A review by pinesandpages
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

slow-paced

3.0

It usually takes me until the 30% mark to get used to Backman’s (slow, meandering) writing style, and then until 50% to enjoy it. I would say my enjoyment with this one started at around 65% which was unfortunate. I didn’t have a BAD time but it certainly wasn’t compelling. Once we got to the interconnected parts and how the fairytales related to real life I enjoyed it. It was also interesting to have already read Britt Marie Was Here prior to this book, she plays a much more prominent role than I anticipated. (I didn’t think Backman wrote books in the same universe like this, so that was a pleasant surprise.) 

I did not enjoy that Elsa had a name for everyone (even if they’re fanciful nicknames) except “the boy with the syndrome” and “the mother of the boy with the syndrome.” Why were they the only two unnamed people? (I think maybe “the woman with jeans” remained unnamed throughout too.) Why was that one characteristic the entire extent of those two individuals? 

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