Troll A Love Story by Johanna Sinisalo

Hows this for a synopsis – a gay photographer nicknamed Angel living in Finland comes home one evening drunk after being rejected by a man he has fancied for sometime, he notices that some kids are kicking a small troll outside his apartment and he decides to take the little fellow in (despite it being illegal to keep a wild animal) and nurse it back to health. Oh because Trolls were discovered in 1907 and although rare are accepted as part of Northern Scandinavia’s wildlife. If you then throw in Angels complicated sex life (forget love triangles, how about a love rectangle) and his increasing sexual and protective attraction to the troll as it grows up, you have yourself one very quirky book.

There are several narrators throughout which change with each chapter which are typically 1-3 pages short and interwoven throughout are academic writings, Poems and stories on Trolls.

This is a very quick read and proves rather intriguing and it’s certainly different. Yes it is a love story of sorts but certainly not in the conventional sense and there are some funny moments as Angel adapts to living with a Troll which poos on his floor and eats live guinea pigs.

But rather than having the feel of a fable or fairytale, the book looks more at relationships and what drives the characters attractions. It looks at how some of the characters will use sex for their own gain, play with the power within their relationships and the reader sees how the Troll is not the only kept ‘pet’ in the book.

Would I recommend this? Its funny, sweet and sometimes downright gross and disturbing but its certainly interesting and says a lot more than it first appears to.

Oh and in case you were wondering, there is no 'sex scene' between a man and a Troll (considering the Troll is a juvenile it would just be all kinds of wrong.)

This book is also known under the title Not Before Sundown.

Verdict 3 ½ stars

Posted by Jess