Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Beartown

Take Friday Night Lights and plop it down on the edge of the wilderness in Sweden. Hockey moms. A story of a small town response when "boys will be boys." Beautiful, reflective, meditation on a family who has handled tragedy.

Content Warnings

readwithcaitlyn's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.5

Content Warnings

emspeid's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful 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

4.75

Content Warnings

trophysoph's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The book has an ebb and flow. Sometimes it spends too long on things and sometimes the plot shoots by you. At some point you come to understand that whatever you expect to happen will likely not be quite what happens

Content Warnings

astoriareader's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

SYNOPSIS

Beartown is a small town, where everyone worships the hockey team.
Basically, the town’s future is riding on the success of the junior boys’ hockey team.
Each chapter contains lots of different characters & shifts between their perspectives.
Check trigger warnings, as main conflict in book involves sexual assault/rape.

MY THOUGHTS

The writing style was strange to me. I didn’t like the third person narrator, and I wasn’t a fan of the shifting perspective every few minutes.
Sooo many characters & perspectives that I never felt truly connected to any of them.
The ending was not satisfying.
Story drags on far too long.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️this one wasn’t for me, unfortunately.

Content Warnings

pechebaie's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional sad tense medium-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? No

5.0

Content Warnings

hanbart19's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

An emotional, heavier-than-expected story. This book has an incredibly strong sense of place. Made me fall in love with some characters and absolutely despise others. I wish the ending was a bit stronger—it’s realistic, but not as satisfying as I hoped.

Content Warnings

katlynann's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful medium-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

4.5

this book has heart 💗 hits different when you’re from a hockey town

Content Warnings

More...