My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Gosh, what can I say? I don’t believe that anything has been lost in the translation of this novel. It is raw, deep and full of emotion. Curiosity kept me reading this tale, set in Sweden, of three brothers and their rather odd parents. Certain parts of the novel were particularly memorable, and the details of inside the crematorium was one such, but the greatest was the horrific truth and crux of the story. It’s a very unsettling read and not what I could describe as enjoyable as it goes too far below conscious thought.

This is a sad book about a dysfunctional family, told from the perspective of the adult sons, who are not particularly appealing. It is quite suspenseful, and I did want to know what happened to make them like this. The brothers' story goes back and forward from childhood to present, following the death of their mother. The final plot twist offers an explanation for the past.

It's very difficult to decide what I feel about this book. It moves backwards and forwards in time, and sometimes it's somewhat unclear where we are. The childhood of the three brothers was strange, with their parents drinking heavily, leaving them to their own devices quite a lot, sometimes punishing them harshly, sometimes lavishing love and attention on them. Maybe we are supposed to assume that their erratic parenting explains their often bizarre behaviour, fighting brutally amongst themselves, not defending each other against bullies - and what can I say about the fish frying scene? It is horrific.

The writing is excellent, and there's a real sense of a dysfunctional family. However, but the story did not really seem to be leading anywhere and the twist at the end is bizarre.

Very mixed feelings about this novel so middling star rating, I'm afraid.

This is a very short novel set in a remote cottage by a lake in Sweden, written in Swedish and translated well. It is the story of three brothers who are brought up harshly by parents who are alcoholics. After the parents die the brothers mourn in different ways and incidents from the past haunt them. The author has a twist to tell but he has misled us from the beginning so the impact is lessened.

I found this to be quite slow going.
Hints at something might happen,that never really did.
Didn't grab me at all I'm afraid.

I actually really enjoyed this book. Though, it is not so much a “thriller” in terms of plot, I found myself still very engaged and interested in seeing how the story would continue. It had great character development, and the writing was very good.

I'm not quite sure what to make of this book if I'm honest. In terms of plot not much happens, it's more the undercurrents of past events and how they impact on the future. Three brothers, a somewhat dysfunctional family unit which whilst not abuse in actual terms has a definite implication of parental detachment and withholding love, encouraging competition to gain affection. There's an uneasy alliance between the brothers who are both violent to each other, they can't resist just pushing things that little bit further but also appear to love each other. The story is quite dark. We don't really get to know the parents very well and they are just mom and dad. The brothers are more fleshed out and bar one, are the only named characters.
One thing I didn't like was the overly American translation. I do feel that this didn't work on so many levels. The book lost some of its punch. It really did lessen the impact. Scandinavian noir should be noir not gris. I really would love to read the original in Swedish if I could. I think that would be a much better read.. For that reason I am deducting a star.
The ending hints at reasons why but these are never fully explored. The fish scene was horrible and could be a potential trigger
Overall and intriguing and quirky read