Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

44 reviews

mackenzieabraham's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring sad 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

4.5


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jrae1334's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • 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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jartone93's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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taylorparrott99's review

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emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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yochananvered's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


My one and only gripe with this book is that it was hard to follow. There were so many characters it sometimes was hard to keep track. However, that may be due more to my lack of reading comprehension than to the actual writing. The story had me so invested. At certain points I even found it hard to breathe because it felt like I was right there experiencing these events alongside the characters. And there were so many great lines; some that made me laugh, some that made me think, and some that left me feeling a little bit haunted. The next logical thing is to read the sequel, but part of me wants to reread this immediately to notice things I missed and appreciate all the details a little bit more. One day I will definitely reread this, but for now I’m just excited to see what happens next.

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hoppyread's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0


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acebookwyrm's review

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense 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

4.0

I love the first sentence of this book. The way it spoils something that doesn’t happen till the end but also tells you nothing with how carefully selected the words are. “A TEENAGER picked up a double-barrel shotgun…put the gun to SOMEONE ELSE’S forehead, and pulled the trigger.” No gender disclosed for either, no age given to the person shot. Not even a clarification for if that person was Actually shot! Throughout the book, Backman drops several references related to gunshots, killing, and shooting someone as a comparison or metaphor. It even begins with “Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.”
 
Backman is fantastic at writing complex characters, particularly women, with full lives. The part in Ch 44 where Kevin's mom talks to Benji, then Maya, is one of the best scenes in the book.

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taracloudclark's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A stark small town obsessed with hockey grooms its children to be either predators or victims, heroes are truly born out of adversity and find themselves kneecapped by those they trust the most. 

The first half of this book is a lot of exposition, setting the stage for the driving action. But it’s done well, creatively, interestingly. In other words, “nothing happens,” and I was *almost* bored with it, but I only had to push through a little. It kind of reminds me of Spoon River Anthology with the intertwining of lives and stories of a small town where everyone knows everyone and always have (except the newbies, but that’s not portrayed as harshly as many of this trope). 

While it’s a sports town, the sport itself doesn’t take a front seat. It truly is the background while still sating any love for it. 

This definitely borders on literary fiction bc the structure is done in a very precise and lovely way, using almost poetic mechanisms such as repeated phrases and parallelism. The narrative style also has a starkness that reflects the setting and the situation, and vice versa. Tension and foreshadowing are done in an obvious but not ridiculous manner. The *way* it was written is as well done as the story itself. 

This is definitely a book for consideration. The story is laid out, and while there’s no ambiguity as to “what happened,” there is much speculation to be made as to why and how and what the underlying issues are and how else they affect society. There are no stark answers given. Bad behavior is mentioned, implicated, but not condemned outright. That’s for the reader to determine, negotiate in some cases. Anyone who feels this is moralizing is probably on the more brutal side of the issue. 

The narrator Marin Ireland does very well in complimenting the narrative style as well. It’s 3rd person, and the author is male, but I’m pleased they chose a female to tell this story. Such topics through the male perspective can be troublesome, but I feel like the author did well and the narrator helped convince me of it. 

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_pauline's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Fredrik Backman perfectly captures the love for & meaning of sports; I was so invested in the story & characters although I‘ve never been particularly interested in hockey. (This book is about SO much more than that though)

I also did not expect to care that much about so many different characters but his writing makes it easy to keep up with and fall in love with all of them (not
kevin
obviously)

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pikkumarja's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Kirja sai minut vihaamaan jääkiekkomiehiä ja kiehumaan raivosta.

Samalla rakastuin tapaan kertoa tarina monesta näkökulmasta ja joidenkin ristiriitaiseen, mutta pettämättömään oikeudentuntoon.

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