Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

187 reviews

treat_yo_shelf's review

emotional reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

Beartown destroyed me and put me back together. I fell in love with almost all of the characters, a few will stick with  me forever. When I finished this book I physically vibrated  at the grief of having finished and the last message of hope. 

This is a book I will forever wish I could read for the first time again.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, Rape, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Bullying

theelliad's review

5.0

Never would I have expected to find a book so triggering and love it so dearly- this was so specific in its traumas it became somewhat healing and I fell in love with the parts of me I saw reflected in these characters. This story of a small town and it’s hockey obsessed people branches into accountability, power, social norms, grief, the exploitation of children in competitive sports, sex and assault politics, homophobia (internalised and external), secrecy, systematic and institutional failures and family dynamics without ever feeling too full. Backmans writing is so easy to love and I will be thinking about this book for a long time 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Addiction, Death, Homophobia, Drug use, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Child death, Suicide, Alcoholism, Dysphoria, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Sexual assault, Bullying, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

tlaynejones's review

slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Classism, Bullying, Rape, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Child death, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

lesedi66's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Rape

Minor: Alcoholism and Homophobia

trophysoph's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The book has an ebb and flow. Sometimes it spends too long on things and sometimes the plot shoots by you. At some point you come to understand that whatever you expect to happen will likely not be quite what happens

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism and Bullying

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

risemini's review

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Misogyny, Alcohol, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Grief, Domestic abuse, and Rape

brookey8888's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This was good, but a very hard read. This is also insanely slow. I knew what this was about which I feel is low key a spoiler because the summary on the back doesn’t mention what happened. It was just so interesting to see how all the people reacted to this event and the motivation behind. This did make me so angry though. I honestly didn’t care about the hockey at 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Blood, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Classism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Death of parent, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Suicide, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

em_hudson03101's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Beartown has been on my TBR for a few years now and there was always an urge to read it, but it was one of those books that always skipped over, which was a big mistake. I listened to Beartown after Spotify recommended it as an Audiobook and I figured why not check off a TBR book. 
Beartown was way more then I could have ever imagined it to be. The realness and cold hearted truth of the book sucked me right in. While listening to the book you feel like the characters are your friends, neighbors, coworkers etc. The author does an amazing job of setting the scene for Beartown, building a community, and keeping a space open for the reader to insert themselves right into the thick of it all. 
This book pulls at the heart strings, has you cheering for a fictional hockey game, and keeps you coming back for more time and time again. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Suicide

shanamertenz's review against another edition

emotional sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Homophobia and Alcoholism

marych3t's review

challenging emotional hopeful 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Child death, and Drug use