A review by maxgardner
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-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

4.5

I get the hype around Fredrik Backman now. I do think the first 20 or so pages of this book are kind of rough and teeter right on the edge of being too much and a little forced, but Backman reigns it in after that point as we move into the apartment with the hostages and start getting to the meat of the story. He's great at dropping in these paragraphs of insightful, incisive prose that get to the heart of the human experience, touching on fears, struggles, and questions that all of us can relate to and expressing them in a very relatable, heartfelt manner. He also does an excellent job of tying together these 3-4 different narratives, and though the way they come together is pretty contrived, it works so well in the context of the story and in execution. I loved the writing and all of the characters, and I was just consistently excited to get back to reading the book every time I had to put it down.