Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

En man som heter Ove by Fredrik Backman

122 reviews

sarasreading's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.25

It's a slow building story that was fine and good, and then by the end I was in tears. I'm not mad at all that this is my first Backman. I am definitely going to read more of his work! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Miscarriage

bites_of_books's review against another edition

The main character is unbearable, from the start he is making all kinds of awful remarks about everyone who is even a little bit different from him. He calls his neighbor "foreign" another "overweight", he takes zero effort in getting to know people as people. I imagined that this could be a book like the movie Up, where the man is unlikeable but will not always have been that way, instead, it's just how he's been his whole life. It was unfortunate that the author gave zero respite to Ove to be able to become a multidimensional character instead of just flat and awful.

The only way he was able to continue living was by his neighbors literally forcing themselves into his life. Also, the people who go in to "rescue" him and make him better are either POC or disabled or a cat.

Overall just not for me at all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Sexism, Death, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Fatphobia, and Death of parent

torigiblinjones's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Car accident

Minor: Homophobia

egalligan's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Homophobia, Car accident, Terminal illness, and Fatphobia

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Forced institutionalization

haleystiles's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Child death, and Homophobia

purplepenning's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Ableism, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Medical content, Dementia, Death, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, and Car accident

Minor: Blood, Domestic abuse, Violence, Cursing, and Animal cruelty

jasmijn's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring sad medium-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

4.75

Loved this. 
The characters are all excellent - at first most of them appear caricatures, but eventually they will all gain depth as Ove let's go of (some of) his prejudices and opinions. 
Ove himself seems built out of every male family member I have. The parking money thing, always having the same car brand, mostly spending time tightening screws about the house, and most of all, loving deeply in general quietness are things I recognise from either my father or grandfather. Add my brother's grumpiness and stubbornness and there's Ove. 
My grandfather isn't alive anymore, but I've often been thinking fondly of his endless cycle of new Renaults while reading this. And reading this made me thankful I get to witness the same unconditional love Ove has for his wife in my father every day. 

My only irk with this book was the character Jimmy. His entire personality was basically "the fat guy" and even though he got his own backstory in the end, it didn't feel like it was just Ove's prejudiced gaze that influenced how he was written. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Cancer, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

Minor: Domestic abuse

nav26's review against another edition

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

I did not expect to love this book as much as I did. Ove is a grumpy old man who dislikes change and sticks to his principles. A young, nosy family moves in next door and changes his life. The book flips between present day with his crazy neighbours and the big life events that have led him to this moment. I never expected to cry so much but there were some really beautiful and sad moments in this book. Will absolutely be reading more Frederik Backman. The audiobook narrator did a great job but I'll probably do physical copies for future stuff.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Terminal illness, Death, Death of parent, and Miscarriage

brandie_abbie19's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Violence, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Blood, Body shaming, Cancer, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Dementia, Pregnancy, Cursing, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Fatphobia, and Grief

mixyplixl's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death, and Car accident

Moderate: Miscarriage and Death of parent

Minor: Fatphobia