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Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent
Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse
Moderate: Bullying
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Sexual violence
This one has a lot of five-star reviews, so take this with a grain of salt. I'm on outlier island with this one. Check trigger warnings before going into this one.
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent
None of the four friends had great parents. Especially Joar's old man who was a violent drunk. There is a lot of drug and alcohol abuse, bullying and violence in their youth, and I felt it was too much. The artist, who didn't get a name until the end, was probably on the spectrum, and his parents didn't understand how special he was. The author is trying to uphold the tension of something awful to come, but it takes most of the book to get there and I didn't find it awful at all, but I felt manipulated by the way the scene was described, making us think something happened that hadn't.
I find it very difficult to review this. I can objectively see that it's well-written, and I usually love Fredrik Backman's books but this didn't capture me. It is too literary and felt like a cross between a misery memoir and a dissertation about art. We get so many observations about what art is, it's this, it's that... The art stuff didn't interest me, and all of the protagonists had had a difficult childhood, as if you needed that to appreciate art. The author introduced random side stories, like what was Christian doing in there?
The short chapters make it very readable but the middle seems drawn-out. I liked Ted and Louisa but didn't care all that much about the others. If you like stories about art, friendships and found family, this might be for you, just don't expect this to be funny and light-hearted like A Man Called Ove.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape
Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent
Minor: Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Abandonment
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Child death, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness
Minor: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Cancer, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexism, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Abandonment
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder