Book Review: Harbour by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Harbour by John Ajvide Lindqvist
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I can't really say why I took me soooo long to finish this book. Maybe working on a play and starting university didn't help.
I first heard about The Harbour in Vogue when it was a recommended read. I've always been a fan of Nordic Noir and thought this sounded intriguing. I'd not read or watched Let The Right One In, but I knew it was held in high esteem, so I looked forward to reading something by the same author.
John Ajvide Lindqvist has been described as Sweden's Stephen King and I get the comparisons. He creates interesting believable characters with heart and a story. Characters that you want to have a happy ending. But also, like Stephen King, the ending was rather ambiguous, which is a thing of frustration for me. I would rather have a definite ending with everything tied up neatly and some sense of closure which this did not have.
I particularly liked Simon, and enjoyed reading about how he came to be on the island. The story flits between the past and the present which gives the book depth and perspective.
I suppose the main thing that was disappointing for me was the pace of it. I found it incredibly slow. I've read books of this size before and I've managed to whip through them with speed, but as I said, there was no 'pull' in this novel. Some books I can't wait to read every night but I was simply not bothered with this one. I don't always mind the 'slow burner' but I found that I wasn't always concentrating and therefore would have to re-read certain sections.
Overall I enjoyed this book, but next time I read John Ajvide Lindqvist I think I will pick something a bit shorter.

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