Reviews with content warning for Grief - Os mod jer

Once again I am in awe that a hockey book could be so beautiful and heartbreaking. I love Backman and this book about the love we have for our friends. our family and our community. I laughed, I cried and it was just wonderful.

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mmccombs's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

It’s been a bit since I read the first book, but the 2nd installment did such a complete “previously on…” that I immediately felt right back in it. The specific voice of this series, 2nd person omnipresent POV, is so interesting and really works for the over the top drama that occurs in this story.

Sometimes the look into the future (“and she will regret it” etc etc) felt a little cheesy, but this book is kind of inherently cheesy, so it works. I did have some issues with the future tense constantly teasing something terrible and then nothing would happen (or the thing would happen but to a character we didn’t even know existed), it often felt like cheap emotional manipulation just to provoke a response, but never going so far as to actually reap consequences for the characters/story. I was definitely kept on the edge of my seat, but after crying wolf so many times I eventually felt as if there were no meaningful stakes.

This felt like a very natural continuation from the first book, similar themes and turmoil and small town politics, so in some ways it felt kind of repetitive and unnecessary, but mostly it was nice to come back to Beartown. I will definitely finish out this series and am excited to get to some of Blackman’s other titles.

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cesreads's review against another edition

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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

This book made me emotional but not too much. It hurts to know what happened to some of the characters, even the one that was introduced in this book and taken away. Pacing is medium, my being slow is not the book’s fault but my busy schedule. But I admit the last 6 chapters are the ones I breezed through. I love the characters, everyone are likeable, even those that are not good.

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ajthequeen's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-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

5.0

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claranasman02's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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baileyana's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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lizziaha's review against another edition

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Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

To start with the negative, i think that this book just had too many fake-outs and political machinations for me. The political machinations couldn’t really be avoided—they were part of the story that Backman wants to tell, and very necessary. I just found them boring. The fake-outs, on the other hand, felt distracting to that story. I think it made certain emotional moments feel cheap instead of impactful. That being said, this book does emotion and characters beautifully. There’s a really palpable sense of connection between the characters. And i think that’s really essential to the story of discord. Because you need that connection and that history if you want there to be stakes between warring entities. Once again, I’m at a loss for where this series might go in the next book. And I’m slightly worried about the fates of certain characters.

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marippe's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

"People we love will die. We will bury our children beneath our most beautiful trees."

fredrik, you have done it again, constantly raising the bar for us all and doing it flawlessly. i’d say i’m surprised but i know who you are.

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