Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

193 reviews

redheadbookgirl's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I’ve seen this ALL over bg for years and finally gave in to the hype (I *think* it was @chrisreads who I most recently saw love this!) I went in totally blind + let me just say.. this is NOT what I’d expected/imagined this book to be about! 

Haunting, thought provoking + raw, with a unique writing style, 𝘉𝘌𝘈𝘙𝘛𝘖𝘞𝘕 delves into some dark and sadly all too common themes, most heartbreakingly: the way women are treated in the aftermath of SA allegations. I’ll remain spoiler free but the story elicited a hell of a lot of intense sadness and *literal* fury from me. 

The story feels slower paced to begin, as a LOT of characters are introduced, BUT the way this was done really was so important for the plot. The narrative switches between character perspectives *constantly* (I think around 10-12 pov throughout the book)—— I listened to this on audio, but I can imagine in the book, the pov must change every few paragraphs, so it’s definitely a book that demands your full focus. So many narratives should be confusing but Backman wrote them so flawlessly. 

Despite a slower start, as the story developed, so too did my enjoyment for the book, and I did fall in love with the story of Beartown despite the town and its characters’ *many* flaws.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Gun violence

taylorparrott99's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Pregnancy, Racism, Violence, Alcohol, Child abuse, Rape, Gun violence, Homophobia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, and Grief

aepop12's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault and Violence

Minor: Gun violence

emi_momo's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Drug use, Child death, Bullying, Sexism, Gun violence, and Cancer

Minor: Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, and Homophobia

rsmiley716's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

 A very real, small town/sports town story. The point of views jumped around a lot, which made it hard to follow at times, but was never dull. Not a good read if you are trying to escape the reality of living in a small town because it is so relatable. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Minor: Gun violence

yochananvered's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

My one and only gripe with this book is that it was hard to follow. There were so many characters it sometimes was hard to keep track. However, that may be due more to my lack of reading comprehension than to the actual writing. The story had me so invested. At certain points I even found it hard to breathe because it felt like I was right there experiencing these events alongside the characters. And there were so many great lines; I some that made me laugh, some that made me think, and some that left me feeling a little bit haunted. The next logical thing is to read the sequel, but part of me wants to reread this immediately to notice things I missed and appreciate all the details a little bit more. One day I will definitely reread this, but for now I’m just excited to see what happens next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Bullying, Violence, Gun violence, and Blood

Moderate: Classism, Bullying, Child death, Misogyny, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Homophobia

Minor: Death of parent, Alcohol, Vomit, and Child abuse

c_alexander's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Bullying, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Abandonment, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, and Grief

Moderate: Suicide, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Child death, Child abuse, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Racism, and Self harm

librarliann's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Homophobia, and Rape

Moderate: Violence, Gun violence, and Suicidal thoughts

theelliad's review against another edition

5.0

Never would I have expected to find a book so triggering and love it so dearly- this was so specific in its traumas it became somewhat healing and I fell in love with the parts of me I saw reflected in these characters. This story of a small town and it’s hockey obsessed people branches into accountability, power, social norms, grief, the exploitation of children in competitive sports, sex and assault politics, homophobia (internalised and external), secrecy, systematic and institutional failures and family dynamics without ever feeling too full. Backmans writing is so easy to love and I will be thinking about this book for a long time 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Addiction, Death, Homophobia, Drug use, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Child death, Suicide, Alcoholism, Dysphoria, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Sexual assault, Bullying, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

lilly_koonce's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Gun violence, Drug use, and Sexual assault