A review by lauren_shilling
Us Against You by Fredrik Backman

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Don't even get me started on this series or I won't shut up. Fredrik Backman is my favorite author, and this book was no exception. It was absolutely incredible, and I think it was a little bit better than the first one (not by much though, since they're both incredible). I love how this book makes you think about a lot of things, and the writing is just stunning. Not only that, but the CHARACTERS!!! Never have I read a book where the characters feel as real as they do in this series. It actually blows my mind that these characters do not actually exist and are not actually real people and this town is completely fictional. Even the side characters like Ramona, or characters with such a minimal role that they are only mentioned briefly feel more real than most characters I read about in other books, and even those characters can have huge impacts on the story. This book also propelled one character, Benji, to my favorite fictional character of all time. In Beartown, he was my favorite character and was already one of my favorite characters of all time, but this book really made him my absolute top favorite. I don't think anyone can beat him for that spot. He's such an incredible character, and I love him so very much. He's my favorite, but the other characters deserve to be mentioned too, especially characters like Maya, Amat, Kira, and Vidar. Overall, this series has my favorite cast of characters I have ever read, and it is my favorite series of all time, no doubt about it!
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