A review by melba1975
Beartown by Fredrik Backman

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense 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? Yes

4.0

Beartown is a great read. It starts off rather interestingly and then gets *really good about 1/3 of the way in. There are quite a few characters routinely involved in the story. For a while, I wasn’t sure which ones were MCs and which were supporting. The first 1/3 of the book was a bit hard to follow. As a listener, I needed to back up several times in order to keep the story straight. More/deeper character development from the beginning would make this better. 

The author does an excellent job of making the reader feel included in the story. As the tale unfolds, it’s almost as if the reader is also an interested Beartown dweller who is trying to understand what’s happening. There are some very difficult topics embedded in this story. Depending on one’s perspective, there could be some triggers. The relationships between characters throughout the book are beautiful and go a long way toward making the tragedies easier to process. My interest is more than piqued—I can’t wait to read about what happens next in the lives of these people. 
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