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

Maybe I’m heartless, but this book unfortunately did not emotionally wreck me like I hoped it would. Don’t get me wrong, it was very sweet, but all I did was think “aww, that’s nice” instead of bawling my eyes out like other readers.

I think the book was just a bit too slow-paced throughout for my taste, and because of that, I found it hard to stay engaged.

I also found Ove’s (and, let’s face it, the author’s) comments about women and fat people to be pretty offensive at times. The reader would have still found Ove to be just as curmudgeonly if he hadn’t been so misogynistic and fatphobic. Ove is homophobic and xenophobic too. These comments were much more connected to the story, but they could’ve been handled more delicately or even omitted entirely.

Finally, I found Ove’s age to be very odd. His character would have made more sense to me if he were 70 rather than 59. My own father is 60, and it just felt weird to read about a grumpy curmudgeon who was a year younger than my dad when I don’t view my dad that way at all.

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arthur_ant18's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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rebeccajost's review against another edition

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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

4.0

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whatcassiedid's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

So so lovely, a great look at what love and loss can do to someone.

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thebakerbookworm's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.0

For some reason, it took me forever to get around to reading this book, but I'm so glad I finally did! Heartwarming, endearing, lovable, quirky—these all describe A Man Called Ove. It's the found-family trope but instead of a group of teenagers in a magical world, it's a group of neighbors in everyday life, dealing with average problems.

The timeline jumps around a bit as we slowly learn about the different characters, and Ove himself and his past. It's definitely more character driven than plot driven, but the plot still moves along nicely to keep you interested. Nothing was really unexpected, even the ending that made me tear up, but it was still an enjoyable read. I don't think it was supposed to be unexpected; it's just showing how people can be there for each other in different beautiful ways.

I didn't like this one quite as much as Anxious People, but that's more just because I loved Anxious People so much. I think if I was a cat person I would have liked this one more...the one dog in the story is not very nice :( I'm still hoping to read through Backman's backlist—I think it's time to try Beartown!

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