A review by majca
Kleine Stadt der großen Träume by Fredrik Backman

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

3.75

If only she hadn't existed, then none of this would have happened, why didn't she think of that.

This turned out to be the wrong read at the wrong time for me. I didn’t expect the “event” to be what it was, and the emotions it stirred felt uncomfortably close to current real-life frustrations. Sadly I just wanted the book to be over at a certain point.

That said it's still a good novel, as the conflict and characters are deeply heartfelt and realistically drawn. With a large cast like this, it’s impressive how coherent and authentic each character feels. However, the rapid shifts in perspective may not suit everyone.

I docked 1–1.5 stars for a few personal grievances. Even under different circumstances, the topic is too authentic and painful and too frequent a real life story that I don't particularly enjoy reading about it in fiction. Additionally, the narrative style didn’t work for me. The heavy, intentional repetitive phrasing. The foretelling and narrative prolepsis. And perhaps most of all the decision to resolutely use the characters roles instead of their names. Initially just distracting, this became grating by the end.
It's admittedly very quotable though, sometimes contrived or nonsensical, but often on the spot as well.

And when enough people are quiet for long enough, a handful of voices can give the impression that everyone is screaming.

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