stephpaley 's review for:

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

4.0

challenging emotional reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

---

Backman is an expert story crafter.  This novel highlights a small, distant town that centers around hockey.  All the characters have a hand in the renowned hockey team, so the players are heroes and can do no wrong.  When something sexually violent happens to the coach’s daughter, the town has to make sense of things… we get a glimpse into multiple perspectives before and after the incident.  
He creates an emotional plot, with many developed characters… And he sprinkles in wisdom throughout.