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7.9k reviews for:
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry - Target Club Pick
Fredrik Backman, Fredrik Backman
4.12 AVERAGE
7.9k reviews for:
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry - Target Club Pick
Fredrik Backman, Fredrik Backman
4.12 AVERAGE
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
not my favorite of his but it's still a good story. 3.75 because this plot has potential.
i was laughing at Britt Marie tho. i just love that woman.
i was laughing at Britt Marie tho. i just love that woman.
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Every seven-year-old needs a superhero. In this book, the superhero happens to be Elsa’s grandmother. Since I had a loving relationship with my grandma, I appreciated the bond shown between Elsa and her feisty grandma despite the many differences in dynamics of our relationships!
I’m a fan of Backman’s writing. He rarely disappoints. I noticed that in every book of his that I’ve read so far, there’s also this protagonist, usually elderly that is what most society would describe as ‘difficult’ and at first, it was not easy to get used to the characters, but they would always end up charming me in the end.
There is a certain genuine quality to Backman’s writing that makes me feel like he’s a good observer of human relations, especially the little moments treasured between two beings, even if the world seemed to be against them. Even if the personality might not charm you, you’d find yourself rooting and hoping for the best for them. I wondered if Backman too had a close relationship with his grandparents. If he didn’t then he did a magnificent job because I’m convinced the writing stemmed from actual, close kinship that would be hard to understand if you weren’t blessed enough to have awesome grandparents – quirks and all – on your own.
What I loved about the characters are they are always fully ‘developed’ – none of them all white or all black, but shades in between and I think this is the perfect description of humans. There are sides of you that you only reveal to certain people, but hide from others, but the sum of these sides make you YOU. Sometimes it’s interesting to note that you can never know someone fully, even if you’ve spent all your life together. Sometimes it’s not that they purposely hide certain facets of their personality from you, it’s just that the circumstances that revolve between the two of you never made it necessary for those parts to surface. Ah, I digress..
I found the fantasy world created by the grandma overpowering at times, that I felt that the stories overwhelmed the major plotline which affected my interest in the book. If you’re a fan of Backman, however, then I’m sure this would make a good addition to your TBR.
emotional
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It took me a while to sit down and read this because I've been so busy. And once I started, it didn't really suck me in. I guess it's a good story and an interesting premise, but something about the writing style didn't speak to me. I have another of this author's books I bought at the same time...so we shall see if it's the writing style or maybe just this story. It wasn't bad, but it definitely was not one of my favorites.
This book dragged on, and while I love a good child narrator/POV, I found a lot of these characters including Elsa too quirky even by Backman standards. I was specifically frustrated by how much chocolate these people were feeding a dog; is this a Swedish thing??
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
emotional
funny
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
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
medium-paced