Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - A Man Called Ove

This book was almost a DNF for me. I'm glad I finished it, but I honestly did not like it until I was at least 80% of the way through. I simply did not like Ove. I know you're supposed to grow to love him, but I didn't. Maybe that makes me a monster, and I can accept that. His curmudgeonly traits were fine and a little endearing by the end, but sometimes he was flat out mean. I can't get behind that.

I'm also fairly convinced that Backman has never met a cat before in their entire lives. A cat that licks steering wheels passive aggressively, happily wears socks, and calmly sits on bar stools in cafes they've never been in before was so out of left field. The rest of the book is very realistic, so the cartoon cat threw me in every scene they were in.

The use of similes to describe every single disgruntled expression this man has ever had in his life drove me mad as well, but that's clearly a personal writing style preference, so to each their own.

The overall message of the book is... nice. And I think it gives the reader a nuanced perspective of what it's like to be a senior that society seems to have given up on. But the road to get there was gritty and uncomfortable. I mean I was rooting for Ove getting what he wanted for the vast majority of the book because it felt like his right to make that decision. At least I appreciated the ending, though. I don't think it's a book I would recommend to friends, but it was different from other books I've read recently, so that made it worth it for me in the end.

Content Warnings

mel_j's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

3.0

This was sad. And hopeful. It made me cry – but still, there are very questionable (xenophobic, mysoginistic, ableist and fatphobic) things uttered by Ove.

Content Warnings

iwishihadmoretimetoread's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

Content Warnings

notjust_irene's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.5

Ok, so I really loved this book, but there were a couple of issues that prevented me from giving it 5 stars.
It didn’t take away from the reading experience as such, but it did make me frown a couple of times because it was quite unrealistic.

- the amount of drama Ove has to go through during his lifetime is a bit much and at one point I almost rolled my eyes as another blow was delivered to Ove’s happiness.
- Neither Ove nor his wife have any relatives they keep in touch with? None of his wife’s friends check up on Ove after her passing? Sure… maybe the author wanted to make the story flow a bit easier or emphasise the loneliness of Ove, but it wasn’t very realistic.
- the cat that goes along willingly into the car and bars, yes, these type of cats exist, but they’re extremely rare and their owners keep them on a leash. Also, it’s not typically something those cats do for people they’ve only moved in with two days ago. That’s why every cat owner knows to keep their nee cat inside for the first weeks to let them adapt.
- he’s 59 in the year 2015, works for a building company yet doesn’t grasp the concept of an iPad or any digital medium at all? Come on!

Content Warnings

meganders22's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

A book that makes you think about life’s challenges, and how your life impacts other people.

Content Warnings

stephbernoth's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging reflective slow-paced

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

1.75

Content Warnings

skymordaunt's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad 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

It took me to page 48 to realise how incredible this book is.

I was sceptical starting it cause I heard so many good things, and was worried it was super hyped and after anxious people was worried it wouldn’t compare. But I was wrong.

This book is so beautifully written and heartwrentching as I hit page 48 I knew the book was going to be amazing. You go from confusion surrounding Ove to anger to love and despair for his live. You fall in love with so many side characters and even the smallest of ones seem quite fleshed out and nuanced and these characters pull you in to the story as real and loveable as a friend.

The sense of community and exploration of mental illness, loss and grief was so well done. I now know both a Swedish and American film exist the second at the cinemas now and I’m scared shitless to watch it as I don’t anything to tarnish this beautiful book.

I nearly cried at least 10 times reading this book from feeling so much joy and hope and sadness and not many books hold that power.

Content Warnings

More...