Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Beartown

Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

596 reviews

arikrp's review against another edition

5.0

emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

katies_bibliotherapy's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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

Another book I tried reading physically and then the audiobook ended up being the way to go. It feels strange to rate this book five stars given the heavy themes and topics it tackles, but it was told in such a lyrical way that it feels wrong to rate it any less than five stars. It was an unputdownable story and I listened to the entire audiobook in one sitting. The characters' actions and decisions gave me such strong feelings that I had physical reactions as I was listening. I loved how the book portrayed and explored the loyalty, devotion, and bond within sports teams. Backman's ability to elicit such strong emotions and feelings for his characters speaks to his talent for writing. I'm glad I still have my copy so I can go back and annotate one day. Highly recommend.

Content Warnings

rachellanzikos's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

lau_library's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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 was a little hard to read but beautifully written. You feel everything Fredrick Backman writes viscerally. His characters are all deeply flawed yet it’s easy to understand why they make the decisions they do. I know this is part of a series but it also could be a stand alone novel.

Content Warnings

brookesmoon's review against another edition

4.25

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

braipointon's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Very tough read but stuck with me

Content Warnings

hodgeonlucy's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

For the first two thirds of this book, I was convinced I was going to give it a sub-3 rating. I absolutely despised the opening exposition; to make this large cast of characters as distinct and unique as possible, Backman over-relied on literary devices like mirrored symbolism until the plot really picked up in the final part. It made me cringe throughout the majority of the opening chapters, almost as though I could hear Backman patting himself on his back for his clever literary footwork throughout.

That being said, the final part of this novel really saved it. The writing, driven by the plot, was more nuanced and subtle with Backman managing to deliver a poignant tale of pain, hope, and strength without over utilising any writing devices. The plot essentially culminates the same as Ted Lasso whilst getting there in very different ways; one full of hope and joy, another through grief and pain. Still, this book ends leaving me feeling motivated and hopeful for the next instalment as - hopefully - Backman has no need to fall into the mistakes of the first half of this novel as he will have an already fully-formed cast to work with.

Content Warnings

mimo_'s review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

reading this book was a year in the making (i wasnt allowed to read it until now per the recommender) what a man fredrik is ,,, this book was a whole trip to read
this is a pro benji household

and a fuck off kevin household also

fredrik stay cookin in this book it was great we are well fed
for the amount of characters and povs we get i don't think i was ever particularly lost and portions of this book incited so much rage within me and i think you know it's well written when you hate a character based off their actions and not just because you think they're cringy idk man fredrik really prepped and then served a four course meal here i might even read the rest of the series

Content Warnings