Scan barcode
abitofcourage's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Stalking, Domestic abuse, and War
alienexpert's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
An extremely moving novel discussing the complexity of grief and the stories that live on long after. Elsa is such a spunky kid and her wise yet youthful mind cuts through so much sadness.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Grief, Death, and Medical content
Minor: War and Cancer
sweetandspicy's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Bullying, and Cursing
Minor: Cancer, War, Violence, Stalking, Infidelity, and Kidnapping
A very sweet and relatively light-hearted book. The narrator being a child added a fun adventurous dimension. The last quarter or so is when it really picks up and becomes harder to put down. I would recommend to a friend :)anniebg's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
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? N/A
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer, Violence, War, Blood, Alcoholism, Addiction, Child abuse, Animal death, Death, Physical abuse, and Car accident
hayleyressler's review against another edition
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
4.5
Loved.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: War, Drug abuse, and Domestic abuse
jessamo19's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Violence, Terminal illness, Animal death, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Infidelity, War, and Alcoholism
james1star's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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
3.0
Read this for my Bookish World Cup (video link: https://youtu.be/hV87o_hJqKI?si=lsQjjW_YXGSWreM-) but if not I’d definitely of DNFd this book.
I don’t think the story or character are anything particularly bad but the writing’s extremely dense and overwritten. We follow soon-to-be-eight year old Elsa via a third person perspective and her relationship with her wacky granny. Their bond is so strong and clearly important for Elsa given an up-and-down family life and bullying in school, he grandmother tells her stories which were nice to start. Not long into the book, we find out granny has cancer and sadly dies but not before instrumenting an adventure for Elsa embark on. Via letters to other characters in the real world, she gets to understand the past lives of her granny and I would say the piecing together of the story was certainly the best part of this book. It was a rewarding reading experience to some extent but…
…It is just so dense that on the whole I was left very unfulfilled and slightly irritated after finishing this. So much of the book is filled with repetition after repetition of the same messages, names, and in many ways mini plot twists/turns that after a while you do see coming. Backman goes on far too many tangents including mountains of unnecessary detail and storytelling that was okay to start but became extremely monotonous as the book went on. I had a similar issue in reading ‘A Man Called Ove’ but at least in that we were following characters that I cared for (take a moment of appreciation for Sonja) and it wasn’t that bad. But here… ugh I dunno I didn’t find a lot of what occurred all that realistic and I feel the formatting took me out of the story. This could’ve been helped had Backman chose first person POV from Elsa but then again I don’t think he truly grappled with a child’s understanding all that well.
Overall, this was fine. I liked how things fitted into place but was certainly overwritten. Not the best from Backman.
Note: no chocolate for dogs! Or much else they give them tbh.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Grief, and Bullying
Minor: Alcohol, Child death, Alcoholism, War, Drug abuse, Cancer, Domestic abuse, and Cursing
lifeofchrstnlvly's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Death's greatest power is not that it can make people die, but that it can make people want to stop living.
Backman, as always, knows how to tap into human emotions and explore humanity. What I appreciate most about his writing is his ability to take a simple truth and delve into it to the extent that it prompts a different perspective, making us recognize the significance of that truth. Kudos to Backman (and the translator!) for always knowing how to articulate the essence of humanity.
I enjoyed reading "My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry" (in my opinion, Backman can do no wrong). However, I did notice one flaw that bothered me a little: Elsa, who is almost 8 years old, sometimes seemed unusually mature for her age. The only thing that reminded me that she is still a child was her fascination with the Land-of-Almost-Awake. If it weren't for her interest in this imaginary world, she would come across as someone in her teens who simply enjoys escaping reality by creating a different world in her mind.
However, this book reminded me that being different is not wrong. You should not allow society to bring you down simply because you are different.
As with any of Backman's books, he once again reminded me of the importance of kindness. It serves as a reminder that we never truly know the struggles and experiences that others are going through. We should always keep in mind that even the people we may dislike have their own challenges and reasons for behaving the way they do.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, Animal death, and Blood
Moderate: Pregnancy, War, Alcoholism, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent, Infidelity, Cancer, Car accident, and Addiction
heim_weh's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
4.5
It’s meant to be a ‘comfort book’, one that’s not literarily heavy nor dense on convoluted plot or themes. But wow did it read my heart out and ripped it into smithereens, like Elsa would say. I cried a lot reading this book. Partly because it’s a bloody well-written book, partly because I lost my grandpa to cancer exactly four months ago. He was the complete opposite of who Granny was, and he would’ve been horrified by her way of living. But I miss him, and I see him in Granny, somehow.
This book feels a lot like Ove, except darker despite the blatantly fairy tale facade. It’s so sad and funny at the same time. It’s not meant to be realistic I guess, but the heart in the story is real enough to make me love these characters.
‘Who teaches us to be normal when we’re one of a kind?’ I think Elsa would appreciate this quote from Legion. It’s a bloody good show.
Minus half a star because of how juvenile it can seem at times.
Also, please don’t feed dogs chocolate or cinnamon buns or cake mix.
This book feels a lot like Ove, except darker despite the blatantly fairy tale facade. It’s so sad and funny at the same time. It’s not meant to be realistic I guess, but the heart in the story is real enough to make me love these characters.
‘Who teaches us to be normal when we’re one of a kind?’ I think Elsa would appreciate this quote from Legion. It’s a bloody good show.
Minus half a star because of how juvenile it can seem at times.
Also, please don’t feed dogs chocolate or cinnamon buns or cake mix.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, War, Death, Animal death, and Violence
sharkqueen22's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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? N/A
5.0
Cried about 4 times
I recommend this book to anyone
It's such a heartwarming book about grief through a child's life
I recommend this book to anyone
It's such a heartwarming book about grief through a child's life
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, and War