to see her friends and didn't get in until the early hours of the following morning. Adam discovered that she'd put some blood-stained clothes into the washer and the next day the news broke that the body of Christopher Olsen had been found in a school playground. Stella was arrested.

The story is taken up by Stella herself and an entirely different girl emerges: she's sparky, intelligent and loyal to her friend Amina. Stella's insightful: she realises that the sides of her personality which bother her father are those which she inherited from him. She made me laugh too - I've discovered that I'm neurotic! Her description was so close that I wondered if she'd been through my handbag. I liked Stella and I desperately wanted her to come through this although I couldn't see how. It's when Ulrika takes up the story that we see how it works out and there's a twist there which blew me away.

I loved this book and devoured it hungrily: short chapters intensify the 'just one more before I go to sleep' problem and I finished the book in two days, desperate to find out what happened. At no point was I disappointed and it's a book I'll be persuading all my friends to read. I'd like to thank the publishers for making a copy available to the Bookbag.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this heartstopping book

a murder
a suspect
a vicar
a lawyer
a victim

what would you do for your family...a family with secrets...
this is a court room drama told in 3 stages the dad, the vicar, the mom the lawyer and the daughter the suspect, each tell a story that is convincing and heartstopping and each version is jaw dropping....

but what an ending...never saw it coming, loved it

another author to add to the ever growing list of authors to keep an eye out for

A crime story that has more depth than you would first expect. With 3 points of views, this drama takes the reader through a family crisis from the point of view of its main protagonists. Instead of alternating chapters for the different voices, the author has given complete sections for each which worked well for this story. I honestly found the family difficult to like at times which made lose interest but I was determined to finish it. However the book was well written and the translation seemed seamless.

A Nearly Normal Family is a crime/thriller book. I was gripped when I read what the book was about and was keen to get started straight away.
At first I was gripped but then I felt as though I knew what was going to happen about half way through the book. I also thought the some of the chapters repeated themselves especially when Stella’s mother was speaking. I felt as though the book went on too much aswell. However I still finished the book and it was a decent read.
Thank you for the advance copy