Yrsa Sigurdardottir | THE ABSOLUTION

Plot (via Goodreads):

The police find out about the crime the way everyone does: on Snapchat. The video shows a terrified young woman begging for forgiveness. When her body is found, it is marked with a number "2".

Detective Huldar joins the investigation, bringing child psychologist Freyja on board to help question the murdered teenager's friends. Soon, they uncover that Stella was far from the angel people claim, but who could have hated her enough to kill?

Then another teenager goes missing, more clips are sent to social media, and the body with a "3" is found. Freyja and Huldar can agree on two things at least: the truth is far from simple. The killer is not done yet. And is there an undiscovered body carrying the number "1" out there?

Review:

Okay, so this series has been one rollercoaster for me. The first one really captivated me, the second one was enjoyable but I wanted more, and this one completely blew my mind. I definitely think that you have to be really used to how dark and violent Nordic Noir can be to enjoy these stories and how the pacing is a lot different compared to any other crime fiction genre. Yrsa definitely finds her niche with this one and made me completely obsessed with Huldar and Freyja and their ever-changing relationship as well as this entire series. Like, I cannot imagine the day the final book comes out and there's no more to look forward to.

The Absolution is complex, gritty, violent, and menacing and it is phenomenal. The opening is terrifying and one of those reading experiences when you are at the "mind blown" stage about 10 pages in, but the more you think about this scene after reading it, the more terrifying it is. There's so many layers of terror within this story that I was just scared for a week straight of my life as I read this one. I began it during the week and had to sneak in chapters and gobble up pages wherever I could find the time and it was torturous because I wish I had saved this one for a weekend so I could've read it in one sitting. Huldar and Freyja are honestly two of my favorite characters to read and now that some of the secondary characters are showing up more, I am loving them as well. In a story like this, you rely on the mystery, the plot, and the crazy amounts of twists and turns it takes and sometimes characters just kind of blend into the background with a story like this. Not this one, the characters like fight the plot for your attention when you read this one because there's so much going on and you don't know if you want to enjoy your time getting to know these people better or if you want another murder or something to shock you and the parallel between the two makes this one just fantastic.

I was blown away the entire time with how much I just loved this book and my only drawback was that one of the reveals kind of snuck its way onto the pages and at first, I was wondering if I had missed something or I wasn't following this one as closely and I felt like that for about twenty pages until things started to settle and I was reading more detail about this and by the end I still loved this book and the reveals and the insanely twisted ending was one I never saw coming, I just wish this kind of popped out more as a big shock so I could've fully grasped it during the entire time. I loved this one regardless and maybe my second time around, I'll notice more and it probably is my own fault. I will say, even if you read this one and you don't like it at all, but you still follow the story, the final chapter is even more eerie and frightening than the opening and took such a diabolical turn that I am wondering if this story could actually have a sequel or if I am just left with my imagination.

FYI - if you read this one and you want to, please please please hit me up in my DMs on Instagram because there's a popular show that I absolutely loved that this one reminded me of, but I can't say what it is because I want to avoid even the slightest hint of a spoiler because this book is amazing and frightening and superb. So, I am ready for book four and everything after.

Special thanks to Minotaur Books for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 4.5/5