Reviews with content warning for Medical content - A Man Called Ove

This book is an interesting study of grief and the importance of surrounding yourself with other people. Humans are certainly not solitary creatures, and we all need someone in our corner.

That being said, I’m not sure that this book says anything remarkably unique about grief or friendship or life that will really stick with me. (Not sure if the translation into English is at fault here, but I truly cannot think of a single stand-out quote). Mostly I’ll remember crying over the characters and the circumstances they find themselves in. If you think you are suppressing any emotions and need a cry, this is the book for you! (Obviously, beware the CWs, this book actually is not for everyone. If I wasn’t already invested in the story, I might not have finished reading it myself).

I think that Backman’s skill of slowly revealing character backgrounds through flashbacks as the book progresses is really what makes the characters feel so fleshed-out and real. Don’t even talk to me about the Jimmy background reveal - yes, I was crying.

Anyways, I don’t think I will read this book again anytime soon unless I really need to get the tears flowing for some random reason.

If I had a nickel for every time in the past 6 months I read a book about a person trying and failing to unalive themselves, I’d have TWO nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice.

Content Warnings

chaoticnostalgia's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted 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

Content Warnings

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

Content Warnings

jessreadreceipts's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective slow-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

4.0

In Fredrik Backman’s debut novel, we meet Ove, who is certifiably the crankiest man I’ve ever read. A recent retiree who lives alone, Ove (pronounced Oo-vah) has zero tolerance for young people, white collar workers, animals, foreign car owners, and practically any other group you could imagine. He is the essential “GET OFF MY LAWN!!” old man- and don’t even think about driving a vehicle down the roadway in his close-knit community- it’s clearly prohibited by the resident’s association!

You see, now that he is retired, and with his wife long gone, Ove has a plan for his life. A very particular plan, and he does not want to be disturbed or distracted. So when his newest neighbors come in with a bang- literally-, Ove is less than thrilled. He’s downright perturbed! As it becomes clear that peace will continue to evade Ove, he also learns that sometimes old dogs can learn new tricks, and that it’s never too late to change someone’s life for the better- including your own.

I’ll give it to you straight- this book didn’t hook
me until about 15-20%, and I wanted to DNF it. It takes a few chapters to catch onto Ove’s character. But once I started figuring him and the pattern of the book out, I kept going, and I’m glad I did. While I didn’t cry reading it, I did say “Ooohhhh 🥹” several times! I would recommend this to any contemporary fiction lover, though I would caution some content warnings for sensitive topics for those on the lookout.

Content Warnings