Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.51 AVERAGE
4.51 AVERAGE
A great finish to a great series. What really sticks with me about these books is how much all the unsaid things can make a difference in people's lives and in the world. If we could all only be more open and expressive, it would help relationships so much.
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The emotional Rollercoaster that this book put me through!
All of the Beartown books are pretty depressing. Let's get that out of the way first. Something about the way they were written kept me going though. Y'know the narrative device used in the classic Christmas film "It's A Wonderful Life (1946)" where the first half of the film consists of seemingly omniscient angels discussing the ins and outs of a man's life up to the point where they're about to intervene? They seem to know not just what happened, but how George Bailey and co. felt about what happened? Beartown kind of feels like that, just without the whimsical humor and the part about somebody intervening to make everything okay. 'Cause boy are things not okay. Can't say I recommend these books, but I wouldn't necessarily try to get people to avoid them either.
In a small town where sport and loyalty to your team is everything, what happens in the aftermath of a scandal.
This is the final book in the Beartown trilogy and it’s beautifully written. So many lives are opened up to the reader and it's rare that an author can make you want to weep for victims on both sides. And yet the story is not without humour, it’s perfectly balanced.
Absolutely blown away by the amount of emotion and energy that Fredrik Backman has managed to generate within these pages.
This is the final book in the Beartown trilogy and it’s beautifully written. So many lives are opened up to the reader and it's rare that an author can make you want to weep for victims on both sides. And yet the story is not without humour, it’s perfectly balanced.
Absolutely blown away by the amount of emotion and energy that Fredrik Backman has managed to generate within these pages.
Tragic and beautiful. The entire series is amazing.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
I wrote of Beartown #2 that it was “relentlessly dark and violent”. So what did I expect for #3? Well, in #3, Backman adds a good dose of political corruption (mostly so complex I couldn't follow it) to the heap of hatred, loss and violence. With all the foreshadowing of doom, at one point all I could think of was, “Who is going to die next?” In this overly-long 600+ page book, you’ll read to page 350 or so before any good shows through the people in these two small towns and that’s a brief respite. Worse, Backman sugarcoats all his hating, violent characters in a mantle of loyalty and friendship. I can only assume Backman was deep into irony when he titled the book, "The Winners".
emotional
reflective
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
Backman is an incredible author. Throughout this entire series, he has masterfully told the story of a town. Not a person but a town. He is also a genius with foreshadowing. There were many a times that I would get emotional from a single statement that insinuated something was coming but it would actually occur chapters and chapters later. But you knew. And you were mad.
It’s also interesting how my favorite characters changed throughout the series as their character developed. Bobo was my favorite this book. Hands down.
Backman has powerfully taken the same stories told in Beartown with a different characters, in different circumstances and showed a completely different outcome. Brilliant.
It’s also interesting how my favorite characters changed throughout the series as their character developed. Bobo was my favorite this book. Hands down.
Backman has powerfully taken the same stories told in Beartown with a different characters, in different circumstances and showed a completely different outcome. Brilliant.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was prepared to dislike this final book in the Beartown series - in part because I loved Book #2, in part because I thought the author was crazy to introduce new characters, and in part because it seemed soooo long. I I got distracted by a lot of other books after starting it, but once I dove back in it became my favorite. Backman expertly develops the characters, and he nails the complicated relationships that come from living in a small town. My heart would burst, and then it would break. I wanted to underline a hundred places where his words felt profound described emotions I've felt but didn't have words for. And then I found myself sobbing through the last 50 pages. All of the Beartown books, but this one in particular, will stick with me for a very, very long time.