Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

53 reviews

liesthemoontells's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing sad 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

2.0

I read this book for book club. It was fine.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Classism

svenrodian's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

gpfot's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Chronic illness, Homophobia, Dementia, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

tabookish's review against another edition

funny hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

elzmri's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Oh, Ove.

This book had me laughing and crying. Blackman has a way of using his lexical choices to reflect the personality of the protagonist; what I mean is that even though it is in third person, it still holds Ove’s vibe. [I’ve stayed up all night and I’m tired so please excuse my attempts at explaining myself].

The characters have so much depth, and so diverse- Blackman even gives Cat Annoyance its own meaningful personality.

Ove reminded me of my grandad- I think that’s why it had me sobbing at the end.

The translator has also done a fantastic job- even though it is Swedish, it has a universal familiarity that I think everyone can relate to, no matter where you’re from.

I don’t often read contemporary novels, but this one has quickly become a favourite. I’ve already bought Anxious People and My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologies; I appreciate Backman’s writing style, which isn’t oversimplified in a way that most modern novels tend to be.

I’d love to read more about Parveneh’s life…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer, Child death, Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Fire/Fire injury

irislovescats's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

I sobbed uncontrollably, five stars 🌟 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Chronic illness, Dementia, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Homophobia and Miscarriage

orchidlilly's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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? No

4.5

A really good exploration of grief and learning to live after it. Ove is both lovable and annoying, which turns at a point to endearing in its own right. The rest of the characters feel very real and individualized, and have a lot of unspoken depth to them. The back and forth between Ove's memories and current life really build his story well and allow the reader to understand why he is the way he is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Dementia, and Death of parent

Minor: Infertility, Racism, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

hkveit's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Cancer, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Car accident

katlinstirling_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad 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? N/A

4.0

Such a great book! Ove is such a sweet man and I’ve wanted to read this book for so long. Funny and heartwarming, moving but sad too. Beautifully written. 
Pick at Bookclub

Narrator - Joan Walker

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

reminiscences's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense slow-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Car accident, and Suicide attempt