Fredrik Backman is a New York Times best-selling author who lives in Sweden. Beartown is his newest novel.

Once upon a time, Beartown was a bustling town where things happened. Now it’s dying as the forest slowly creeps in closer. But the old ice rink is the center of hope for the town, as the boys’ junior hockey team makes it to the national finals. If the boys win, it will breathe new life back into the town.

Tensions run high, and a lot of pressure rests on the shoulders of boys. After the semi-final game, the unthinkable happens, and a teenage girl is traumatized from the violent act. When accusations surface, and the entire town takes sides, it becomes a question of truth: is she telling the truth, or is he?

Beartown is about hockey, but it is about so much more: small town life, expectations, family, and gender. The culture of the town is vibrant in its smallness, but secrets will tear it apart, as well as divide families and friendships as the truth comes to life. This was not a happy book to read, but it is well-worth reading, with gripping characters that the reader truly cares about. I don’t even like hockey, and I was rooting for the Bears! (I don’t dislike hockey, either, though.)

Caveat: This isn’t an easy book to read, either, especially if physical violence towards women is a trigger for you. This book is not “just” about hockey, but about rape and rape culture (Seen in action in the backlash the girl experiences in this book.). One brief review I saw online said, “This story is a charmer. It’s about a hockey-loving town in which residents all root for the junior team competing in the national semifinals.” NO. This story is NOT “charming.” It’s tough to read, especially the last half. And it is not just about a town rooting for its hockey team. But Beartown is a very, very good book, and I highly recommend it.

(Galley provided by Atria Books.)

I thought I was reading "Friday Night Lights" in a cold, European setting; I was incorrect. My first hint was the relationship between the husband and wife (the general manager of the hockey team and his wife.) He is the famous hockey player, she knows nothing about the game yet she has the killer career as a brutally fearless attorney while he is courteous and thoughtful off the ice. He knows he has no killer instinct and that she does.

Something terrible happens after the junior team wins a critical game. It will test their marriage, the team, and the town in ways no one can foresee. Interestingly, the author creates a dynamic where the teenagers, both team players and children of the general manager, somehow are more prescient in the moment than any of the adults. Backman ascribes some of their worldliness to 'the internet' but much goes unexplained. He also does a nice job of inserting bits of future information, so readers get a sense of resolution; never the entire story but just enough of it. The ending that is provided is unique and oddly satisfying. It is consistent with his notion that the teens had answers their parents couldn't find. Is there a different notion of justice in a small town isolated by a dense forest, where everyone knows your business? This tale explores the issues surrounding that idea through memorable characters and a fascinating book. I received my copy from the publishers through NetGalley.

To many residents of Beartown, ice hockey is everything. It's their livelihood, their friends and family, and their way out. It's the one thing with any chance of putting Beartown on the map after unemployment and council cuts have ruined the town. This book isn't really about ice hockey, or even Beartown. It's about love, loss, pride and betrayal in a community coming together to try and save themselves.

The junior team have somehow managed to find themselves going to the semi finals. Their star player Kevin is likely to go professional one day and put Beartown on the map. The club's sponsors are hoping a win would bring great investment to the town and turn it around. The whole town is behind them with the hope of better things to come.

The players, their parents and other adults from the town have stories of winning and losing, in life as well as in hockey. Many have lost so much along the way. The grief for a lost child, parent and husband is heartbreaking, and so finely balanced against the love for their sport. With most of the town looking ahead to the finals and what they could bring, an unmentionable act of violence leaves Beartown shaken to its core. But can they survive?

There are some beautifully written characters in this book that really grab you as the story unfolds. I was cheering on the underdog, admiring the assertive women and feeling pity for small men with big wallets. Difficult decisions test the loyalty of many residents while the club comes to mean more to the town than they could have ever imagined. The unlikely heroes, the unmentionable acts of kindness, and the shameful opinions of certain people make this a book you won't be forgetting in a hurry. If you loved A Man Called Ove you won't know what's hit you. This is Fredrik Backman's best book yet!

Beartown is a small town that is obsessed with hockey, and the townspeople’s hopes and dreams lie with the hockey team. On the night of the semi-finals a violent crime occurs, one that threatens to tear the town apart. At its heart, this story is not only about hockey, but it is also about small town life, marriage, family, friendship, and courage.

There’s no doubt Backman is a wonderful storyteller and there were many passages that gave me pause, I would recommend this book for anyone who enjoys sports, sports culture, and teen issues. Unfortunately, I don't enjoy those themes and there was just a little too much of it for my tastes, thus the 3 stars.

Beartown by Fredrik Backman is a very highly recommended novel that follows a wildly varied group of citizens from a small Swedish town obsessed with hockey - but it is about so much more than that. Beartown is a must-read exceptional novel that I predict will resonate with readers for a long time.

This incredible, profound book is sure to be a contender for my list of top ten novels for 2017. I'll totally admit that, during the first part of Beartown, I wasn't so thrilled with the novel, thinking it was going to be exclusively a hockey story about a down-on-their luck small town with a winning team in the big tournament. I love Backman's writing, though, so I continued reading. Then it became about so much more than hockey and stole my heart and mind. So my first piece of advice is to keep reading even if you aren't a hockey fan.

"Beartown's real traditional sports: shame and silence."

Beartown is a small dying town slowly being taken over by the surrounding forest. The whole town is consumed by hockey and the junior ice hockey team that is about to compete in the national semi-finals. These boys actually have a chance at winning, which could change the luck of the whole town. The team has several great players, but is lead by an exceptional player, Kevin, and his best friend, Benji, who is fearless in assisting him. After winning the semi-final, the teenage boys have a party and an incident at the party changes everything. Soon the town is tearing itself apart, taking sides, and making moral choices.

Bachman has a rich cast of characters that populate Beartown - and the town itself is a character. His characters are distinct individuals with strengths and weaknesses - all of his characters. When you are done reading you will know these people. While many are influenced by the outspoken opinion of others, there are a few who have the character to stand up for their own opinions and for themselves. If you've ever grown up in a small town (likely obsessed by football or basketball in the USA) you have lived in this town and you know these people. And, of course, there is hockey too, which becomes a character.

The writing is rich, masterful, and admirable. There are moments of great failure and overwhelming compassion, scenes of desperate cruelty and sly humor, and people with a malicious bent and others with a quiet wisdom. The empathetic narrative explores love, personal sacrifice, and the vital importance of family and friendships. This exceptional novel is part character study, part morality tale, part coming-of-age story, part family drama, part redemptive tale and totally wonderful. Just read this novel asap.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Atria Books.
review after publication on Amazon and B&N
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2017/04/beartown.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1980973587

Hockey is to Beartown what football is to many small small towns across America right down to the idolization of the team stars and the sport as a way to transcend economic lines. Beartown starts with a short chapter showing a kid with a gun shooting another kid. Then the story goes back to see what leads up to that point. During most of the book, the reader doesn’t know who the shooter is and who they shoot. Beartown is a great emotional expose of a small town and the horribleness of rape culture is highlighted when a star of the hockey team is accused of rape the day before the BIG BIG game. (This is not a spoiler as Kirkus Reviews discusses it in an article published February 21, 2017.) As sadly seems to be the norm, the town actively supports the hero player (“he never could do something like that!”) and starts to shame the victim (“you know she wanted it,” “she shouldn’t have gotten drunk,” etc, etc). But what makes this book special is the slow detailed set up Mr. Backman gives before rape. By the time it happens, the reader knows everyone in the town better than they may know their best friends. They know the inner conflicts and worries of all the characters and how no situation is black and white. And in the same manner, after the rape is exposed, Mr. Backman details the cascade of emotions and shifting of tides as the small town deals with the tragedy and each other. Likewise, the reader will go through several different emotions. It is not an easy read, but worth it.

Wow, this was quite a book. Having already read and enjoyed a couple of books by this author, I knew I was in for a treat when I read the blurb for this one but even with prior knowledge of the way this guy writes, even I didn't think I was in for the kind of experience I got reading this book.
We have a small town on the decline. Their only hope appears to be Ice Hockey. The junior team is riding high and about to compete in the semi-final. If they succeed and go on to win the final then they have a shot at getting the acclaim they need to re-inject some interest in the forgotten town. But something happens at the semi, something whose repercussions will send shock waves throughout the town, dividing the residents and leaving some rather nasty tastes behind.
The book follows the before, during and after, the fallout from the incident, as well as tackling some interesting side issues that are prevalent in any town big or small. There really was quite a lot going on in the book. Mostly set around the teenage characters finding their places in life but also around some of the attitudes of the older characters and their principles and how their money and place in society become big factors in their influence in certain outcomes.
Although I am a big fan of team sports, especially American ones, having seen Football, cricket, NFL, NBA and MLB live. I have never watched Ice Hockey but the sport itself didn't really matter despite it figuring quite highly in the story. Most of what I read can be translated to pretty much any sport that is important to a town. Indeed, coming from Portsmouth where we have a fan owned football team, I am fully aware of the passions surrounding a sporting team and how it's highs and lows can affect a community. It did however pique my interest enough for me to have a delve into the NHL playoffs that are currently happening. Anyway, for those not of the same mind as me, it isn't all about sport, there is so much more in this book. Growing up poor in a small town as opposed to rich, living in the wrong area, having the wrong job, being small for your age, being talented but not ready, all these things also figure in the story and all are important in their own ways and all add interest to the way things happen in Beartown.
It's emotional, it's thought provoking, it's quite deep in places and often a little dark. We see people succumb to peer pressure, we see them follow others like sheep cos that's the only way to fit in. We see sides of people that before have been hidden. Sounds a bit doom and gloom but it really isn't. There's always that glimmer of hope, shimmering in the background, just waiting for the right time to come forward, but the main question is, whose hands will carry it? Will they stumble? Will the light go out? Will Beartown live to fight another day? So many questions to be answered, and they are answered very satisfactorily.
As well as all this, we have a great cast of characters. Some good, some bad, some changing as things happen, all very well drawn and completely credible. Along with great characters comes a lot of emotion. I actually felt for so many of them in this book. Not just the obvious ones, I think that each and every character in this book drew some emotional response from me. They were all so easy to connect to in some way.
If you like a good character driven book which leaves you with plenty to think about then please do give this a go. Even if you hate sports, it's about so much more than that. I think I might even be a better person having read it.

My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

WOW! It has been a very long time since I have read a book that has so utterly absorbed my attention. I literally could not put it down. Fredrik Backman has a rare talent for writing about characters and situations that feel incredibly real. It felt less like I was reading a fiction novel and more like I was listening to a true tale told to me by someone who had been there in real life.
I'm a Canadian who lives in a hockey town, so I was able to relate to the craziness of both fans and players alike. This author deserves every accolade and award that he receives for this outstanding and completely engaging read, and I am 100% sure that this book will be topping many bestseller lists for a long time. And, not only that, but I also believe this book's subject matter will be discussed in homes, hockey rinks and around many a water cooler and will get people talking, and rightly so.
I cannot praise this book highly enough. I rate this as 5 out of 5 stars and it is literally a MUST READ.

Beartown is a wondrous tale of family, friendship, love, and hope packed with unique characters. If you love hockey you’ll adore Beartown. If you don’t care a whit about hockey, you’ll still love Beartown. Fredrik Backman is one fine storyteller and Beartown is a winner. I loved A Man Called Ove, but Beartown is a stronger book. It’s more nuanced, yet it has the heart and humor that was the best of Ove. My full review is at http://hungryforgoodbooks.blogspot.com/2017/04/beartown-by-fredrik-backman.html

This was a very different novel from the author's previous work, "A Man Called Ove". The similarities I found were the impact that our neighbors have on our everyday life. I enjoyed this very much.

This author has a knack for "Best Books To Tug At Your Heart Strings."

