A review by lucygoosey522
Beartown by Fredrik Backman

challenging dark tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

okayyy first half of this book was mid. the writing felt meh to me (i did listen to it tho, so it could’ve been that) just very jumpy and there were a couple points where it was like “little did they know, that was the last time blah blah would ever be the same” and that’s like personally my least fave trope/writing device ever bc it just feels sooo lazy. but after about halfway thru i didn’t notice it as much and the jumpy writing added to the tone of the story. 
i was hesitant about the fact that it’s a story about a young girl getting raped written by a man, but personally i feel like he wrote the story respectfully, realistically, but also was able to add some things to it that felt almost comforting to think that the girl, maya, found some peace later. 
 
i also really liked the ending go maya! for a sec i was like oh god she cannot kill him but then she just threatened him and he wet himself. woot woot

i would also recommend to teenage boys in sports. it shows the consequences of actions, or can just bring the subject to light. 
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