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A review by dalmavatai
And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Ah it seems that Fredrik Backman is a very hit-or-miss author for me. Anxious People is one of my favorites of 2021, while Beartown is one of my least favorites. This one is sadly closer to Beartown for me.
The premise of this book sounds amazing, but the execution is nothing but. The characters and their relationships are so incredibly cliché - for example, Noah and his grandpa 'speak the language of numbers' while Ted, Noah's dad, is more into 'letters' and music. This is pretty much the extent of their character development and their relationships with one another. Noah says things that are intended to sound super deep and sweet but are instead annoying because they reek of the author's desperate and cheap attempts at eliciting emotion from the reader. I felt like it started to get a bit better at the end because there was finally enough in the way of character development for me to feel invested, but that came way too late to sway my opinion. Very poor character development and lacking relationships, with cliché lines thrown in every once in a while to sound deep. Not my cup of tea. I don't know if I'll pick up more from Fredrik Backman, maybe if I really like the premise I will, but his writing style reeeeally traverses that fine line between profound and unbelievably annoying.
The premise of this book sounds amazing, but the execution is nothing but. The characters and their relationships are so incredibly cliché - for example, Noah and his grandpa 'speak the language of numbers' while Ted, Noah's dad, is more into 'letters' and music. This is pretty much the extent of their character development and their relationships with one another. Noah says things that are intended to sound super deep and sweet but are instead annoying because they reek of the author's desperate and cheap attempts at eliciting emotion from the reader. I felt like it started to get a bit better at the end because there was finally enough in the way of character development for me to feel invested, but that came way too late to sway my opinion. Very poor character development and lacking relationships, with cliché lines thrown in every once in a while to sound deep. Not my cup of tea. I don't know if I'll pick up more from Fredrik Backman, maybe if I really like the premise I will, but his writing style reeeeally traverses that fine line between profound and unbelievably annoying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Dementia, Grief, and Death of parent