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Little Star

by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Marlaine Delargy (Translator)

3.62 of 5 stars 3.62 · rating details · 1,380 ratings · 251 reviews

When embittered ex-pop-star Lennart Cederström finds a baby left for dead in a plastic bag, he is uncertain what to do—until he hears her cry. It is a clear, haunting, perfectly pitched note, and Lennart decides she will be his project. A child raised in isolation: the vehicle for a pure, uncorrupted music.

But like anyone brought up in a basement, young Theres turns out to...more

Paperback, 533 pages

Published November 1st 2011 by Quercus (first published 2010)

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Oct 05, 2011 Colin Leslie rated it 5 of 5 stars

John Ajvide Lindqvist hit the ground running with the excellent Let The Right One In, which resurrected the tired vampire trope into a new, darker being, showing the paranormal romancers how it should be done. He somehow managed to maintain the pace with the "difficult" second and third novels, Handling The Undead and Harbour and now along comes Little Star and what do you know, he's only gone and done it again.

The plot of Little Star is at once both beautifully simple and incredibly complex. Th...more John Ajvide Lindqvist hit the ground running with the excellent Let The Right One In, which resurrected the tired vampire trope into a new, darker being, showing the paranormal romancers how it should be done. He somehow managed to maintain the pace with the "difficult" second and third novels, Handling The Undead and Harbour and now along comes Little Star and what do you know, he's only gone and done it again.

The plot of Little Star is at once both beautifully simple and incredibly complex. The story is a simple tale of an abandoned child and the family who finds her but beneath that surface is an incredibly weird tale which I can't outline here without spoiling, so I won't. Suffice to say that singing babies, serial killing children and Abba feature heavily in what may well be the most bizarre, yet compelling tale I have read in a long time.

Perhaps it's the Scandinavian darkness that pervades Lindqvist's writing or maybe he is channelling the legacy of the Grimms but this tale, with it's overtones of raw nature and evil adults has the qualities of a dark fairytale before spiralling into gory murder, American Psycho meets Snow White. Remember also, this is a translation and clearly I have no idea how closely it matches the original but whether by design or chance the book has an otherworldly feel, the phrasing, the timing everything is
imbued with an oddness which matches and compliments the mood of the book perfectly.

The complex themes explored here, nature versus nurture, the loss of childhood innocence, selfishness in the pursuit of fame, animal instincts are all beautifully woven into the plot without stifling the story. The book is also full of memorable scenes from the fairytale beginning to the Carrie like ending but all written in Lindqvist's engaging prose so they retain that feeling of originality.

There are some who might criticise the book for what it doesn't tell us. There are several huge conceits that the reader has to go along with, the true nature of the central character being the most significant, but for this reader that adds to the mystery. Life would be boring if every magician explained his tricks and I for one am glad that Lindqvist has retained the mystery and intrigue which is as important to this book as the revelations.

A wonderful storyteller and a wonderful story are a pretty powerful combination and as long as John Ajvide Lindqvist carries on telling stories this good and this well, I will be at the front of the queue to buy them.(less)

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Aug 15, 2012 Mitch rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 for me.

It...more 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 for me.

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 of course. 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.(less)

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Sep 23, 2012 Paul rated it 2 of 5 stars

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 blood...more

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Jul 06, 2012 Josh rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: own, horror, read_2012

Lindqvist is a master at prolonging the horror in favour of subtle hints at whats to come and 'Little Star' is no different. For Theres, a baby girl found near death in the woods by a fallen pop star, life was always going to be out of the ordinary. It didn't help that her discovery and introduction to the world was at the hands of semi deluded couple who kept her hidden in their basement. Naturally Theres was going to develop some sort of complex, violent or reclusive. Unfortunately for her 'fo...more Lindqvist is a master at prolonging the horror in favour of subtle hints at whats to come and 'Little Star' is no different. For Theres, a baby girl found near death in the woods by a fallen pop star, life was always going to be out of the ordinary. It didn't help that her discovery and introduction to the world was at the hands of semi deluded couple who kept her hidden in their basement. Naturally Theres was going to develop some sort of complex, violent or reclusive. Unfortunately for her 'foster family' it was the former.

If 'Little Star' had been marketed as an adolescents journey to self discovery with supernatural undertones rather than a true-to-genre horror story, then my perception of the books intention would've been significantly altered and I would've enjoyed the story far more. I kept waiting for the gore, for the bump in the night, the 'boo' that never really happened (at least to the extend I had hoped). As a story centered around Theres and fellow teen Teresa (who makes an appearance later in the book), Lindqvist captured the awkward age and clumsy emotional roller coaster of the female teen (as far as I could judge) perfectly. As characters, both were exceptionally deep and well rounded. One couldn't help but share in their happiness and humiliation. The binding dynamic and pop idol common ground helped strengthen the bond while the influence on social media helped build the story - this is a modern look at teenage life.

Upon finishing the book I couldn't help but feel as though Theres' origins weren't completely defined, with a significant backstory noticeably lacking - perhaps this was intended to add mystery to the child, however I wanted to more. The same can be said for the ending. This didn't feel like a complete book. Certain events captured the essence of horror (the last 100 or so pages were exactly what I wanted the entire book to be) without providing closure.

Despite my complaints, 'Little Star' is a serviceable read, and one without the preconceptions will satisfy more people than not. There is horror, there just isn't enough of it. Perhaps the lean on the reality talent shows put me off, yet it does bode well for the flow and character profiles of the story. 'Little Star' is not the best book by Lindqvist nor is it the worst horror I've read - more middle ground. I recommend reading, if only for the final 100 or so pages when the pack of characters really intensifies the plot. 2.5 stars.(less)

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Oct 26, 2011 Desolation Culture rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Little Star is my first novel by Swedish horror sensation, John Ajvide Lindqvist. I have copies of all his books, except unbelievably, Let The Right One In. But so far this is the first of them I've actually read. Following his famous debut, Lindqvist has garnered a lot of praise, and achieved a strong reputation in a relatively short time frame. With Little Star, finally, I can see why. I've read no recent horror novel quite like it.

This story is about two outcast girls with very similar names....more Little Star is my first novel by Swedish horror sensation, John Ajvide Lindqvist. I have copies of all his books, except unbelievably, Let The Right One In. But so far this is the first of them I've actually read. Following his famous debut, Lindqvist has garnered a lot of praise, and achieved a strong reputation in a relatively short time frame. With Little Star, finally, I can see why. I've read no recent horror novel quite like it.

This story is about two outcast girls with very similar names. The first of these is Theres. Theres was abandoned in a wood as a baby, discarded like trash. By chance, she is discovered by Lennart Calderstrom, a former Swedish pop star. Lennart takes the baby back to his wife, and together they decide to keep the "Little One" and raise her as their own. But they do not adopt her, or raise her in any normal lifestyle, instead they keep her hidden in a cellar. The other girl, Teresa, appears to have had a more normal upbringing, but she too is a misfit, a person who feels quite alienated from her peers and society at large.

The first section of the book focuses exclusively on the bizarre, Theres. Here, we witness the early years of her strange life and the nature of her new dysfunctional family. Theres, with her weird note perfect signing, is so strange in fact, that during this section I found myself wondering if she might later be revealed to be something other than human. I'll not give away any spoilers, but will say that Lindqvist actually doesn't answer too many questions himself, even at the end.

A little further into the book and we move on from Theres for a time, and are introduced to the other girl, Teresa. Her social isolation seems much more conventional. We see how she struggles to relate to her parents as well as others of her own age, with the notable exception of a neighbouring boy, Johannes. We learn that she has always felt different and apart from other people, and of her fixation on death and the darker aspects of life. We also see how she is bullied at school by the popular kids. With Teresa, unlike Theres, you feel you know the sort of kid she is. Later, Teresa develops something of a fixation for Theres when she sees her bizarre performances on reality pop show, Idol. Of course, the two girls inevitably meet, having connected over an Internet forum, and when they do, they form a strong bond which eventually evolves into the nexus of a larger group of outcast girls.