Talented storyteller, Fredrick Backman returns following the novella (2016), And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer: (A small book with a BIG message ), with his latest powerful story, BEARTOWN — A Swedish dying hockey town. A town of stories. A town of secrets.

High-expectations. Burdens. Pressures. A town which relies on the sport and its youth to pull them through. Some people have the "bear" in them.

Beartown isn’t close to anything. The town is losing. It has been a very long time since it won at anything. The town slogan, “Beartown Leaves You Wanting More.” The wind, snow, and weather have since wiped out the word “more.”

The ice hockey stands are packed every weekend, even though the team’s achievements have collapsed in line with the town’s economy. A small town with big dreams. A community. Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden to carry, for all concerned.

There are also those from the Hollow. Those less fortunate. How do those from different social classes stack up?

“Hockey is both complicated and not complicated at all. It can be hard to understand the rules, challenging to live with the culture, as good as impossible to get all the people who love it not to pull so hard in different directions that it breaks . . . “

This is why everyone hopes that when the team’s fortune improves, the rest of the town will get pulled up along with it. Their motto has been: "Word hard, take the knocks, don’t complain, keep your mouth shut, and show the bastards in the big cities where they are from."

Once upon a time, Beartown Ice Hockey’s A-team was one step above the juniors and second best in the top division in the country. That was more than two decades and three divisions ago, and now Beartown will go up against the best once again. A win means something for the town’s economy. Survival.

“The sport demands only one thing from you. Your all.“

Maya hates hockey but understands her father (Peter)’s love for it. Peter had made it all the way to Canada and the NHL, matching up against the best in the world. He had come home to take over the team. Peter and his wife, Kira (attorney) have their own grief from the past. Does family mean more than sports, a town, a community's survival?

When the star player on the hockey team, whom everyone looks up to is accused of rape, the town is devastated. The guy on the pedestal. Who would dare take him down?

"It’s only a game. It can only change people’s lives. "

A hidden crime. One that could change lives. There are secrets and lies among friends, family, teens, husbands, and wives.

Backman reaches down into the soul and hearts of his characters and the human psyche. He takes his flawed characters to the dark places and brings hope. They become heroes. As with all his books, readers will find themselves bookmarking many passages, with this bold story of friendship and family bonds; ultimately one of redemption. Rich in character and the true meaning of family.

From loyalty, betrayal, and courage.

Backman's writing is lyrical, poignant, and thought-provoking. Highly emotional and insightful; part coming-of-age and a cautionary tale for both parents and teens; the consequences of carrying other’s dreams on our shoulders.

Have read all his books and highly recommend each one.
A Man Called Ove
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry
Britt-Marie Was Here
And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer-
Best Novella of 2016

A special thank you to Atria and NetGalley for an early reading copy. (always love his quirky covers). Also purchased the audiobook.

JDCMustReadBooks

I adore Fredrik Backman but struggled with this book. It moved slowly for me and character development felt even slower and dull....which is odd for a story where the fast, frantic, calculated game of ice hockey is so important. I've been a huge fan of every other Backman book. Not this one at all.

The small community of Beartown lived solely for ice hockey – the continual, non-stop deep freeze of winter meant the teams could play almost year round. But the town was slowly dying as businesses closed and people moved away. This year though the town dared to dream - the junior league team had reached the semi-finals – they would win; and the final would follow. The sponsors would return; the people would return. Beartown would revive…

The teenage boys that the life of Beartown relied on were seventeen years of age. Most of them had been playing ice hockey since they were old enough to walk; their dream was close to being fulfilled. The support of the coach, the officials, the hierarchy was intense – everything was for the team. Peter was general manager, David was the coach; their boys followed the motto of WIN, WIN, WIN.

But the night the team won the semi-final, their celebrations rapidly escalated out of control and nothing would ever be the same. The traumatised victim, the police investigation – the ripple effect was felt in every home and residence in Beartown. What would be the outcome? Would the perpetrator be punished? Would the victim survive?

