I was putting off this book for some reason. But when I did actually pick it up I found it pretty easy to get into. I actually didn't want to put it down. That being said the first handful of chapters read like a list (I did this, then I did this, next I did this), but I started to wonder why. Was the character setting up an alibi?
Part One:
This part was in the fathers POV. I started to theorize that maybe he was involved. Or that maybe things he was accused of did happen but his blocked them out of his memory to protect himself. Something wasn't right about him and his behaviour.
Part Two:
This was Stella's POV. Which was the POV I was most interested in hearing. What I found interesting was how Shirine (her psychologist while in prison) had her read books that all followed a similar theme. Something Stella could relate to. But without Stella really knowing what she was doing.
During this part I felt maybe I was wrong about her dad. Maybe it was someone else. Someone who it made sense as the story developed.
Part Three:
Her mums POV was the only one where someone new wasn't added to me suspect list.

What I loved about this book is that I found myself questioning my theories every part. There was 3 or 4 people who could have easily been guilty. None of them would have shocked me in the end. But I did find myself unsure up until the epilogue.

Not really sure what to make of this one, it was a good storyline but unfortunately I did not get excited about it.
The story is about a murder that takes place in which a teenage girl is acused, it is split into three parts, the girls version, the father's version and the mother's version.
I give this book two stars.

I don't read a lot of legal/courtroom stories and even less so-called Scandi-Noir type books but, for some reason, the blurb caught me and drew me in and, overall, I was pretty satisfied with "A Nearly Normal Family".

The book centres around a seemingly perfect family (they are anything but!) and is separated into three sections each told from the perspective of a family member following the arrest of the daughter for the murder of a man; each of these sections provided insight into each of the characters and a different take on the situation they find themselves in. What it also did was make this a slow burner with the tension mounting gradually towards the great ending which I found very satisfying.

I did have a couple of problems with this book though; one being that I couldn't connect with any of the main characters and struggled to empathise with any of them, the other being that I think there were times when things seem to have got lost in translation which made the story not flow quite as well as I was expecting.

Overall though a pretty good read and definitely worth the time I invested in reading it.

Thanks go to the good people of Pan Macmillan via NetGalley for my copy in return for an unbiased review.

I have been trying to catch up with my NetGalley shelf and for some reason kept putting off reading A Nearly Normal Family. I had requested it because it sounded interesting but I was afraid I wouldn't like it as I tend to not like translation works that much,

I am so glad to have been proven wrong. Not only was the story fantastically written, but the translation has definitely done it justice.

The narrative is told by three view points, by each member of the family. First the pastor father, then the teenager daughter, who is accused of murder, and then the mother who is an attorney. I loved to get to know the story from different angles.

I found the whole concept intriguing - how far were the parents willing to go to save their family, their reputation.

Perhaps not quite a "kept me on the edge of my seat type" of book, but the story was interesting and well written and kept me reading for hours on end.

All in all I would definitely recommend this book, and will be looking into getting a physical copy to showcase it proudly in my home library!

4 out of 5

This is 3.5 stars for me.
Stella is arrested for murder, they were a normal family up until that point, her father is a pastor and her mother is a lawyer. They all give statements, they all seemingly believe that Stella is innocent, but is she? Are any of them telling the truth? Are they all lying? This was an interesting thriller that one moment has you believing without a doubt that Stella is guilty, and the next believing she is innocent. What's the truth?

This is an very accomplished thriller based on the prosecution of a young girl for murder. It is set in Sweden and describes how a family can be torn apart because of tragedy. The characterisation is excellent and the relationships within the family so well described. The story also emphasised the power of friendship and the lengths people will go to out of love and loyalty. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a complex thriller.

What a rollercoaster of a ride.

This had me hooked from the outset. Rather dark & with so many twists.

Looking forward to more from this author.

4.5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the story being told from 3 different points of view, but which is the 'right' one? Kept my attention all the way through. A good scandi read.

I’m not sure if this book. It’s a very slow start and after a good third of reading. It’s a not for me. But don’t let that put anyone off.