Little Star is a very unusual novel. In places reminiscent of We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver, touching as it does upon some of the same issues as that work. There is something remarkably uncomfortable about this book, a kind of pervasive wrongness that permeates the text, and clearly survived the translation from Swedish to English very well. I find it difficult to say precisely why this book has that effect. Some elements are obvious: it's graphically brutal in places, and that brutality is performed by children who might otherwise be considered angelic, such as Theres with her golden hair and melodic voice. This certainly is a factor. Less obviously, I think it's the way the novel skilfully highlights the superficial nature of many societal values, and the way in which the violent disaffection of the young girls takes on an almost spiritual dimension in response.

Some people may be put off by the lack of overt supernatural elements or by the fact that the book never really answers your questions. But in my view, Lindqvist has created one of the best horror novels of recent times. A deeply unsettling, finely tuned, twisted hymn to social alienation. All that, and Abba too... Highly recommended.(less)

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Apr 05, 2013 Mircalla64 (free Liu Xiaobo) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

una piccola psicosi

Theres è stata trovata in una buca nel bosco
è cresciuta in un seminterrato
e non ha alcun sentimento
le piace aprire le cose e un giorno si mette ad aprire le persone...
Theres ha un talento naturale per il canto
e un giorno va a uno di quei programmi per artisti emergenti,
là viene notata da Teresa e poi da un mucchio di altre ragazzine
che, come molte adolescenti, hanno un sacco di problemi di integrazione...poi c'è chi cerca di approfittare dell'ingenuità di Theres
ma quello che p...more

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Oct 19, 2011 Helen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: john-ajvide-lindqvist, english-translations, non-english-authors, swedish-authors

I'm not going to write a synopsis because not only have other reviewes done it so well but I feel it would bring too many spoilers so I'll go straight into my opinion.

This is simply beautiful and beautifully simple. The translation is so simple and the book was gripping. I swear, the book gripped me in the same manner that Theres' voice grips people around her. I swear, I was reading it in bed, on the bus to work, on the bus home, in the period before I started my shift at work, in my work brea...more

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Mar 23, 2013 Martha rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: creepy-thrillers

Hard to explain how I feel about this one, but if I had to describe it in three words, they would be bizarre, unsettling and yet...compelling.

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Oct 10, 2011 Janette Fleming rated it 5 of 5 stars

I cannot add anymore after reading Colin Leslie's review which is perfect.

Just to say with this fourth book John Ajvide Lindqvist has confirmed that he is up there among the best literary horror writers. The author has really got inside the mind of a depressed, angsty teenaged girl and with the disturbing cult aspect he shows how easily disaffected, socially isolated people can be drawn in where there is such a charismatic leader.

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Jun 09, 2013 Claar rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Op de achterflap van het boek Wolfskinderen van schrijver John Ajvide Lindqvist staat over de inhoud vermeld;

“Een hulpeloze baby wordt gevonden in het bos, meer dood dan levend. De man die haar vindt neemt het meisje mee naar huis, tot ontzetting van zijn vrouw. Het stel besluit-uit angst voor ontdekking-het kind te laten opgroeien in de kelder.”

Men zou dan kunnen vermoeden wat er gaat gebeuren in het muzikale gezin waarin plotseling een zuigeling moet wonen. Men zou kunnen speculeren over hoe h...more

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May 08, 2013 Craig DiLouie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In LITTLE STAR by John Ajvide Lindqvist, a man finds a baby in the woods and brings her home, raising her in his basement. The girl is strange for two reasons. First, she is virtually autistic. Second, she has an almost supernatural singing ability. After a shocking and catastrophic event, the man’s son Jerry takes the girl to Stockholm to start a new life, and enters her in a singing competition.

Another young girl, a social outcast, sees the performance on TV, beginning a friendship that will,...more In LITTLE STAR by John Ajvide Lindqvist, a man finds a baby in the woods and brings her home, raising her in his basement. The girl is strange for two reasons. First, she is virtually autistic. Second, she has an almost supernatural singing ability. After a shocking and catastrophic event, the man’s son Jerry takes the girl to Stockholm to start a new life, and enters her in a singing competition.

Another young girl, a social outcast, sees the performance on TV, beginning a friendship that will, according to the book promotion, “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.”

