Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

52 reviews

kateships's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Domestic abuse

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

 

Context:
I borrowed Beartown from my library through the Libby app. It is the first Fredrik Backman book that I have read.

 

Review:

Beartown is a long book, but I read it in a couple of days. Backman’s writing is compelling and easy to digest. The book’s strength lies in its ability to capture the small-town, hockey-obsessed culture of Beartown convincingly and quickly in the reader’s imagination. Despite the book’s large cast of characters, each person feels believable, and it is easy to keep track of everyone. Backman then uses this setting and this cast of characters to tell a heartbreaking but powerful story about the double-edged nature of a town that fosters a close-knit sports culture of ferocious loyalty, spirited work ethic, and conspicuous silence. He manages to capture the complexity of moral situations and sheds light on why certain people make certain choices, but nevertheless asserts the necessity of morally correct actions rooted in integrity and empathy.

 

My one issue with the book is Backman’s writing style. Although he appears capable of “showing instead of telling,” he often opts to “show” the reader something through a scene and follow it up with him “telling” them what it meant. He’s a huge fan of punchy concluding sentences that hammer in a point about morality or human nature, which can be effective if used sparingly. Unfortunately, Backman uses this device constantly, which dilutes the effectiveness of these lines considerably. If he cut them down by about 75-80% and kept only the best ones, he would be left with some pretty devastating lines that feel like a punch in the gut. More bizarrely, he sometimes repeats these lines within a chapter, with an effect similar to someone repeating a punchline of a semi-decent joke over again in the hopes of generating more laughs. 

 

Fortunately, I appreciated the other elements of the book enough for me to ignore his annoying writing quirks. That being said, I feel no desire to continue with the Beartown series. I devoured this book like it was a decadently sweet dessert and decided to quit when satiated instead of making myself sick by eating further. 

 

 

The Run-Down: 

You will probably like Beartown if . . . 

·      You want to read a book that captures the small-town feel

·      You like well-developed and damaged characters who must choose between doing what is right and what is easy

·      You appreciate a story that has something to say and understands the complexties of human nature

·      You are interested in the impact that masculinized sports culture has on wider society

 

You might not like Beartown if . . . 

·      You dislike shifting POVs or a large cast of characters

·      You can’t stand didacticism or a heavy-handed writing style

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Misogyny, Bullying, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Fatphobia, Alcoholism, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Classism, Drug use, Medical trauma, Racism, Self harm, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Domestic abuse

sarahmae531's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Such a beautiful and heartbreaking story. For every terrible character there were so many more that I fell in love with. 
I really enjoyed Backman’s writing style/this translation. The ending tied everything together perfectly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Rape, Violence, Racism, and Homophobia

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, and Suicide

te_ss_i's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Rape, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Classism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Child death, Alcohol, Transphobia, Bullying, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Fatphobia, and Toxic relationship

katharina90's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I adore the Beartown series. 

This story captures so beautifully what it means to be human and all that we're capable of... the best, the worst, and everything in between. It is emotional and captivating, at times heartbreaking, funny, tense and hopeful. 

Backman's characters are wonderfully complex, imperfect like the rest of us, and utterly lovable (or at least most of them...). 

The writing style is simple, succinct and fairly blunt, and there's a lot of foreshadowing. 

I was hooked immediately and will definitely be rereading this in the years to come. 


Quotes: 

"Words are not small things." 

"Difficult questions, simple answers. What is a community? It is the sum total of our choices."


[I listened to the audiobook this time. It is well narrated and I enjoyed it a lot, but definitely prefer reading this story myself so I can reread sentences and paragraphs to my heart's content.]

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Classism, Rape, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, and Sexism

Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Fatphobia, Transphobia, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse

verafey's review

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

Was hesitant about reading a book that -at first- seemed to primarily be about ice hockey, which I know absolutely nothing about. BUT this book was definitely about a lot more than just ice hockey. Enjoyed this book a lot even though I truly did (and still do) not care about ice hockey as a sport itself. Fredrik Backman adresses quite a few heavy but important topics which he did really well, in my opinion, and that brought tears to my eyes more than once. (Please don’t forget to look up trigger warnings before reading). Not sure what I thought of the parts where the autor skipped to the future though. I felt like they sometimes took me out of the flow of the story, where unnecessary and gave away too much too soon. Eitherway I loved this book and will definitely read the second and third book of the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Misogyny, Violence, Alcoholism, and Rape

Moderate: Suicide, Grief, Gun violence, and Self harm

Minor: Domestic abuse

brainrot_197's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Bullying, Alcohol, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Classism

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

jadedjill's review

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, and Rape

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Suicide, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Mental illness, Islamophobia, Gun violence, Grief, Death of parent, Child death, Violence, Outing, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Classism

singalana's review

dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

A dwindling town, passion for hockey and a crime that divides the town. What price are the people willing to pay for hockey? 

During the course of the story we get to know a cast of characters whose lives revolve around hockey in one way or another. Each of the characters have their own struggles in life, but when one of the players is accused of rape, people will have to decide who to believe and what hockey really means to them. 

The story paints a vivid picture of Beartown and all its inhabitants. It does a good job shedding light to the complex motivations people have behind their actions, and also allows the reader to read between the lines when necessary. 

At first, the book allows us to get to know the characters and their circumstances. Then a hockey player rapes a girl. The scene isn't described in needless detail, but is impactful nonetheless. When the events are made public, the people of Beartown react. 

This book deals with shame, rape culture and culture of silence. It touches on many important topics with gentleness and respect. 

The ending surprised me, and I thought it was as satisfying as it could be, considering the circumstances. I think everyone who spends time in testosterone filled environments such as a hockey team would benefit from reading this book. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Homophobia, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Medical content

suzydunk's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Child death, Classism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Rape