THE KEY – ENGELSFORS TRILOGY 3 (NYCKELN)

“Book series about children and teenagers who have or are developing magical powers, are not uncommon. One can build cities of the piles of books. But with his trilogy, Mats Strandberg and Sara B. Elfgren have made use of reality, which of course, paradoxically enough, is difficult with this genre. Anyone can get carried away with wands, unicorns, Ouija boards, infusions, and such like. “Yeah right”– like the witch Ida would bridle at. But what these two authors excel at, is how a Swedish school corridor smells, how the social services office looks, the jargon, the gravel under the tires, the police interview, the conversation on the narrow minded bourgeois garden party, the local drunks hangout, the graffiti on the windows of the empty premises, the shocking relief in coming out as a dyke. It is this, paired with a sincere and very clear desire to include all the readers in the circle, which makes the trilogy to something extraordinary.”
Dagens Nyheter / SWE

“To wait for the last part of an acclaimed and beloved trilogy is nerve wrecking. There are naturally many threads that need to be tied together, both love intrigues as well as power struggles are to be given satisfactory ends. And not only that – it all has to be implemented with both credibility and relentless suspense. The authors succeed in The Key with the feat to fulfil all the expectations the first two books have brought. How, I do not know, although it is clear that the years of studying exceptional good popular culture has paid off. I close the book entertained, happy and with a strong magical defense against contemporary cynicism.”
Svenska Dagbladet / SWE

“I read The Key in two days and it was not difficult at all. Reading the Engelsfors Trilogy is namely a highly physical action. How often does it happen that one experiences literature claustrophobic enough to hear yourself gasp and shudder? Or to discover that you have clenched your fist in the air and am whispering, “Yes!” when the chubby, shy girl finally nails her oppressors bad enough for him to never forget it? The Engelsfors Trilogy books are at their best when they devoted to sharp satire on the sect mentality in a dying small town, and with an extraordinary accuracy of the awkward teenage love relationship between boys and girls and girls and girls. Who’s hand shall I now hold on to?”
Expressen / SWE

“I find the trilogy’s core, the one which has mesmerized the young readers’ hearts. The fragility of love is what it’s all about. Death is ever-so-ready with the scissors to cut the thread of life. Life is trembling in a fear of loneliness. The lovers flee each other, afraid to get hurt. And what good is it to gain the whole world if you lose your soul? Melodrama is actually not an invective. Melodrama was the reaction to the restrained emotions of classicism. Melodrama in its original form, was the people’s response to the upper-class stiff upper lip. The Engelsfors Trilogy is a melodrama in the best sense. The demons quest for order is defeated by the young witches storming passions. Love is a storm which obliterates all boundaries.”
Aftonbladet / SWE

“I read The Key before I fall asleep, in bed. Which is really destructive. The book is so heavy I get a cramp in my arm from holding it. It hurts the next day. And I do not sleep. I cannot eat my breakfast while reading. But it is worth it. To save the world takes sacrifices. And to read about the saving does too.”
Folkbladet / SWE

“Mats Strandberg’s and Sara B. Elfgren’s language is flowing and captivating. The elements of social realism in the book is just as engaging as the sheer magic and the philosophically existential. Ultimately it is about living. It is with an increasing regret I read the conclusion of a trilogy that has all the qualifications of becoming a classic. Magically captivating as it is.”
UNT / SWE

“Mats Strandberg and Sara B. Elfgren write cinematically and breathlessly exciting, and also manage to surprise the reader. Otherwise, it’s every witch’s own integrity which is the center of attention in the final book of this trilogy. And ultimately, perhaps the message of whole Engelsfors Trilogy, every person has to decide what is important in life. It could be to save the world from destruction. But it could just as well be about standing up for the ones you love, no matter how scary it might feel.”
Södermanlands Nyheter / SWE

“The trilogy is worth all the appreciation it has received, in Sweden as well as in other countries.”
Vetlandaposten / SWE

“800 pages which more or less turn themselves over. The Key is a worthy finish of the trilogy. The end ties all threads together and provide a proper closure. I close the book with a smile over my lips and a sense of loss.”
NorraSkåne.se / SWE

“Sweden’s first real fantasy success.”
Arbetarbladet / SWE

“This last part, as well as the previous ones, is impossible to put down. A magic finale of the Engelsfors adventure. Now we turn to longing for the movie.”
Sundsvalls tidning / SWE

“The relationships between the teenagers, and to their parents and other adults, are very well depicted. Moreover, the dialogue is casual and natural. There is nothing complicated with how people talk, rather holds clever linguistic tics that provide authenticity and flow to the whole. Mats Strandberg and Sara B. Elfgren are driven by an immense love for their main characters.”
Sydsvenskan / SWE

“The Key is a must in terms of X-mas reads for both teenagers and adults. But beware  − the receiver will disappear from all social commitments for the rest of the Holiday. One just has to find out how things turn out for the Engelsfors witches.”
Gefle Dagblad / SWE

“The authors’ sympathies are constantly on the outsiders’ side, while they, despite the fact that they work so clearly with social types, manages to avoid one-dimensional person portrayal. Together The Chosen ones perform heroism. But they are not heroines. They are endowed with magical abilities, but what is really important in their lives − what they believe in, who they want to be and who they are with − cannot be manipulated with magic.”
Göteborgsposten / SWE

“The Key is thrilling all the way, it never gets boring. It is most exciting when things happen one has never foreseen. The authors describe ordinary life, the teenagers everyday problems, their thoughts, ordinary events most teenagers go through. The magic is made so special, it never becomes the norm. In a fantasy world where zombies and vampires have feelings, where aliens who want to become humans are portrayed like something completely normal, it is relieving someone has kept the magic to be just that, magic. These authors have succeeded very well, and that is the strength of the whole trilogy.”
Piteå Tidning / SWE

“From the very beginning it has heeled and swayed, agitated and hot, inside and outside the circle, and nothing is simple. On one hand, chaos, on the other order, in between a fight – at all levels. A young and magnificent trilogy where friendship, love, sadness, and (even giggly) joy is forced out as magical inevitable as it is to become, and to be, a human being.”
Östgötacorrespondenten / SWE