Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

41 reviews

erinreadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

What can I even say about this book? I don’t even know if I can say I “enjoyed” it because that implies I had an inkling of joy. Rather, I thought it was incredibly moving and captivating and I was crying nonstop for the back half of it. Reading this book felt like watching a car crash in slow motion while wondering which party was going to survive, if any. I haven’t really read anything that was like this book, from its style of prose to the tricky way the author writes that is constantly faking you out, making you think people are one thing when they’re really another, more complex thing. The characters all felt real and complicated and unpolished, which made the events feel all the more believable and heart wrenching. This book hurt to read, but I know I will be thinking about several passages I highlighted for a long time. 

Read if you like poignant, moving, challenging stories about people and what drives them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Fatphobia, Racism, Terminal illness, and Alcohol

spacebee's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia

zayapayaya's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

This book was such a beautiful depiction of how deeply complex and yet simple humans are. Bachman is truly incredibly with how he writes people. Everyone is  nuanced and he can make me feel empathetic for anyone’s situation. This story covers an extremely dark topic, so be sure to check the trigger warnings. Bachman made me feel every single emotion. I’m also sooo impressed with how he can showcase an entire town’s worth of characters and I’m still able to follow it. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is because the heavy topic makes the reading experience…heavy. It’ll be hard to reread but I know I will someday. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

hazelgirl21's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Abandonment

yochananvered's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My one and only gripe with this book is that it was hard to follow. There were so many characters it sometimes was hard to keep track. However, that may be due more to my lack of reading comprehension than to the actual writing. The story had me so invested. At certain points I even found it hard to breathe because it felt like I was right there experiencing these events alongside the characters. And there were so many great lines; some that made me laugh, some that made me think, and some that left me feeling a little bit haunted. The next logical thing is to read the sequel, but part of me wants to reread this immediately to notice things I missed and appreciate all the details a little bit more. One day I will definitely reread this, but for now I’m just excited to see what happens next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gun violence, Rape, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Vomit, Death of parent, and Alcohol

meganeliz_1214's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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: Rape

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

clairebartholomew549's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Several years ago I read Anxious People and found it almost unbearably moving. Ever since, I've heard people talk about Beartown, but I kept putting off reading it. I finally got around to reading it, and woof, what another almost unbearably touching book. This book covers hard content, but it's more about how people react to tragedy, how a community copes with violence and change, and the insidious and relentless nature of rape culture. It's obvious Backman has deep sympathy for each of his characters, even the ones perpetrating horrible acts and saying awful things, and he is so adept at charting a person's inner life that you find yourself at least somewhat understanding even the people in the narrative that you hate. Beartown is so vividly realized, and even though I'm not much of a hockey person, Backman makes you believe in the players and the town. This was an essential read, and I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

conniejones's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, Violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Blood, and Death of parent

lizziaha's review against another edition

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

Goosebumps, chills, tears. I cannot express how much this book got under my skin. It took me a little bit to get into it—I wasn’t sure I was going to like it—but before I knew it, I was deeply invested in this town and these characters. I was never quite sure what they were going to do—characters I trusted made choices that hurt me and characters I hated made choices that I was rooting for. And some characters I just hated and some characters I just loved (one of those hockey boys in particular has my whole entire heart and then some). The reading experience is really immersive. I felt like I was somewhere in that town, in the forest. And Backman has a way of writing that takes such complex topics and puts them into really simple words. It’s sort of a detour from what I usually love but there’s just something about the way that he uses repetition is just so compelling and powerful. 

I also really like the way that, even though it’s the first in a series, it can also stand on its own. Even though I want to stay with these characters and see what happens next, it felt complete. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, and Dysphoria

julieshuff's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

Extremely slow start- so many side characters and it takes awhile to get going. Once I was invested though, the pages flew by. The ending felt a bit rushed to me as well, given all of the time that went into set up and development. 

This book deals with lots of heavy topics in passing (class, sexism, alcoholism, homophobia, abuse, death of a child), and pivots around a graphic on-page rape and the fallout that comes from the girl going to the police. It was very anxiety inducing to see how few people in the town believed her, even if it wasn’t surprising.  

P.S. there is rampant unexamined fatphobia throughout this book as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia and Rape

Moderate: Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt