2024 Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge
Jill Elizabeth has read 1 book toward her goal of 285 books.
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2023 Reading Challenge

2023 Reading Challenge
Jill Elizabeth has read 5 books toward her goal of 265 books.
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Book Review: The Tenant by Katrine Engberg

This one is fine. That’s it. Fine. There’s nothing wrong with it, but nothing jumped off the page as particularly right either… The characters, the setting, the pacing, the atmosphere – they were all, well, fine. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, I know – but on the other hand, I can’t say there was anything particularly wrong with it or point to what would have made it a more compelling read for me.

I guess my biggest issue is that I never felt like I connected with either of the detectives, and in scandi Noir that’s usually not the case for me – the main characters are usually damaged in a way that resonates with their victims and makes for a compelling back and forth as the mystery is revealed. Not so much here. Honestly, the two detectives felt a little flat to me. I never connected with them – or the landlady and her unusual friend or the victim or the roommate or frankly anyone… And without some feeling for the characters, I struggle to truly fall into a story.

I read this in fits and starts, which is unusual for me in this genre as the stories are usually so darkly engaging that I can’t put them down. So maybe part of the problem is how I read it. I’d set it down and pick it back up the next day, and realize I had very little recollection of what had happened… This one never got under my skin and on the whole just wasn’t for me…

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.

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