Reviews with content warning for Classism - Beartown

Reviews tagging 'Classism'

const_elle_ations's review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Rating: 4 stars

i have so much to say about this book!! it did what it set out to do so well - i'm just not sure if what it set out to do was 100% my thing. the focus on community and the intersection of lives was fantastic and reminded me of this is us in the way it was constantly switching between both characters, slowly adding more and more, and times. the way the interpersonal relationships were portrayed felt very complex and cool - there's a review on the back of the book that says that "in this small town, backman shows the world", and i think that's pretty true. it can be applied to a lot of tightly-knit communities (i saw my robotics team in some parts of this book). i like how there's no clear main character - though if i had to pick, i'd say it's peter and kira.

i think what fell flat for me was the characters - while the relationships between them were fleshed out beautifully, the characters themselves felt semi-cliched and vague (at least some of them. i'd say a couple felt like they could be real people - peter, kira, ana, and david at times). i wanted less of an overarching, faraway look at what was happening and more of the zoomed-in, real-time emotional reactions of the characters to the rape accusations - especially the reactions of maya, kevin, and benji. i do think there was more of a focus on the adults, which makes sense because it's an adult book, but that made a lot of it feel detached to me. i think if some of the characters felt more personable, it'd be SO much more agonizing to read about their actions - especially the more "gray" characters.

i like the truth-telling writing style - it reminded me of my favorite parts of the raven boys. it felt a little heavy-handed and pretentious sometimes, but i like that sort of thing. i haven't read the reviews yet, but i suspect that's probably most people's gripe with this book if they have any. that, and the pacing, which was admittedly pretty slow for like...the whole book (i was expecting the party to happen a lot earlier in the book, not halfway, and...thought there's be more action/plot?)

that being said, i really loved how much the book tackled and how well it did it. the way it talked about rape culture felt so real and ugly and i wanted to reach into the book and punch pretty much everyone but ana, benji, ramona, and the anderssons. i loved the climax -

i was like no WAY she's gonna kill him and then she pulled the trigger and my mouth dropped. but she's better than him. so the line "now you're always going to be scared of the dark" interspersed with them ten years on. oh god. the cinema. i adore backman's mind for this. there are so many LAYERS.
i could talk about the symbolism in that scene for days.

and the way it both praised loving a sport (or, really, being obsessed with anything), and how that's a lifeline to the people who need it, and how excluding it can be to those who aren't let in (robotics call out again, yay). the page where ana talks about how much she loves hockey and how they won't let her made me start crying. her frustration was so tangible and i wish we could've seen more about her.

i'll definitely finish the series if only to find out which of the boys dies, becomes a father, and plays professional. that was so out of pocket. selfishly, i'm hoping the next two books have more of a focus on the teenagers.

Content Warnings

lizziaha's review against another edition

Go to review page

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

Goosebumps, chills, tears. I cannot express how much this book got under my skin. It took me a little bit to get into it—I wasn’t sure I was going to like it—but before I knew it, I was deeply invested in this town and these characters. I was never quite sure what they were going to do—characters I trusted made choices that hurt me and characters I hated made choices that I was rooting for. And some characters I just hated and some characters I just loved (one of those hockey boys in particular has my whole entire heart and then some). The reading experience is really immersive. I felt like I was somewhere in that town, in the forest. And Backman has a way of writing that takes such complex topics and puts them into really simple words. It’s sort of a detour from what I usually love but there’s just something about the way that he uses repetition is just so compelling and powerful.

I also really like the way that, even though it’s the first in a series, it can also stand on its own. Even though I want to stay with these characters and see what happens next, it felt complete.

Content Warnings

julieshuff's review

Go to review page

challenging dark funny reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Extremely slow start- so many side characters and it takes awhile to get going. Once I was invested though, the pages flew by. The ending felt a bit rushed to me as well, given all of the time that went into set up and development.

This book deals with lots of heavy topics in passing (class, sexism, alcoholism, homophobia, abuse, death of a child), and pivots around a graphic on-page rape and the fallout that comes from the girl going to the police. It was very anxiety inducing to see how few people in the town believed her, even if it wasn’t surprising.

P.S. there is rampant unexamined fatphobia throughout this book as well.

Content Warnings

lucygibbons22's review

Go to review page

emotional reflective medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

For me, it started out slow and I thought was kind of boring because all the characters fit very stereotypical roles but then they got so much more complicated and the journey they all went on was intense and difficult but relatable. So many twists. So many people to care about and root for and a few to hate. Great read.

Content Warnings

samiamiam's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

My grandmother had bought me this book years ago after I read "My Grandmother Wants Me To Tell You She's Sorry" and despite devouring that book I thought Beartown wouldn't appeal to me.

Boy was I wrong. I picked this book up because I needed a book with snow on the cover for a January prompt and I've never been so glad I did. This book was ohenominal and heart wrenching. I've already rush ordered the next two and I'm sure they'll be just as good. If you can stomach the darker themes of this book I can not recommend it more highly.

the scene where Maya puts a gun to Kevins head and pulls the trigger is soemthinf we are told from the start will happen but i became so immersed in the story i forgot it was coming. When she dtarts talking ahout killing him or herself i remembered and i was in the edge of my seat. The fact that you dont kniw the gun is unloaded until the deed is done just adds ro it. The flashing back and forth to what you at first think is Maya and her future husband and what you learn after finding out the gun is unloadiled is Kevin and his future wife still gives me chills. This was one of the best written scenes i have ever read and i can not praise it enough

Content Warnings