Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman

17 reviews

sandymaple's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.75

Very slow at the beginning, but once I got into it, I couldn't put it down! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Grief, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, and Infidelity

Minor: Car accident

uselesspirateraven's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, and Grief

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Car accident

Minor: Gun violence and Classism

angorarabbit's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-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

4.0

TLDR: Exceeded expectations. It is better than the blurb suggests.

Three chapters in I was sure this was another male author’s attempt at writing a funny-middle-aged-lady story. Including funny characters like you find in funny little villages. Another chapter was enough to convince me to stick around a while and see what happened. Slowly you learn about what brought Britt-Marie to this point in her life. Slowly you learn that the funny village people have had not so funny lives. There are profound thoughts about grief folded into the funny bits. 

 

Against my will I started to smile and then giggle with Britt-Marie. At the end I had an acute allergy attack that required the use of a not insignificant amount of paper handkerchiefs. Mr Backman has learned that a feel good ending needs tragedy to spice the joy and he wrote it in the perfect way.. 

 

Mr Backman gets points for his portrayal of women at different places in their lives and for not allowing his male characters to overshadow them. He also gets points for a boy wanting his hair to look nice with his date with another boy the perfect normal thing that it is; and his portrayal of Beck and Somebody’s struggles with disabilities and their importance to their community. Fiction has improved over the decades in its portrayal of the lgbtqaa* community but it is still rare for me to read a book with a character with disabilities for some reason of other. 

 

I wish Britt-Marie, Vega, and Omar all the good in their fictional world. But something in me hopes that Kent continues to visit Borg to play soccer. And maybe afterwards stops at the pizza place/car mechanic/post office/ bodega to watch the game and have a beer with Sven. There is a lot the two of them could learn from each other.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Gun violence, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, and Medical content

baileyes's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

sandysmith's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

4.25

I do like a Fredrik Backman book. Britt-Marie has Ove like tendencies. She has OCD, cleans as a coping mechanism, and says what's on her mind, and she has no filter. She is a 63 year old who unexpectedly moves to Borg, a small village where she is the caretaker for the community centre, that is scheduled to be demolished.  She becomes the children's football coach. Another one that creeps up on you makes you think, thought provoking funny, sad and is unbelievably wholesome. Great stuff

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, Violence, and Death of parent

mel_j's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful sad 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

Fredrik Backman always manages to make me cry. I loved this book, Britt-Maries story will stay with me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Grief

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Ableism, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Racism

sheryl_macca's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Gun violence, Misogyny, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

ericaw212's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

i love all of fredrik backman’s books but this was not his best one. it felt like a combination of all his other books and it took too long before britt-marie became likeable

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, and Death of parent

Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, and Vomit

bessadams's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad slow-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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Infidelity, Violence, and Car accident

Minor: Medical content

laurataylor's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol