Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Kleine Stadt der großen Träume by Fredrik Backman

188 reviews

yochananvered's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense 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? Yes

5.0

My one and only gripe with this book is that it was hard to follow. There were so many characters it sometimes was hard to keep track. However, that may be due more to my lack of reading comprehension than to the actual writing. The story had me so invested. At certain points I even found it hard to breathe because it felt like I was right there experiencing these events alongside the characters. And there were so many great lines; I some that made me laugh, some that made me think, and some that left me feeling a little bit haunted. The next logical thing is to read the sequel, but part of me wants to reread this immediately to notice things I missed and appreciate all the details a little bit more. One day I will definitely reread this, but for now I’m just excited to see what happens next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Bullying, Violence, Gun violence, and Blood

Moderate: Classism, Bullying, Child death, Misogyny, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Homophobia

Minor: Death of parent, Alcohol, Vomit, and Child abuse

c_alexander's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Bullying, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Abandonment, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, and Grief

Moderate: Suicide, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Child death, Child abuse, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Racism, and Self harm

liannreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Homophobia, and Rape

Moderate: Violence, Gun violence, and Suicidal thoughts

theelliad's review against another edition

5.0

Never would I have expected to find a book so triggering and love it so dearly- this was so specific in its traumas it became somewhat healing and I fell in love with the parts of me I saw reflected in these characters. This story of a small town and it’s hockey obsessed people branches into accountability, power, social norms, grief, the exploitation of children in competitive sports, sex and assault politics, homophobia (internalised and external), secrecy, systematic and institutional failures and family dynamics without ever feeling too full. Backmans writing is so easy to love and I will be thinking about this book for a long time 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Addiction, Death, Homophobia, Drug use, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Child death, Suicide, Alcoholism, Dysphoria, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Sexual assault, Bullying, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

lilly_koonce's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Gun violence, Drug use, and Sexual assault

risemini's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Misogyny, Alcohol, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Grief, Domestic abuse, and Rape

astoriareader's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

SYNOPSIS

• Beartown is a small town, where everyone worships the hockey team.
• Basically, the town’s future is riding on the success of the junior boys’ hockey team.
• Each chapter contains lots of different characters & shifts between their perspectives.
• Check trigger warnings, as main conflict in book involves sexual assault/rape.

MY THOUGHTS

• The writing style was strange to me. I didn’t like the third person narrator, and I wasn’t a fan of the shifting perspective every few minutes.
• Sooo many characters & perspectives that I never felt truly connected to any of them.
• The ending was not satisfying.
• Story drags on far too long.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️this one wasn’t for me, unfortunately.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Rape

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, and Gun violence

salt_y's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Frederick Backman simply has a way with words. Although this book made me cry most of the time, all the characters were written with such care that it took my breath away. The beginning was rather hard to get into properly, especially with the constantly switching perspectives, representing basically everyone who lives in Beartown. As soon as the 40% mark hit however, I couldn't put it down and was destroyed by the story in the best way. Mind the content warnings before going into this!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Rape, Homophobia, Violence, Sexism, Misogyny, and Bullying

Moderate: Gun violence, Eating disorder, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

catarina187's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective medium-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

4.0

This book tells us about a small ice town that lives for field hockey. At the beginning of the book, we get to know various characters and their families and how their lives are intertwined with the town's field hockey club: we meet the president, players, coaches, staff and various people who simply have a great passion for this sport and this club. However, this field hockey team brings us much more than sport. Various conflicts arise between the different characters, for different reasons, and everything ends up being reflected in the team's performance and the way the whole club operates.

The book is superbly written and, as you get to know the characters and see the story unfold, you can feel very involved in the book. However, the book starts off painfully slowly, making it a little difficult to get interested. Nevertheless, Backamn's writing is undoubtedly exceptional: there is no one who creates characters and scenarios like him, making the reader experience the reality described in the book as intensely as possible. I feel sorry for the beginning of the book, as it was really hard to get into, but once the story starts to develop, it becomes really good and addictive. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Gun violence and Violence

acorny's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Took a really long time to get into this one, almost gave up on it several times. Definitely worth sticking with it though, the characters felt very real from all the backstory given. Check content warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Gaslighting, and Gun violence

Moderate: Homophobia, Bullying, Addiction, and Suicidal thoughts