Reviews with content warning for Rape - The Winners

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Winners by Fredrik Backman

242 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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lavendcr's review

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

We try to just live our lives, live with each other, live with ourselves. Accepting joy when we find it, bearing grief when it finds us, and being amazed at our children's happiness without falling apart when we think that we can never really protect them.

i have been emotional asf recently, so when i opened to the first page of the book, I STARTED SOBBING! i was intimidated by the page count but i feel like it was an appropriate length for everything that happened here. it was steady for most of the book, and then during the final quarter it just started getting really tense.

i don't think i've experienced this much anxiety and chest pain while reading a book. it was intense and even as im writing this i feel so uneasy. numb.
i am completely gutted.

benjamin ovich i love you so much. you deserved everything and more in the world and i hope with my entire heart that you are safe and happy.

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saatkinson's review

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emotional sad

3.0

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bealittlebrave's review against another edition

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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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feministy's review

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emotional 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

Well, we all knew what were getting into before opening this one. I cried at the end, and this story (the entire Beartown trilogy) will stay with me.

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theredheadbaker's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.5

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elainarkk's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

3.0

While I enjoyed reading this series as a whole, this book was such a drag for me. Half of the plot points and new characters don’t have any significance in the end, which makes it hard to appreciate how long it took to read. The underlying messages and conversations had in this book about sexism, violent masculinity, class structures, and family (whether chosen or biological) are super great, so—again—I’m glad I read it, but I just think Backman’s writing style is not my cup of tea.

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