Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Kleine Stadt der großen Träume by Fredrik Backman

73 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

sallamaariv's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

3.5

This book is great, but wayyy too long. I nearly gave up at 40% because the plot wasn't progressing. Hours and hours of character introductions and world building got exhausting and repetitive, and there were too many characters. The plot itself was captivating!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual violence, Rape, Violence, Bullying, Misogyny, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Grief

kathrynshields's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Death of parent and Suicide

Minor: Abandonment and Alcoholism

meganeliz_1214's review against another edition

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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Child abuse, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Addiction, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, 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

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

brookey8888's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Blood, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Classism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Death of parent, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Suicide, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

em_hudson03101's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Beartown has been on my TBR for a few years now and there was always an urge to read it, but it was one of those books that always skipped over, which was a big mistake. I listened to Beartown after Spotify recommended it as an Audiobook and I figured why not check off a TBR book. 
Beartown was way more then I could have ever imagined it to be. The realness and cold hearted truth of the book sucked me right in. While listening to the book you feel like the characters are your friends, neighbors, coworkers etc. The author does an amazing job of setting the scene for Beartown, building a community, and keeping a space open for the reader to insert themselves right into the thick of it all. 
This book pulls at the heart strings, has you cheering for a fictional hockey game, and keeps you coming back for more time and time again. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Suicide

adorablyandie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Homophobia

Minor: Xenophobia

kendal_reads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Classism, Alcohol, Bullying, Rape, and Misogyny

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts