Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Kleine Stadt der großen Träume by Fredrik Backman

123 reviews

sofiam19's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

Wasn’t really for me. Read this for a book club knowing there would be heavy subject matter. I found myself very bored and didn’t care for most of it, the writing felt forced in some spots and there was a lot of filler imo. I can see how others may have loved it, but there was something missing for me to be able to emotionally connect to any of the characters. The second half of the book made me mad but it was very realistic, I’ll give it that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Violence, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Alcohol, Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Racism

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

aquakirst's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Addiction, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Bullying

Moderate: Drug use, Pregnancy, Blood, Death, Child death, Animal death, Classism, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders

melcello's review against another edition

I really wish there was a trigger warning or that the "serious crime" in the description wasn't so ambiguous. I had no idea that this book was about rape and if I had, I would have never tried to read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

lbsalas's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Drug use, Addiction, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Suicide, and Death of parent

eljarvo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Gun violence

Moderate: Drug use, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Mental illness, and Blood

Minor: Suicide

annakh16's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense

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

4.75

A masterpiece in character studies. A lot darker than I expected (please do note the trigger warnings) but handled with great empathy. 

Backman brings each character to life beautifully - and there are a lot of them -, showing the many depths of their motivations and creating an ever more complex web of relationships. The writing is straightforward but stunning - philosophical at times, when discussing concepts such as loyalty, love, friendship, family, community and more, but also full of vivid descriptions and images that really help bring the stories to life. The book makes clever use of flashbacks and flashforwards, which are revealing enough for the reader to make their own guesses about what will happen, but obscure enough to allow the story to unfold at its own pace. In fact, the book is full of small plot twists along the way, which are really aided by these small hints, that are often subverted at the last minute. 

The only thing I‘d say is that it‘s a little bit slow to get into, as it starts with a lot of character description before the plot gets moving. But (as Backman always manages), soon both characters and places are laced with depth, so that you can’t help but root for them (or despise them, alternatively). As the plot picks up, so does the pace and by the end of the book, tension is running thick. 

This is no doubt my favourite of Backman’s books so far. I loved this and would really recommend (even if you‘re not even slightly interested in hockey).

I especially appreciated Backman‘s almost sociological study of the dynamics and events surrounding Maya‘s rape. Backman explains, without justifying, the many factors which encouraged complicity and silence surrounding the event. His descriptions of the impact of the events on Maya‘s life and that of her family are devastating and moving. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Gaslighting, Misogyny, Bullying, and Physical abuse

Minor: Gun violence, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Classism, Drug use, Child death, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

tiff_reads_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Rape

Minor: Alcoholism and Drug use

msnikkiwilks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Utterly devastating in the best way possible. 

Excited to listen to the rest of the trilogy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, Addiction, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Drug use, Rape, Violence, Body shaming, Bullying, and Misogyny

sarawgordon's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Minor: Homophobia, Alcoholism, and Drug use

marippe's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“Never again do you find friends like the ones you have when you’re fifteen years old.”

This was really beautifully written! Although it was hard to get into it due to the slow pace at the start +  the overwhelming amount of characters, once the story reaches the 40% point with the incident it gets really interesting. It was really sad but it was intriguing and irritating to see so many different viewpoints on a situation.

I particularly liked Benji, Bobo & Ana’s characters a lot

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Drug use, Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts