sweetsxrrxw's review against another edition

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reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

tbh there's only two reasons why i decided to pick this book up:

  1. firstly, a friend of mine has recommended me this author a bunch of times and i told her i'd read some of his books one day
  2. secondly, since this novella is super short and im in a huge reading slump, i just thought it could be helpful

as for the story, it was both sweet and sad. maybe it was not super devastating or maybe i just avoided to cry because i was in front of my family during about 90% of my reading time. however, i did tear up and drop a couple tears, not gonna lie!
i like how grandpa grew up to realize he was really shitty to ted and that he deserved better but i'm glad that he got to somehow redeem himself with noah, who shared his love for science and maths. although i just really wish people would stop treating other people who are more into letters and art like we're dumb and worthless.


the main topics were nice, i liked how the author handled the theme of memory loss and giving your last goodbyes to people who are still alive. i guess at first the change of  setting/pov can be a bit confusing and but after a couple switches you can understand how is it going. 

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readwithsophsx's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-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

5.0


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ericaw212's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

too short to get the full effect of a fredrik backman novel, but still wonderful and made me cry

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caoxtina's review against another edition

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emotional sad fast-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

4.5


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ada_elisabeth's review against another edition

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emotional sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Well, he's done it again. Fredrik Backman is a god. There is no other reasonable explanation for how he's managed to write three books that have made me sob. That might just be a world record.

This story is tiny-- only 76 pages, but I was crying pretty much the whole time. This book felt like a mashup of A Man Called Ove and My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry (two of Backman's other books) in that it focused on a relationship between a grandchild and their grandparent and that it featured an old man who had lost his wife. Unlike the two aforementioned books, however, there was nothing even remotely funny or upbeat in this book. It was thoroughly depressing, and I'm kind of glad it only took me half an hour to read, otherwise I would've been sad for days. 

I normally wait until the next morning to write a review for something if I finish it at night, but I thought it'd be nice and dramatic to write this review with tears streaming down my cheeks. It was perfect. It was so, so sad. It's just as amazing as Backman's other works. You will cry. 5/5. 

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sophiegs's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0


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smilerac's review against another edition

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emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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itsdeenlee's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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bookishnatalia's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.0


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etoilexlune's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

I want to say so much and I’m speechless at the same time
I am still sobbing

metaphors
grandpa sits on a square connected to memory departments by lanes
one is for family, one for mathematics, etc.
but one is for his wife
it rained in his brain when she died and the road to the department has washed away
now the road is closed, guarded with a warning sign

imagination as reality
we (I) don’t actually know what is real and what is happening in grandpa’s brain (tho I can suppose)
it illustrates dementia and the insides of a brain (imagination)

spot on similes
“what does it feel like?”
"like constantly searching for something in your pockets. first you lose the small things, then it's the big ones. it starts with keys and ends with people."

‘the little prince’?
“all grown-ups are angry, it’s just children and old people who laugh”

different kinds of love in the family
• grandson - grandpa 
• son - father
• wife - husband
it also has ones of the best love descriptions I’ve ever read about
”when you looked straight at me when I was seventy I fell just as hard as I did when I was sixteen”
🔝 timeless ~ taylor swift
“I didn’t care why you said yes. just that you stayed”
🔝 the archer ~ taylor swift

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