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4.42 AVERAGE
4.42 AVERAGE
I rarely experience books where I like the sequel much more than the original, but I thought that the plot of this book was far more interesting, and it made it easier to notice the author's strengths, namely character development and inspiring writing. I found it easier to care about the hockey aspect of it this time around now that I believed in what all of the main characters were playing for. Compared to last book, which tried to provide nuance to a topic where there should be none, this book was a long, complicated, amazing plot helping to see the nuance in lots of truly nuanced themes, such as community, violence, friendship, and love. I loved the way all of the characters story arcs continued, as well as the new characters that were introduced. Overall a much better book than beartown.
not as good as the first one! cant lie. but still good!
I didn't love this book as much as all the other Backman books I've read, but I still loved it. The reason I don't give it five stars is because there were a bit too many times for me when he tried to fake us out; he'd take us right to this climactic moment that he'd been hinting at...and then it wouldn't happen. There is a good climax at the end of the book, but some of the points that led up there felt like he was jerking me around a bit too much.
But I love the characters. I love how he writes characters that have good and bad in them. Complex people. I love his use of repetition and foreshadowing. I find his writing extremely beautiful (although this book had a couple of clunky phrases for me; not sure how much is just lost in translation. I wish I read Swedish! Here's an example: "...darkness will land on the town as if it had been attacked from behind by an angry giant who tosses all the buildings into a black sack to use on the model railway in the secret room in his basement." ??? Maybe that was better in the original language?).
Overall though, I really cared for this book. I will be awaiting the third installment with bated breath.
Some favorite lines:
"There's only one sort of whisky here, but several types of sorrow."
"Masculinity is complicated when you're twelve. And at every other age, too."
"...the PR consultants the council has brought in call it 'the scandal.' As if the problem wasn't that a girl was raped but that it happened to become public knowledge."
"Everyone is a hundred different things, but in other people's eyes we usually get the chance to be only one of them."
"'Grief is the price we pay for love, Ramona. A broken heart in exchange for a whole one.'"
"It's hard to care about people. Exhausting, in fact, because empathy is a complicated thing. It requires us to accept that everyone else's lives are also going on the whole time. We have no pause button for when everything gets too much for us to deal with, but then neither does anyone else."
"The truth about most people is as simple as it is unbearable: we rarely want what is best for everyone; we mostly want what's best for ourselves."
"Being a mother can be like drying out the foundations of a house or mending a roof: it takes time, sweat, and money, and once it's done everything looks exactly the same as it did before."
"When guys are scared of the dark, they're scared of ghosts and monsters, but when girls are scared of the dark, they're scared of guys."
"One of the guys [...] is so sweet that if he sees you on a Tuesday he wishes you a good weekend, just in case he doesn't see you again before Friday."
"The path back to normal life is indescribably long once death has swept the feet out from under those of us who are left. Grief is a wild animal that drags us so far out into the darkness that we can't imagine ever getting home again. Ever laughing again. It hurts in such a way that you can never really figure out if it actually passes or if you just get used to it."
But I love the characters. I love how he writes characters that have good and bad in them. Complex people. I love his use of repetition and foreshadowing. I find his writing extremely beautiful (although this book had a couple of clunky phrases for me; not sure how much is just lost in translation. I wish I read Swedish! Here's an example: "...darkness will land on the town as if it had been attacked from behind by an angry giant who tosses all the buildings into a black sack to use on the model railway in the secret room in his basement." ??? Maybe that was better in the original language?).
Overall though, I really cared for this book. I will be awaiting the third installment with bated breath.
Some favorite lines:
"There's only one sort of whisky here, but several types of sorrow."
"Masculinity is complicated when you're twelve. And at every other age, too."
"...the PR consultants the council has brought in call it 'the scandal.' As if the problem wasn't that a girl was raped but that it happened to become public knowledge."
"Everyone is a hundred different things, but in other people's eyes we usually get the chance to be only one of them."
"'Grief is the price we pay for love, Ramona. A broken heart in exchange for a whole one.'"
"It's hard to care about people. Exhausting, in fact, because empathy is a complicated thing. It requires us to accept that everyone else's lives are also going on the whole time. We have no pause button for when everything gets too much for us to deal with, but then neither does anyone else."
"The truth about most people is as simple as it is unbearable: we rarely want what is best for everyone; we mostly want what's best for ourselves."
"Being a mother can be like drying out the foundations of a house or mending a roof: it takes time, sweat, and money, and once it's done everything looks exactly the same as it did before."
