Review + Giveaway: A NEARLY NORMAL FAMILY by M.T. EDVARDSSON

 

A Nearly Normal Family by M.T. Edvardsson is now available! I’ve got a 5 star review as well as a giveaway below!

 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

 

M.T. Edvardsson’s A Nearly Normal Family is a gripping legal thriller that forces the reader to consider: How far would you go to protect the ones you love? In this twisted narrative of love and murder, a horrific crime makes a seemingly normal family question everything they thought they knew about their life—and one another.

Eighteen-year-old Stella Sandell stands accused of the brutal murder of a man almost fifteen years her senior. She is an ordinary teenager from an upstanding local family. What reason could she have to know a shady businessman, let alone to kill him?

Stella’s father, a pastor, and mother, a criminal defense attorney, find their moral compasses tested as they defend their daughter, while struggling to understand why she is a suspect. Told in an unusual three-part structure, A Nearly Normal Family asks the questions: How well do you know your own children? How far would you go to protect them?

 

MY REVIEW:

 

“We were a perfectly ordinary family, and then everything changed.”

With a crisp writing style and a very unique structure, ‘A Nearly Normal Family’ was perfectly gripping from start to finish. Told from the perspective of three different family members, the author asks the question, what would you do to protect your family?

Eighteen-year-old Stella has been arrested and charged with the murder of thirty-two-year-old Christopher Olson. Her father is a pastor and her mother is a well-respected attorney. She comes from a good family but the police seem to have a fairly strong case against her. But what really happened that night? This book, translated from Swedish, was incredibly fast-paced and tightly written.

Stella’s father Adam blames himself for Stella’s terrible predicament. He is wracked with guilt over her upbringing and the signs he seems to have missed along the way. A patient and intelligent man, Adam now believes he must do whatever it takes to save his little girl.

“It takes a long time to build a life, but only an instant for it to crumble.”

Adam and his daughter haven an unusual relationship but nothing that is out of the ordinary for teenagers and their fathers. Much of the family’s history is told through Adam’s viewpoint and I felt distraught right along with him over Stella’s arrest. Adam tries to rationalize his actions and the reader is forced to confront the question of how far is justified in protecting your own family.

“Is it not right to protect your child? Your family? Can it ever be wrong?”

I loved Stella’s portion of the book. Her viewpoint is perfectly written! She is filled with hopes and dreams and is so much more than a young girl accused of a brutal crime. She gives a different perspective on the events told in Adam’s portion of the book and I found her section to be the most compelling.

The author is brilliant at writing different points of view. Each character’s motivation is slowly revealed and each character has a very unique perspective. I could not put this book down! This seemingly picture-perfect family’s downfall absolutely riveted me. Everyone played a crucial role in the story, and the ending completely surprised me. This is an intelligent, passionate and thoughtful courtroom thriller with twists and turns you will not see coming. My one minor complaint is that the Swedish translation was not as seamless as it could have been, but the story is brilliant nonetheless. I raced through this book and highly recommend it! The unique structure and the rich characters make ‘A Nearly Normal Family’ a must-read.

ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

 

M. T. Edvardsson is an author and teacher from Trelleborg, Sweden. He is the author of multiple novels. A Nearly Normal Family is his first published in the United States. He lives with his family in Löddeköpinge, Sweden.

 

GIVEAWAY:

 

 

I have an extra paperback copy of A NEARLY NORMAL FAMILY to give away! Just sign up for my newsletter and a random winner will be chosen on July 1. US only. Good luck!