A review by catarina187
Beartown by Fredrik Backman

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book tells us about a small ice town that lives for field hockey. At the beginning of the book, we get to know various characters and their families and how their lives are intertwined with the town's field hockey club: we meet the president, players, coaches, staff and various people who simply have a great passion for this sport and this club. However, this field hockey team brings us much more than sport. Various conflicts arise between the different characters, for different reasons, and everything ends up being reflected in the team's performance and the way the whole club operates.

The book is superbly written and, as you get to know the characters and see the story unfold, you can feel very involved in the book. However, the book starts off painfully slowly, making it a little difficult to get interested. Nevertheless, Backamn's writing is undoubtedly exceptional: there is no one who creates characters and scenarios like him, making the reader experience the reality described in the book as intensely as possible. I feel sorry for the beginning of the book, as it was really hard to get into, but once the story starts to develop, it becomes really good and addictive. 
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