"When guys are scared of the dark, they're scared of ghosts and monsters, but when girls are scared of the dark, they're scared of guys."
"One of the guys [...] is so sweet that if he sees you on a Tuesday he wishes you a good weekend, just in case he doesn't see you again before Friday."
"The path back to normal life is indescribably long once death has swept the feet out from under those of us who are left. Grief is a wild animal that drags us so far out into the darkness that we can't imagine ever getting home again. Ever laughing again. It hurts in such a way that you can never really figure out if it actually passes or if you just get used to it."
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
A little more exposition than per Bachman’s usual. Felt he was trying too hard to make a point, without continuing the realism of his original Beartown characters.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
I wanted to love this as much as I did Beartown, but I could never really connect with this book. It wasn’t the characters, it was the style. It was very distracting with mini summaries and reminders about what kind of town or story it is, the narrator who leads us into foreshadowing that is misleading, the constant shifting of characters and timelines….and it just really kept me from connecting. Not my favorite Blackman. Maybe I’ll like the next in this series better.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fredrik Backman just gets people.
Like Beartown, this book isn’t just about hockey—it’s about love and loyalty, grief and rage.
Every emotion, every character, every heartbreak feels real.
He doesn’t just write about people; he sees them, flaws and all, and somehow makes you love them even when they’re at their worst.
I loved this just as much as the first one. The writing is fantastic- full of those quiet gut-punch moments that sneak up on you.
One minute you’re turning pages, and the next, you’re sitting there, staring into space, feeling everything. Whoof.
The rivalries, the friendships, the pain of wanting to do right but not knowing how—it’s just so human.
So far in 2025, no one writes about the human condition better than Backman.
Translated lit for the win!
Like Beartown, this book isn’t just about hockey—it’s about love and loyalty, grief and rage.
Every emotion, every character, every heartbreak feels real.
He doesn’t just write about people; he sees them, flaws and all, and somehow makes you love them even when they’re at their worst.
I loved this just as much as the first one. The writing is fantastic- full of those quiet gut-punch moments that sneak up on you.
One minute you’re turning pages, and the next, you’re sitting there, staring into space, feeling everything. Whoof.
The rivalries, the friendships, the pain of wanting to do right but not knowing how—it’s just so human.
So far in 2025, no one writes about the human condition better than Backman.
Translated lit for the win!
3.75 stars but I'm feeling generous today.
I continue to love Backman and his prose. Oh how I wish I could read it in it's original Swedish. I bet his books all sound lovely and poetic. He is one of the few authors who can write in present tense and not send me up a wall...usually it doesn't work, but for Backman it does.
Welcome back to Beartown - a town with triumphs and flaws. We are back a few weeks after the completion of the first book and everyone is kind of living with the fallout from their choices in the previous book. Though, beautiful, I thought this book got bogged down a bit in the details, especially the political stuff and the foreshadowing. It was just too much for me. And then when the foreshadowed event came to pass I found it slightly anti-climatic. Sad, but not shocking.
Despite these qualms, I still love Backman and Beartown.
Recommend for people who need a good cry, love pretty prose, or want a book about deeply flawed individuals.
I continue to love Backman and his prose. Oh how I wish I could read it in it's original Swedish. I bet his books all sound lovely and poetic. He is one of the few authors who can write in present tense and not send me up a wall...usually it doesn't work, but for Backman it does.
Welcome back to Beartown - a town with triumphs and flaws. We are back a few weeks after the completion of the first book and everyone is kind of living with the fallout from their choices in the previous book. Though, beautiful, I thought this book got bogged down a bit in the details, especially the political stuff and the foreshadowing. It was just too much for me. And then when the foreshadowed event came to pass I found it slightly anti-climatic. Sad, but not shocking.
Spoiler
I think this is in large part because Vidar wasn't really a main character. We knew his brother loved him. We knew he was a good goalie. And we were just starting to get bits and pieces of his and Anna's love story. But he doesn't make an appearance until well into the second half of the book. We only have a few back stories. I just didn't understand him like I understood Benji, Maya, Peter, or even Tema. So when he died it was sad, but I was not yet fully invested in the character. So much of the first half was about Leo and then he kind of drops off to make way for Vidar. I think Vidar should have been introduced sooner.Despite these qualms, I still love Backman and Beartown.
Recommend for people who need a good cry, love pretty prose, or want a book about deeply flawed individuals.