I really enjoyed this book. Lindqvist’s writing improves with every new novel he writes, and his plots are varied and interesting. His writing style has a technical quality to it that is strangely soothing once you get used to it. It’s the most focused of his books–his other works, such as HANDLING THE UNDEAD, were often diluted by other strange events and plot twists that were important in their own right but had little to do with the central plot, which I found distracting. Like his other works, it’s very long, giving the story a lived-in quality with plenty of world building; often the narrative ebbs and flows rather than progresses forward to the conclusion. As for the story, he captures the essence of adolescent angst (with its visions of lashing out) perfectly.

My only complaint was the ending. From the first pages, the story suggested something bigger, and I was hoping it would end with a much bigger bang. As it was, I didn’t find it very shocking and horrific because after such a long setup, the events in the closing pages were long expected. I also found the ending violence pointless because it was essentially unjustified. For me, the real horror occurred in little moments scattered throughout the book–a man’s jealous rage and its terrifying consequences, a vicious son’s menace, a child’s horrifying violence perpetrated for innocent reasons.

If you like Lindqvist, you’re going to love LITTLE STAR. If you haven’t read him before, I would still recommend the read. It’s original, well written and fun.(less)

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May 07, 2013 Sandy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The story really got my interest at the very beginning, because I am a singer and the idea of a tiny baby found buried alive, who was born with the ability to produce an unearthly beautiful singing sound was irresistible. Lennart and Laila, the middle aged former rock musicians who became "Little One's" adoptive parents, also interested me. The first section of the book ends with a scene so powerfully shocking it left me gasping. Added to the book's attributes is the author's very polished writi...more

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Mar 13, 2013 Elizabeth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I stayed up til 1:30 am reading the first 300 pages or so of this book...which is ridiculous, as I always have to get up early with my kids. I was slightly disappointed with the last fifth of the novel; it almost seems as if Lindqvist got sick of his own characters. Each seems to fade or pale a bit. Perhaps this kind of allegory cannot withstand the length of a novel--fables, after all, are usually rather short. The idea of young women taking control of their lives and becoming "very [$#%]ing da...more

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Jan 16, 2013 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Maybe I'm just an easy marker for a horror book but how does Lindqvist come up with this stuff?! I have been in love with his stories since I first saw Let Me In in cinemas, that led me to the Swedish film, that led me to the English translation of the book which has led me to my favourite author and stories of ghosts, vampires, zombies and psycho girls.

So what is the plot of this book. According to Lindqvist, he wrote the story backwards; had the image for this horrible climax and worked his wa...more

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Dec 13, 2012 Tressa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bullying, horror, supernatural, murder

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...more 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. (less)

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Dec 07, 2012 Donna Riley-lein rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Little Star

John Ajvide Lindqvist

The dust jacket for “Little Star” promises the “next Stephen King.”

No. At least not for American readers. More on that later.

The story of “Little Star” follows two misfit teens in Sweden. One of the girls, eventually called Theres, (She will have several names as the novel progresses) is rescued by a one-time musician when the infant Theres is buried alive by someone.

Good catch, right? Well, somehow this has-been musician thinks that the baby might be a musical pr...more

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Nov 17, 2012 Debra rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm giving it 4 stars because I think I'm going to like Let The Right One In even more.

Marlaine Delargy did a fantastic job, it's the first time I've ever been riveted with a translated edition. Although, with terms like "peep-bo" and "hotch potch", I'm not sure if it's the Scandinavian way or just creative licence.

It's true, when the blows come, you can feel it. I felt the first one in my knee. It's unpredictable and that's exciting.

Favourite lines:

p324

“It is impossible to say why we love som...more

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Nov 08, 2012 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 29, 2012 Tanja Seppä rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 year...more 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. (less)

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Jan 02, 2012 Jillwilson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lest you think I am reading in Swedish, I couldn't find the English language version of this book on this US-centric website.
Little Star – a horror story or a deeper book about adolescence? Or both those things. I first accessed the novelist Lindqvist’s work with the film ‘Let the Right One in” (http://likeachoppingblockshould.blogs...) - also a horror narrative which is also about adolescence.

