lujam's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
smithel's review against another edition
5.0
This is a book about hockey, but it’s also not. It’s a book about people who love sports, but it’s also a book about everyone. It’s a book about toxic masculinity and people who look the other way, but it’s also a book about compassiona and strength. I picked this up because I loved Anxious People, but this is a very, very different read. Honestly, it’s so brutal that as I was approaching the halfway point I wasn’t sure I could bear it… but I also couldn’t put it down. And when I did put it down I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Backman is a brilliant writer - in the middle of a grim novel centred around violence against women he puts just enough glimmers of hope, just when you need them, that you fall in love with the characters and can’t leave without knowing what happens. There was a point when I wasn’t sure I could finish the book, but now that I have I’m requesting the sequel from the library immediately!
opalescenttreeshark's review against another edition
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
mervie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
brob1856's review against another edition
4.0
Brutal, a heavy heavy heavy read, but I loved it all the same. I’m looking forward to reading the other two books in this series to continue along with the characters in their development. Such deep dark subjects were addressed in this book like several at once, it leaves me with a heavy heart but also faith that people won’t always change for the good when injustices are put before them, but that sometimes they will. Life is worth living for those times.
coatsy44's review against another edition
5.0
I seriously loved this book. A story of a sport centric small town overrun by jocks. When a girl is raped the town chooses hockey instead of justice. Can’t wait to read the next in the series
sneh777's review against another edition
5.0
Funny how this book is called Bear Town, because you will hardly find bears here.However, you will find wolves, sheep, hyenas, horses, and, an occasional lion.
What I really intend to do here is talk about how this book made me feel, not what it is about, because that, if you’ve read it, you already know (and if you don't, you can read the description).
Now, ahem,
Excuse me, if I sound weird, you see, I just wrung my heart out dry and hung it on the wire. I didn’t know it was possible for one book to demonstrate so many shades of empathy. If I found myself crying in one page, my heart would swell up with pride in the next, If I encountered devastation and grief, a tiny flutter of redemption would keep my hope alive in the following line. This book is about so many things, that it would be unfair to make it about just one, yet all of it comes together as beautifully human, begging of us to see us as the marvellous nuanced creatures we are, who on most days are capable of surprising our firmest believers and disbelievers alike.
To come back to one of my favourite lines from the book,
“You never have the sort of friends you have when you're fifteen ever again.”
No, you don’t. You may get friends, who are perhaps even better, but it’s not like when you are fifteen.
A truth so obvious that you don’t think of it unless you read it somewhere.
How often do you get an author who can surprise you like this?
What I really intend to do here is talk about how this book made me feel, not what it is about, because that, if you’ve read it, you already know (and if you don't, you can read the description).
Now, ahem,
Excuse me, if I sound weird, you see, I just wrung my heart out dry and hung it on the wire. I didn’t know it was possible for one book to demonstrate so many shades of empathy. If I found myself crying in one page, my heart would swell up with pride in the next, If I encountered devastation and grief, a tiny flutter of redemption would keep my hope alive in the following line. This book is about so many things, that it would be unfair to make it about just one, yet all of it comes together as beautifully human, begging of us to see us as the marvellous nuanced creatures we are, who on most days are capable of surprising our firmest believers and disbelievers alike.
To come back to one of my favourite lines from the book,
“You never have the sort of friends you have when you're fifteen ever again.”
No, you don’t. You may get friends, who are perhaps even better, but it’s not like when you are fifteen.
A truth so obvious that you don’t think of it unless you read it somewhere.
How often do you get an author who can surprise you like this?
dkai's review against another edition
5.0
Comprehensive, believable, devastating. It was hard to continue but impossible to stop after the halfway point. Characters are not one-dimensional, each showing a wide range of actions and thoughts that makes no one a saint or a devil. I wept and wanted to yell several times.