A review by alexisreadingabook
Us Against You by Fredrik Backman

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

I am speechless and needed a breather after this to fully reflect and recover. My poor heart.

Backman, yet again, explores the concept tragedy and its effect on the small community of Beartown. It feels relentless and we are forced to witness everything unfold. Helpless, but hopeful. 

I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to remember all of the characters and the intricacies of the first book, but it’s expertly recapped alongside the introduction of new content.

Backman has the ability to really explore the human experience at a microscopic level; his writing continues to be beautiful and every so often there’s something incredibly profound that forces you to pause and reflect:

“There are three types of people: winners, losers, and the ones who watch.”

“People will always choose a simple lie over a complicated truth, because the lie has one unbeatable advantage: the truth always has to stick to what actually happened, whereas the lie just has to be easy to believe.”

“Death does that to us, it's like a phone call, you always remember exactly what you should have said the moment you hang up. Now there's just an answering machine full of memories at the other end, fragments of a voice that are getting weaker and weaker.”

“The complicated thing about good and bad people alike is that most of us can be both at the same time.”

I just want to hug these unfortunate characters: seeing them survive the events of the previous book, their stumbling around here with the cracks and wounds still evident and, in many cases, getting worse only makes it easier to shatter us.

My copy of book three, The Winners, arrived yesterday, but I think I’m going to leave it a couple of months before I read it: I’m just not ready to say goodbye.

“There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in”

❤️