Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

39 reviews

kmadmclean's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I really enjoy Backman's style and will definitely be reading more from him. I preferred Ove to Beartown, but this book definitely kept me hooked and interested all the way through. I love how Backman lets his characters be complex, but sometimes feel he could go a bit deeper with the relationship development. Didn't love the end as I felt there were a few loose ends I was wondering about. Still would recommend to a friend though! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Xenophobia

Minor: Pregnancy

nndang's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

The plot/ premise sounded like the most boring, unintriguing thing in the world. SO HOW DID I GET SO EMOTIONALLY INVOLVED IN THIS BOOK AND THIS FICTIONAL SMALL TOWN?? I logically wanted to hate all the characters in this book and theyve all done things that would make it easy for anyone to hate them (or at the very least be annoyed with them) but the way Backman writes and develops all of his characters with such complexity and care is heartwrenching. Looooovvveeee this book.

So many trigger warnings tho*

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, and Alcohol

deelightfulreads's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

this was such a beautifully written novel. all these characters were so well developed, i had a hard time believing they weren’t real 😭 it was so devastating, tragic and traumatic but hopeful the way the good triumphs the evil in the end. i can’t recommend enough, but please check the trigger warnings! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse

paulameenas_reads's review

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Addiction, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

clariast7's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Death of parent

mbrogs2024's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Blood, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

samanthasshelf_'s review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

a beautifully written story that handles a lot of heavy topics with an incredible amount of nuance and care. the characters were incredibly well developed, and the multiple POVs really aided in the complex portrayal of the human experience. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child death, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism and Self harm

abbeyrode's review against another edition

challenging dark funny sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexism, and Sexual assault

jordantls's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Mental illness, and Suicide

reddeddy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cursing, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail