Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Kleine Stadt der großen Träume by Fredrik Backman

202 reviews

taracloudclark's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

A stark small town obsessed with hockey grooms its children to be either predators or victims, heroes are truly born out of adversity and find themselves kneecapped by those they trust the most. 

The first half of this book is a lot of exposition, setting the stage for the driving action. But it’s done well, creatively, interestingly. In other words, “nothing happens,” and I was *almost* bored with it, but I only had to push through a little. It kind of reminds me of Spoon River Anthology with the intertwining of lives and stories of a small town where everyone knows everyone and always have (except the newbies, but that’s not portrayed as harshly as many of this trope). 

While it’s a sports town, the sport itself doesn’t take a front seat. It truly is the background while still sating any love for it. 

This definitely borders on literary fiction bc the structure is done in a very precise and lovely way, using almost poetic mechanisms such as repeated phrases and parallelism. The narrative style also has a starkness that reflects the setting and the situation, and vice versa. Tension and foreshadowing are done in an obvious but not ridiculous manner. The *way* it was written is as well done as the story itself. 

This is definitely a book for consideration. The story is laid out, and while there’s no ambiguity as to “what happened,” there is much speculation to be made as to why and how and what the underlying issues are and how else they affect society. There are no stark answers given. Bad behavior is mentioned, implicated, but not condemned outright. That’s for the reader to determine, negotiate in some cases. Anyone who feels this is moralizing is probably on the more brutal side of the issue. 

The narrator Marin Ireland does very well in complimenting the narrative style as well. It’s 3rd person, and the author is male, but I’m pleased they chose a female to tell this story. Such topics through the male perspective can be troublesome, but I feel like the author did well and the narrator helped convince me of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

karinahull's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny 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

4.5

Took a bit to get into it, but once the major plot point occurs, I was struggling to put it down. Really nice discussion of how insidious and subtle “locker room” culture is, and the real, devastating consequences it can have. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

unnurarna4's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, and Rape

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Violence, and Classism

lindle983's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Blood, and Gaslighting

kupids's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death

leelaamanda's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

liv_burrow's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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: Bullying, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, and Classism

andrewhatesham's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, and Sexism

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racism, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

Jesus
Ok
Um
That held literally fucking nothing back
What
That was impressively hard to read because it was very well written

Also what the fuck why would u say that about benji???

I love ramona and benji and bobo (i listened to the audiobook so idk it’s that’s how theyre spelt)

‘Its never your fault is it? When are you going to admit that it isnt hockey that raises these boys its you’

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

meb1916's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I feel so conflicted about this book. It's so beautiful and so painful. I read it because of a recommendation that definitely didn't touch on how truly dark it is. It took me a long time to finish this because of how difficult the subject matter is. It's written about so truthfully that it hurts to read. You can easily imagine your own community, friends and family in the place of the people of Beartown. 
I think this book is incredibly important for a lot of reasons, and I'm grateful I read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse and Child death