Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - Anxious People

Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

39 reviews

gmwells's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

TL;DR: THIS IS A TRULY AMAZING BOOK AND I BELIEVE EVERYONE SHOULD READ IT AT LEAST ONCE! This is one of those books that I wish I could read for the first time again.

I bought this book on a whim because I happened to see it for sale online when I was searching for course books on Convergent Journalism. It had been in my TBR list for a short time as I saw many readers on BookTok (or whatever you want to call it) recommending it.

When I started reading it, it was honestly because I couldn’t continue to read one of the five other books that I had started — I had to start a new book instead. I had no idea what this book was about, simply that it had something to do with “anxious people” as the title suggested.

After I began reading it, I will admit that I had a slow start. I made it through maybe five rather short chapters before needing to take a break. I had no idea where the story was going to take me, and I suppose my brain didn’t quite like that idea.

As I continued reading (over a period of a few months packed with other things like birthday parties and black belt ceremonies), I had a greater appreciation for the book. I started finishing more and more chapters each time I picked it back up until I read the entire final half of the book in two days.

I cried three times while reading this book: once a little less than halfway thought, once about 50 pages from the end, and once while reading the entirety of the last 15 or so chapters.

Something that every author should strive for is having characters with relatable personalities. More importantly, every author should give their readers the ability to see the world through a new lens. Backman does both and more in this book.

He tells a story of love (of all kinds), of loss, and of the ripple effect that people have on one another’s lives. The characters’ paths are carefully woven together, and new secrets continue to be revealed in practically every chapter.

One thing that I will say about a certain relationship near the end is that they (not revealing who; no spoilers) were a bit forced. They had a mild amount of chemistry between them, but it seemed to carry the same message of amatonormativity that I have seen many books drenched in. Thankfully, because Backman also focuses on other kinds of love more strongly throughout the whole book, he did not have this message of amatonormativity as heavily thrust on the reader as many other books do; however, it was there nonetheless.

This book has attachment, relatability, and simplicity, and that’s all you really need to write a great book. Besides the slow start and the one small bit that I mentioned in the above paragraph, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. I loved that I was kept on my toes right until the end, and that by that point I had unknowingly fallen in love with the characters so much that I couldn’t help but cry during the final pages. Backman’s writing style is one that I will forever appreciate and enjoy, and I look forward to reading more of his books in the future.

Content Warnings

mheiling's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

rory1387's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny mysterious relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

things I loved:
- realistic characters!! everyone had their flaws but I loved them all by the end
- a queer relationship that isn’t fetishized or “other-ized”. queer people are still people after all, not just video game avatars.
- discussion of so many important topics!!! the climate crisis, the wealth gap/income inequality, grief, suicidal thoughts/attempts, misogyny, parenting, divorce, refugees/immigration, etc., all in a satisfying and genuine way

ps: don’t be scared of all the content warnings, everything is handled super well

Content Warnings

alexisgarcia's review

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful mysterious 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? No

4.5

I loved this book. As usual, I always recommend people go into Backman’s books totally blind. It makes his books so much more enjoyable and exciting in my opinion. The group of characters were all so unique and well developed and it was really fun to see them all interact and eventually bond. I loved the twists and turns of the plot as well. I would recommend this book as a fun read! As always please read the content warnings!!!

Content Warnings

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-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

wow wow wow. a new favorite. it took me a second to get used to the style, jumping back and forth with seemingly (but actually never) unconnected plot lines, but everything starts to get wound together and details are filled in and it pays off so beautifully. this is a beautiful love letter to humanity.

Content Warnings

wickedgrumpy's review

Go to review page

mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

"This story is about a lot of thing but mostly about idiots.

I feel like the supreme idiot for punishing myself to finish this book. I thought the characters were irredeemable from the start, regardless of any growth, explanation, or context given for their actions or reactions since they seem only to be annoying caricatures.

Reading this book feels like you are actively getting whiplash since it keeps tugging you in different directions, trying to keep the suspense/mystery. Because of this it takes forever for anything to happen and it never feels like anything has a natural progression. It's as if you take one step forward and then two steps back in a halting cadence.

Also, this book suffers from what I will henceforth call: Boomer-Humor. To elaborate, any chance to make a disparaging remark about the youths (TM) it is taken. This is all mixed in with the attempt to have meaningful personal stories about grief, loss, addiction, suicide (ideation/attempts) and tie it all up into one interconnected comedic bow, and in the end it is a jumbled repetitive mass of knots.

I thoroughly disliked this book. I will never read anything else from this author. I did not enjoy their prose, their humor, their character-building... No redeeming qualities. It was not for me. I can see where there would be some people who would like it, but I was not one of them.

Also, because I was curious -
Number of times the word idiot is used in the book: 60
Number of times Stockholm is used in the book: 74

This book takes place in Sweden, but not Stockholm.

Content Warnings