Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

The Winners by Fredrik Backman

11 reviews

mmccombs's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

3.0

So this book was basically exactly the same as the other two, so I should have loved it, but mostly I felt over it by the time I was only halfway through. It had the usual good writing, good characters, and bonkers domino effect of a plot, but this one felt especially over-the-top, repetitive, and long. Every bad thing that hadn’t already happened in the first two books happened in this one, and it wasn’t exactly compelling. When I finished Us Against You, I was like “ah ha! These towns have finally remembered the power of hockey and friendship!” And then this book was like, “hm, no, let’s make it much worse but in a way that doesn’t feel as natural as it did before!” There were quite a few bits where I was hit with a feeling of Deja-vu, where it seemed I was reading the same exact scene/inner character thought I had earlier in the book. I just couldn’t stay as interested and the drama was just too much, so for that reason the simpler, more down-to-earth (if still cheesy) character work I loved so much in the first two books felt a bit lost.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Animal death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Fatphobia, Child death, and Racism

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

thehmkane's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Dammit Backman, you've done it again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Child death, Classism, Cursing, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Addiction, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Drug use, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Suicide, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Abandonment, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Ableism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Islamophobia, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Medical content, and Miscarriage

chamaeleontis's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

I have no words right now. This book is amazing. It’s the perfect ending to the story of Beartown, as much as I did not want that story to end.

It’s delightful. It’s painful. It’s so very very human. It took my heart and stomped on it and gently pieced it back together.

I rate all the books I read too high and I don’t have the patience to fix that. So just know that this one is one of the best I’ve ever read, even if my rating doesn’t reflect that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Animal death, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Violence, Fatphobia, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Addiction, Body shaming, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Death, Drug abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, Cursing, Drug use, and Gaslighting

booksmoviesandstories's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Death, Child death, Outing, Misogyny, Hate crime, Fatphobia, Drug abuse, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Rape, Vomit, Suicide, Sexual violence, Car accident, and Blood

kananineko's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Mass/school shootings, Sexual assault, Grief, Animal death, Death, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Violence, Sexual violence, Murder, Rape, Drug use, and Cursing

Moderate: Child death, Religious bigotry, Blood, Sexism, Misogyny, Abandonment, Stalking, Pregnancy, Classism, and Fatphobia

Minor: Xenophobia, Racism, Excrement, Homophobia, Suicide, Physical abuse, Car accident, Cancer, Miscarriage, and Child abuse

meeklovestoread's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

In Backman fashion, he did it again. I really liked this trilogy. His writing was great and lyrical as always. I like all the topics he tackled in this book as well as found family that was formed with the main characters. However, I did feel like this book could've been 100 pages shorter and I was really caught off guard by the abundance of new characters introduced. Although I did enjoy the politics of the books, I'm not going to lie I did find it difficult to grasp, but politics is a pretty foreign concept to me so I guess that was on me. And speaking of the politics I still can't seem to understand what was Richard Theo's agenda in the end and how he had such indirect influence on such a small town. But overall, I still like the book and do recommend the trilogy. 

it sucks that no one will ever know what happened to Ruth😔; also I still will never forgive Ana for putting Benji the way she did (I was side-eyeing her the whole book)

One critic I will draw from this book thought was the lack of ultra-femininity. Maybe that's just how the female characters were supposed to be, but it kind of annoyed me that they all had to be strong and tough all the time. Also, I was hoping Leo would get more of an arc this book considering what happened in the second book, but I guess that was okay.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicide, and Homophobia

Minor: Classism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Cursing

edgaranjapoe's review

emotional funny hopeful reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Violence, Addiction, Death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Rape, Murder, Grief, Classism, and Sexual violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Blood, Homophobia, Car accident, Pregnancy, Cursing, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Abandonment, Stalking, Self harm, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Fatphobia, Abortion, Body shaming, Cancer, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Vomit

kayschwe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Violence, Murder, Medical content, Gun violence, Death, Animal death, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Death of parent, Classism, Car accident, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Grief, Blood, Rape, Fatphobia, Drug abuse, Stalking, Religious bigotry, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Drug use, Miscarriage, Child death, and Cursing

hudyrosenberg's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Suicide, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Child death, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Animal death, Alcoholism, Self harm, Mental illness, Bullying, Death, Violence, Murder, Homophobia, Rape, Vomit, Sexual assault, and Grief