Beartown by Fredrik Backman is a dark look at life behind the scenes of sport. About how players think they’re untouchable; how they can do and get away with pretty much anything. Those who are the victims are made to be the one who did wrong. It happens everywhere – and it’s horrifying. The subject matter of Beartown is harrowing; some of the characters are not nice at all. I found the book to be overly repetitious though with the constant theme of “hockey, hockey, hockey – win, win, win”. I found myself skimming a lot from around half way through. I loved A Man Called Ove and don’t think the author has written one as good since.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my digital copy to read and review.

I've been a big fan on Mr. Backman since reading his novel A Man Called Ove. This is my fourth of his novels that I've read, and it was fantastic! I don't know if anything will ever top Ove (there's just something about that curmudgeon that I'll never forget), but this came pretty darn close. I loved reading about the various characters in this small town where the only thing that exists is the love of hockey. While I don't think you have to be a sports fan to enjoy this book, it certainly adds that extra element of "love for the game" that we sports fans can relate to. While the second half of the book deals mostly with a pretty heavy subject, it was the characters that drove this story for me (I loved Benji to the moon and back!). I found myself completely engrossed in their lives, and rooting for them right along with the hockey team. Backman has such a wonderful way of creating scenes and drawing you in, that you feel like you are there in the story. I appreciate the fact that his resolutions to each characters story was not all rainbows and roses, this is a much more realistic look at life with its ups and downs.

An absolutely marvelous look at small town life with wonderfully crafted characters. I just loved it!

I wasn't sure about this book in the beginning, because the sectioning threw me off. The same effect could have been achieved with punctuation. But anyway, by the time I got to the middle, I had my heart in my throat and couldn't decide if I should sleep (my eyes were tired and watering) or continue. I love the themes explored and the depiction of each character. Even though there were quite a number of them and therefore quite a number of things going on.

I had a very hard time getting into this book! However I really enjoyed Mr. Backman’s other books, particularly “Britt-Marie Was Here” and I have such wonderful Goodreads friends that kept telling me to keep going, so I did.

In my eyes, this book outshines the others, and they were great. After getting through the initial introduction of all of the characters, and there are a lot, and getting my head around how a town can exist and put all of their hopes on the shoulders of 17 year olds, I let myself get into the characters and what they had to say.

I do live in a place that can get very cold and sometimes dismal, Wisconsin, but have never lived in a small town such as the one described here. I don’t like hockey, enjoy basketball on the college level, but my four daughters were into individual sports, tennis, diving and gymnastics, big, big time. I met more than my share of parents who want to live through their children and their accomplishments but do so in such a negative way. I remember listening to some moms practically threaten their daughters if they didn’t “stay on that beam this time, no matter what it takes!” There were always parents who complained about the judges, “they just don’t like my kid”, “they obviously don’t know what they’re looking at”, etc etc.

Everyone in this town is on the bandwagon for these young kids to win their junior hockey tournament. They want it to bring more sponsors for the team, a new hockey rink, more businesses in town, etc, etc, all very selfish reasons. The young girls in the town really don’t seem to be encouraged to do any sports, there is no girls hockey team. Girls aren’t even expected to like hockey, if they do maybe “they’re lesbians”. If they are attracted to the hockey players they are probably “sluts” or “groupies”. The lack of any strong female role models is really amazing, except for some of the extraordinary mothers who will do anything for their kids, girls and boys.

So many diverse characters:

Sune, the older coach who has coached pretty much everyone in the town at one time or another. He taught the kids to “play with their hearts” and gave long speeches.

David, the coach of this winning junior hockey team whose only speech to the kids before a game was one word “win”, that has worked for him so far. He played professional hockey until injuries ended his career. Does he sacrifice some players for the success of others?

Kevin the current star of the team and has everything going for him. He gets good grades, is popular with everyone, his family is one of the wealthiest in town. Yet is he happy? Does anyone really know what goes on in his house, his relationship with his parents?

