Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

56 reviews

pernillelsk's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Classism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Self harm, Suicide, Child death, and Suicide attempt

abbyjb's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Gun violence, Cancer, Alcoholism, Grief, and Child death

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Self harm, Homophobia, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

adusiek's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault

roemfr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Classism, Death of parent, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Hate crime, Self harm, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence

readingthroughinfinity's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

 THIS BOOK??? I'm so glad I finally read this on Jaz's recommendation because this book was fantastic and like nothing I've ever read before. The writing is emotional, poignant and thoughtful, making us really invest in the protagonists. The slow start works perfectly to introduce us to the big cast of characters and, as the story progresses, we see how interconnected everyone and everything is, making the ending even more powerful and resounding. A truly excellent book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Sexual assault, Classism, Gaslighting, Child death, Cursing, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Drug use

mirr_f's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Alcoholism

pinksappho's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

this is one of the best books that i have ever read. backman is a wonderful author who touches on emotional and dark topics in such a unique and humanising way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, and Child death

megansmith's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

The writing in this book is well done - for having so many characters, its easy to follow who is who and remember each of their stories as the focus constantly shifts. Even some of the worst characters could be seen as products of their environments rather than generic representations of people. If you love digging into character backstories and psychologies, this is a great read. I have a hard time finding reasons to critique this book, my only cons were

the discourse the characters had around the rape was hard to read, but only because it was (unfortunately) realistic to what youd expect in real life to hear in this kind of scenario. It doesnt make it any easier to read, but I give props to the author for the realism.

My only other critique is it was sometimes difficult to get a sense of Beartown’s location - we got the sense some of Peter and Kita’s life was in Canada, but with the mention of moving to North America later on in the book, I got the sense this town isnt actually in Canada. Could be some late night reading confusion, but also this town could be in so many places. Overall its a well written, hard to believe its fiction novel. A hard read for sure but thought provoking if you can read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

miachalupa's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Violence

sarahaf712's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Sexism, Violence, and Vomit