Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

41 reviews

catherineleigh's review

challenging 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Classism, Bullying, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Eating disorder, Racism, Alcoholism, Blood, Xenophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, and Body shaming

syracia's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Bullying, Toxic friendship, and Body shaming

melv32's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Bullying, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Child death, Misogyny, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol, Body shaming, Classism, Cursing, and Drug use

yulecogs's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Grief, Stalking, Homophobia, Fatphobia, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Classism, Murder, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Drug use, Death, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Bullying, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Addiction

briemont5's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I am way late to the game, but I finished Beartown today. If you haven’t read it, it’s highly recommended. Yeah, it’s great because it revolves around hockey. But it does so much more than that. 

If you’re moderately involved in hockey, you know each of these characters in real life. It’s a good social commentary on toxic masculinity, small town mentality, blind devotion that comes with team mentality, and the pressure of youth sports. It’s a beautifully told story about how something we love has such an ugly side. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Rape

Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Sexism, and Misogyny

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Child abuse, Xenophobia, and Body shaming

leonormsousa's review

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

 I think the best word to describe what Beartown was to me is unexpected. Not unexpected in terms of quality (I mean I had seen how much Sara from @book.vorfreude loved it and she has great taste so I was already expecting to love it as well) but pretty much in every other sense of the word. 

I went in without knowing much about the book and I think that’s the best way to go. The synopsis is kind of vague (which I very much approve of in this case) and there’s not even a genre that you can quite attribute to the book. Even after reading it, it’s hard to describe what this book is about. What I can say is that it is, at its very core, a book about humans. And a delicious one indeed. 

Beartown is most definitely a slow burner. For the first half of the book, it feels like nothing’s happening. But, surprise, surprise: it’s only the great (and very much needed) set-up for what is to come. You spend 200 pages getting to know these characters, their history, their passions, their goals and wishes, and what drives them. You create empathy with all of them. And then, Backman slowly “breaks” them, one by one. 

I got to tell you, this book was definitely one of the most violently emotional books I’ve ever read. It got to a point where I was crying almost every chapter (and I’m not even an easy crier). And the reason why it was so is that it felt so absolutely REAL. Every character, every action, every plot line. There are many great things about this book, but I believe this is the biggest one. 

Backman’s writing is quite simple, yet very peculiar. The sentences in Beartown are short and concise. Almost like they’re just stating facts, one after the other. At the same time, we’re constantly skipping points of view, with our third-person narrator following an enormous amount of characters (I would say we follow about 5-10 more closely, but maybe 20+ in total). So, it’s rather curious how with both these characteristics, they are still able to capture the essence of each character so well. I, personally, quite enjoyed this writing style, although I can see why some people wouldn’t. 

Although there were several topics in Beartown that I found tremendously interesting, the one that took the biggest toll on me was the family/parenthood relationships. I won’t develop this a lot because I don’t think I can do it without spoiling anything, but this was definitely a topic that I hadn’t seen explored before, at least not in this way. In particular, seeing the reciprocity of pain and protectiveness. How there’s never just one victim, how trauma is something that propagates through your loved ones. It was just heartbreaking. Something I’m looking forward to reading more about (a bit of a masochist, aren’t I?!). 

Finally, to close this already too big review: I am obviously very much excited to read other Backman’s books, although I heard that this one is completely different from the others. I also know that there is a sequel to Beartown already published and a final one yet to be translated but tbh I’m not super eager to read them just because this works so well as a standalone and I don’t want to ruin it. I’ll still probably do it though, eventually... And of course, thank you to Sara for recommending this one! 

REP:  gay MC, arab MC  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Bullying, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Child death, Grief, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, and Homophobia

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, and Body shaming

sofie1705's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Racism, Drug use, Death, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Rape, Violence, Sexism, Child abuse, Body shaming, Blood, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Homophobia, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Child death, and Alcoholism

ecamaselli's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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? Yes

5.0

I honestly don't know that I could ever write a fully comprehensive review for a book like this. This is the kind of book that leaves you thinking and feeling a thousand different things As Murphy Napier said in her review, "[Backman] will make you cry, he will change your worldview (or confirm it)."

I can, however, say a few things about this book.

1) I don't think I've ever seen such brilliant character work or descriptions in my life. Not all of the characters are likable, or even flat-out detestable. In fact, many of the characters are morally-gray.

In addition, though we follow at least 20 different perspectives throughout this book, the individuality of each character makes them easy to keep track of. Every character is unique, and true to themselves, whether their choices are morally right or not.

2) This is a very slow-moving book. Because of this, it leaves you with a lot of time to think, to grow familiar with the novel itself, and to develop any emotion or opinions that you may have regarding the events of the plot. It's brilliantly paced. I don't think it could have possibly been executed more perfectly.

3) This entire book is a perfect blend of social commentary and character study. The writing lends a deeper look into the psych of the human race, and what motivates, completes, and breaks us. I believe an in-depth essay could be written on each character, for even the minor ones, such as Robbie Holts, had drive, flaws, and distinct backstories.

CONCLUSION

Beartown by Fredrik Backman is perhaps one of the most difficult and rewarding novels I've read to date. And I'm not sure that I see a lot of potential for other books to top it in this regard. It is not an enjoyable read, by any means (though there are some hopeful moments sprinkled throughout the story), but it is incredible.

This is one of those novels that I truly believe everyone (who can handle the explored topics) should read at some point in their lifetime. I will never cease to recommend this book to those who can read these subjects.

Thank you, Backman, for confirming (and changing) my worldview.

-Elliana Maselli
Thursday, February 3, 2022
1:14 PM

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Child death, Grief, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Self harm, Sexism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

pinksappho's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

this is one of the best books that i have ever read. backman is a wonderful author who touches on emotional and dark topics in such a unique and humanising way. 

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, and Child death

hansolitude's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Bullying, and Drug use

Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, and Suicide

Minor: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts