| Norwegian title: | Udyr |
| Author: | Ingvild Bjerkeland |
| Binding: | Innbundet |
| Year: | 2023 |
| Pages: | 96 |
| Publisher: | Cappelen Damm |
| Språk: | Bokmål |
| Series: | Udyr |
| Serienummer: | 1 |
| ISBN/EAN: | 9788202773311 |
| Age: | 10 - 14 |
What happens when society suddenly breaks down, when strange and scary creatures roam the countryside, and no human can be trusted?
Abdi (13) and his little sister Alva (5) are running through the forest. Civilization has collapsed. Their mother and countless others have been murdered by terrifying beasts. No electricity or fuel is left. And the people that are still alive, are hiding – from the beasts and from each other.
We follow Abdi and Alva for a few, intense days through the forest and towards the sea, with the beasts at their heels. Who can they trust along the way? And will they get to safety?
Beasts is Cormac McCarthy’s The Road for children: Shudderingly creepy and incredible – and easy to read. An original thriller for readers 10 years and older.
WINNER OF ARKS BOKHANDLERPRIS (ARK'S CHILDREN'S LITERATURE PRIZE)
NOMINATED TO THE AVID READER AWARD
NOMINATED TO THE NORDIC COUNCIL CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE'S LITERATURE PRIZE 24
Horror for children gets darker
The dilemma in «Beasts» is actually that it's so good and believable.
AFTENPOSTEN
What a story!
«Beasts» is one of the highlights within children's literature this spring.
BOK365, five/six stars
Chilling.... «Beasts» combines the timelessness of a fairy tale with the stark immediacy of contemporary dystopian fiction.
FOREWORD, starred review (US)
Spare, thrilling.... A sense of urgency simmers beneath every line of prose.... Beasts will appeal to readers of survival classics such as Hatchet with its realistic illustrations of Abdi’s dogged problemsolving, but will also please those who enjoy stories with supernatural antagonists in pursuit of their prey, like «The Walking Dead» or «The Last of Us».
BOOKPAGE (US)
[An] atmospheric and harrowing horror novel.... Readers will enjoy the quick pacing and postapocalyptic Odyssey feel of this brief but powerful tale.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (US)
Drips with eerie atmosphere and moves at a taut pace. Abdi’s first-person narrative balances the unsettling events with his poignant thoughts and feelings about caring for his younger sister, whose irrepressible attitude is a welcome lightness in this disquieting tale.... Middle-grade readers looking for something scary but not too gory will appreciate the mood cultivated here.
BOOKLIST (US)
[For] those just beginning to learn the [horror] genre, this is a magnificent introduction—spare, tense, gory just at the edges, and tightly focused on the siblings, creating a heightened sense of connection and investment in their survival.... Chilling.
BCCB (US)
Younger readers will be rapt; all will find the pervasive air of distress that permeates the tale palpable.... Highly appealing for a great many horror readers, new and old.
KIRKUS (US)
It is a nearly perfect novel for young readers. I wish I had written it myself.
NSK (Sweden)
It is deeply touching, believable and full of suspense. The ending is left open. Beasts have the potential to stay on the reader's mind for a long time.
BTJ (Sweden)
[...] with Beasts she has undoubtedly delivered one of the most exciting books of the year.
DAGENS NYHETER (Sweden)
This should not be missed!
Vi läser (Sweden)
One of BOK365's best books of 2023
The apocalyptic science fiction novel, with horror elements dispersed throughout, is guaranteed to keep young, impatient readers captivated from the first line. It will also get them to reflect over some of our huge current global challenges.
One of Aftenposten's best books of 2023
Beasts by Ingvild Bjerkeland is reminiscent of the classic The Road by Cormac McCarthy. The children in Beasts have seen their mother killed by animals that are on the brink of eradicate humanity. They also meet someone willing to sacrifice themselves for them. It is really intriguing in a rather scary way.
Ingvild Bjerkeland
Udyr / Ingvild Bjerkeland
Ingvild Bjerkeland
«...Udyr er virkelig ett av de store høydepunktene i barnebokvåren 2023.[...]Den apokalyptiske science-fiction-romanen, ispedd grøsserelementer, er garantert å holde unge, utålmodige lesere fjetret fra første setning. Og ikke minst få dem til å reflektere over vår tids store globale utfordringer.[...]Bjerkeland er nok aller best i actionsekvensene og miljøbeskrivelsene – som gjennom korte, konsise setninger, nærmest oppleves som noe tilsvarende slam-poesi.[...]Bokens hovedtyngde ligger i flukt/krisetid-tematikken. Bjerkelands beskrivelser av menneskers desperasjon, og hva man kan få seg til å gjøre i krisetid, er sterk lesing.»
Bjerkeland walks a careful line between being mindful of her audience’s age while refusing to shrink from the truth. Filled with tension and a few heart-pounding moments, Beasts never fully strays into the darker recesses like its postapocalyptic adult cousins The Road or I Who Have Never Known Men, yet it also resists easy answers or a storybook ending.
It’s a balance that clearly works: The author’s biography notes that 10,000 schoolchildren chose the novel for Norway’s top bookseller’s prize. With its propulsive prose and its central siblings whose survival is powered by empathy, Beasts is likely to garner praise from far more readers than that in the United States and beyond.
