Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

275 reviews

redheadbookgirl's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I’ve seen this ALL over bg for years and finally gave in to the hype (I *think* it was @chrisreads who I most recently saw love this!) I went in totally blind + let me just say.. this is NOT what I’d expected/imagined this book to be about! 

Haunting, thought provoking + raw, with a unique writing style, 𝘉𝘌𝘈𝘙𝘛𝘖𝘞𝘕 delves into some dark and sadly all too common themes, most heartbreakingly: the way women are treated in the aftermath of SA allegations. I’ll remain spoiler free but the story elicited a hell of a lot of intense sadness and *literal* fury from me. 

The story feels slower paced to begin, as a LOT of characters are introduced, BUT the way this was done really was so important for the plot. The narrative switches between character perspectives *constantly* (I think around 10-12 pov throughout the book)—— I listened to this on audio, but I can imagine in the book, the pov must change every few paragraphs, so it’s definitely a book that demands your full focus. So many narratives should be confusing but Backman wrote them so flawlessly. 

Despite a slower start, as the story developed, so too did my enjoyment for the book, and I did fall in love with the story of Beartown despite the town and its characters’ *many* flaws.
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bondenj's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

4.5

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taylorparrott99's review against another edition

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

4.0

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jeeprn's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

The characters in this book really come to life in their descriptions. Backman does a phenomenal job of describing the characters and scenery in this book to a point where you feel like you’re not just reading but actually have a visual front row seat to the story. This book almost shadows the real life Brock Turner scenario.
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priyajag929's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful 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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brynnalys's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

I fell in love with Fredrick Backman’s writing from the first few pages. He gets you in a grip and holds you there, ending every chapter in a way that makes you pause and say “well now I have to keep going” every time you think just one more chapter for now. The story was absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking and outraging at times, and Backman handles difficult, horrible topics and circumstances with such empathy and understanding. I was nervous that the topics which deal with women specifically wouldn’t be understood or written well by a man, but he blew me away, and it is evident that he has researched and discussed these things with real women to gain understanding. The way he blends a dozen character narratives with each other seamlessly had me floored. This is a book that will always have a place in the 5 star shelf for me and I will never forget the way it made me feel.
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rafdee13's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense 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? Yes

5.0

I was recommended this book by a friend and all I knew was that it is about hockey. It is about hockey- and everything else a life entails. 
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pammuribe's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

Beautiful. Reflective. Heartbreaking. I don’t know and don’t really care about hockey, BUT SHIET DID I WHILE READING THIS BOOK. My heart was either in my throat, pounding, breaking or lifted with hope that some of these characters gave me. wow. wow. wow. 
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chalmy's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

4.5

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c_alexander's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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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