Fredrik Backman has quickly and quietly become one of my favorite authors. His writing leaves you feeling good. This novel centers around ice hockey in a small Swedish town but it's not really about hockey. It's about the people and community of Beartown. Backman creates characters that could be mundane and ordinary but he adds a little something that makes them come alive. They are compelling and demanding that you read more and learn what is happening in their life. There are a lot of secrets and lies in Beartown. Just as you're ready to lay this book down there is something that has you deciding one more chapter.

Beartown doesn't sound like a place anyone would want to visit, let alone live. I could not recommend this book to my students. Too much negativity.

As with every Backman book, this was wonderful. I spent the day reading and couldn't put it down. Poignant, touching, thoughtful and compelling. Beartown is a dying factory town that lives and breathes hockey. "The stands are packed every weekend, year after year, even though the team’s achievements have collapsed in line with the town’s economy. And perhaps that’s why— because everyone hopes that when the team’s fortunes improve again, the rest of the town will get pulled up with it."

When the juniors' team gets into the semis, it gives the town hope and a possible chance at rebirth. But all is changed suddenly (no spoiler), leaving the townsfolk to determine what is important to them.

Backman has the amazing ability to combine a unique style with development of a place and number of characters. It is what I love most. Unlike his other work, the cast of characters is longer, but they are equal in their detail.

I found this very much touching on the current environment in the US: "ate can be a deeply stimulating emotion. The world becomes much easier to understand and much less terrifying if you divide everything and everyone into friends and enemies, we and they, good and evil. The easiest way to unite a group isn’t through love, because love is hard. It makes demands. Hate is simple. "

Sometimes you find an author you just can’t get enough of. You read everything they offer and find each new book is better than the ones before. You wait, tapping your fingers on the counter waiting for the next book. And then they try something new and different and it’s a little scary to open to the first page and begin reading because you don’t know if you’ll like the new and oh, my gosh, what if you don’t like it?!
Fredrik Backman wrote the much beloved A Man Called Ove. That’s how I met him as an author. Who didn’t love that book? Then he gave us My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry and again, I thought, “wow, he really gets old people!” I hope you liked that one as much as I did. But then, oh my, he gave us Britt-Marie Was Here and I didn’t think it could get any better. Until now. Until Beartown.
Beartown is Backman’s departure from old people. Beartown is thick, meaty, deep, multi-layered, intense, timely, mysterious. Beartown is us.
Beartown is hockey and hockey is Beartown. The small town lives and breathes hockey and prays and dreams for a winning team, a winning season, and ultimately, winning it all, the national championship. The dreams of Beartown are dependent on the teenage boys who make up the junior ice hockey team. Finally, after spending their whole lives on the ice, this group of boys has coalesced into the team that can do it all. The hopes of the parents, siblings, the business sponsors, the club, the coaches, managers and the boys themselves lie on this one team’s shoulders. They have the talent. They can do it. The bonds between them are unbreakable. This time, with this team, they will be second best no more.
Everyone in this town is represented, everyone in this town has a stake in the outcome and everyone in this town is invested in this sport and this particular team. And then something happens that topples the pedestal and everything that was at stake is even more so.
First thing you are going to ask yourself is, “Why would I read about hockey?” You aren’t reading about hockey, you are reading about the people OF hockey. And besides, it’s the best story you’ll read in a very long time. You know I don’t like to give away too much, I want people to know just enough and then go find out for themselves. Beartown is nothing like Fredrik Backman’s other books but oh, please, don’t let that stop you from reading this. This one isn’t about old people, this one is about all of us. This story is deep, taut, though provoking, and real. Oh, so very real. Fredrik Backman is only getting better.

A tantalizing, gorgeously structured novel.. A pleasure to fall into Backman's world!

I received this ARC from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

Beartown is a small town consumed by hockey, everyone talks, breathes, eats hockey.

I had a rough time getting into this book and I don't know if that is because of the authors writing style the story itself or the English translation. I feel that when something is translated into another language the writing loses much of the nuances of the original language.

2.5☆ rounded up to 3☆

Frederik Backman's latest effort, BEARTOWN, is perhaps my favorite of his novels. A MAN CALLED OVE was a warm, heart-rendering tale and this one is no different.
Perhaps the greatest surprise about BEARTOWN was the writing. Although I enjoyed the story of A MAN CALLED OVE, it was not the writing that won me over. Maybe it is the translation as well--but the writing was not as fine tuned as I feel it is in BEARTOWN.
The story is much more complex, and actually has some nostalgic and mythic feeling to it. It simultaneously reminded me of Kazuo Ishiguro's THE BURIED GIANT and Stephen King's THE BODY. Although Backman doesn't quite possess the writing panache as the authors I've mentioned, the atmosphere and setting is very reminiscent.
It is also a much darker novel from Backman, and not in the subtle ways like A MAN CALLED OVE or BRITT-MARIE WAS HERE.
I think this book will captivate new readers, and surprise readers that are familiar with his earlier works.
This might be the landmark book in this writer's career, thus far!

