Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

En mann ved navn Ove by Fredrik Backman

18 reviews

iwishihadmoretimetoread's review against another edition

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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


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notjust_irene's review against another edition

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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!

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meganders22's review against another edition

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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

4.75

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

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stephbernoth's review against another edition

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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


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skymordaunt's review against another edition

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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. 

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finnifinn's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0


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cjoulesau's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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? It's complicated

5.0


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keyareuh's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

5.0

5 stars enough said... But fr i love ove with my whole heart. All of the characters are so interesting and lovable. This book had me on the floor crying and throwing up with snot bubbles. My heart was broken and stomped on. I rarely get THIS invested in characters. The characters all had such an interesting back story and learning everything about ove and his wife and friends kept me so intrigued and i was INVESTED from start to finish. ALSO this book was SO FUCKING FUNNY. i was literally laughing out loud

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danielle_sips_tea's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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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alexisgarcia's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

I absolutely adore Backman’s writing. His characters are incredibly well developed and loveable. His stories are always more than meets the eye, which this definitely was. I like to go into his books totally blind and it always improves the experience of reading his books. 

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