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

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad 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

4.0

"Sorrow and loss are constant, but if we had to go through our whole lives carrying them the whole time, we wouldn't be able to stand it. The sadness would paralyze us. So in the end we just pack it into bags and find somewhere to leave it."

This is my 3rd Backman read and I can say that he got a new forever fan.

So this story is centered around Elsa, a seven-year-old girl,  a soon-to-be big sister with divorced parents. So we can see that Elsa is going through a lot at home, but on top of that, she has no friends and is bullied at school, and her grandmother is dying. Her granny is insufferable but she's also the world's greatest grandmother for Elsa. When her grandmother died, she left hidden letters that Elsa should deliver, sort of like a treasure hunt.

I was amazed at how Backman wrote a lighthearted story centered around a 7-year-old girl but filled with heavy topics such as bullying, divorce, PTSD, grief, domestic abuse, lonely marriage, and unrequited first loves.

With just one sentence, he can make me cry. 

I heard other readers didn't like the fairytales inside the story but I loved them! I found the Land-Of-Almost-Awake very charming and I'm excited whenever Elsa retells them. 

As always, Backman writes memorable characters and creatively wove their stories together that you can't help but love all of them.