Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

19 reviews

sweetandspicy's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Bullying, and Cursing

Minor: Cancer, War, Violence, Stalking, Infidelity, and Kidnapping

A very sweet and relatively light-hearted book. The narrator being a child added a fun adventurous dimension. The last quarter or so is when it really picks up and becomes harder to put down. I would recommend to a friend :)

jessamo19's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Violence, Terminal illness, Animal death, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Infidelity, War, and Alcoholism

lifeofchrstnlvly's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Death's greatest power is not that it can make people die, but that it can make people want to stop living.

Backman, as always, knows how to tap into human emotions and explore humanity. What I appreciate most about his writing is his ability to take a simple truth and delve into it to the extent that it prompts a different perspective, making us recognize the significance of that truth. Kudos to Backman (and the translator!) for always knowing how to articulate the essence of humanity.

I enjoyed reading "My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry" (in my opinion, Backman can do no wrong). However, I did notice one flaw that bothered me a little: Elsa, who is almost 8 years old, sometimes seemed unusually mature for her age. The only thing that reminded me that she is still a child was her fascination with the Land-of-Almost-Awake. If it weren't for her interest in this imaginary world, she would come across as someone in her teens who simply enjoys escaping reality by creating a different world in her mind.

However, this book reminded me that being different is not wrong. You should not allow society to bring you down simply because you are different.

As with any of Backman's books, he once again reminded me of the importance of kindness. It serves as a reminder that we never truly know the struggles and experiences that others are going through. We should always keep in mind that even the people we may dislike have their own challenges and reasons for behaving the way they do.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Animal death, and Blood

Moderate: Pregnancy, War, Alcoholism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent, Infidelity, Cancer, Car accident, and Addiction

eliz_sock's review

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Minor: Infidelity, Violence, War, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Death

fluture's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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? Yes

4.75

Such a light-hearted and inspiring book. I don't know how to explain my feelings the moment I finished reading this book. This book somehow can be a reminder for us to fully appreciate little things in life and live to the fullest. There's no wrong in questioning stuffs. Everyone carries secrets and pain in their life and they have the right to do what they chose to do—choosing how they cope with it. There's no right nor wrong in this world. Everyone just tried to survive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, and Cursing

Minor: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Animal death, Drug use, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

corriejn's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

A sweet and charming story of loss, friendship, imagination, trauma, and family. 

The last book I'd read by this author was "Beartown" and this one is wildly different, which speaks to his versatility.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Bullying, Cancer, Pregnancy, Stalking, Alcoholism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Child death, Death, Medical content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, and War

Minor: Sexism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Infidelity

you don't get 5 stars if the dog dies

hmetwade's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Infidelity, Animal death, Bullying, Car accident, Mental illness, War, Cancer, Cursing, Death of parent, Stalking, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy

embla_v's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful

3.75

En ganska bra bok som jag läst pga skolan. 

Boken handlar om en 7-åring vars mormor dör vilket leder till att flickan skickas ut på en skattjakt. En jakt efter sanningen om alla hon känner och framförallt om sin mormor. 

Rekommenderar till all som gillar Backman böcker. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, and Grief

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Addiction, Alcohol, Violence, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Stalking, War, Abandonment, Cursing, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

cassie7e's review

dark emotional reflective sad 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

I didn't love this book and I'm not totally sure what I didn't like about it. It seemed to try to make up for the dark parts with sweetness that came across as saccharine instead. I did appreciate how the fairytales and real world stories interwove.

Since I've soured on JKR the constant references to Harry Potter don't feel quite so whimsical and heartwarming.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Violence, Infidelity, Death of parent, Mental illness, Animal death, Grief, Cursing, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer, Stalking, Excrement, and Drug abuse

missknown's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted medium-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

5.0

The sweetest book I've ever read. Told from the perspective of a almost 8 year old girl, Elsa, who just lost her grandmother and best friend, and now as to learn how to deal with all her emotions. The narrator takes the simple view of the world from a child perspective to tell a Christmas tale of loss, love, friendship, and above all else the power of imagination.
Most of the characters, if not all, can be frightening, challenging or straight obnoxious. Although the author manages to transform those same characters into likable people. Explores their past and stories, making them more human, making the reader see they are in fact good people that occasionally do shitty things.
Despite the harshness of some stories and the topics it explores, like grief, the book is very humorous. The light-hearted view of the world from Elsa's perspective and the chaotic energy of Elsa's grandmother, there is plenty of funny moments to break an otherwise very melancholic narrative. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Grief, Cancer, Infidelity, War, Animal death, Drug abuse, and Domestic abuse