Bear town is a small town. It has an old ice rink built by factory workers who lived there. Hockey is "big" in Beartown. It looks as if the town's junior hockey team is about to compete in the national semifinals. The locals are sure they will win. Regardless of what happen an incident happens that changes the town. What happened. Lines are drawn, people show their true colors which may cause friendships to be stronger or be lost. But with love, family and friendships offers hope.

A dark story at times but also a story involving sacrifice which shows how the human spirit can stay alive. It's a novel that reminded me of many small towns that I have known in my childhood minus knowing about the dark side. It's a story not to be missed.

Beartown by Fredrik Backman starts of with a lot of characters and a lot of hockey. Somewhere along the way, the characters and the background fade, and people emerge. The story remains about ice hockey, but not in the way you might imagine. The story becomes about the question about how far a person, a set of people, or a town will go to put club above all. As with Fredrik Backman's other books, the people and the emotions take over, and I read furiously until the end to find out the answer.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2017/05/beartown.html

Reviewed for NetGalley

I've read and loved every one of Backman's books but I have to admit, this one just wasn't one that had the same magic as the others for me. Maybe it would help if I cared about hockey - -but I don't. The writing is still good and the characters are believable, but the whole story is somewhat sad and I didn't care about the characters like I have in previous books.

Still - though I'm personally disappointed in the book, I appreciate the writing and hope others (who are hockey lovers perhaps?) will feel about this book like I did about Ove and Britt-Marie. I can't give this one five stars like the others, but for the writing alone I have to give it four stars.

There was a point in this story when I was liking very few of the characters, when everyone seemed to have character flaws. I put the book aside for a few days. When I once again picked it up the story made a turn that renewed my faith that a segment of the human race is still principled and in procession of a moral compass. Especially heart warming is that one of these is a young teen.

A town struggling for economic survival, forested landscape cloaked in winter darkness, snow, ice and sub-zero temperatures plus hockey, hockey, hockey - only a skilled writer could create such a well received story with these elements.

While the story location is Sweden Backman relates universal truths of small towns, class distinctions, peer pressure, past glories verses current realities, and misguided parenting. "People round here don't always know the difference between right and wrong. but we know the difference between good and evil."

In the end I had to award a five-star rating to a thought provoking, insightful read. I believe this would be an excellent book club selection with multiple worthwhile discussion topics.

Startling, gut wrenching and wonderful vivid!

I dragged my heels a bit beginning this new Fredrik Backman novel. I needed to be in the right head space. I knew that if it was anything like Backman's previous works it would grab me by the throat and not let me go. I was right!
The depth of the characters, the reality of their struggles, so decisively described, and colored with the deceptively simple underpinning of mores of the small community of Beartown, a lonely outpost in the forest, is insightful and powerful.
You know that the intermittent 'Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang.' the sound of a puk striking, or a gun being fired, is important. That small refrain builds tension and suspense--and the wondering.
On the surface this is the story of a town's hockey club and of the A grade team hockey players, their coaches and their families and the importance of Hockey to the morale and financial viability of the town. Beartown is Hockey. It's all people live for. They take pride in their team. It is a way out of Beartown for players and a possible ticket to development for the town. The pressure on the players and coaches is immense. They want to bring money back to the town via hockey.
As the story progresses you are pulled ever deeper into the mindset of Beartown, of what hockey meant for the community and the individuals.
The main and secondary characters are fascinating and wonderfully developed. Backman's writing has you connecting with every character on some level. There are small actions that make you ache, like Kira a successful lawyer and wife of Peter Andersson, general manager of the club, counting her children every night.
Pain and suffering are etched into the pages just as is loyalty and compassion.
'People feel pain. And it shrinks their souls.' The star player Kevin, from a privileged background is talented and aloof. He plays to win, he plays to the crowd, and he plays for parental approval--which falls short. His emotional being is so painful he's shut down. Yet no one really discerns who he is. Except perhaps Benji...and maybe Sune, the old coach, who will soon be dropped.
Kevin's best friend Benji, from the other side of the tracks is his main support. He plays for the love of the game. He is Kevin's protector on and off the rink.
Sune looks at the lads he coaches and is concerned for their emotional development. The newest coach, David, one of Sunes protégées is concerned with winning. (Although there is a different knowing to David in his interaction with the team that is interesting)
'The club’s motto [is]: “Culture, Values, Community.” ' Sune is no longer sure of what that means, if he ever knew and if it is still so. I love the character of Sune. He is the wise old man, the Sage, forgotten in the race to win.
He reflects that 'Hockey is like faith . . . that’s just between you and God. It’s what you feel in your chest when the referee glides out to the center circle between two players, when you hear the sticks strike each other and see the black disk fall between them. Then it’s just between you and hockey. Because cherry trees always smell of cherry trees, whereas money smells of nothing.'
Peter, the Team Manager was a Beartown boy who left to play professionally. Now he and his family have returned--including his teenage daughter Maya.
When the unthinkable happens, the very fibre of the town is jeopardized
I knew from the opening scene that something momentous was going to happen but I certainly was not prepared for where this novel was going!

A NetGalley ARC
(April 2017)

I never thought I'd read a book about hockey, let alone enjoy it. But this story isn't just about hockey. It's about families and teams and the community they represent. It's about mistakes and pain; redemption and love. Tearing each other down and building each other up. It will make you care about its characters, and, yes, about hockey - even if you didn't think you could.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

An extraordinarily good work by a skilled author whose abilities to highlight the intricacies and idiosyncrasies of small town life sustained me for the entire journey of the novel.

Anybody who reads Beartown will also find themselves rooting for its characters, a hard feat to achieve since the book has over ten protagonists. Mr Backman has surpassed himself because he manages to get the reader to care not just for its characters, but the entire town as well. Of course, this doesn’t mean every single character is likable. But the reader comes away with an in-depth understanding of what motivates every single person in Beartown. Though much darker than Mr Backman’s other works, Beartown is undoubtedly his magnum opus.

Beartown is the story of an isolated Swedish town at the edge of the woods that is slowly but surely dying. The residents believe that there is only way to save their home: a national victory for their local ice hockey team, that will bring much-needed investment and publicity to revitalize the area.

To that end, the entire community pins their hopes and dreams on Kevin, the star player. But when a rape accusation by one of their own, on the day of their big game, leaves the team floundering, things take a dark and menacing turn. The book is full of scenes that bring a tear to one’s eye, or make the reader scream with outrage or chuckle at Mr Backman’s sharp and darkly comic insights. The events that unfold are told from the perspective of different characters, adding layer upon layer to this maze of a novel.

There is another noteworthy and unusual technique used by Backman: repetition, but not for repetition’s sake. Various phrases, sayings, even sounds, when repeated skillfully offer new, dazzling interpretations at different points in the story. The character that’s speaking at that particular moment or the sequence of events unfolding then and there are what colour these phrases, thus creating a looping narrative that continually draws the readers in and makes them feel the full implications of what’s going on. The narrative continually emboldens the heavy, darker tone of the novel which, while not as light as his previous novels (though none of Mr Backman’s works can truly be considered light), still preserves its basic human-ness and even persevering, uplifting spirit.

Lastly, for me, Beartown was an outstanding story for its shrewd observations on how society deals with rape allegations, especially in the context of sportsmen and teenagers. I wish I could pepper this entire review with the quotes I highlighted while reading the book, but that would result in around half of the book being reproduced here. Beartown is a must-read for anyone who loves a good, smart and yet touching story.

Wow! Fredrik Backman knows a thing about human nature. The good and the bad! He is honest is his storytelling. And his pacing was spot on. I felt breathless by the time I finished this book. I could really understand where MOST of the characters were coming from. I have only read one of his other books, but I will be reading the others and soon! Thank you for writing books with heart!

I am rarely conflicted about my assessment of a book, but I definitely am about this one. Bachman has a masterful way of defining small town life and making its inhabitants vibrant, real people for the reader. I love that about him and it is a gift to his readers.

This story, about a town defined by a sport, has passion and tension and heartbreak at its core. I was tentative as I read every page because I knew there were elements of this story that would challenge me. All of that is good.

What I didn't like was this very bright, capable author resolving all the moral dilemmas for me. He didn't give me the space to think about the issues he presented; he spelled them all out for me in the most remedial way. Page after page after page.

I was tempted to give up on the book early on, but I'd seen so many five-star reviews of the book that I wanted to give this novel every opportunity to reveal itself to me. It didn't. The story unfolded, the drama reached its height and subsided, and the moral dilemmas were dealt with. All that is most satisfactory, but I just don't think an author with these gifts needs to do all the thinking for his readers. I felt undermined.

