Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - Beartown

It has been quite a long time since my friend first recommended me this book. She is quite a fan of ice hockey, and overall sport-themed stories. So it was no surprise to me that, when I asked her what the book was about, she said: "It's about hockey". I was a bit skeptical at first. I know little to nothing about hockey, the most I've seen were memes and funny compilations of plays on Youtube (and some guys hitting each other, apparently you can do that in hockey). My friend added: "It's not JUST about hockey, though".

That was true. It isn't just about hockey. One might even say it is not about hockey at all, you could take any other sport and use it as a substitution, and the message would have been just the same. However, the game interplay is described perfectly, you can tell the author did some research and has a good grasp of how the sport works. I have seen and heard of many books that just pick a background theme for the sake of the plot, but hockey here is well integrated into the narrative, and it feels like part of its core. It wouldn't surprise me if hockey fans actually referenced this book as a way of inspiring people to see how interesting the sport is.

And even then, this book isn't just about hockey. It is about rape, and how it affects all the people involved - victim, perpetrator, family and friends, and supporters. It has to do with culture and sexism, victim-blaming, politics, and parenting. And all themes are handled very delicately and realistically, which is something I really enjoyed about this book. It is not overly dramatic or graphic - very much not romanticized: it is exactly what it needs to be with such mature themes. It is direct, with no euphemisms, and at the same time, nuanced and well-explored. Delicate. The impact of such a heinous crime is seen from many different perspectives and can be felt by many different people in different spheres. It just so happens that the rapist plays a key role in the town, and now the town's progress and the citizens' livelihoods and in jeopardy because of what he has done.

Wow, the population makes such a good job of portraying the "victim going to the police" as being the catalyst of the tragedy, that you tend to forget that the catalyst was, well... the rape.

The topic of 'sport' fits very well into the theme, as it is a perfect portrayal of the so-called "bro culture" that is very much present in sports. Human beings are capable of doing horrible things when they are in a group, and it is extremely difficult to step up against your friends and the people you love when they do something you disagree with. Sports are all about groups - you are supposed to trust your teammate and defend them, but sometimes, you can't.

This "bro culture" (I don't have a better name) is instigated in young boys today, with ideals of what is the perfect "man" and with very wrong ideas of how girls behave (or should behave). In such a small town as Beartown, dominated by a boy's hockey team and a male workforce, this culture is permitted and encouraged. And what happens when rape occurs in this town? You have to read the book to find out, but the results aren't pretty - just like in real life. Victim-shaming and doubting are very, very real, and also very, very common. It is always how the girl's skirt was too short, how much she drank, and how she interpreted things wrong. Lack of evidence. As if the word of a girl isn't enough, but the word of a boy (that says he didn't do it) is.

Communities are powerful. We usually interpret the word as something good - we protect our community, we respect it, and we want to see it grow (even when we don't know what exactly this "it" is. It means something different for everyone after all). In this case, if it is good or bad is debatable. As it is well put by a certain character, the town doesn't know the difference between right and wrong, but it knows what is good and what is evil. I had to think about this quote a bit, but my interpretation is that the town knows what it wants: a community's success. But how they are going to get there and what are they willing to sacrifice, no one knows.

A topic that few people talked about in this book, but I found it to be extremely well-written was parenting. How would you react if your child is the victim of rape - and more interestingly, how would you react if your child was the perpetrator? What does that say about you as a person? What kind of parent are you? Ironically, the answer the book provides is the same for all the questions above: no matter what, you can't protect your children. They grow mercilessly fast, and you don't realize what kind of person they have become.

Kira is one of my favorite characters exactly because of this. Her struggle in being a mother was so well done, and so understandable. As a great lawyer, she is the main provider of the household (despite the town looking down on her for not being a stay-at-home mom), but refuses a promotion - a potential to become more financially stable - at work to spend more time with her children. But because of work, she spends the entire day out and doesn't take care of her children the way she wants to. It is by searching for that delicate compromise between work and children that she feels she has failed both.

The ending is a cliffhanger, and at the same time... it isn't. It has room to continue with the story, but with a good amount of imagination, we can guess what happened. It ends realistically. I know there are two more books in this trilogy, and I have no idea what happens in them - I will just suppose they are about Benji since he also has a certain secret to share that goes against this "bro culture" of Beartown. I personally can't wait to see that develop!

Any nitpicks for this book? None, actually! I have seen many people complaining the beginning was slow and it takes time for the plot to ramp up - I disagree. The background being laid down was necessary for the further development of the story, and I actually found interesting the way the author set the town as if it were a puzzle - you get the pieces for each character and set the full picture little by little. Much more interesting this way than just exposing everything and going straight for the action.

A very recommendable and emotional book. Can't wait to see the series also! Shame I don't have HBO...

Content Warnings

toriffic's review against another edition

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emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

Content Warnings

edgaranjapoe's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.75

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teamoxfordcomma's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Reading this book made me feel physically sick. My face the entire time: ☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️

It's certainly a well-written (and, dare I say, all too realistic) commentary on toxic masculinity, patriarchy, and misogyny. Although I knew that going in, I guess I didn't know the extent to which these pages would detail the numerous ways to hurt & hate all sorts of people, including but not limited to women. This is so far removed from everything else I've read from Backman – usually his are stories that make me cry, but ultimately have some uplifting or poignant through line. This was not that, and I'd be lying if I said I had a good time reading it.

I appreciate what the author was doing and commenting on. His ability to create a wide cast of characters which each felt incredibly round and substantial is more than commendable. The noxious culture of this remote hockey town pollutes everything and everyone it touches, and it was great to see the town become a character of its own in a sense. I didn't enjoy my experience not because it's a poorly-written book or anything like that, but because it felt like being punched over and over and over and over again with no reprieve. I'm sure that's partly what Backman wanted when he chose to tackle this subject in this manner. In its own way, it's rather effective. It mirrors what living through misogyny is really like: unrelenting ignorance with no end in sight. But I didn't relish spending my free time in such a hostile environment not unlike what I've actually experienced, and although it made it more realistic of an ending (sadly),

when the rape charges were dropped and there was not even a little growth on behalf of the players or the town, merely a relocation of the same poisonous spirit? Well... cue the ☹️.

For my own sanity, I will not continue the series.

All of that to say: my feelings about Beartown are complicated. The writing & craft of it? The author's intent to write a book about toxic masculinity, patriarchy, and misogyny? Easily in the 4-5 star range. My enjoyment? Considerably less so. Boiled down, it's about misaligned expectations and the style of the concept's execution not working for me. I'm glad it has resonated with so many others, but I am unfortunately not in their number.

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jasnguyen's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-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

3.5

I quite enjoyed the book. Backman is skillful in crafting a complex narrative where the main characters' fates are intricately intertwined, allowing a single event to set off a chain reaction of consequences that drive the story forward. He also often employs the foreshadowing technique to create suspense, "A storm is brewing." I particularly enjoyed the glimpses into each character's life, which are interwoven throughout the book. Backman adeptly switches between different viewpoints, demonstrating a remarkable talent for doing so. However, at times, the repeated focus on Peter and Kira's stories felt somewhat excessive, and some of the paragraphs began to feel repetitive.

I believe that Beartown was written with a potential film / TV adaptation in mind. The book's highly visual and dramatic scenes feel tailor-made for the screen. While it doesn't detract from the book's overall quality, reading Beartown can feel like watching a movie or a TV show, rather than immersing oneself in a written work.

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prairieraven's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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