silkreads 's review for:

Us Against You by Fredrik Backman

5.0

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"our spontaneous reactions are rarely our proudest moments. it's said that a person's first thought is the most honest, but that often isn't true. it's often just the most stupid. why else would we have afterthoughts?"

where do i even begin?

my heart has been run over too many times to count, my soul is held together only by fragile pieces of tape, and i'm emotionally empty.

fredrik backman is great at many things, but he's fucking amazing at even more things. blowing people's minds could easily be his life specialty. i've said this before, and i've seen it being said before, but i'll say it again, tirelessly: only a person who fully understands people, down to their largest black holes and most violent joys, could have written this. and i think that's something really remarkable.

just be warned - reading this book is a commitment, and requires a thorough research of trigger warnings.

↠ 4.5 stars // reread

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2020 review

"The worst thing about being a victim is the victims I turned you into. I can't mend you now, no matter how much I want to. It's like I was the one who died, but you're the ones who were buried, like I was the one he broke, but you're the ones who snapped."

Wow. Just wow.

I'm strongly in the belief that the characters in this story are 100% real, and I can't be convinced otherwise. They feel that real.

I love Amat. I love Maya, and I love Vidar. I love Kira, and I love Ramona. I love Leo, and I love Adri. I love Bobo, and I love Zackell. I love David, and I love Alicia. I love Ana, and I love her and Vidar's relationship. I love Benji and Maya's unlikely friendship. I love Teemu and The Pack, and I love how everybody has everyone else's backs in this town.

And I absolutely love Fredrik Backman.

I am not over the events of this book and likely never will be. I can't fathom how someone can have such a gift of storytelling. Magic, I tell you. Just pure magic.

One last note: Please stop messing with my heart, Fredrik Backman. I'd really appreciate that.

Now, I'll go sob in peace.

*If you’re interested in reading this book, please look up the trigger warnings.

➼ 5 stars