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defiantturtle's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Minor: Infidelity and Death of parent
_pauline's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
This combines elements from a man called ove (main character), beartown (small town/village setting, sports, characters) & anxious people (funny, robbery ), but I don’t think it’s boring or repetitive even if you’ve read his other books.
it went from “low stakes story with a premise & MC similar to ove“ to “simultaneously heart wrenching & funny“ to“you did not seriously just kill off one of my favourite characters“
it went from “low stakes story with a premise & MC similar to ove“ to “simultaneously heart wrenching & funny“ to
Britt-Marie finds it extremely impolite for Somebody to interrupt her in the midst of dying.
'I was waiting here for you to stop looking deceased. Got hungry, you know, so I had a bit of lunch'
Some people had pulled Britt-Marie out of the car; she doesn't know who, but she knows that her mother, silently furious, never forgave them for saving the wrong daughter. Maybe Britt-Marie didn't forgive them either. Because they saved the life of a person who from that day devoted herself to just walking around being afraid of dying and lying there stinking.
Next to the plate she put a note, written neatly in ink: 'Out on a date. Or a meeting. Or whatever it's called nowadays. No need to put away your plate when you have finished, it's no trouble at all for me.' She wanted to write something about how she hoped the rat would find someone else to share its dinner with, because she did not feel the rat deserved to eat alone. Loneliness is a waste of both rats and people. But her common sense ordered her not to get involved in the rat's personal choices about social relationships, so she left it at that.
'If something happens to me can you promise you'll look out for Omar and Vega and make sure they're all right? Can you promise me you'll find good people to look after them?' …
He has made her promise that she won't sit up all night waiting for his car to come back. But she does it anyway.
I‘m not sure how to feel about
character ranking:
- vega
- the rat
- ben (pirate)
- britt-marie
- sami
- sven
- the white dog (SO close to being a ts reference he just chose the wrong colour)
- unemployment office girl
- somebody, max, the other kids
- everybody else
- literally anyone
- kent (though he did change for the better)
my current ranking of Fredrik Backman’s books:
- the winners (5⭐️)
- beartown & us against you (5⭐️)
- anxious people (5⭐️)
- britt-marie was here (4.75⭐️)
- a man called ove (4⭐️)
If you want to get an impression of his sense of humour, watch the speech he gave at the Simon & Schuster centennial (Fredrik Backman on Creative Anxiety and Procrastination)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, Murder, and Infidelity
Minor: Car accident and Vomit
calicornmoore's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Death
Moderate: Death of parent and Abandonment
bookish_slagathor's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book gave me some serious emotional whiplash.
One chapter I was smiling, next I was bawling my eyes out, confusing the hell out of my fiancée and my cats.
This was my first venture into Backman’s books and I can already feel that I will have a wonderfully toxic relationship with his books where he makes me smile, laugh, promising a wonderful but somewhat bittersweet time and then unexpectedly stabs me in the heart repeatedly.
And I will keep coming back, wanting more.
Backman’s prose is truly something else. I can’t say if this is true of him in general, so anyone who has read several of his works feel free to add your two Swedish kronas, but he takes mundane people and pretty depressing concepts and uses utterly absurd humor to make it seem less… well, depressing as hell.
The only reason why I didn’t give it five stars is the somewhat open ending, which in general I am not a fan of.
Still, definitely a book I would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone okay with being hurt by words.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Alcohol, Infidelity, Death, and Alcoholism
Minor: Emotional abuse
martapsalvado's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
2.75
If I had a nickel for every time I disliked a Fredrik Backman book about a grumpy elderly person who finds the importance of community, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
To be fair, I didn't totally dislike this book. During the first half I was considering DNFing, mainly because it was very repetitive, but for some reason I didn't and I don't regret it. I had a weird relationship with this book- I liked the author's humour and the message that he was trying to convey and found some really good passages, but didn't love the plot, nor cared that much about the characters.That said, the second half of the book was a little more fast-paced and it became more interesting and less repetitive (or did I just start skimming through the repetitions? 👀).
I understand why so many readers love Backman's stories, but maybe they're just not for me.
To be fair, I didn't totally dislike this book. During the first half I was considering DNFing, mainly because it was very repetitive, but for some reason I didn't and I don't regret it. I had a weird relationship with this book- I liked the author's humour and the message that he was trying to convey and found some really good passages, but didn't love the plot, nor cared that much about the characters.That said, the second half of the book was a little more fast-paced and it became more interesting and less repetitive (or did I just start skimming through the repetitions? 👀).
I understand why so many readers love Backman's stories, but maybe they're just not for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Violence and Alcohol
bessadams's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Death of parent, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Infidelity, Violence, Car accident, and Bullying
Minor: Medical content
laurataylor's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death of parent, Child death, Gun violence, Alcoholism, and Death
starrysteph's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
5.0
“If a human being closes her eyes hard enough and for long enough, she can remember pretty well everything that has made her happy.”
Britt-Marie is an eccentric 63 year old who has suddenly found herself alone for the first time in, well, all of her adult life. She's left her cheating husband and stumbled her way into the position of a caretaker in Borg's recreation center (soon-to-be defunct).
Underneath Britt-Marie's socially awkward comments, obsession with cleaning products, and slightly brittle exterior is a deep desire to be known by others, to leave a mark on her community. She's been controlled and afraid most of her life - this is her journey of stepping into herself and finding her voice.
In Backman style, we've got a peculiar set of characters that become deeply loveable and easy-to-root for as you get to know them (the children in particular were a real strength). It's a relatively quick, simple story but it packs so much depth and charm.
There were so many splendid, poignant moments of community and connection.
“One morning you wake up with more life behind you than in front of you, not being able to understand how it’s happened.”
CW: grief, death, alcoholism, gun violence, infidelity, child death, toxic relationship, death of a parent, violence, emotional abuse, ableism, fatphobia, mental illness
Britt-Marie is an eccentric 63 year old who has suddenly found herself alone for the first time in, well, all of her adult life. She's left her cheating husband and stumbled her way into the position of a caretaker in Borg's recreation center (soon-to-be defunct).
Underneath Britt-Marie's socially awkward comments, obsession with cleaning products, and slightly brittle exterior is a deep desire to be known by others, to leave a mark on her community. She's been controlled and afraid most of her life - this is her journey of stepping into herself and finding her voice.
In Backman style, we've got a peculiar set of characters that become deeply loveable and easy-to-root for as you get to know them (the children in particular were a real strength). It's a relatively quick, simple story but it packs so much depth and charm.
There were so many splendid, poignant moments of community and connection.
“One morning you wake up with more life behind you than in front of you, not being able to understand how it’s happened.”
CW: grief, death, alcoholism, gun violence, infidelity, child death, toxic relationship, death of a parent, violence, emotional abuse, ableism, fatphobia, mental illness
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Child death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Grief, Death, Violence, Infidelity, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Ableism, and Mental illness
radfordmanor's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Murder
Minor: Infidelity and Toxic relationship
norwegianforestreader's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Car accident, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexism