Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Beartown

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

214 reviews

avalon's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I have no idea how to describe it, but Fredrik Backman's writing so perfectly encapsulates the mundane. Every character has a life, thoughts, emotions. I have never seen a book with a world that feels so perfectly imperfect and so perfectly human.
I like the way he writes like its a recollection of a past. Most books do, but Backman always adds "a few years from now she will look back at this moment" and it's such a good detail.

I wanna note that there were times that this book just completely hit me right in the chest to the point where I cried. The way he writes the ins and outs of different types of relationships is so beautiful.

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acupoftea16's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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majca's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

If only she hadn't existed, then none of this would have happened, why didn't she think of that.

This turned out to be the wrong read at the wrong time for me. I didn’t expect the “event” to be what it was, and the emotions it stirred felt uncomfortably close to current real-life frustrations. Sadly I just wanted the book to be over at a certain point.

That said it's still a good novel, as the conflict and characters are deeply heartfelt and realistically drawn. With a large cast like this, it’s impressive how coherent and authentic each character feels. However, the rapid shifts in perspective may not suit everyone.

I docked 1–1.5 stars for a few personal grievances. Even under different circumstances, the topic is too authentic and painful and too frequent a real life story that I don't particularly enjoy reading about it in fiction. Additionally, the narrative style didn’t work for me. The heavy, intentional repetitive phrasing. The foretelling and narrative prolepsis. And perhaps most of all the decision to resolutely use the characters roles instead of their names. Initially just distracting, this became grating by the end.
It's admittedly very quotable though, sometimes contrived or nonsensical, but often on the spot as well.

And when enough people are quiet for long enough, a handful of voices can give the impression that everyone is screaming.

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