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A review by amyvl93
Beartown by Fredrik Backman
emotional
reflective
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
3.5
Maybe I need to stop believing in internet hype quite so hard. Beartown and Fredrik Backman's books generally are so beloved online that I went into this fully expecting it to be a total slamdunk. However, whilst I found Beartown undeniably engaging it didn't hit the heights that I hoped it to.
The novel follows the community of Beartown in Sweden, a small town which has been left behind by economic changes and so puts their entire belief in the future on the shoulders of the teenage hockey team whose success in their upcoming tournament, they believe, will lead to investment and success for the town. We therefore have numerous perspectives that we dive into, from the star hockey player to his coach to the owner of the team to other players and students in the town. Backman does a great job at making Beartown feel like a very vivid and populated town - the sense of place was excellent.
The plot of the novel really kicks off when there is an incident of rape (this is important to know I think going into the novel) and the town divides into those who believe the victim, and those who think the perpetrator's future is more important than the truth- and people who fall somewhere in between. Backman does a good, if infuriating, job at capturing exactly how a town like Beartown would respond to such news.
However, what worked less well for me was Backman's quite heavy-handed lesson signalling that happened within chapters, or random sentences that I think were supposed to give us a sense of group think but I found a little grating, especially as we dipped into some quite serious topics. I also disliked...most of the characters in the novel, which is fine as we don't need likeable protagonists, but having been sold this book on its 'lovable' cast of characters I found that slightly baffling.
A good read, but I won't be reading the rest of the series.
The novel follows the community of Beartown in Sweden, a small town which has been left behind by economic changes and so puts their entire belief in the future on the shoulders of the teenage hockey team whose success in their upcoming tournament, they believe, will lead to investment and success for the town. We therefore have numerous perspectives that we dive into, from the star hockey player to his coach to the owner of the team to other players and students in the town. Backman does a great job at making Beartown feel like a very vivid and populated town - the sense of place was excellent.
The plot of the novel really kicks off when there is an incident of rape (this is important to know I think going into the novel) and the town divides into those who believe the victim, and those who think the perpetrator's future is more important than the truth- and people who fall somewhere in between. Backman does a good, if infuriating, job at capturing exactly how a town like Beartown would respond to such news.
However, what worked less well for me was Backman's quite heavy-handed lesson signalling that happened within chapters, or random sentences that I think were supposed to give us a sense of group think but I found a little grating, especially as we dipped into some quite serious topics. I also disliked...most of the characters in the novel, which is fine as we don't need likeable protagonists, but having been sold this book on its 'lovable' cast of characters I found that slightly baffling.
A good read, but I won't be reading the rest of the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Rape, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Racism, and Grief
Minor: Alcoholism