Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

61 reviews

kirnet's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.0

Really ended up enjoying this, though I found the pacing of the middle to be a bit of a slog, and then at the end it was very fast. Was only really invested in the flashback bits up until the end, and then I was crying lol.

It reminds me of the street I grew up on, with a lot of inter-generational friendships and a more found family mentality.

I thought this was going to be a more lighthearted read than it was, and while there are many lighthearted moments, it's mostly a story focusing on grief and human connection. TWs for multiple on page suicide attempts, terminal illness, miscarriage, car crashes, and also just a weird amount of fatfobia from the author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Ableism, Miscarriage, and Suicide attempt

craftysnailtail's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book was almost a DNF for me. I'm glad I finished it, but I honestly did not like it until I was at least 80% of the way through. I simply did not like Ove. I know you're supposed to grow to love him, but I didn't. Maybe that makes me a monster, and I can accept that. His curmudgeonly traits were fine and a little endearing by the end, but sometimes he was flat out mean. I can't get behind that. 

I'm also fairly convinced that Backman has never met a cat before in their entire lives. A cat that licks steering wheels passive aggressively, happily wears socks, and calmly sits on bar stools in cafes they've never been in before was so out of left field. The rest of the book is very realistic, so the cartoon cat threw me in every scene they were in. 

The use of similes to describe every single disgruntled expression this man has ever had in his life drove me mad as well, but that's clearly a personal writing style preference, so to each their own.

The overall message of the book is... nice. And I think it gives the reader a nuanced perspective of what it's like to be a senior that society seems to have given up on. But the road to get there was gritty and uncomfortable. I mean I was rooting for Ove getting what he wanted for the vast majority of the book because it felt like his right to make that decision. At least I appreciated the ending, though. I don't think it's a book I would recommend to friends, but it was different from other books I've read recently, so that made it worth it for me in the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death, and Grief

Minor: Fatphobia, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racism, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Cancer, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

riordanfan's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Fatphobia, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Cancer, Drug use, Terminal illness, Outing, Pregnancy, Homophobia, and Miscarriage

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

Maybe I would’ve enjoyed this years ago or in a different mindset but I couldn’t get past the amount of white man xenophobia, homophobia, ableism, fat phobia and toxic masculinity. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Xenophobia and Fatphobia

Minor: Death of parent, Death, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, and Ableism

ila_mae's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

It's the exact story you would expect for a story about a grumpy old man who just lost his wife. Nothing that surprising happens and I could pretty much predict what would happen the entire book.

That being said, I was completely riveted the entire time. I bawled my eyes out at the end, I couldn't wait to see what happened to Ove next and I just wanted him to be happy. I found it beautiful and deep and incredibly sensitive. Every character was super likeable and I was rooting for all of them. I'm so glad I read this and I loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Fatphobia and Ableism

Minor: Homophobia

foxmulders's review against another edition

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Grief

Moderate: Dementia, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Death, Cancer, Ableism, Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

mel_j's review

adventurous emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was sad. And hopeful. It made me cry – but still, there are very questionable (xenophobic, mysoginistic, ableist and fatphobic) things uttered by Ove.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Ableism, Pregnancy, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Cursing, Xenophobia, Racism, and Misogyny

Minor: Abortion, Toxic friendship, Miscarriage, and Addiction

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.25

Ove grew on me slower than the author intended to but by the end i guess he's okay…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Car accident, Miscarriage, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Body shaming, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Fatphobia, Medical content, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Drug abuse, Addiction, Drug use, Alcohol, Gun violence, and Excrement

beetree's review against another edition

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

This book is everything.

I can’t recall the last time I sobbed so much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death, Grief, Pregnancy, and Car accident

Minor: Death of parent, Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Violence, Dementia, Medical trauma, Fatphobia, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Ableism, and Domestic abuse

jesscath18's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Homophobia and Ableism