A review by theelliad
Beartown by Fredrik Backman

5.0

Never would I have expected to find a book so triggering and love it so dearly- this was so specific in its traumas it became somewhat healing and I fell in love with the parts of me I saw reflected in these characters. This story of a small town and it’s hockey obsessed people branches into accountability, power, social norms, grief, the exploitation of children in competitive sports, sex and assault politics, homophobia (internalised and external), secrecy, systematic and institutional failures and family dynamics without ever feeling too full. Backmans writing is so easy to love and I will be thinking about this book for a long time 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail