Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Us Against You by Fredrik Backman

90 reviews

gillianalice's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Backman doesn’t miss. At the beginning of this book, I remember thinking “wow. Screw this town and everyone in it.” And yet at the end, I’m crying over “we are the bears! The bears from beartown!” I don’t know how he does it. 

I’m dreading the next book. I remember my mom reading it, and she was sobbing at the end. But I know it’s going to be amazing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Homophobia, and Bullying

lizziaha's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

To start with the negative, i think that this book just had too many fake-outs and political machinations for me. The political machinations couldn’t really be avoided—they were part of the story that Backman wants to tell, and very necessary. I just found them boring. The fake-outs, on the other hand, felt distracting to that story. I think it made certain emotional moments feel cheap instead of impactful. That being said, this book does emotion and characters beautifully. There’s a really palpable sense of connection between the characters. And i think that’s really essential to the story of discord. Because you need that connection and that history if you want there to be stakes between warring entities. Once again, I’m at a loss for where this series might go in the next book. And I’m slightly worried about the fates of certain characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Violence, Death, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Mental illness, and Outing

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Rape, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Bullying, Cancer, Drug abuse, Blood, Self harm, Addiction, and Classism

Minor: Transphobia and Child abuse

thespellboundlibraries's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Bullying, Car accident, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Outing

Moderate: Self harm and Rape

atalea's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Cursing, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, and Bullying

Moderate: Cancer, Rape, Child abuse, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Outing

Minor: Vomit and Child death

lorit1227's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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: Car accident, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Suicide, and Violence

redhothabanero's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

I dont have words to describe how well Fredrik Backman writes people. Their characteristics, their feelings, theire interactions with each other. I haven't cried this hard in a long time and both Beartown books I've read so far have had me ugly crying. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Rape, and Bullying

lislune's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Outing, and Misogyny

Moderate: Death, Adult/minor relationship, and Bullying

miaetramontana's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Car accident, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Cursing, Grief, and Homophobia

rhubarbpi3's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I quite liked this book! Not quite as good as the third, (I think?) but I love the writing style. The author does these beautiful repetition phrases and says like a theory and then a story and brings it back to this big idea that I quite like. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Bullying, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

audreywright's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense 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

Fredrik Backman writes like no other. This book was just as good as the first. Emotional, challenging, heart-wrenching. The characters are deep and nuanced.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Homophobia

Minor: Rape

A large topic of the book is one of the characters being gay, how people find out, and the way people respond and treat this character. It is insightful but could be triggering for some. There is also violence and intense rivalry throughout the book, all part of the plot and theme of the story.