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bearybooky's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
fast-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
Book should be tagged lgbtqia
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Suicide
Minor: Drug use, Death, Cursing, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Cancer, Grief, and Infidelity
moraina's review
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-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
3.75
Anxious People focuses on a variety of characters that all get tied together through a bank robbing gone awry. Backman explores these characters individually, and as a group where although they are all very different, they end up having positive impacts on each others' lives through unlikely events that brings them together. I previously read A Man Called Ove by Backman and personally, much preferred that to Anxious People. While I enjoyed the dialogue and some of the characters' personalities, I found it much slower-paced and more difficult to get into compared to A Man Called Ove. Furthermore, much of the book is written in an interview style, which I found a bit disjointed and difficult to pick back up after taking a break from reading. I would say it is worth a read if you're a fan of the author's other work, but this would not be my first recommendation for those that are just getting started with him.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent
m_a_j's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
aleroness's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Such a beautiful read centred on such a deep, complex, and sad subject.
Phenomenal examination of human behaviour and how everyone plays a role in everyone else's lives. So many fully fleshed out characters!!
Phenomenal examination of human behaviour and how everyone plays a role in everyone else's lives. So many fully fleshed out characters!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Mental illness
thatsssorachael's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
filippaf's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Stalking, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness
kailiyahknight's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Suicide, Addiction, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts
eleanorrosecugal's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts
madelinedalton's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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? It's complicated
3.25
I am in the minority of readers who did not like A Man Called Ove, so this book is a winner to me for the mere fact that I had a decent time reading it and am not swearing Fredrik Backman's writing off entirely.
Maybe this was a me problem, but I found it difficult to get emotionally invested in the poignant, human side of this story when the premise was so wacky and unrealistic. The storytelling structure was a clusterfuck--every time I picked up the book, I had a niggling feeling that I had missed a key detail, and I think that was due to the execution of the non-linear timeline. It felt as though the author was purposely withholding information from the reader so that they'd keep reading. I'm fine with this narrative structure if it is the best possible storytelling vehicle, but in this case, it was not.
All of that said, the cast of ensemble characters grew on me over time. It was really sweet. And while the "everyone has a story" and "you are not alone" (Alexa, play "You Will Be Found" from Dear Evan Hansen) themes weren't anything groundbreaking, I still thought they were touching.
Also, it’d be great if Fredrik Backman could knock it off with the casual fatphobia. (Still gonna read Beartown though.)
Maybe this was a me problem, but I found it difficult to get emotionally invested in the poignant, human side of this story when the premise was so wacky and unrealistic. The storytelling structure was a clusterfuck--every time I picked up the book, I had a niggling feeling that I had missed a key detail, and I think that was due to the execution of the non-linear timeline. It felt as though the author was purposely withholding information from the reader so that they'd keep reading. I'm fine with this narrative structure if it is the best possible storytelling vehicle, but in this case, it was not.
All of that said, the cast of ensemble characters grew on me over time. It was really sweet. And while the "everyone has a story" and "you are not alone" (Alexa, play "You Will Be Found" from Dear Evan Hansen) themes weren't anything groundbreaking, I still thought they were touching.
Also, it’d be great if Fredrik Backman could knock it off with the casual fatphobia. (Still gonna read Beartown though.)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Fatphobia, Gun violence, and Alcoholism
avieherman's review
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-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? Yes
4.5
I rarely read male writers, but I quite enjoyed this book.
I liked the idea of the structure, where the story is revealed in snippets, with shifting perspectives through a limited 3rd person narrator, mixed with police interview transcripts. It was kind of effective thematically, but I felt that it stunted the pace of the story and made the book feel like it was much longer than it was. I almost would have preferred keeping it from the police POV and having the reader uncover the story at the same time as the police and also, I'm not sure that would have worked either.
I enjoyed the writing, it was refreshing to read such strong writing, I haven't read good, contemporary literary fiction in a while.
I liked the themes, especially this idea of how slippery language and symbols can be -- I loved the scenes where two characters were having essentially two different conversations or when they kept missing the point, turning the very idea of communication on its head.
I liked the twists at the end and how (spoiler-ish) everything wrapped up so neatly at the end. It's so nice to read literary fiction that handles dark subject matter and yet, wraps up so optimistically.
I loved the symbolism behind the picture of the monkey, frog and elk and how no one could properly interpret it. And I loved the thing with Zara's letter -- we can hold the answer the whole time, but might need someone else's help to see it.
This book made me feel how fucked and wonderful the world can be.
I liked the idea of the structure, where the story is revealed in snippets, with shifting perspectives through a limited 3rd person narrator, mixed with police interview transcripts. It was kind of effective thematically, but I felt that it stunted the pace of the story and made the book feel like it was much longer than it was. I almost would have preferred keeping it from the police POV and having the reader uncover the story at the same time as the police and also, I'm not sure that would have worked either.
I enjoyed the writing, it was refreshing to read such strong writing, I haven't read good, contemporary literary fiction in a while.
I liked the themes, especially this idea of how slippery language and symbols can be -- I loved the scenes where two characters were having essentially two different conversations or when they kept missing the point, turning the very idea of communication on its head.
I liked the twists at the end and how (spoiler-ish) everything wrapped up so neatly at the end. It's so nice to read literary fiction that handles dark subject matter and yet, wraps up so optimistically.
I loved the symbolism behind the picture of the monkey, frog and elk and how no one could properly interpret it. And I loved the thing with Zara's letter -- we can hold the answer the whole time, but might need someone else's help to see it.
This book made me feel how fucked and wonderful the world can be.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Suicide