Priyanka Champaneri, The Washington IndependentEn dystopisk fortelling full av skrekk og fortvilelse.
«Udyr» er en sjeldent skummel ungdomsbok som virkelig får hårene til å reise seg i nakken og gir deg trangen til nok en gang å sjekke at utgangsdøra er låst.
(...) Boka har stort lesedriv, få karakterer og et aktivt og enkelt språk.
Den egner seg best for de som er skikkelig glad i grøssere.
Den här får ingen missa!
Från första sidan håller den läsaren på helspänn, och långt efter läsningen lever den här skildringen inuti.
Bokmagasinet Vi läser, Bokmagasinet Vi läser (Sverige)«Norska Ingvild Bjerkelands Odjuren är minimalistisk, realistisk och andlöst spännande.
Detta intensivt minimalistiska drama är sällsynt bra skildrat, dessutom med en språklig förtätning som verkligen imponerar. Ett litet mästerverk om den kaosartade flyktens anatomi.
... med Odjuren har hon tveklöst bjudit på en av årets mest spännande böcker.»
Steven Ekholm, Dagens Nyheter (Sverige)Helhetsbetyg: 5 (Briljant)
«Det är djupt berörande, trovärdigt och med hög spänningsfaktor.
Kärleken och omsorgen mellan bror och syster, skräcken och vedermödorna gestaltas på ett suveränt sätt.
Odjuren har stor potential att leva kvar länge i läsaren.»
Nina Jonsson, Bibliotekstjânst«Detta är en närmast perfekt barnroman. Jag önskar att jag hade skrivit den själv.
(...)
Man kan kalla det skräck eller postapokalyps eller helst bara spänning. Bäst är kanske att inte prata för mycket utan bara låta boken ligga framme tills ett intet ont anande barn öppnar den. Sedan lär de sluka varandra.»
Urban Jarvid, Norra Skåne AvisIn this Norwegian import, a teenage boy tries to keep his sister alive after a harrowing outbreak of monsters.
For months, 13-year-old Abdi’s life has been an increasingly horrific nightmare, ever since the day the terrifying two-legged beasts mysteriously emerged (no one knows from where) and began their violent attacks. The food and medicine supplies have dwindled to nothing, and just about everyone Abdi knows is dead, including he and his 5-year-old sister Alva’s mother. As they run through the woods and across farmland, trying to evade the monsters both human and beast that would do them harm, Abdi has one goal in mind—keep Alva alive long enough to get to the port in Djupevik and then across the North Sea to the U.K.’s Fair Isle, where their ornithologist father is hopefully waiting for them. This proves much easier said than done. A breathless series of illnesses, near misses, and brutal losses—with barely a moment’s rest—keeps readers hurtling through. Though the narrative’s brevity prevents deep characterizations, Abdi’s perspective is gripping, and the vagueness of detail and backstory adds to the suspense. While older readers more familiar with dystopian fiction may find some of the twists less surprising, younger readers will be rapt; all will find the pervasive air of distress that permeates the tale palpable. Physical descriptors are minimal.
Dark and achingly upsetting; highly appealing for a great many horror readers, new and old.
Kirkus, Kirkus ReviewsSet in a postapocalyptic world, Ingvild Bjerkeland’s chilling novel Beasts is about children who hope to reunite with their father.
Thirteen-year-old Abdi is the guardian of his five-year-old sister, Alva, since a beast killed their mother. These beasts struck in cities across Europe, and power outages and shortages exacerbated the fraught situation. “Selfishness spreads like wildfire,” as their mother once observed. Armed survivors loot abandoned buildings, looking for food and medicine. With Alva feverish, Abdi is anxious to find supplies and travel to the remote island where their ornithologist father is stationed.
The creatures the siblings encounter in the eerie forest are both real and metaphorical. After they see crows around a beast-slain deer, Abdi confesses that “Fear flapped its black wings within me.” The beasts themselves might have come from a dark fairy tale: Six feet tall and covered in black fur, they have hoofs and curling claws that unfurl for
attacks. Although the beasts could be symbols arising from nightmares, the carnage they wreak is all too real.
Short chapters and taut prose set a frantic pace. There is no extraneous backstory and details of the ongoing emergencies remain hazy. The novella becomes an allegory for a world in peril. Certain scenes have particular resonance, as when fifty people seek to escape their country on a small inflatable boat. The best and worst of human impulses are on display: Raiders embrace violence in the competition for resources; an older woman, Lucy, offers the siblings shelter and embodies altruism. Throughout, Alva’s innocence is a foil for Abdi’s unease. The book’s inconclusive but hopeful ending invites a sequel.
Beasts combines the timelessness of a fairy tale with the stark immediacy of contemporary dystopian fiction.
Foreword, Foreword (USA)«Udyr» er en sjeldent skummel ungdomsbok som virkelig får hårene til å reise seg i nakken og gir deg trangen til nok en gang å sjekke at utgangsdøra er låst.
Tone Holmen, Leser søker bokSpennende, men nådeløst grusom. En dystopi som ikke er for sarte sjeler, men perfekt for modige lesere som elsker ordentlige grøssere, med udyr og monstre som gir gåsehud helt opp i hårrøttene.
OBS: Vanskelig å legge fra seg når man først er i gang!
Dilemmaet til «Udyr» er faktisk at den er så god og troverdig.
Guri Fjellberg, Aftenposten| Denmark |
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