Reviews with content warning for Animal death - The Winners

Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Winners by Fredrik Backman

122 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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emiliegrace's review

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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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