Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

46 reviews

oatmilktea's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

2.5

I don’t know why, but I expected this book to be lighthearted and cosy, going in. Probably because of the German title, which roughly translates to “Small Town, Big Dreams”. A bit misleading imo, but on me for not looking it up prior to reading. Also, I don't think I would have picked it up if I had known that most of the book is about SA and how the town handles it (not well. At all.), but that's also on me.

All right, let's do this. I did not really enjoy this book but I can recognise it for what it is and/or tries to achieve. The way I see it, it’s mostly a character study as well as an analysis of society, in the broadest sense. There are almost as many themes as pov characters, so, a lot: (club) hierarchies, peer pressure, esprit de corps, hush-up/rape culture, abuse of power, classism, sexism, homophobia, lynch law, child abuse… I could go on. Some themes take the spotlight, others are only touched upon, but overall there's value here.

Despite not being a fan of an omniscient narrator with an unlimited pov, especially one who keeps jumping back and forth in time and place, I thought the author handled it rather well. I may not have liked the narration style, but there were only a few characters, like Benji’s sisters, that I failed to tell apart from one another. Most characters were discrete, and I don’t think that’s easy to do.

However, I have gripes. This book is way too long. It could have easily done with a hundred pages less. It moves very slow and I get it, it’s all about the characterisation, but then the book is so repetitive in places that it added unnecessarily to the word count. Especially with the constant foreboding, ice hockey analogies, and telling-not-showing statements about friendships or how things work in this town. Because, you know, it’s Björnstad, after all, and ice hockey is ice hockey, so... cherry blossoms?

I found Bear Town intriguing enough, but for the most part I wanted to finish it for the sake of moving on to another book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Transphobia, and Death of parent

reddeddy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cursing, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

carlytenille's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lizliterarylist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Classism

gemstonejasper's review against another edition

• 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? It's complicated

5.0

Wow. Just woe. Beautiful story book kind of feel. The story is much more about the town rather than any specific character. Even with the huge cast of characters, it really tells the story of the town, it's community, values, and culture. 


Content Warning Clarification-Adult/minor relationship

a 17 year old boy rapes a 15 year old girl. I put that there because the age of consent where i live is 17

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Racism, Suicide, and Stalking

meganeliz_1214's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

theelliad's review against another edition

5.0

Never would I have expected to find a book so triggering and love it so dearly- this was so specific in its traumas it became somewhat healing and I fell in love with the parts of me I saw reflected in these characters. This story of a small town and it’s hockey obsessed people branches into accountability, power, social norms, grief, the exploitation of children in competitive sports, sex and assault politics, homophobia (internalised and external), secrecy, systematic and institutional failures and family dynamics without ever feeling too full. Backmans writing is so easy to love and I will be thinking about this book for a long time 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

brookey8888's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This was good, but a very hard read. This is also insanely slow. I knew what this was about which I feel is low key a spoiler because the summary on the back doesn’t mention what happened. It was just so interesting to see how all the people reacted to this event and the motivation behind. This did make me so angry though. I honestly didn’t care about the hockey at 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

denlia's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Drug use, Homophobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

jessunwindandread927's review against another edition

challenging sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence