Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Kleine Stadt der großen Träume by Fredrik Backman

131 reviews

edgaranjapoe's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Violence, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Classism, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexism, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Sexual content, Homophobia, Medical content, Fatphobia, Blood, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Mental illness, Body shaming, Racial slurs, and Vomit

Minor: Eating disorder, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Abandonment, Self harm, Stalking, Cursing, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Animal death, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

poisonivy's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

this destroyed me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Grief

namelesssam_'s review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Suicide, Violence, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Body shaming, Blood, Alcoholism, Stalking, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Cursing, Rape, Racial slurs, Drug use, Death, Alcohol, Homophobia, and Grief

shley's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Bullying

Moderate: Rape, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Outing and Fatphobia

yellow_ylugbug's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Grief, Homophobia, and Rape

ayuming_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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: Sexual assault and Rape

Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Misogyny, Bullying, Mental illness, and Sexism

Minor: Grief and Child death

kimberlyinthewild's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Rape, and Bullying

sarahrahrah's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.75

I went into reading this knowing nothing about it, other than having seen lots of praise and recommendations for it. It right away starts the intrigue with the short chapter one and the "this is the story of how we got there," and then goes on to develop the town and characters and explain all the various aspects of living in a "hockey town". Because of that first chapter, I assumed that the "violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil" from the back blurb was about someone killing someone else with a shotgun. Even though Backman does a phenomenal job of hinting at what's coming through the character development and locker room culture, I was still unprepared for when

Kevin rapes Maya

and emotionally had a hard time continuing to read after that moment. But all in all it was a fantastic book with lots of interesting themes and thoughts about the human experience wrapped up in an interesting story about a small hockey town.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, and Rape

Moderate: Alcohol, Grief, Drug use, and Child death

Minor: Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Child abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Suicide, Classism, and Racial slurs

amariela02's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense 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: Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Rape, Bullying, Classism, Racism, Xenophobia, Sexism, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Mental illness, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, and Child death

Minor: Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Stalking

aprilyvonne's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Beartown” by Fredrik Backman was an emotional and gut-wrenching read. It’s also an important one when it comes down to the themes it reveals. I still feel emotionally exhausted after reading it. I plan to finish the series eventually; I’m just not sure how quickly I can jump into the next one yet.

“Beartown” might at first glance seem to merely be a hockey story, but it’s so much more than that. It’s about human nature and all the ugliness that it entails such as toxic masculinity, rape culture, discrimination, homophobia, domestic violence, alcoholism, poverty, classism, etc. Yet, somehow, the novel also offers glimpses of love, joy, happiness, pride, friendship, family, community, and standing up for what’s right. That’s what helped me continue reading. I was angry enough I needed answers, but I was anxious the entire time. If it weren’t for those heartwarming moments, I don’t know if I could’ve read it as easily.

Thankfully there are a lot of characters that made the book work, and I’ll carry a special place for Maya, Ana, Amat, and Benji especially when I think back. The tragic elements of the plot was difficult and readers should check with the triggers before pursuing it.

Overall, I’m glad I read the novel and Backman remains one of my favourite authors. I just need a happier book to read next to help repair my poor heart. ♥️📚

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Gaslighting, Child death, Rape, Sexism, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Violence, Homophobia, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Bullying