In Little Star, Lindqvist traces the lives of two girls – both outsiders in Swedish society. Theres, a...more Lest you think I am reading in Swedish, I couldn't find the English language version of this book on this US-centric website.
Little Star – a horror story or a deeper book about adolescence? Or both those things. I first accessed the novelist Lindqvist’s work with the film ‘Let the Right One in” (http://likeachoppingblockshould.blogs...) - also a horror narrative which is also about adolescence.

In Little Star, Lindqvist traces the lives of two girls – both outsiders in Swedish society. Theres, abandoned as a baby, is a very fine singer with some developmental issues. Theresa is an overweight, lonely, bullied child. The novel explores what they do with their feelings of alienation and to say more about the plot would be wrong. I think the writer is extremely good at getting inside the head of these disaffected girls. He says that he thinks that the main flaw in many horror films is that he can’t identify with the main characters. Lindqvist ensures that we empathise with the character of Theresa, and to a lesser extent Theres, at the same time as being disturbed and alienated by what they do. He said that he tries “to combine both those things, that the child is the protagonist, the one we are following, the one that drives the tale forward, and at the same time being the one that you have to watch out for.”

What he delivers is not new or unique but it is interesting. This novel doesn’t work as well for me as the film of 'Let the Right One in' did, but it was a great thing to read in the bright light of a summer Christmas at the beach. A few brooding teenagers around at Waratah Bay but none with obvious homicidal urges.

It’s worth reading a little of what the writer had to say about his work:
“But then I think that many horror films and horror storytellers dig deep into the hole that is their own childhood to reach a more original fear. A fear that is nameless. As an adult we can rationalize out thoughts. This is that, and that scares me where that doesn’t. But as a child the stuff out there in the dark or that strange noise under the bed could be anything. If I want to conjure up something that is really scary, an image of something really horrible, then I almost always have to go back to my early years to find a description of that fear. And I think these are emotions and fears that many who write, or work with horror use in their work.” http://constructinghorror.com/index.p...

Interestingly, what I think he really nails are the real and practical fears of childhood and adolescence (regardless of those that linger under the bed) – the question of fitting in, of friendships and of connection – or lack of it. This is the real horror of that period of life.

(less)

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Feb 03, 2013 Daniel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Brilliant. Be prepared, thanks to John Ajvide Lindqvist, to have, what will become, a completely rational fear of 14 year old girls and hammers. Though I absolutely loved Let the Right One In I felt that Lindqvist achieved something greater through his fourth novel. It has been a year, at least, since reading his debut; however, Little Stars, from what I remember, just seems to flow smoothly while Let the Right One In, at times, felt clunky (Though I'll have to read through it again to be fair)....more

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Dec 31, 2012 Andy Broad rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Little star is another Swedish take on the horror genre by author John Advide Lindqvist. With a slightly updated theme, the story plays on several aspects of popular culture, and in particular the effects and pressures that these have on impressionable teenagers.

The story begins with a series of tragic events surrounding an abandoned little girl and the good willed but misguided attempts to bring her up. Despite having clearly drawn the short straw of life, this little girl has one extreme tale...more

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Oct 15, 2012 (All Hail) Grimlock rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Loved it. Read it in a weekend, and hated putting it down for a second. I loved Let the Right One In, couldn't manage to finish Handling the Undead despite trying a couple times, and so passed on Harbour until now. Little Star caught my attention due to the description which made it sound like it might touch upon psychopathy or sociopaths. It did, and in fact, I would go so far to say as it dealt with the issue of sociopaths more than issues of the fantasy which seem to pervade most horror novel...more Loved it. Read it in a weekend, and hated putting it down for a second. I loved Let the Right One In, couldn't manage to finish Handling the Undead despite trying a couple times, and so passed on Harbour until now. Little Star caught my attention due to the description which made it sound like it might touch upon psychopathy or sociopaths. It did, and in fact, I would go so far to say as it dealt with the issue of sociopaths more than issues of the fantasy which seem to pervade most horror novels.