Peter is the general manager of the team, of course a former town player. He wants so much for this team to bring the glory back to the town, but at what price? What and who is he willing to sacrifice? He and his wife Kira, a lawyer, have a daughter Maya, age 15, who lives for her guitar and a son Leo, age 12 who of course loves hockey.

Amat, the son of an immigrant single mother who works as a cleaning lady and can’t believe that her son is as good as he is. “She finds it unfathomable that the boy she gave birth to in a place that has never seen snow was born to play a sport on ice”. Amat is small but fast and has suffered his share of ridicule for being the smallest and one of the poorest on the team.

Ramona, the elderly owner of the “Bearskin” the only bar in town. She has seen it all and knows everyone and their secrets. How much influence does she really have in this town?

There are many more characters and they are all, yes all of them, well defined. I came to know them all and could not believe how Ms. Bachman created so many characters dependent on each other and how the story comes together, with an explosive event.

So enough already. If you’ve read this far you must be interested in the book. Don’t wait, just buy it. You will feel so many emotions it will fill your heart and you won’t, in the end, want to leave this story.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher and NetGalley.

(will also post to Amazon upon publication)

This will go live on my blog on May 2. Kellyvision.wordpress.com

Beartown is a hockey town. Pretty much everyone who lived there played hockey when they were younger (or has a kid who plays now). Hockey is king and there is definitely a culture that a kid who plays hockey can get away with anything. This is their team's year--the boys are in the semifinals and it's believed they can go all the way. And then a crime is committed, one that throws everything into jeopardy. Sides are picked. Horrible things are said and done.

This is about as different from A Man Called Ove as you can get. If you read this, be aware that it's basically nothing but hockey for almost half the book. (It's still interesting; I hate sports and I was still...well, not riveted, but invested enough to keep going.)

The second half is much better than the first. The first half is hockey and characters; the second is action and further character development---the reader learns just how decent these people are, and the happy answer is that most people do the best they can. (Some are still awful but they are the minority.)

Fredrik Backman is an amazing author. You really need to read this. Recommended.

"Hockey is just a silly little game. We devote year after year after year to it without ever really hoping to get anything in return. We burn and bleed and cry, fully aware that the most the sport can give us, in the very best scenario, is incomprehensibly meager and worthless: just a few isolated moments of transcendence. That's all.

But what the hell else is life made of?"

I grew up in a small town, and for anyone who hails from a small town, you will know that each town has a thing - a thing that brings it together as a community. There may be other things going on in the town, but they have one predominant thing that most residents will take part in for fear of being an outsider. For my small town, it happened to be religion. If you didn't go to church, you were "other". You weren't invited as many places, didn't get picked for the better sports teams, some people even went as far as keeping their children away from you. I was definitely "other". In Beartown, their thing is hockey.

I love hockey. I was a hockey mom, and a hockey player. When my son didn't want to play anymore, I tried my best to change his mind, because dammit, I love the game. My love for hockey was the reason I was so quick to jump on requesting this one and I am so glad that I got approved, BUT you don't have to love hockey, or even really like it, to love this book.

I am having a really hard time writing this review, because while this book is about a town that loves, no, LIVES FOR hockey, it is also about so much more. It addresses layers upon layers of humanity. There are so many themes in the book that I am having a hard time gathering my thoughts. It looks at friendship, family, parenting, community, teamwork, loyalty, trauma, culture, mental health, and sexuality, just to name a few. You would think that with all of these different themes going on it would be disjointed, but therein lies the beauty of this book...it was done perfectly. The story itself is alive. There is something for everyone in this book, every single person that reads it will be able to take something from it.

I will be purchasing this book for my library AND a separate copy for myself, and I'll be recommending it to everyone.

Thank you so much, NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with an ARC of this book. Frederick Backman, you are a literary genius. I think I may be in love :)

Backman has become one of my most favourite authors of the decade. Once again he has proved to be a master of forming ideas in the simplest ways. This book is so much more than small towns and the love for a game, a brilliant masterpiece of choices and outcomes, an outstanding, thought-provoking creation of an author who has so much to offer and who has delivered once again a small gem for us to treasure.