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I just read The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson and most enjoyed the very things that seemed to annoy many Goodreads reviewers. It certainly tests the reader's ability to suspend belief without hampering enjoyment. The most fantastical element was so much like a scene in Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses that I was diverted down a side path of suspecting One may actually be the Devil and that insight into the nature of good and evil, especially within the same person, would be forthcoming. But no. Probably Jonasson never read The Satanic Verses. But it was fun for a little while.
I also loved all the highly entertaining stories of actual people and events in Sweden and South Africa. After googling these events and people I discovered that the stories were true, although much duller as related on Wikipedia. One of the greatest joys of ebooks is that they open the world to us. Back when I was restricted to books offered by my local bookstore, I doubt I ever would have come across this translated Swedish novel.
Recommended if you are tolerant of fantastical elements, as well as long and rather dull center sections.
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