Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Beartown

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

288 reviews

pallasreads's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

kateships's review against another edition

4.25

emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

Content Warnings

kellil's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

marleysrambles's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Context:
I borrowed Beartown from my library through the Libby app. It is the first Fredrik Backman book that I have read.

Review:

Beartown is a long book, but I read it in a couple of days. Backman’s writing is compelling and easy to digest. The book’s strength lies in its ability to capture the small-town, hockey-obsessed culture of Beartown convincingly and quickly in the reader’s imagination. Despite the book’s large cast of characters, each person feels believable, and it is easy to keep track of everyone. Backman then uses this setting and this cast of characters to tell a heartbreaking but powerful story about the double-edged nature of a town that fosters a close-knit sports culture of ferocious loyalty, spirited work ethic, and conspicuous silence. He manages to capture the complexity of moral situations and sheds light on why certain people make certain choices, but nevertheless asserts the necessity of morally correct actions rooted in integrity and empathy.

My one issue with the book is Backman’s writing style. Although he appears capable of “showing instead of telling,” he often opts to “show” the reader something through a scene and follow it up with him “telling” them what it meant. He’s a huge fan of punchy concluding sentences that hammer in a point about morality or human nature, which can be effective if used sparingly. Unfortunately, Backman uses this device constantly, which dilutes the effectiveness of these lines considerably. If he cut them down by about 75-80% and kept only the best ones, he would be left with some pretty devastating lines that feel like a punch in the gut. More bizarrely, he sometimes repeats these lines within a chapter, with an effect similar to someone repeating a punchline of a semi-decent joke over again in the hopes of generating more laughs.

Fortunately, I appreciated the other elements of the book enough for me to ignore his annoying writing quirks. That being said, I feel no desire to continue with the Beartown series. I devoured this book like it was a decadently sweet dessert and decided to quit when satiated instead of making myself sick by eating further.

The Run-Down:

You will probably like Beartown if . . .

· You want to read a book that captures the small-town feel

· You like well-developed and damaged characters who must choose between doing what is right and what is easy

· You appreciate a story that has something to say and understands the complexties of human nature

· You are interested in the impact that masculinized sports culture has on wider society

You might not like Beartown if . . .

· You dislike shifting POVs or a large cast of characters

· You can’t stand didacticism or a heavy-handed writing style

Content Warnings

i_will_sing_no_requiem's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

Content Warnings

raisinreads's review against another edition

4.0

emotional sad tense medium-paced

Well done as always Mr.Backman

Content Warnings

franksalot's review against another edition

3.5

Content Warnings

aquakirst's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

this is genuinely a perfect book. i want to go back and bring down the ratings of every other book i've rated 5 stars because nothing can live up to beartown

Content Warnings

sarahmae531's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Such a beautiful and heartbreaking story. For every terrible character there were so many more that I fell in love with.
I really enjoyed Backman’s writing style/this translation. The ending tied everything together perfectly.

Content Warnings

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