It was an interesting ride, although the novel is split up between two girls who meet in the later parts. Theres, or Little One, was left for dead when she was an infant. A failed singer-turned-songwriter finds her, and revives her, and takes her to his wife - another failed singer. They have a shitty relationship, and an even shittier relationship with their son, Jerry.

Teresa, on the other hand, comes from a normal family, but as she grows older, she becomes more distant from feeling normal. Bullying - which played a large part in the character development of one of the main characters in Let the Right One In - as well as losing her one truly close friend drive her to isolate herself more and more. The problem with this is that it starts with Theres - it kind of has to - but the circumstances of her life are so unique, that Teresa's story holds far less interest for me. I could see how it was essential in how she would help Theres later on, but whereas during Theres' storyline I wanted to know more and more, during Teresa's I just wanted to get back to Theres at the end.

It was near the end of the novel, when other girls got involved, that the action really took place. It was also surprising to me how much I was holding my breath, waiting to see what happened, given that the prologue almost told me. I'm not sure I loved the last section of the epilogue, though. I felt that the ending to the first part of the epilogue was stronger, and more emotionally resonant.

The novel has a healthy dose of philosophy, a lot of character development though it doesn't have a huge cast, and I thought it was just brilliant. I'm eagerly looking forward to reading more of Lindqvist's work. (less)

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Feb 01, 2013 zxvasdf rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Movie monsters aren't really monsters. They're just creatures operating from a limited context, monstrous merely for lashing back at a people who failed to understand them. These creatures are either made, by these people, or born into an unique value system. No, these monsters aren't really monsters.

We, on the other hand, are another story. Humans are capable of anything. Their drive, love, courage, all the stuff of legends. There's also the other side of the coin. These are the people who col...more

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Apr 13, 2013 Nina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, horror, library-books, translation

John Lindqvist is really a compelling writer - he writes with subtlety even as he explores the most grotesque qualities of human relationships. I have previously read and loved Let the Right One In and Handling the Undead. I loved them for their human quality in the face of inhuman plots, characters, or behaviours.

Little Star began promisingly with an exploration of an unbalanced family finding a baby in the woods and choosing to raise in an cellar, shut away from the world, and how this enviro...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Amanda rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the most disappointing book I have read in a long time. I love a good horror novel, and Lindqvist had earned my respect and admiration with "Let the Right One In." However, nothing he has written since then has matched the power of his first novel. "Little Star" had promise, and I have to admit that I was riveted to the story until the very end, but the book did not deliver. The book is chock full of gratuitous violence, and there is never an explanation for it- in fact, Lindqvist makes...more

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Oct 05, 2011 Matti Karjalainen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kotikirjasto, kauhu, musiikki, aikuiset, 2000-luku, swe-kans, tytöt

Ruotsalaisen John Ajvide Lindqvistin esikoisromaani "Ystävät hämärän jälkeen" teki ilmestyessään melkoisen vaikutuksen, ja koommin olen lukenut kaikki hänen kirjansa heti tuoreeltaan, vaikkeivät ne olekaan yltäneet lähiövampyyriromaanin tasolle.

John Ajvide Lindqvistin neljäs romaani "Kultatukka, tähtönen" (Gummerus, 2011) alkaa kohtauksella, jossa 1960-luvulla pari pikkuhittiä tehnyt mutta sittemmin unholaan painunut Lennart Cederström löytää metsästä tyttövauvan, joka ei juuri kommunikoi ympär...more Ruotsalaisen John Ajvide Lindqvistin esikoisromaani "Ystävät hämärän jälkeen" teki ilmestyessään melkoisen vaikutuksen, ja koommin olen lukenut kaikki hänen kirjansa heti tuoreeltaan, vaikkeivät ne olekaan yltäneet lähiövampyyriromaanin tasolle.

John Ajvide Lindqvistin neljäs romaani "Kultatukka, tähtönen" (Gummerus, 2011) alkaa kohtauksella, jossa 1960-luvulla pari pikkuhittiä tehnyt mutta sittemmin unholaan painunut Lennart Cederström löytää metsästä tyttövauvan, joka ei juuri kommunikoi ympäristönsä kanssa eikä tunne kipua, mutta osaa laulaa uskomattoman kauniisti ja jäljitellä mitä tahansa musiikkia. Jokin naksahtaa Lennartin päässä, ja hän ryhtyy kasvattamaan lasta kellarissa, eristyksessä muusta maailmasta, pyrkien pitämään tätä puhtaana kaikilta pahoilta vaikutteilta.

