Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

5 reviews

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

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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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bridgetkay's review against another edition

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Did not finish. Could not finish. I got more enjoyment reading the 1-star reviews for this book. 

The character is problematic as all hell and I really have no interest in a story centred on a white man who’s surrounded by people who aren’t white men as supporting characters to some kind of redemption arc. Any time I attempted to read this, it put me in a bad mood. So for self care purposes, I will not be finishing this. 

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bites_of_books's review against another edition

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The main character is unbearable, from the start he is making all kinds of awful remarks about everyone who is even a little bit different from him. He calls his neighbor "foreign" another "overweight", he takes zero effort in getting to know people as people. I imagined that this could be a book like the movie Up, where the man is unlikeable but will not always have been that way, instead, it's just how he's been his whole life. It was unfortunate that the author gave zero respite to Ove to be able to become a multidimensional character instead of just flat and awful.
The only way he was able to continue living was by his neighbors literally forcing themselves into his life. Also, the people who go in to "rescue" him and make him better are either POC or disabled or a cat.

Overall just not for me at all.

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purplepenning's review against another edition

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

4.0


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natked's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The book has a wholesome vibe of the grumpy old Man vs cheerful people trope. This was executed well and I admit it made me cry a couple of times throughout the book.
And for that it would have deserved 5 stars.
However there are a few things that lower the score.

The way the MC behaves and talks down to people is far beyond what being a grumpy old fashion traditional man can excuse.
There is a ton of fatphobic content which serves no purpose.
The relationship between Pravaneh and Patrick is dreadful and basically emotional abuse.
The book is always on the verge of being outright racist.

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