Challenge #27 ~ “A book by an author from continental Europe.”
★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
My opinion in three sentences:
From the premise, I thought this had promise, but overall it felt dragged out and seemed to frequently go for the cheap/easy options (in terms of audience appeal, humour, and tropes). Jonasson had the usual quirky writing style I’ve read in previous works (by himself and other Swedish authors) but it seemed to peter out, along with the humour, after the first third of the book. As for the characters, I couldn’t really connect to any and there were several that were so baffling that they just didn’t work, which is particulalry problematic when they’re among the protagonists.
(Without spoiling anything) the best bit:
I think this would have worked really well as a novella. The first portion, set around the hotel, is prime Jonasson – quirky, well-written and thought-provoking. Sure, there are moments in the rest of the novel, but by and large the beginning is where the good stuff is. And yes, I can see why they went on an adventure and can predict the kinds of fun and morals intended for encounter along the way, but these moments were unfulfilled and fell flat.
A warning for the book:
The characterisation is a mess and most of the book reads as a draft rather than the finished work. It sounds harsh to put it like that because it’s not unreadable, but it’s certainly not Jonasson’s finest. (And from what I’ve subsequently seen elsewhere, I’m not the only one to think so.)
Dreaming With Your Eyes Wide Open 