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Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

494 reviews

oceanwriter's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective 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

3.0

I’ve really enjoyed other books by Fredrik Backman and his writing never fails to speak to me. I wasn’t super into the plot of this one not being a hockey fan (or sports fan in general), but there were a lot of passages and moments I really liked. I did go into this thinking my heart was going to shatter completely… I think I made it more devastating in my mind than it turned out to be. 

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dimky's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

started slow and then became one of the most devastating and horrifying books i’ve ever read

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jameszabik's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25


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sofxaim's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny sad 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

4.0

This story was a little bit infuriating to listen to, and I've walked away from it hating 98% of the men in it. There are characters that I love so much and I enjoyed seeing them develop. 

I wasn't a huge fan of the style/tone, but it was still a good story.

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corporatelobotomy's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

don't think my heart will ever fully recover from reading this. i had no idea what the book was about when i started, and i have finished it as a changed person. backman's prose is stunning; i will be thinking about beartown and its sad, tough, strong people for the rest of my life.

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ampinfrance's review against another edition

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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

An intense read. A book that everyone should read, and think about.

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emilywemily6's review against another edition

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emotional 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? Yes

4.5

This book was emotionally heartbreaking but also heartwarming. Many tears were shed, both joyful and devastated. It’s mostly a story about hockey and how the members of a small rural community put hockey above all else, even morals (sometimes). It was hard to understand who was who are the beginning of this book because the cast of characters is huge and the backstories blend together, but the characters became more distinct over time. This writing is very different than Backman’s more lighthearted, fun writing. Lots of really good one-liners about moral implications of people’s thoughts and actions. This book felt very human, but was a bit difficult to read sometimes. Read when you are in a good place personally! Also winter vibes because of hock eye and the setting.

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ccrease01's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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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daslibrary's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring sad 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

3.5


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ninjazzy's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

It's a book about hockey, but not about hockey at all. A story that explores the human condition through characters and their role in the community and relation to each other. Each character has their colorful and unique story, no one character really being what I would consider the "main character"—something that reflects how life is, each of us going through life doing our part of the whole. This book is filled with a lot of complicated and intense emotions, with each person making hard decisions and making mistakes, the way we also go through our lives, making hard decisions or making mistakes and processing them. 

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