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julessssss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I cannot say that it is badly written, which is part of why I gave it two stars as opposed to one, but I also have no idea what the point of this book was. Backman's ability to bounce between characters while also making them real in some ways should be recognized at the very least.
With that said though, I could not care about most of the characters, and even though they felt like they could be real people, everything they gave to me felt like it was being filtered through Backman as the author, to the point of it feeling ingenuine. I also really hated the Facebook-status-like altruisms that seemed to follow every emotional or important scene. Honestly, in some ways, it felt like I was being talked down to, as if I couldn't just take what was being given to me and understand it.
Overall though, it seemed like a lot of nothing and too much of a rape story I have heard too often, and one that seemed to have no discourse in the text about it other than the same feminist notions I hear all the time. The book is fine, read it if you'd like, but I would not recommend it.
If you are going to make me read a detailed rape scene, make it worth it.
Graphic: Rape and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Misogyny, Violence, Bullying, and Child death
Minor: Grief, Self harm, and Addiction
xiggy's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Hate crime, Alcohol, Death of parent, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Domestic abuse, Racism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Cursing, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts
sophiebaron's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Sexual assault, Self harm, and Rape
emuewe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Rape
Moderate: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Self harm, Bullying, Alcoholism, and Homophobia
Minor: Vomit and Pregnancy
torihope98's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Sexual assault, Bullying, and Sexual violence
Minor: Self harm, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
nayks's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Minor: Self harm
thecriticalreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I borrowed Beartown from my library through the Libby app. It is the first Fredrik Backman book that I have read.
Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Misogyny, Bullying, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Fatphobia, Alcoholism, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Classism, Drug use, Medical trauma, Racism, Self harm, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Domestic abuse
faithwalan's review against another edition
5.0
idek know what to say but this was a masterpiece. i cried several times- i will never forget this read. i was completely invested in the MANY characters and in this world. i can’t wait to continue the series. ana and mayas friendship is one of the most accurate teenage girl friendship i’ve ever read.
If you are honest, people may deceive you. Be honest anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfishness. Be kind anyway. All the good you do today will be forgotten by others tomorrow. Do good anyway.
You never have the sort of friends you have when you’re fifteen ever again. Even if you keep them for the rest of your life, it’s never the same as it was then.
Hate can be a deeply stimulating emotion. The world becomes much easier to understand and much less terrifying if you divide everything and everyone into friends and enemies, we and they, good and evil. The easiest way to unite a group isn’t through love, because love is hard. It makes demands. Hate is simple
She was fifteen and had access to the Internet; she already knew that the world is a cruel place if you’re a girl. Her parents couldn’t imagine that this could happen, but Maya simply hadn’t expected it to happen to her.
Any living thing that is kept behind bars for long enough eventually becomes more scared of the unknown than its own captivity.
Because in the end that's all anyone can ask of another person. That we are prepared to admit that we don't know everything
Everything she has held back, everything she has tried to stifle, everything she has tried not to show in order to protect the people she loves, to stop them having to feel as much pain as her. She can’t bear their pain as well. She can’t handle the weight of other people’s sorrow on top of this.
Another morning comes. It always does. Time always moves at the same rate, only feelings have different speeds. Every day can mark a whole lifetime or a single heartbeat, depending on who you spend it with
Graphic: Rape and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Self harm
idk_indigo's review against another edition
Moderate: Self harm, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts
l0bke's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Homophobia and Rape
Minor: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, and Bullying