The author of the international bestseller, A Man Called Ove, is back. As many of you know, I do love this writer; his writing makes me laugh, cry, and warms my heart. However, this book is a different animal and it is definitely a beast you want to meet, trust me. In fact, I would say this is my favorite book of his so far, mainly because it provokes reaction, made me feel strong emotions, and kept me obsessively reading late into the night. On the surface, Beartown is a novel of a small northern town in a European country (presumably Sweden), where every man, woman, and child is obsessed by hockey, driven to watch, cheer, and kowtow to anyone connected to the rink, and willing to look the other way for both small and large offenses. As a non-hockey fan, I wondered if this was the book for me? Yet, hockey only grazes the surface. This is the story of a family, Peter and Kira, who have lost a child, moved back home, and are trying to raise their teenagers around the life of the hockey rink. It is the story of Amat, the phenom who skates for free while his mother acts as janitor at the rink. It is the story of David, who wants to win and will motivate his boys any way he can. And it is the story of Benji, a player with a huge heart and an even bigger secret. All these dynamic characters are drawn together and tested as a terrible tragedy strikes the hockey family, and ultimately the entire town. Do not stop in the middle, do not put this book down, do not miss this story; it is one that will sear your heart, force you to question your own actions, and make you cheer for the heroes that emerge.

Magnificently written. This is a story that must be told. I don't know hockey but I know what high school feels like. I know what it's like to miss someone so terribly it's tough to go outside. I know what it's like to wonder if you are doing it right. Wow. I want to share this story with everyone and yet I want to keep it a little longer to think about all by myself.

Beartown is a remote small town in Sweden that has been slowly dying. The only thing they have left is hockey, and hockey is “everything” to them:

“It’s only a game. It only resolves tiny, insignificant things. Such as who gets validation. Who gets listened to. It allocates power and draws boundaries and turns some people into stars and others into spectators. That’s all.”

As the story begins, it is the night before the biggest youth tournament in the country, in which the Beartown Ice Hockey Club’s junior team is playing in the semifinal. After they unexpectedly and improbably win, the kids have a party to celebrate, and a violent act of rape turns the town upside down.

Much of the story recounts the reaction of the town to the rape. The author shows a range of responses:

“For the perpetrator, rape lasts just a matter of minutes. For the victim, it never stops.”

“It starts with ‘she wanted it’ and ends with ‘she deserved it.’”

“It’s her word against his . . .. We have to think of the team first.”

“She will always be this to them now: at best the girl who got raped, at worst the girl who lied. They will never let her be anyone but that.”

What happens as a result of this event affects everyone in the town for the rest of their lives.

Evaluation: This was a very good book, and I was impressed with the author’s understanding of the many responses to accusations of rape. In addition, I really like Backman’s writing style. I was disappointed though by the sort of “epilogue” ending. It was unnecessarily vague, in my view. Unless a sequel is coming that the author didn’t want to spoil, it seemed more cruel to offer only half bits of confusing information to readers.

Warning: if you have a heart Bachman will break it. As always with Bachman's novels, I fall into the world he creates and am completely carried away by his characters who could be my neighbors, my family, my friends. Beartown is a departure of a sort for Bachman, as it tells the story of a town and its inhabitants obsessed with Hockey. Full disclosure: I am not a sports person. The only sport I fully understand is baseball and after years of watching the Packers, I can barely explain a first down. I wasn't at all certain that I was going to enjoy this novel. However, I quickly discovered myself completely captivated by Bachman's story: the players, the coaches, the sponsors, the parents of the players, and of course, the fans.
Highly recommended for all fiction readers .

Beartown is a tiny community situated in the forest, and it is known for their ice rink and hockey team. The semi-final match should have been an exciting time, but instead, the result is a girl who is a victim of violence. Now the town must come together and fight back. Will they see victory or will this be the end of Beartown for good?

Fredrick Backman is consistently putting out fantastic books. Will definitely be recommending this to my book club group who loved "My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry".

I know nothing about hockey, and I've never watched a match, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book in which everything and everyone is affected by hockey. Told through the voices of coaches and players, wives and daughters, friends and others, it's impossible to avoid being pulled into the story of the community of Beartown. Citizens still reminisce about glory days past while placing their hopes and dreams on one talented young hockey player and his teammates. One night changes everything. This is not a feel good book, but it is a tale of determination, believing in something, and learning to accept change, good or bad. I loved the gloomy, cold climate of Beartown and the people. Thank you Fredrik Backman!

Brilliance of Backman exists in holding a magnifying glass so close to humanity- it burns, sizzles! In gut wrenching truth and disturbing honesty- we are brought home to ourselves. Poignant and gripping. His raw and precise observation of human relationships will keep me coming back to whatever he writes.

A profound novel that characterizes the hopes and dreams of communities where sports teams bear the burden, although they are only teenagers. He well defines the characters and the internal politics that skews the difference between right and wrong. Only the traumatized young woman is strong enough and brave enough to show the hypocrisy of the adults who should know better.

I don't enjoy the writing style of this author. Too much of a stream of consciousness. However if you liked his other two novels this one should not be missed

I liked but didn’t love it. I need to stop requesting books that are about Sports, not my kind of thing. This book was different; this is the story about a closed community with secrets, lies and heartbreaking discoveries. Thank you for sending me a copy to review

I was delighted to have the opportunity to read an advance copy of Fredrik Backman’s latest book translated into English as I had read and loved all his other books. This book turned out to be quite a departure from his others, a much more serious and intense story. I must admit that I didn’t enjoy the beginning of the book. I am not at all interested in hockey or team dynamics, and I found it hard to relate to a town so obsessed with it or any sport. I wouldn’t have chosen to read about the subject matters of the book, but I’m so glad that I did. I thoroughly appreciated the second half of the book and couldn’t put it down. As always, Backman brought to life many interesting characters, and there were many thought-provoking issues. I highly recommend the book and think it would be a great choice for book discussion groups.