Author: Fredrik Backman
Published: April 25th 2017 by Atria Books
Format: Hardcover, 418 pages
Genre: Fiction
Series: Beartown #1
I love how Fredrik Backman’s books can tie you to characters in a way that few authors can. How I can read this the same book twice in a row, ok maybe not the whole book just the last third so I can cement the ending in my mind, without feeling as if I am wasting my time or that I had missed something the first time around.
Imagine a town that takes on hockey the way Friday Night Lights took on football. Now picture the golden child of the team, and the town, accused of assault. Fredrik Backman exposes how a remote town will turn on one of its own to protect one of its own and where the pieces fall should not surprise anyone when those involved cannot see beyond its own lust for a championship.
Fredrik Backman throws all aspects of the human condition into this coming of age story. It is not just about the kids, the parents have their own parts in the failure and the judgments. They bicker and point fingers amongst themselves and it is no doubt why many of their children have ended up the way they have. There are the shining examples of good here, but they seem to be overshadowed by the evil that is prevailing when a title and bragging rights are on the line.
You will fall in love with the vulnerabilities of so many. You will audibly gasp “oh”, when certain realities are dawned, but for the most part, you will see every sports parent that you have ever met in one of the characters that Fredrik Backman lays bare. When I finished this book, I was not yet ready to let go of the town, its inhabitants, or its future so I was glad to see that there is a continuation of this story coming from Backman later this year. “Us Against You” will be released in June of 2018.
Imagine a town that takes on hockey the way Friday Night Lights took on football. Now picture the golden child of the team, and the town, accused of assault. Fredrik Backman exposes how a remote town will turn on one of its own to protect one of its own and where the pieces fall should not surprise anyone when those involved cannot see beyond its own lust for a championship.
Fredrik Backman throws all aspects of the human condition into this coming of age story. It is not just about the kids, the parents have their own parts in the failure and the judgments. They bicker and point fingers amongst themselves and it is no doubt why many of their children have ended up the way they have. There are the shining examples of good here, but they seem to be overshadowed by the evil that is prevailing when a title and bragging rights are on the line.
You will fall in love with the vulnerabilities of so many. You will audibly gasp “oh”, when certain realities are dawned, but for the most part, you will see every sports parent that you have ever met in one of the characters that Fredrik Backman lays bare. When I finished this book, I was not yet ready to let go of the town, its inhabitants, or its future so I was glad to see that there is a continuation of this story coming from Backman later this year. “Us Against You” will be released in June of 2018.
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