BOOK REVIEW || THE BOY AT THE DOOR BY ALEX DAHL

Cecilia Wilborg has it all–a loving husband, two beautiful daughters, and a gorgeous home in an affluent Norwegian suburb. And she works hard to keep it all together. Too hard…

There is no room for mistakes in her life. Even taking home a little boy whose parents forgot to pick him up at the pool can put a crimp in Cecilia’s carefully planned schedule. Especially when she arrives at the address she was given
and finds an empty, abandoned house…

There’s nothing for Cecilia to do but to take the boy home with her, never realizing that soon his quiet presence and knowing eyes will trigger unwelcome memories from her past–and unravel her meticulously crafted life…

THE BOY AT THE DOOR BY ALEX DAHL

Published on  July 24th 2018 by Berkley

Genre: Crime Fiction

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The Boy at the Door is an evocative read that centers around a mother’s choice and her ambition for a perfect life. What would one do to be an all-rounded and wealthy family woman? How far would one go for her children?

Motherhood is not always a pleasant journey; it is a life of sacrifice, good intentions, and sometimes the necessity of a cruel action. In Alex Dahl’s debut, Cecilia Wilberg is a formidable character who is aggressive, intimidating, and always in control. Like Cecilia, the novel is sharply written with a darkness beneath its storytelling. The Boy at the Door is neither gritty nor brutal in its execution of the crime but is simply a story of a woman and the pressures of motherhood. It is close up at the intricacies of live suburban life in Scandinavia.

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Personally, what struck me in this novel is that I did not like Cecilia. I wanted to like her for how well she held her family, how she cared for her children and husband, but even in those moments of love there was a certain toxicity to Cecilia’s character. As a person I would be drawn to her, but as a fictional character, I loved how well she was written. In addition to Cecilia, we also read about Annika Lucasson. Her story is riddled with addiction, abuse, and rape; her chapters were scary for me to read. I got emotional reading about how hard she tried to clean up. Hers is a complete opposite to Cecilia.

Although The Boy at the Door deals with a dark issues, the novel is a light and fast paced read, and although its plot twists aren’t very shocking, the examination of characters and motherhood makes this read a dangerous addiction.

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