Reviews

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

alimoo511's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

beckylaxtonbass's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

rmantelli's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad

4.75

jazzsonn's review

funny hopeful inspiring

4.5

Backman always has such distinctive characters, and I loved seeing the world through Elsa's eyes. Backman's signature humor, narrative style, and descriptive techniques really shone here (not quite as much as in AP, but still) (e.g., not from the book, but something like, "...she frowns, as one does when you're told you're not allowed to climb the fence to a locked park at night"). Enjoyed the way the stories of the Land-of-Almost-Awake were woven in (a bit confusing at first but was eventually able to see the relevance). Loved how the chapter titles were tied together at the end.  Elsa is a character I'll remember for a while. 
Found some typos. 
(Note: AP is still my favorite)

dcunitz's review against another edition

4.0

“These are the same muppets who managed to misinterpret the word “interpret,” which means something completely different in Miamas. In Miamas an interpreter is a creature most easily described as a combination between a goat and a chocolate cookie. Interpreters are extremely gifted linguistically, as well as excellent to grill on the barbecue.”

rachrosssss's review against another edition

adventurous reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

sleepybooks's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

jedore's review against another edition

Narrated by a little girl…couldn’t connect

jilly_k's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

cosmas's review against another edition

4.0

4.5
I probably shouldnt be reviewing this book right after i finished it at 1:30 In the morning but oh well.
My god I’m speechless.
This book may have taken me 3+ months to read (which is the only reason this didn’t get 5 stars) but that’s mainly because I move super slowly through any kind of contemporary book. It’s been a long time since I’ve become so attached to characters in a story- nevertheless a stand-alone novel; and I loved legit each and every single character I was supposed to love- no exaggeration. The plot was a tad far-fetched but it works, just trust me. And if your a serial fantasy reader like me this book is not too hard to get into because it does have a slight fantasy element to it (this statement kind of contradicts the fact it took me over three months to read this book, but, regardless). To sum it all up I cried- several times, and I’d gladly go through another 3+ months of slowly digesting this book if it meant I got experience the story for the first time all over again.