Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

22 reviews

kriskelly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

If you’re reading this, PLEASE check the TW’s. This book gets quite intense at times and I wasn’t prepared for it. However, it is a fantastic read!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Blood

Moderate: Drug use and Drug abuse

adorablyandie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Homophobia

Minor: Xenophobia

taracloudclark's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

A stark small town obsessed with hockey grooms its children to be either predators or victims, heroes are truly born out of adversity and find themselves kneecapped by those they trust the most. 

The first half of this book is a lot of exposition, setting the stage for the driving action. But it’s done well, creatively, interestingly. In other words, “nothing happens,” and I was *almost* bored with it, but I only had to push through a little. It kind of reminds me of Spoon River Anthology with the intertwining of lives and stories of a small town where everyone knows everyone and always have (except the newbies, but that’s not portrayed as harshly as many of this trope). 

While it’s a sports town, the sport itself doesn’t take a front seat. It truly is the background while still sating any love for it. 

This definitely borders on literary fiction bc the structure is done in a very precise and lovely way, using almost poetic mechanisms such as repeated phrases and parallelism. The narrative style also has a starkness that reflects the setting and the situation, and vice versa. Tension and foreshadowing are done in an obvious but not ridiculous manner. The *way* it was written is as well done as the story itself. 

This is definitely a book for consideration. The story is laid out, and while there’s no ambiguity as to “what happened,” there is much speculation to be made as to why and how and what the underlying issues are and how else they affect society. There are no stark answers given. Bad behavior is mentioned, implicated, but not condemned outright. That’s for the reader to determine, negotiate in some cases. Anyone who feels this is moralizing is probably on the more brutal side of the issue. 

The narrator Marin Ireland does very well in complimenting the narrative style as well. It’s 3rd person, and the author is male, but I’m pleased they chose a female to tell this story. Such topics through the male perspective can be troublesome, but I feel like the author did well and the narrator helped convince me of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Vomit, Classism, Blood, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Addiction, Bullying, Drug use, Mental illness, and Suicide

nina83's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Bullying, and Violence

Minor: Grief, Child death, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

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

_rosie_reads's review

emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder and Rape

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Addiction, Mental illness, Self harm, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Suicide, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Bullying, Violence, Classism, Death, and Drug abuse

genesismt's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Rape

Moderate: Violence, Mental illness, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Drug use, Body shaming, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Suicidal thoughts

svincent2210's review

challenging dark hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Suicide, Sexual assault, Rape, and Drug use

edgaranjapoe's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Violence, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Classism, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexism, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Sexual content, Homophobia, Medical content, Fatphobia, Blood, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Mental illness, Body shaming, Racial slurs, and Vomit

Minor: Eating disorder, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Abandonment, Self harm, Stalking, Cursing, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Animal death, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

sisulake18's review

challenging funny hopeful sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, and Rape

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Bullying, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Body shaming, Drug use, Fatphobia, Alcoholism, Child death, Suicide, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Grief