Nothing will help you get out of a reading rut more than having a wander around your local bookshop, which was the only thing I really wanted to do on my birthday. Finally, after months of lockdowns and being shut at home, I could go into a bookshop and smell the books... browse the books. Anyway, that's when I picked up "Sweet Sweet Revenge LTD." by Jonas Jonasson. What made me buy it? The title, it seemed like it could be quite funny! Which it was.
Victor Alderheim has a lot to answer for. Not only has he heartlessly tricked his young ex-wife, Jenny, out of her art gallery inheritance, but he has also abandoned his son, Kevin, to die in the middle of the Kenyan savanna.
It doesn’t occur to Victor that Kevin might be rescued and adopted by a Maasai medicine man, or that he might be expected to undergo the rituals expected of all new Maasai warriors – which have him running back to Stockholm as fast as you can say circumcision without anaesthetic.
Back in Stockholm, Kevin’s path crosses with Jenny’s – and they have an awful lot to talk about, not least a shared desire to get even with Victor. So it’s convenient when they run into a man selling revenge services, who has an ingenious idea involving Victor’s cellar, a goat, some forged paintings, four large boxes of sex toys, and a kilo of flour …
I briefly read the blurb when I picked it up, I was worried if I read all of it that it would give too much of the story away. A bit like a trailer for a film, sometimes they are just too long and then you basically know the entire film. So once I'd read enough of the blurb to be convinced it was my kind of book, I added it to the pile of books that I was buying. I bought too many books, but I was supporting a small local bookshop - okay? So it makes it a good thing.
Anyway, enough chatting... Let me tell you about the book. I had never read anything from Jonas Jonasson, but I've seen his books around before. My boyfriend actually has his "The hundred-year-old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared" sitting on our bookshelf in his TBR pile, which has now been added to my TBR pile too. At first I was a bit apprehensive with the story, it went into a lot of detail about a lot of people and I wondered if it was just filler writing. However, the further I got into the story the more relevant I realised the information he'd provided was. Not only was it relevant, it was written in such a way that made it extremely humorous and easy to read.
The story was unpredictable and funny, with each character full of personality and life. I don't want to say much more about the story itself, because I don't want to ruin it for anyone. But if you're looking for a lighthearted, funny and snappy story full of unfortunate and very fortunate events, this one should be your next read. I would recommend you pop down to your local bookshop and buy it from them, but if you can't or simply don't want to then it's also on Amazon.
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