Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

The Winners by Fredrik Backman

27 reviews

emiliegrace's review

challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

4.75

We have finally come to the closing of this series and the dread death of Benji that we knew was coming since the first book. It was still somehow more devastating than I had prepared myself for. This series has truly shattered me, but I have a feeling I will come back to it time and again as it is such a beautifully interwoven series of stories that reflects upon the complexities of a community and its extremely human experience.

Winners in particular posed the question of how we can come to forgive and understand people and what they have done to us or those we love. The story of Matteo and his sister Ruth is one of anguish and failure at the hands of their parents and those around them that did not do what they could to save them. 

Amat’s story is extremely satisfying in its exploration of how we deal with success and what feels like the weight of the world on our shoulders. Bobo’s little love story was a breath of fresh air throughout all the violence and turmoil and I could not be happier for a fictional character quite honestly.

And we come to Benji’s story. While the ending is devastating, I am so incredibly grateful to have known this character and to experience his coming home to a town that loves him despite what he thinks. He truly dies as he lived - a hero, putting himself in front of others to save and protect them.

So so beautifully written and so so beautifully devastating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Animal death, Miscarriage, and Sexual assault

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

m_a_j's review

emotional hopeful 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: Violence, Death, and Rape

Minor: Miscarriage

fireflyhollow's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Murder, Suicide, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Drug abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Animal death

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

beccahblue's review

dark 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: Animal death, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Bullying, Rape, Sexual violence, Classism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Miscarriage

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

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-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

5.0

The saga of Beartown comes to a tragic and triumphant close.

“This hurts too much to touch with words.”

I knew from the first page of The Winners that it was going to wreck me. I was not prepared. 

It took me over a month to read this book partially because work has been crazy and I haven’t had much time to read, but also because I was dreading the end of Beartown, saying goodbye to this town, these characters - especially one in particular. It was rough, but what a beautiful ride. Backman is my favorite for a reason. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Suicide, Medical trauma, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence, Rape, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Animal death, Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Drug abuse, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Gaslighting, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Outing, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

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

llayaz's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Vomit, Violence, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Rape, Racism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Murder, Miscarriage, Homophobia, Gun violence, Grief, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Child death, Child abuse, Animal death, Alcoholism, and Alcohol