This is a slow burning Swedish murder mystery/courtroom drama told by three family members, the father, daughter and mother, which I found fascinating. Would recommend.

I was eager to read this after reading the advanced praise, sadly the book just didn’t do it for me. It was a slow burn and it just didn’t capture me even with the twists, they didn’t surprise me. The ending was peculiar.

A Nearly Normal Family is a tense thriller told in three parts – firstly, from the perspective of father Adam (a pastor who has a strong sense of right and wrong…or does he?), then mother Ulrika (a criminal defence lawyer, interestingly!), and finally daughter Stella.

Stella has been arrested on suspicion of murder, and the book takes us back to the beginning, as Adam talks us through the events leading up to that fateful night. However, we’re never sure if we’re getting the whole picture, because there seems to be a whole world of secrets that Stella is keeping from her father – and her mother. The storyline is addictive and I hugely enjoyed the way it moved through the three perspectives, slowly uncovering more and more about what actually happened. The ending is surprising but finished the book off really well, in my opinion.

I really like the author’s writing style (though I’m aware this is translated) and, although some parts moved along quite slowly, I enjoyed finding out more and more about the characters and their motivations. It shines a light on family life and the difficulties of those tumultuous teenage years, combining some legal details with family secrets, and questioning what the right level of sacrifice is for your family.

Incredible suspense keeping me on the edge of my seat reading, I couldn't stop! Great characters and amazing writing from M.T Edvardsson. Highly recommend!

I am just giving this book two stars. It's a modern thriller. The character's are horrible and I skipped to the end as I couldn't be bothered reading it any more.

The premise of this novel intrigued me right away – the idea of there being a murder and then following the daughter who’s accused, her father and then her mother sounded so good. I did enjoy this book but all the way through I felt like I was being kept at a distance and couldn’t quite connect to it as much as I wanted to. That said, it is an engrossing story that makes you want to keep turning the pages to find out what happened.

I kept going with this book but it never grabbed me! It was originally published in Sweden so maybe the translation wasn’t the best. The characters were so irritating and storyline was slow and repetitive. A disappointing read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Nineteen-year-old Stella 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? 

This story follows the lives of Adam, Ulrika and their teenage daughter Stella, all they want is to be a normal family, but when Stella is accused of murder they wonder how their lives have got to this point, did she do it and how far will they go to protest her innocence. It's a tense family drama told from all points of view that keeps you guessing throughout and has a surprising twist.

I'd like to thank Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for the approval, I will post my review on Amazon and Goodreads

Certainly a page turner! Loved the way it was written from 3 different perspectives. Poses the old age question how far would you go to protect your children.....?

How far will they go to protect their child? And what if their child really is guilty?

Now I do love a new Scandinavian crime novel, they usually grab you, drag you in and refuse to let go of you until the end.

We learn that eighteen-year-old Stella Sandell stands accused of the brutal murder of a man who is almost fifteen years her senior. Stella is an ordinary teenager who comes from an upstanding local family. Her father is a pastor, her mother a criminal defence attorney, so how will they deal which such a horrific characterisation if they daughter? Why would Stella want to kill a businessman? How did she even know him? How and why is she a suspect?

Oddly, this didn’t feel like my usual thriller killer type of crime book. The author allows you to learn bits here and there about each of the three lead characters through everyday mundane tasks and the whole time the entire story is being laid out for you to dig into, take a view and on the way give one or two plot twists.

Not the kind of book if you like fast paced thriller killer stories.

I thought this book was really clever. I have to admit I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy it but couldn’t ever seem to stop reading it!
The story is told from three different perspectives, Adam, the father, Stella, the daughter and Ulrika, the mum.
With each section, I changed my mind as to what had happened and who really had killed Christopher Olsen.
It was intriguing to see how each of the characters were thinking and I was shocked by Ulrika’s risky actions. The lengths you may go to to protect your child.
The end sort of surprised me, I’d feared it might be the case, but it was great twist none the less.