Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

The Winners by Fredrik Backman

48 reviews

bealittlebrave's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

This one hurts too much to touch with words.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Grief, Bullying, Child death, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Car accident, Rape, Addiction, Death, Murder, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

karenperry93's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Bullying

sbookreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Bullying, Murder, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Gun violence

Moderate: Addiction, Pregnancy, Classism, Cursing, Vomit, Blood, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicide, Child death, Chronic illness, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Rape

hannasandmann's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Gun violence, Grief, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Suicide, Child death, and Homophobia

Moderate: Rape and Child abuse

Minor: Religious bigotry, Addiction, and Self harm

lizziaha's review against another edition

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

I worry that I might hold Fredrick Backman to too high of a standard, and that a 4.5 for him might be a 5 for most other authors. The way that he writes is so compelling that it might just outweigh my (limited) critiques. His maelstrom of characters is just a bit overwhelming in this book. It’s realistic, of course, to two little forest towns. But the trajectories of all of these characters doesn’t quite all come to a head. There is no good ending because the characters are so fleshed out that they demand a life story beyond the capacity of the book, and the ending began to feel like a recitation of other book’s summaries; that’s how big these characters are. Because of this, I think the book might’ve been more cohesive if the focus had been narrowed on fewer characters, even if they all still played their roles. But oh! These characters have gotten into my heart. I’ve been thinking a lot about Backman’s flavor of found families. Some found families can become saccharine, but Backman’s are all undercut by something a little darker. There’s a poetic justice to it. After all, humanity is loathe to come together except in times of crisis. But there is so much love in the face of that, and Backman manages to put that into words in a way that it feels less like words and more like a feeling. (and because of that, i’m off to read fanfiction and cry now) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Grief, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Violence, Rape, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Classism, Drug use, Miscarriage, Addiction, Vomit, Self harm, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Alcoholism, Bullying, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Child abuse

emalillah's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Death of parent, Blood, Grief, Cancer, Gun violence, Violence, Terminal illness, Outing, Drug abuse, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Racism, Mass/school shootings, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Murder, Mental illness, Suicide, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Car accident, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Drug use, Child death, and Bullying

y2kaitlyn's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Suicide, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Miscarriage, Bullying, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Addiction

ivva_p's review

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

If I had to give this book and the whole "Beartown" series a rating.... I couldn't. The 5 stars just aren't enough to fit in the whole potential of this book. It's potential to make you laugh and cry with the characters, the potential to make you feel what the characters feel and guide you through times where one might need guidance, the potential to make you care for a sport so distant but suddenly so dire to you like hokey. 
"The Winners" was a perfect end to this series. There are no questions left to answer, just moments and emotions left to reflect on. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Animal death, Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicide, Death, Gun violence, Bullying, Grief, and Sexual assault

annakh16's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Child death

Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Homophobia, Bullying, Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicide, Miscarriage, Alcohol, Medical content, and Misogyny

tinytrashqueen's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Religious bigotry, Hate crime, Violence, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Rape, Homophobia, and Grief

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Vomit, Addiction, Sexism, Animal death, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Sexual harassment