Review: Beartown by Fredrik Backman

Beartown by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Although I liked A Man Called Ove, I didn’t love it. In fact, I wasn’t all that interested in reading more of his work based on that reading experience. But, I kept hearing about Beartown and how it was fantastic and nothing like Backman’s other novels. And so I finally picked it up and WOW. If you weren’t a fan of some of his other work, I definitely recommend that you give this one a chance. It truly is very different from his other work, in my opinion. This is much heavier than his ‘light and whimsical’ vibe in his other works. This is an exploration of hockey, small-town life, and community. It goes darker than I’d expected … but darker in the best way. Hockey is the town’s centerpiece … it’s something that means everything to the citizens. And hockey is used in this story to help the author weave a story of friendship, love and doing the right thing against all the odds. I’m not telling you much about it on purpose. I think the unfolding of the story is critical to the overall success of the novel. Just read it. Even if you hate sports, this is actually not a story about sports. It’s about hockey but not at all about hockey. Trust me … this one has it all – great characters, complex relationships, challenging events, sadness, hope, family drama and more. Don’t miss this one!