Net galley provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a huge fan of Fredrik Backman and his wonderful quirky tales of curmudgeons such as Ove and Britt-Marie. Beartown marks something of a departure for him, as it focuses on a far younger group of characters - the teenage players of the Beartown junior ice hockey team and their friends, families and coaches.
In a rundown town in the middle of a forest that seems to constantly be threatening to subsume it the minute the last business closes down, life isn't easy for the locals. Their one beacon of joy is ice hockey, for which it has a glittering track record, and which turns local boys into golden gods. When one of the teams' halos slips and he commits a horrendous crime, who will the town side with - the criminal or the victim? One thing is for sure, life will never be the same in Beartown.
Backman takes a heartbreaking tale and presents it beautifully. This is a book that will stay with you long after you finish the last page. The characters are wonderfully drawn and take him far from the grumpy pensioners of his earlier works. He handles a hard-hitting subject with a remarkably delicate touch, as he takes you on a hugely enjoyable emotional rollercoaster. This book will have you reaching for the tissues, developing a sudden interest in ice hockey and wishing this was the first in a whole series of stories about the inhabitants of Beartown.
I can't recommend this book enough. Such a fantastic read.

BEARTOWN by Fredrik Backman, author of A Man Called Ove, was just released this week and has garnered some very positive reviews. Backman again creates an ensemble of characters who are somehow both universal and yet firmly anchored in their time and place. In this novel, it is Beartown, a small, economically decaying Swedish community whose hope rests on the junior hockey team. A championship that could revive tourism and interest in the area is close at hand for general manager, Peter Andersson. Upright and fair, he played on the team years ago, made it to the NHL and has returned with his family, including 15 year-old Maya.

The team’s stellar player is Kevin, affluent and aloof. He's protected on the ice by Amat, an immigrant with a single Mom. Hockey ensues, a game is won, and a particularly wild party results in tragedy involving Maya and Kevin. The championship is still looming and the community faces tough moral choices with a financial impact. BEARTOWN is packed with emotion and will work well for discussion groups.

This is an engrossing story about a small-town community where life revolves around the high school hockey team. Backman paints a realistic picture of the challenges of living in this kind of town in which everyone is in everyone else’s business. His story has realistic characters and is dramatic at the same time. At first I didn’t think I’d like it because it was so focused on hockey which I don’t care much about. And indeed hockey proved to be the least interesting aspect. The characters and the drama surrounding the game were what pulled me in. I got to know players, parents, coaches, students and felt like I was living among them.Their Internal and external struggles, sacrifices, commitment, adolescent angst and bonehead decisions provoked a range of emotions. I felt the pain of crushed dreams, hopefulness for a promising future and cheered accomplishments. I would love to see this become a tv series similar to Friday Night Lights.

At its core, Beartown is a hockey town. Hockey is the crux of its very existence. The junior team has made it to the semifinals, the outcome of which will determine the fate of the town. If they win, they will be able to build up the hockey program even more and put their town on the map. If they lose, well, no one wants to think about that. When an incident occurs during the semifinals, the repercussions will shake the town to its very core.

Fredrick Backman’s new book was, for lack of a better word, intense. The subject matter revolves around rape – and the implications for the victim, the perpetrator, and the town itself.

However, this book was profound. There’s something about his writing style that allows him to capture the often-elusive words that describe the essence human nature. He writes with an intimacy and overwhelming accuracy that quite often takes your breath away.

There were so many wonderful characters in this book. Although I didn’t necessarily like all of them, I can appreciate the complexity of their development. There was not a single character that was one-dimensional, and because of this, these characters were instantly relatable and sympathetic. To portray the overall atmosphere of the town, Backman frequently shifts between the points-of-view of various inhabitants every few paragraphs or so. It does take a little getting used to the clipped nature of the narrative as well as the variety of characters living in Beartown, but it was intricate and well-done.

<i>Beartown</i> was a great read. Even though it dealt with a variety of weighty themes – rape culture, community, loyalty, familial relationships, the role of women in sports – there were moments of light in the darkness, of optimism and humor, of healing and growth. Backman’s writing has this unique balance where he can simultaneously make you think deeply one moment and then laugh-out-loud the next. His writing is also so instantly quotable, and I found myself highlighting passages I liked at least on every other page.

I don’t think this book was quite as good as A Man Called Ove, which I read in February of this year, but I’m talking 4.85 stars vs. a perfect 5.00. Either way, it definitely warrants rounding up to a solid 5-star rating!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy of this e-galley in exchange for an honest review!

You do not need to know anything about hockey in order to understand this novel. That being said, you'd probably enjoy this novel more if you are a fan of the game. There is A LOT of hockey talk in this game. I don't mean that the author puts in useless jargon or anything; it's just that every other sentence has something to do with hockey. Now, you may think that I'm saying this as an off-putting thing but it actually wasn't. It allowed me to understand and appreciate the hockey culture. This novel actually helped me see what the hype was all about and how people can make hockey the center of their lives, a fact I'm sure my boyfriend will be very happy to hear! This novel is very well-written and involves a whole host of characters, some adults and some teenagers. Each one has their own unique perspective, their own backstory, and the author does a fantastic job of making them relevant without bogging down the story. This novel is emotionally engaging, which was a happy surprise for me as I wasn't expecting it. There is so much to this novel, so many issues that it highlights, and I could keep talking forever and ever on them.... but I won't. I'd rather you read this novel and form your own impressions instead. This novel was something that I approached warily but by the end of the story, I was an absolute fan of this book and author!

Small town dreams about a winning hockey team puts pressure on the town's teenagers. Through the long, cold Swedish winters, having the possibility of a winning team pulls the whole town together. Sensitively written and with a whole load of great characters, this is much more than a sports story. Recommended.

I have read all of Fredrik Backman's books and each time I think the book I just finished was my favorite, but each new book proves me wrong. Just amazing!

Another fabulous offering from Fredrik Backman! It's a deviation from some previous offerings, which is actually good- I was hoping that Backman had some range, and this illustrates that. Thank you for the opportunity to review this novel. I will be recommending it.

“You can fuck any girl you like here tonight; they’re all hockey-whores when we win.”

Fredrik Backman is a sly writer, and he has a way of spiraling around his central point so that readers are mighty close by the time they recognize where they are. He writes with philosophical grace tinged with wit, and his novels are popular because of it. And so it cheers me to see him examine what might happen to a small depressed town whose hopes are all hinged on youth sports. Thanks go to Net Galley and Atria Books for the DRC, which I read free of charge in exchange for this honest review. Beartown is available to the public today.

In Beartown, everyone dreams of hockey, and those that don’t are stuck on the outside looking in. A man’s glory days are done before he’s 40; a woman has no glory days at all, since women cannot play on the men’s team and there is no women’s team. Everything comes second to hockey: education, social skills, and even the law are bent, sometimes to the breaking point, in order to accommodate star athletes. Hockey is the town’s only remaining business, and it seems to provide the only possible hope for young men that have grown up in the forest and don’t want to leave it to seek work.

Backman has a genius for drawing the reader in. Some of the scenes in this story actually make me laugh out loud. His respect for women is a breath of fresh air as well. In literary terms, though, the greatest success of this piece is the way a large number of characters are developed so that readers genuinely feel that we know not just a protagonist, but a whole town. We know who is related, what private baggage exists between individuals and families, which marriage is happy and which is not, and it’s delivered to us in a way that never feels gossipy or prurient. Rather, Backman makes us feel as if we are part of the town, and so everything is important to us as well.

Fans of Backman’s will be pleased once again here. My sole quibble is that I see a character at the end behave in a way that is so inconsistent with what we know of him so far that I can hear the violins play. It’s heartwarming, but if the same thing had been achieved more subtly, it would be credible as well.

Nevertheless, you won’t want to miss this book. Regardless of the ugly things that are said and done at various points, the author comes back, as he always has before, to the innate goodness of the human spirit, and it’s messages like this one that we need so badly today. Recommended to those that enjoy good fiction.

I fell in love with Fredrik Backman's writing when I first read A MAN CALLED OVE. After reading that book I knew that I had found a new author for my top ten list of my favourite authors. At that time, I truly felt that he wouldn't be able to write another book that I loved as much as that one, but I was wrong. BEARTOWN is powerful and moving, beautiful and genuine and incredibly sad at times. It is a book that made me "feel all the feels'. I couldn't stop bookmarking phrases and pages as I went along, excited to go back to them and reread them a second and then a third time. Backman's writing is truly beautiful, even when the subject matter is not.

BEARTOWN is the story of a small town in Scandinavia, where hockey is king. All of the boys grow up playing hockey, whether they are good at it or not, and all the girls grow up watching their brothers play or wishing that they had boyfriends on the team. Even if you don't like hockey, it's impossible to not be affected by it in some way when you live in Beartown.

Beartown's junior team is about to compete in the national semi-finals, and winning could finally put Beartown on the map. It could bring in a hockey school and more businesses to rescue their ailing town. Everything hinges on Beartown's team bringing home the victory.

One night, a young girl's life is changed forever. But will Beartown's residents do what's right, or will they do what's right for the team?

Despite the fact that I'm not a huge hockey fan (very un-Canadian of me, I know), I was riveted by these pages. This story is about so much more than hockey. It's about small towns, the difference between right and wrong; it's about being brave and standing up for your beliefs and it is about parenting and marriage. I couldn't stop re-reading certain phrases and sections of the book. Backman's writing and thoughts are so profound, and this is one of the rare books that I plan to read over and over again.

I feel that my words can not adequately do this book justice. All I can say is that if you can only read one book this year, read this one. BEARTOWN is sure to top my list of favourites of 2017.