I had wanted to read this book, since I saw the movie trailer in 2010. The movie trailer was so disturbing and intriguing, that I felt that I had to read the book first. I'm a horror movie lover, so it was hard to hold off from watching it but I'm glad I did. I recommended that my book club read this book (mostly because I really wanted to read it and I don't think they have touched much into horror or even fantasy for that matter). I'm going to predict that most of my book club will not enjoy this book as much as I did, for the same reasons that they did not enjoy the rather "disturbing" parts in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Let the Right One In is filled with them. It is also a lengthier book, needing more commitment, sitting at 472 pages. 
 Why I loved it: This is going to sound odd but I've always had a fascination with darkness and vampires (not the Twilight variety, as this book is far from Twilight). But this is not just a vampire book. This book, unlike many of its genre, addresses many issues. It addresses: bullying, pedophilia, alcoholism, prostitution, revenge, identity, and much more. That alone blew me away and made me appreciate the author's ability to create such a dark horror and send some messages in the book. This is the second book I have read, which was first published in Sweden (the first being The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and so far I'm seeing a trend, that Swedish authors do not hold back on the gritty parts. For it is gritty, dark, gruesome, revealing, and does not hold back. I love an author that will not hold back and is not afraid of what the public might think. He/she just writes, no holds barred. 
 What is particularly fascinating about this book is that none of the characters are really likeable. They generally all do something bad or just don't have likeable personalities. Yet Lindqvist wrote in a way that made me concerned for them, made me want to know more about them. I say "them" because there are a lot of characters in this book. Normally I hate when an author throws in so many characters (ie the last Twilight book, where she threw them in all at once). However, he introduces them in the progression that we meet them. We get to know them and it becomes easy to understand each character and each individual plot line. It is a constant flip to different characters but he flips to them when the time is right. 
 Lindqvist is great at characterization and at creating a setting. Boy did I get a picture of that setting and that city in my head. I think you have to have a good carved out setting in a horror to really get into it. His writing was rather poetic and though I have not read (at least completely through) a Stephen King novel I understand why he is hailed as Sweden's Stephen King. I really just loved every bit of this book. I sat for hours on end reading and reading, engulfed in it. It is one of those books, in my opinion, that you either really don't get into or you do. This book was definitely for me and I do agree with other reviewers who said that Lindqvist set the bar in this genre. Now to go and watch the movie...