Primarily used audio, but had to finish quickly with eBook. So much to like about this book; parts were very thought-provoking, but there were almost too many insightful statements and metaphors. I did like the format of the book itself, which made it very readable, and the translator does such an excellent job. The author does an excellent job of explaining corruption, and most of the characters do things that both impress and confound you. If you have not read Beartown, you can still follow this one. At times, I did not like some of the teasers, or attempts to fool us into thinking something would happen that ultimately did not. (ie making us think a particular character might die). I wonder what kind of reaction Backman gets from people in the hockey world. He does do a good job of portraying some of the extremes connected with sports.

I had to stop reading this book the first time I started it. There are so many emotional triggers to warn for: violence, rape, child abuse, broken families. With the third in the trilogy recently out ("The Winners"), I decided to pick it up again.

The best reading experiences are immersive. One *becomes* the characters and lives *in* their world. The world of Beartown is a world I can't endure for long. I either have to force an emotional distance from it's people ("This is just a story." "Fiction, not fact.") , or put down the book and return to my own place in the world.

This isn't to say that the Beartown trilogy isn't worth reading. It is. The world Backman writes about feels true and immediate. But the world of Beartown isn't for the faint of heart.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Backman is such a good writer! He even makes hockey interesting! Us Against You continues the Beartown story of two rival towns, the characters in them, and the drama between them. Lots of teen angst but such a great story.

Us Against You is the 2nd book in Fredrik Backman's "Beartown" trilogy!
How I loved this book!

I loved Beartown and was a little worried that a sequel would diminish the first book but I have to say this book was so great and I loved being back in the world of Beartown and with these characters.

I don't want to risk giving anything away if you haven't read Beartown but couldn't recommend this book more.

Fredrik Backman is such a gifted writer. His characters are complicated and as he says in the book can be both good and bad people at the same time. I was so moved by this book and so eager to see what happened to them and with them. Relationships were further explored, we meet new characters, there was heartache and happiness, devastation and destruction, death, people standing up for one another, love, support....my heart was both warmed and shattered.

"Grief is the price we pay for love" how perfect is that!

I was so impressed by the first book of this trilogy, Beartown, that I bought copies of that book for several friends as Christmas presents that year. Because of this, I was excited to start reading Us Against You and catch up with what had been going on back in the small towns of Beartown and Hed. Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed with this one. I consider Beartown to be a brilliant novel, one I’ll never forget, but Us Against You seems disjointed, and lacking a coherent message. The storyline wandered, and I kept trying to understand what the author was trying to say, but in the end, I didn’t get it. However, I plan to give the third book, Winners, a try since I’m amazed at what Backman is capable of writing, and still hopeful to read another masterpiece.

I continue to enjoy everything Fredrik Backman writes. Even when the story starts slowly, the tension builds and builds over the course of the book, and by the end, I feel like I've known the characters forever. This is a book that's a little bit about hockey, but more about a small town and its prejudices and politics. You never know what will happen next, and it's impossible to guess. I love reading these books and can't wait for his next one.

What a great sequel. A wonderful tale with hockey, great community and fun characters, it’s also thought provoking and emotional. A great read.

I'm a sucker for Fredrik Backman - any time I see he is releasing a new book, I'm all over it. He has this style of prose that is both funny and deeply resonating. I don't know if I liked this book quite as much as Beartown, but both Amat and Benji (especially Benji) are two of my favorite characters, and I loved them both so much. Even though I'm not that big into hockey, I really enjoyed this series. And, I recently found out this book is a trilogy, so here I am waiting for the next one with open arms.

*Backman, Fredrik, Us Against You follows the lives of the characters in Backman’s Beartown. If you’ve read Beartown, and you must, the first chapters are somewhat slow as the author relates what happened in Beartown. After that, it’s full speed ahead as the inhabitants of the Swedish town that loves hockey act with violence, kindness, and love. GPR, BC

Us Against You is just as good as its predecessor, Beartown. Every member of the town has their own important story. Backman is great at giving even the smaller characters large voices. This story picks up easily after Beartown. I had no problem remembering what happened in the first story.

I read this very soon after Beartown, but was disappointed by comparison. I still loved many of the characters and quite enjoyed the darker, realistic tone, however I found the reading experience really dragged. I think this was partly due to what felt like unnecessary repetition of key ideas, world building I suppose, which I didn’t need because I’d read Beartown, however it did spoil my enjoyment of the book and I found myself skimming through sections to just find out what happened - not something I normally do!

In Us Against You, Backman continues his story of the small hockey community Beartown. The reader meets the same familiar Beartown characters: the players, coaches, & fans that populate the struggling town. No one knows the inside of his characters minds and hearts better than Backman. He is the consummate storyteller. With my heart lodged in my throat, a box of Kleenex in my lap, I could not turn the pages fast enough. Only Backman could get me to read two books about hockey. And, if he writes more novels about hockey, I'll be the first in line to read them.
Highly recommended for all.

I am always amazed at the insight this author shows into the hearts and minds of his characters. He seems to truly understand human nature and the fragility that exists in each of us. One little choice becomes the domino effect that creates another, for good or ill. If only we all thought a little more before we jumped to conclusions.
The story is like a fairy tale in that most of the characters achieve their goals in one way or another, but it is also almost non-fiction because we have all found ourselves in similar situations in our own lives or in the lives of others. In this book, sports was the catalyst, in other books other ideas are utilized. I found this to be the most realistic venue to highlight all of our human frailties and strengths, all of our hopes and aspirations. In the end, what do we all seek if not freedom to be who and what we are, coupled with happiness and success in a life that is free of as much pain as possible.
This is the second book in a series, the first of which was called “Beartown”. The same characters reappear. The town has betrayed Peter Anderssen, the General Manager of the Beartown hockey team. His daughter, Maya, was raped by the star hockey player and when he made the issue public before the championship game, Kevin Erdahl was arrested and couldn’t play. The Beartown team lost to the Hed hockey team. The future of hockey in Beartown suddenly ended. The team lost funding and the town council decided to support only Hed hockey, which was the winning team. Peter was now persona non grata.
As a result, Peter may no longer have a job, his daughter has been vilified, and his son Leo, 12 years old, has been ostracized. However his wife, Kira sees one shining light. She is thinking that maybe now is the time for them to move on, to begin again and let her have her big break. She wants her own law firm. Maybe it is time to kick hockey out of their lives. They have had to deal with veiled threats against their property and their lives and have accumulated newfound enemies. Is hockey worth it? The reader will wonder, what is the real problem being highlighted in this novel?
Into this mix of characters and events, we have a quasi corrupt politician who takes advantage of everyone’s strengths and weaknesses to improve his own lot. Richard Theo preys on vulnerabilities and exploits them creating conflict, after which he steps in with solutions, never leaving his own dirty fingerprints. He remains innocent as he creates havoc. He has his future planned as the savior of the town, but to do that, he has created two faces, one is good and the other smacks of pure evil as he pits everyone against someone else and stands back taking only the credit for positive results, always distancing himself from the negative effects of his manipulations. He creates hateful situations which boil over. With some of these situations, cooler heads often do prevail, preventing catastrophe. With others, all hell breaks loose and tragedies occur.
The story takes place in a town that wants to land on its feet no matter how many times it gets knocked down, inhabited by characters equally motivated and strong. The cloth of diversity exists there in every pattern, regarding intellect, age, success, failure, ambition, poverty, race, economy and sexuality. It is a place that depicts the world as it is, with all of its warts and foibles. Backman uses the town and its people to analyze different character traits. The ideas of forgiveness, choices, thoughtfulness, anger, frustration, fear, joy, love and hate are laid bare. Sometimes, it feels like too many ideas are confronting the reader and yet, each idea is so important, it becomes necessary to complete the whole.
Often, the right advice comes from the wrong people. Often advice given is not always prudent, but it is always thought provoking. At times, the emotions and advice from the youngest seems more thought out and honest in its innocent approach, hitting the problem right on the target with just the right answer. Sometimes the crudest people make the finest suggestions. All sides of all problems and all people seem to come together of a piece in this book turning everything upside down and right side up at the same time
The book deals with the sadness of everyday life. There is death, sickness, failure, despair and dejection, but there is also loyalty, love, friendship, compassion, and dreams. Even what might seem extraneous at first, like homosexuality and opportunity for women, when inserted front and center, become paramount. The reader sees the reactions of a husband and a child to the loss of a parent and spouse. The reader also sees the reaction of parents to the loss of a child, to the disappointing decisions of a child and to the difficult realization of the truth about a child. Each and every issue dissected is done so with such clarity and honesty that it feels like the situation is real or has been at one time or another in someone’s life.
The fairytale aspect consists in the fact that most times, everyone does the honorable thing. The ill die well, the criminals reform when necessary and make the right choice to prevent more evil, and good citizens step up to save the day. Evildoers often get their comeuppance, as well. But sometimes, when they don’t, the victims are forgiving, become greater than the injustice and move on as better people. All people have both qualities inside them, good and evil, and this author displays that fact admirably and authentically. The wrong people often do the right thing even when it goes unnoticed or is unappreciated. The basest qualities of people are illuminated and contrasted with the highest achievements of goodness of which they are capable.
The book uses sports to display the virtues and vices that people are subject to and does it superbly. Venality and honor are always in stark contrast. Each character, and there are many, is trapped in untenable situations and is forced to make a decision, often the least likely one, but Backman gives them a noble way out, even as he paints them into what seems like a corner with no exit. To keep the reader interested, he misdirects and leads the narrative first in one way and then in another. Ordinary life plays out on each page highlighting the acts of selfishness and kindness that “flesh is heir to”. The book highlights the differences in perception, judgment, greed, self control, ethics, intelligence, background, culture, sex, ability, ambition and its lack. Using Theo, the devious politician, as the instigator, he forces the reader to watch as the dominos fall and character flaws and strengths are illuminated. Each character is a combination of both; in each, both the characteristics may live symbiotically or as parasites, depending on the choices made.
The book, like a magnet, draws you toward it over and over. Backman drills down into the deepest and innermost thoughts of his characters and he captures their honest emotions and honest reactions. He connects with them on an absolutely human level as if he was inside their hearts and heads and places the reader in that space. He is a genius when it comes to understanding human nature and reasoning, and he has laid it out clearly on every page of this novel. It is more profound than it seems at first read.

I really enjoyed the sequel to the Beartown novel. Like in the previous book you continue to care about the original characters and the new ones that are introuduced into the storyline. I recommend this series.

Beartown is still struggling to deal with the fallout of the town's rising hockey star being accused of sexual assault by the daughter of the club's general manager. Now Kevin has left town for good, but for Maya she is still struggling to survive in a town that's been torn apart from either believing her, or accusing her of lying. Peter Anderson doesn't know how to stop his family from falling apart while at the same time, his club is also crumbling to dust - and Benji, the town's delinquent son/purest heart is helping others while keeping the biggest secret in his life close to his chest. By the end of the hockey season, someone will be dead and the sporting violence between Beartown and neighbouring Hed will have come to a terrible conclusion.

I love Fredrik Backman's writing - his characters are so full of life in a way I find it hard to see other authors really achieving, and he has a truly unique style to his writing that comes across perfectly even when translated which I think is a feat in itself. Like all his stories, Us Against You is full of self-deprecating humour and wonderful moments between people, while also highlighting the true ugliness in the world against the moments of beauty and hope. While Beartown deals with a heavy topic, I actually as a reader found Us Against You a heavier, harder book to read. I'm not sure I 100% enjoyed myself while reading this and I wonder if "enjoyed" is even the right word for the consumption of a book like this.

In a way I almost felt emotionally manipulated in this book as my feelings were on strings about to snap at any moment throughout the novel. I was so scared for every character even though for some we knew what lay ahead but with others we weren't so sure. I never knew if Leo, Benji or Ana was about to be hurt or something terrible happen. I was afraid for Sune and Peter and even Teemu (who if you're not picturing as Wentworth Miller, what's wrong with you?). The book is written really cleverly because you know enough to be really invested but never enough to feel like you won't be surprised by the next chapter. We might know that a character achieves his dream of becoming an NHL professional, but that doesn't mean we know the struggles of how he got there and the bumps in the road that made him stronger.

Once again, Fredrik Backman proves he can play my emotional strings like an expert fiddler and I'm happy to hand my reader's heart over to him any time!

I think Backmans books just arent for me. I really disliked Beartown and the same with this. I cannot connect with his writing or stofytelling.

If I had to pick one author who's made the most significant impact in literature in the past decade, I wouldn't have to think too hard because I think Fredrik Backman has taken the lit world by storm and hasn't let go yet.

<em>Us Against You</em> is Backman's second book in his Beartown series. In that first book, a small, rural town became sharply divided after the rape of a girl by the leader of the town's hockey team. Hockey is <em>everything</em> to this community. Now, in <em>Us Against You</em>, the dust is still just settling from the shake-up in the first book, when the community learns that the hockey team will be disbanded and the many of the team's players now play for their biggest rival.

But Beartown hockey might be saved by a local business. With the star players now playing for Hed, a new team has to be built and that falls on the new hockey coach ... a woman who is not from Beartown. She's a tough, no-nonsense woman with a knack for spotting, working with, and exploiting talent. She'll make some very unpopular decisions in Beartown as she builds a team around Vidar - a local leather-jacket ruffian, Benji - a loner recently outed as gay, and Amat - a supremely fast player.

No one is too happy about having a woman coach (she must be a lesbian, right?) or the new leaders of the team, but what matters is - can they play? And more importantly - can they beat Hed?

What Backman does supremely well is present human nature. I can't think of any other writer who gets at the heart of what it means to be human the way that Backman does (okay ... maybe Shakespeare). In the previous book, Backman showed us the ugly side of human nature and I really didn't enjoy that quite as much. Here he gives us a pretty good balance of some of the worst as well as some of the best of what humans can do or be.

There's also a nice message here, of 'just be yourself,' with some literal head-held-high moments in the face of adversity.

Backman's books are beautiful, and if you're prone to tears, you might want to have a box of tissues handy as you read through this. And you <em>should</em> read through this.

Looking for a good book? <em>Us Against You</em> is another fantastic book by one of the best, most honest and forthright authors writing today - Fredrik Backman. You should read this book.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Small town sports are the glue that hold many communities together. In Us Against You, Backman returns to his Beartown hockey team to take the characters into new situations. As ever, the rivalry between Beartown and Hed focuses on hockey and the pranks and 'jokes' get out of hand.

New coaches, new players, and old and new allegiances are strained to the breaking point and violence breaks out, permeating not only hockey but the towns' economies as well.

It took me a long time to decide to read this sequel to Beartown because I loved the first book so much. But I should have trusted Fredrik Backman not to disappoint, and although this is not by any means an easy read, I was just as captivated by the characters and the setting. I cannot wait for what I am assuming will be the final entry in this ongoing story.

I loved Beartown so was excited when the second in the series was available.

Mr. Backman did not disappoint and we learned more about Beartown, hockey and the characters we loved and were invested in.

You want to learn more about the characters as the story keeps moving in the way only Mr. Backman can. Can’t wait for the final installment!