Miriam's Reviews > Black River

I found this one pretty hard work. There are things to enjoy - the disabled protagonist not defined by her disability; the refreshing twist of the pastoral as horrific, rather than beautiful, and Tuva's visceral disgust and terror at nature; the spotlight on Sweden's xenophobic side. But overall this lacked structure and narrative thrust. It felt like Tuva wandering from place to place, searching and questioning in a fairly erratic manner, revisiting the same people again and again - and with nearly every other person in the town a freakish creep, the sense of menace became dulled rather than pervasive.

There are many red-herrings but none of them feel substantial enough to raise any real interest, and I felt both irritated and bored at times. Often it seemed that characters were just mentioned all the time (like 'the bee man') but without any more substantive development they felt like set-dressing rather than real people. And Tuva's endless internal monologue of questions directed at her missing friend felt like a heavy-handed device to remind readers what was at stake, and to up the tension. There are some more gripping moments towards the end but the conclusion didn't feel at all satisfying or credible.

I wanted to like this more but found it contrived, dull and extremely implausible. I don't think I'll read another.