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A review by notjust_irene
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Pregnancy