Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

56 reviews

stepnic's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Rape, Violence, Sexual assault, and Hate crime

Moderate: Fatphobia, Child death, Classism, Eating disorder, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Grief, Physical abuse, Racism, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Death, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, and Homophobia

Minor: Vomit and Murder

rhubarbpi3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

So riveting. I have honestly really loved reading this series backwards. At first I was really made at god different Kyra and Peter were portrayed in the beginning but then I realized it was because they hadn’t yet had to deal with all the things that make them who they become. As always I love the writing style and the way that timing works as a narrative device. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Sexual violence, and Bullying

beatle426's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Classism, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Death, and Alcoholism

bookish_skies's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense 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: Alcohol, Grief, Rape, Violence, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Child death, Alcoholism, and Bullying

starythril's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Rape and Bullying

sofiam19's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

2.5

Wasn’t really for me. Read this for a book club knowing there would be heavy subject matter. I found myself very bored and didn’t care for most of it, the writing felt forced in some spots and there was a lot of filler imo. I can see how others may have loved it, but there was something missing for me to be able to emotionally connect to any of the characters. The second half of the book made me mad but it was very realistic, I’ll give it that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Violence, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Alcohol, Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Racism

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

sarah_amy's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

3.5

3.5 ⭐️ I was definitely drawn in, but it was a bit too sporty for me for me to fall in love with it as much as others have. It was conflicting - I loved the small-town community and felt affectionate towards a few of the characters. However, the mob mentality regarding the core event was hard to read. Can't decide if I will read the rest of the series yet...I'm curious to see how the lives of some of them continue on in the other 2 books, but not sure if that will be enough to keep reading about a sport I don't really follow or if they are as heavy as this book was (which I wasn't prepared for).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Rape, Gaslighting, and Bullying

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Cursing

elise0405's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.25

This is a heavy book, like…it literally made me feel heavy and the opposite of lighthearted or hopeful. 
All the characters struggle deeply and alone and I could literally feel how all those unsaid worries and traumas that every one of them bottled up are slowly suffocating them. 
It describes how hard we struggle in the hopes to do things right and get out and still hurt people or get hurt. How sometimes its just never enough. How it feels being stuck in toxic surroundings, how helpless it feels and what this helplessness does to you. 

As i say time and time again, Fredrik Backmans writing stile polarizes; some love it, others find it overdramatic… you gotta find out for yourself 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Bullying, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Vomit and Suicidal thoughts

The topics are heavy and not sugarcoated

daniellekat's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? No

4.75

Backman is so talented at writing characters with depth, emotion, and believable motivations. Just when you think you understand a character, Backman makes you reconsider. It's the reason why I love his books, but I struggled with Beartown. The plot was so heartbreaking and tense that it took a lot out of me. After reading a few chapters, I always felt like I had to both lie down and go running. Backman covered so many interesting topics relating to sports culture that wove together seamlessly. This was not a 'fun read' and I HIGHLY recommend checking out the content warnings before reading, but Fredrik Backman writes about intersecting lives and community like no one else. My only criticism was that the ending was a little flat for me. I'm super interested to see where the series goes from here, especially since I think his writing is best suited for stand-alones.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Sexism, Misogyny, and Bullying

Moderate: Grief, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Blood, Classism, Vomit, Child death, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism

jadedjill's review against another edition

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