By Emily Sikes
Let the right people in
Let the old dreams fade away
Letting go
They can’t do
What do you want them to do?
—Morrissey, Let the Right One In
Wrap yourself in a wool blanket, warm yourself with a cup of hot chocolate, chew on some melted marshmallows, and pick up Lindquist’s novel Let the right people inIf you start to think you forgot to open a window or light the fireplace, be warned: the chill is radiating from the book in your hands.
Blackberg is a small suburb outside of Stockholm, Sweden, with no history, but it is the hometown of Oscar. Oscar is a bullied 12-year-old boy who fantasizes about murder and collects killings from newspapers. He lives with his mother in an apartment building and has no one he can call a friend. One night, on a playground near his home, he meets a little girl, Eli, who is full of incredible qualities: she can fall from great heights with ease, solves a Rubik’s Cube in just a few nights, and doesn’t seem to need to eat. Eli happens to live in the apartment next door to Oscar’s with Hakan, and she claims that Hakan is her father.
The story is set in a bar with a group of friends. The main character Jock stumbles home along a different route after drinking and disappears. This worries Hakan because he discovers that Jock is connected to Eli.
As you read, you can feel the sense of dread that runs throughout the novel. Whenever there is a scene of violence, it feels necessary. Lindquist paints a quiet and brooding landscape that is peppered with gore and violence. However, this story is not about slaughter – it’s about finding someone you want to share your life with. The characters who inhabit Blackberg are developed through their actions, which makes the relationships between them feel real. In this way, Let the right people in It’s not just a vampire story, it’s also a love story.
Order yours here.
score: 4.5/5
About the Author: When Emily Sikes isn’t consuming reams of 19th-century literature for her English classes at the University of New Mexico, she’s busy searching for shadows among dusty books. From dusk till dawn, as she loses herself in the chiaroscuro hallways infested with cats, you can reach her at esikes@unm.edu. If Emily hears from you, she can be a little more confident that maybe—just maybe—you’re one of the furry shadows that sprang from her hallways. Her dream is to live in a library lit by flames, populated by sphinxes, vinyl records of The Cure, and an endless supply of jasmine green tea and purple lipstick.
