Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Kleine Stadt der großen Träume

i loved this book so much. it's beautifully written. every other sentence was one i wanted to highlight. the writing isn't overly complicated but it's also not simple. it's precise and beautiful and contains lots of amazing quotes about life in general.

the story totally gripped me from the first page. it's carefully crafted, every little detail is told for a reason that will be revealed as the story goes on. the story is complex and often hints at things, but in such an ambiguous way that it's hard to predict what's going to happen. the ending is satisfying and has a bit of a full-circle moment, so the book can absolutely be read standalone even though it's part of a trilogy.

i loved the way all of the characters are introduced and described. they all have unique stories and personalities. everyone's good and bad sides and actions and thoughts are shown, so it's hard to completely hate or love anyone. which i assume is the whole point and i loved it. my opinion of a lot of the characters changed throughout the book as they faced challenges and had to make decisions.

and no, you absolutely don't need to know anything about ice hockey. you can love this story even if you don't care about sports at all. it's more about community and morality and personal relationships than it's about sports.

Content Warnings

kathrynshields's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

I had a hard time getting into this one, but it ended up blowing me away. The first several chapter were full of slow exposition and characters that were hard to keep straight. Then the story quickly picked up and it was brilliant and devastating.

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theelliad's review against another edition

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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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swall0wtail's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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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brookey8888's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This was good, but a very hard read. This is also insanely slow. I knew what this was about which I feel is low key a spoiler because the summary on the back doesn’t mention what happened. It was just so interesting to see how all the people reacted to this event and the motivation behind. This did make me so angry though. I honestly didn’t care about the hockey at

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jorithomp's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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

4.5

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wren_fox's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

2.75

Content Warnings

kallieberry's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

This book is hard to put into words. The emotions and attachment I feel for the characters will last a lifetime. I can’t wait for the next one. A must read.

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