Lennartin pyrkimykset osoittautuvat ajan myötä mahdottomaksi, ja vuosien vieriessä käy ilmi, että Theresiksi nimetyssä lapsessa on jotakin todella pahasti vialla. Veren täytyy vuotaa. Ja kuinka käykään, kun Theres tutustuu toiseen samanikäiseen tyttöön ja solmii tämän kanssa lähestulkoon symbioottisen ystävyyssuhteen?

En muista lukeneeni vähään aikaan toista romaania, joka olisi ollut yhtä ahdistava ja häiritsevällä tavalla mieleenpainuva kuin "Kultatukka, tähtönen", vaikka kauhuelementit jäävätkin romaanissa paikoitellen paitsioon kun kirjailija keskittyy kuvaamaan henkilöitä ja heidän tuntemuksiaan mm. Idols-tähtikisaan liittyvän ryöpytyksen keskellä. Lukija voisi hetkittäin jopa unohtaa lukevansa kauhuromaania, ellei heti romaanin ensimmäisillä sivuilla tehtäisi selväksi, että jotakin kammottavaa tulee tapahtumaan Skansenin Allsång-musiikkitapahtumassa, ja että kaikki tuleva on oikeastaan vain sen esinäytöstä.

John Ajvide Lindqvistin tuotannosta "Ystävät hämärän jälkeen" oli vielä melko perinteinen kauhuromaani, mutta sen jälkeen hän on johdatellut lukijoitaan entistä hämäremmille poluille. Lukijalle ei anneta valmiita ratkaisuja tai selityksiä, ja samoilla linjoilla jatketaan nytkin. Mikäli muutamat kirjan tapahtumat pystyy selittämään itselleen tai edes hyväksymään ne mahdollisina, ei kirjasta nauttimiselle pitäisi olla suurempia esteitä, sillä jos John Ajvide Lindqvistista täytyy nimittäin jotain sanoa, niin kyseessä on suuri tarinankertoja, jonka lauseet pitävät otteessaan, vaikka teksti samanaikaisesti ahdistaisi ja kuvottaisikin.(less)

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Mar 19, 2013 Lauren Hopkins rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved Let the Right One In from start to finish and while I don't think this is necessarily of the same caliber, I was just as engrossed and read incredibly eagerly. Without writing a synopsis or giving away the plot, I will say that probably the first three fourths of the book were incredible. When it took a turn with the group of girls I wasn't as interested because I thought the connection between Theres and Teresa was what made the book and the rest of the girls kind of bored me. They didn...more

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Oct 05, 2012 Mieneke rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, 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 reall...more 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.(less)

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Jan 06, 2013 Marc rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

I first came across Lindqvist just before the film of his book "Let the right one in" was released in Scandinavia. The film looked fascinating and I thought I would need to read the book first so I bought it and having read it was glad I did.

Lindqvist has been lauded as Scandinavia's answer to Stephen King but I believe he betters King on a number of levels. In particular the way that he appears to be able to convey the child's psyche. This book in particular explores the 'outsider' mentality an...more

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About John Ajvide Lindqvist

John Ajvide Lindqvist (Johan 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.

Let the Right One In was a bestseller in Sweden and was named Best Novel in Translation 2005 in N...more

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Quotes from Little Star

“You can plan for things, work towards them for years, and yet they never materialize. Or you can just happen to be in the right place at the right moment, and everything falls into place. If you want to believe in something like Fate, she's a capricious character. Sometimes she stand there blocking the doorway you were born to pass through, and sometimes she takes you by the hand and leads you through the minute you poke your nose out. And the stars gaze down and keep their counsel.” — 11 people liked it

“It is impossible to say why we love something or someone. We can come up with reasons if we have to, but the important part happens in the dark, beyond our control. We just know when it is there. And when it goes away.” — 3 people liked it

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