Who Would Like This Book:
If you love deeply layered stories about small towns and big emotions, Beartown might be your jam! This book goes way beyond hockey, digging into community, friendship, loyalty, and what it means to stand up for what's right in the face of adversity. The characters feel totally real, and you’ll get sucked into their triumphs and heartbreaks. Perfect for anyone who loves thought-provoking stories, isn’t afraid of heavier themes, and fans of family or sports dramas like Friday Night Lights. Even if you’re not a sports person, the human drama at the heart of the story is what really scores here.
Who May Not Like This Book:
Some readers found Beartown to be much darker than Backman's other beloved novels, like A Man Called Ove. The pacing is slow at first, with a heavy focus on hockey culture and a large cast of characters, which can be overwhelming. The book also tackles heavy topics, including sexual assault, bullying, and small-town prejudice, which might be too intense for some or difficult to process emotionally. If you’re looking for a light, quirky comedy, or don’t like books that dwell on the darker side of community dynamics, this one might not be a match.
About:
Beartown by Fredrik Backman is a gripping novel set in a small, isolated Swedish town where hockey is the heartbeat of the community. The story delves into the lives of various town residents, exploring their relationships, struggles, and moral dilemmas. The plot takes a dark turn when a traumatic event shakes the town, forcing its inhabitants to take sides and confront difficult truths. Backman's writing style is praised for its emotional depth, character development, and ability to evoke strong feelings in readers, making them empathize with even the most flawed characters.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings for Beartown include sexual assault, bullying, childhood trauma, domestic abuse, and alcoholism.
From The Publisher:
Now an HBO Original Series
"You'll love this engrossing novel." -People
Named a Best Book of the Year by LibraryReads, BookBrowse, and Goodreads
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Anxious People, a dazzling and profound novel about a small town with a big dream-and the price required to make it come true.
By the lake in Beartown is an old ice rink, and in that ice rink Kevin, Amat, Benji, and the rest of the town's junior ice hockey team are about to compete in the national semi-finals-and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys.
Under that heavy burden, the match becomes the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown.
This is a story about a town and a game, but even more about loyalty, commitment, and the responsibilities of friendship; the people we disappoint even though we love them; and the decisions we make every day that come to define us. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world.
Ratings (246)
Incredible (66) | |
Loved It (92) | |
Liked It (50) | |
It Was OK (22) | |
Did Not Like (14) | |
Hated It (2) |
Reader Stats (503):
Read It (247) | |
Currently Reading (10) | |
Want To Read (176) | |
Did Not Finish (13) | |
Not Interested (57) |
10 comment(s)
Trite. Chock full of tropes. Confused as to how this story can possibly be dragged out across 3 books. And why is this narrated to us like a stage play? “Light rises on a boy and his dad”. These are all characters with names that we know. Every sentence is written like a dramatic final sentence. If I have to see the word BANG one more time I stg…
I thoroughly enjoyed Beartown by Fredrik Backman. It' a novel about freindship, community, hockey, marriage, loss, grief, and so much more. Set in the small Swedish hamlet, Beartown, the focus is on the town;s inhabitants, specifically those affiliated with the Beartown Hockey Club: the Junior (High School) team, the General Manager, the sponsors, and all the families related to them. We learn the histories, the fears, and the hopes of all of them, to varying degrees. The wonderful use of language and thought makes the book a joy to read.
My one 'beef' would be somewhat melodramatic chapter endings which tipped off (to me) coming events a bit too much. Sentences like "In hindsight Kira would wish a thousand times over that she had made her daughter stay home" and "That's the last time they see eachother in their childhood. That ends tonight" These don't totally spoil the outcome, but I had the feeling that if this had been an audiobook, I would have expected to hear the dramatic scene changing music at these points.
Still, the book does have some twists, and it's a great study of community, how privilege is exerted, granted, expected, and taken away. I know I will be thinking about the interactions, the decisions, the personalities and the consequences for quite some time. I highly recommend it.
With thanks to Simon & Schuster, as well as the author, Fredrick Backman, for the Advanced Reader Copy. This title goes on sale on April 25th, 2017.
5 stars.
“Hate can be a deeply stimulating emotion. The world becomes easier to understand and much less terrifying if you divide everything and everyone into friends and enemies, we and they, good and evil. The easiest way to unite a group isn't through love, because love is hard, It makes demands. Hate is simple. So the first thing that happens in a conflict is that we choose a side, because that's easier than trying to hold two thoughts in our heads at the same time. The second thing that happens is that we seek out facts that confirm what we want to believe - comforting facts, ones that permit life to go on as normal. The third is that we dehumanize our enemy.”
one of the best books I've read this year by far. beartown swept me off my feet and left me in absolute shambles. every single character dynamic and interaction fascinated me, and the narrative was so incredibly relevant. I went through all stages of grief while reading this novel and am forever thankful to my friend for recommending it <3
This was AMAZING. One of the best books of the year, and definitely a winter read. Uniquely written and told by all types of characters, I physically felt every emotion.
Love benji
Emotionally connected characters. Good story.
It was ok. Stylistically not as good as Ove. Also, whereas Ove felt honest, this was emotionally manipulative.
****3.0***
I am not sure what went wrong for me in this one. But I didn't like it especially the plot.
Characters were amazing, intense.
Happy Reading!!
SYNOPSIS
Beartown is a small town, where everyone worships the hockey team.
Basically, the town’s future is riding on the success of the junior boys’ hockey team.
Each chapter contains lots of different characters & shifts between their perspectives.
Check trigger warnings, as main conflict in book involves sexual assault/rape.
MY THOUGHTS
The writing style was strange to me. I didn’t like the third person narrator, and I wasn’t a fan of the shifting perspective every few minutes.
Sooo many characters & perspectives that I never felt truly connected to any of them.
The ending was not satisfying.
Story drags on far too long.
TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️this one wasn’t for me, unfortunately.
Enjoyed this book more than I expected, added a few more Backman books to my TBR!
What can you read after
Beartown?
About the Author:
Fredrik Backman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry, Britt-Marie Was Here, Beartown, Us Against You, and Anxious People, as well as two novellas and one work of nonfiction. His books are published in more than forty countries. He lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife and two children. Connect with him on Facebook and Twitter @BackmanLand and on Instagram @Backmansk.
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