Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Us Against You by Fredrik Backman

57 reviews

leonormsousa's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Blood, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Violence, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Classism, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

katsnow14's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Sexism, Bullying, Car accident, Death, Homophobia, Outing, Alcoholism, Violence, and Cancer

lauren_shilling's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

Don't even get me started on this series or I won't shut up. Fredrik Backman is my favorite author, and this book was no exception. It was absolutely incredible, and I think it was a little bit better than the first one (not by much though, since they're both incredible). I love how this book makes you think about a lot of things, and the writing is just stunning. Not only that, but the CHARACTERS!!! Never have I read a book where the characters feel as real as they do in this series. It actually blows my mind that these characters do not actually exist and are not actually real people and this town is completely fictional. Even the side characters like Ramona, or characters with such a minimal role that they are only mentioned briefly feel more real than most characters I read about in other books, and even those characters can have huge impacts on the story. This book also propelled one character, Benji, to my favorite fictional character of all time. In Beartown, he was my favorite character and was already one of my favorite characters of all time, but this book really made him my absolute top favorite. I don't think anyone can beat him for that spot. He's such an incredible character, and I love him so very much. He's my favorite, but the other characters deserve to be mentioned too, especially characters like Maya, Amat, Kira, and Vidar. Overall, this series has my favorite cast of characters I have ever read, and it is my favorite series of all time, no doubt about it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Car accident, Homophobia, Death of parent, Death, Grief, and Drug use

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Child death

franklola's review against another edition

dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Grief, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Death of parent, Outing, Cancer, Car accident, and Death

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Addiction, and Alcohol

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

overall, i enjoyed this. i love Backman's writing and the Beartown characters are very 3 dimensional and loveable. i did not enjoy how we were introduced to a bunch of new characters and how the plot became so political. despite this, Backman never disappoints me with his strong characters that make me feel so deeply for them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Stalking, Child abuse, Outing, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Violence, Alcohol, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual content, Addiction, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

laura_berger's review against another edition

emotional sad tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Outing, Car accident, Grief, Self harm, Drug use, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Homophobia, Bullying, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Violence

cannesi's review against another edition

emotional funny medium-paced

4.25

A good follow up to Beartown, but nothing could ever beat the first book. I still loved this book and being able to follow the same characters throughout their lives. The end with Peter made me chuckle because what makes him think he is qualified?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Hate crime, Car accident, Drug use, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Cursing, and Death

alexiconic's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

4.25

It’s blown me away a bit less than the first book. I loved spending more time with the characters I loved in Bear Town. Backman is able to continue the story and at the same time tackle new, recognizable trends we might see in our lives, too. Admirably done, because it never feels like a stretch or fan service. The one drawback is just that it didn’t feel like a necessary sequel given the wrap up of the first book in this duology.  Which isn’t bad at all - still it’s one of the best sequels I’ve read - but it felt just a bit jarring to re-enter a world that seemed finished and well-rounded. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Drug abuse, Drug use, Cursing, Outing, Death, Violence, and Mental illness

Minor: Suicide

miriamped's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Death of parent, Car accident, and Homophobia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury

wellreadjill_'s review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexism, Car accident, Misogyny, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing

Moderate: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault