Beartown. Hockey. The two go together and always have. A little town in the middle of a forest loves its hockey team. Amid turmoil in the wake of a rape case involving a star player, residents of Beartown find out their hockey club is going to be disbanded. All the public money will be going to the team in nearby Hed. When a new team sponsor, a wily politician and other factions get involved to save Beartown hockey, emotions and old jealousies start to boil underneath the surface. It becomes more than a sport, wanting to win, believing in the local team....morphing into something that might be dangerous. It's no longer really about hockey and innocent town rivalry. When all is done, one person is dead and everyone is left wondering what happened to make things so out of control.

Coming from the midwest where American football is serious business, I identify with the small town politics and behind-the-scenes wrangling where sports is concerned. The need to win....the undercurrents....intense team rivalries....the situations that make people lose it. I loved this book! The effect that change has on Beartown....an all new hockey team, a female coach, economic and social concerns...it all combines to make the situation volatile. It all comes down to the final game.... I'm not going to say much more about the plot to avoid any spoilers. If you loved Beartown, you will love this sequel! I love how Backman creates so many diverse characters and ties them together with hockey. The characters are vibrant and realistic. I found myself comparing the Beartown players with kids I knew growing up. I had a real-life equivalent for all of them. It made me wonder where those ghosts from my childhood are today.

This book is an awesome and powerful follow up to Beartown. When does the love for playing and watching sports morph into something else? I've seen those parents who sit in the bleachers at games yelling inappropriate things at both the opposing team and their own children.....I've seen fights erupt over sports.....and read the stories about deaths related to anger over games. In towns where sports are more than just local kids playing a game, so much gets added into the mix....politics, rivalries, economics, greed, jealousy, anger..... It can be a volatile mix.

This is the second book by Fredrick Backman that I've read. And I'm hooked. I have A Man Called Ove on my tbr shelf to read next, and two on hold at the library. There is always quite the long waiting list for his books on my local library's digital site. There's a reason for that -- his books are excellent!!! Well worth my wait in line!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Atria via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

This was, as with all of Backman's previous publications, a deeply resonant, well-plotted novel that I read through in a single setting and then, revisited multiple times with a great deal of fondness. I will continue to look forward to all subsequent work by this author.

to say i had high expectations after beartown would be a gross understatement. unfortunately, i ended up not loving it as much, which is a bummer. but it's still beautiful.

when i read beartown, i'd heard of backman but had heard mixed things about his other books. i have this weird thing, when expectations are too high or there's too much hype around an author's books and i see a new one on netgalley, i request and read that one first. that way i get to experience a popular author but with reasonably low expectations because the hype has not gotten to a new book yet. that's what i did with beartown, got it from netgalley and started it on a random friday night and next thing you know, it's 2am saturday morning. i cannot even explain my love for that book - it sucked me in and made me a part of that town. it was beautiful and i was a mess at the end. so when i found it was going to be a trilogy, i was excited and skeptical. when i saw this one on netgalley, i was nervous, but still excited.

when i received the arc months in advance, i told myself to wait until closer to the release date. honestly i actually tried to start it several times, but it never sucked me in and i would move on to something else. then finally, the release date passed and i heard glowing reviews from people i trusted and i forced myself to get a few chapters in.

to be completely honest, this was a slog to get through. i had to read a chapter and then turn to another book, read for 15-20 mins, go back and read a chapter of this one. like it was broccoli, eat one then go to the mashed potatoes or fries, go back for broccoli, eat dessert etc etc. so this was not exactly an enjoyable reading experience for me, not like beartown.

that being said, the writing was beautiful. a little too foreshadow-y and preachy, or like a constant recap, very tell-y and not show-y. something about the writing got on my nerves even if i could objectively say it was beautiful. i don't remember if beartown was like that, but this one seemed to be breaking that fourth wall constantly and it got frustrating. beartown is a lot to live up to, so i get it, but still. annoying. i didn't connect emotionally like i did with beartown.

when i got to 77%, that's when i couldn't put it down. that's way too long for a book to get good, and normally i would have DNF'd but in this case, the book was good all that time, but at 77% it got better. it was so gut wrenching, it tore me apart. i was so devastated, heartbroken and just feeling all the feelings - and that's how i felt throughout the entirety of beartown. so i am definitely a little bummed i only felt this way for like 25% of us against you. sure, there are snippets throughout the first 75% but the last quarter packs an emotional punch and makes the whole book worth the slog.

my favourite thing about this book - and beartown - is the characters. they are amazing. benji, maya, ana, bobo, peter, kira, vidar.. i loved them all. i will absolutely read the next book and continue to read backman's work.

I absolutely love the writing of Frederik Backman. His novel A MAN CALLED OVE made me both laugh and cry. His story of a hockey town in crisis, BEARTOWN, also made me cry. This summer he has a new novel out, a sequel to BEARTOWN, called US AGAINST YOU. It takes up the story of the families of Beartown and brings them through the next year as they continue to struggle and cope with the actions and activities of the past. Peter and Kira struggle with their marriage. Maya struggles with trying to live her life in the shadow of her assault. Leo struggles with adolescence. And throughout, the lives of these very ordinary people are set against the struggles of a hockey team (with a new coach) and the rivalry Beartown has with neighboring Hed. “Rivalry” might be too tame of a word for it, though.

One of Backman’s gifts as a writer is that he takes the very ordinary and makes it extraordinary. He can craft a simple moment and make it memorable; and he gets to the heart of emotion and humanity in doing so.

If you haven’t read Beartown, it makes most sense to read that novel first, but this can be a stand alone title as well.

Highly recommended! Thank you for my review e-copy from Net Galley!

This is a sequel to Beartown. It is as goid if not better than the first book. I enjoyed the characters and think it was well written.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

I'm always nervous about reading a sequel to a book I really liked, but Us Against You delivered. The writing was so beautiful, and the emotion is raw. This book is about so much more than just hockey- it's about politics, relationships, and resilience. It's a must read.

Another favorite author is Fredrik Backman, with his new novel, Us Against You. Fredrik’s books are so well written, I eagerly anticipate every new novel that comes out! If you are a book lover/avid reader/admirer of authors, then you understand what I mean!

Here’s the plot:

A small community tucked deep in the forest, Beartown is home to tough, hardworking people who don’t expect life to be easy or fair. No matter how difficult times get, they’ve always been able to take pride in their local ice hockey team. So it’s a cruel blow when they hear that their town’s ice hockey club might soon be disbanded. What makes it worse is the obvious satisfaction that all the former Beartown players, who now play for a rival team in the neighboring town of Hed, take in that fact. But the arrival of a newcomer gives Beartown hockey a chance at a comeback.

Soon a team starts to take shape around Amat, the fastest player you’ll ever see; Benji, the intense lone wolf; always dutiful and eager-to-please Bobo; and Vidar, a born-to-be-bad troublemaker. But bringing this team together proves to be a huge challenge, especially as the town’s enmity with Hed grows more and more acute as the big game approaches.

By the time the last goal is scored, a resident of Beartown will be dead, and the people of both towns will be forced to wonder if, after everything, the game they love can ever return to something as simple and innocent as a field of ice, two nets, and two teams. Us against you.

Sometimes its just nice to get lost in a pleasant story and connect with the main characters in a way where you deeply care about them, that’s what this book offers!

This novel picks up where Beartown left off -- with most of the A-team hockey players going over to the rival Hed team. But there are still those fighting to keep Beartown's team alive and with the tough new female coach, they just might do it.

If you liked Beartown, you won't be disappointed with this one. If you didn't read Beartown, don't worry. This works fine as a standalone--in fact the beginning was such a good recap that I had to keep checking to make sure I wasn't reading the first book again by mistake. Once the reader is caught up with what happened in book one, the sequel comes into it's own and is a whole new darkly powerful story of friendship, betrayal, ignorance, loyalty, self-confidence, passion, violence and of course hockey..

[4.5 stars]

Let me start by saying that Us Against You is the sequel to last year’s Beartown (one of my favorites of 2017) and I highly recommend you read Beartown before reading Us Against You. The minute I picked up Us Against You, I breathed a sigh of relief to be back among these people in this town. Like in Beartown, Backman masterfully plunks the reader right into the center of things and makes him/her feel deeply for these characters and the town. But this time around, Beartown has lost its innocence. The story is even darker, more sinister, and more focused on the adults and the politics of sports (a very real thing). The town is reeling amid the wreckage of what happened in Beartown (the book) and trying to find its way forward. Like in Beartown, the story is about far more than hockey…friendship, rivalry, marriage, parenting, power, sexuality, and violence. Backman captures general human nature and its basest elements beautifully. While I didn’t love Us Against You quite as much as Beartown, I was still completely engrossed in the emotion of sports, which Backman captures better than anything save Friday Night Lights (and if you’re missing FNL, these are the books for you!).

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book. Backman is, as usual, on point and engaging in his writing. Not able to recommend to students in an official capacity, but certainly will suggest it for those who might be interested in reading for non-classroom (personal) reasons.

Absolutely love Backman's writing style and the way he builds characters. This is much better than Beartown, which I wasn't completely in love with.

The way this story is told, grabbing snapshots of different community members' lives, provides a perspective that is impossible to portray through a straight narrative. And the way these characters are written... I feel like I live in Beartown and should be heading to the ice rink for the game.

Was this a great sequel? Yes. Did it rip my heart out? Yes. Was the ending what I wanted? No. Truly hoping there’s another one!

I have absolutely loved all of Fredrik Backman's books and Us Against You is no exception. Fredrik Backman can write like no other and I very much look forward to reading more of him in the future.

Backman has an incredible way of making me feel so much for each and every one of his characters because he described them so evocatively that empathy, even for characters who should be unlikeable, is impossible to withhold. In US AGAINST YOU, Backman carries forward the story he started in BEARTOWN, which was also amazingly excellent. The worst part about US AGAINST YOU is that it ends even though you wish that it would just go on and on. Backman has a real gift for creating a community that is believable and his prose is heart-wrenchingly honest. Just a magnificent read.

Loved this sequel! This is in the top 3 books of Blackman. His writing style is beautiful....cannot wait to see what he comes out with next. As always, thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this wonderful book.

4.3 - didn't resonate with me quite as much as Bear Town, but still an amazing book; highly recommended

Us Against You by Fredrick Backman is a follow up to Backman's earlier novel, Beartown. This book will not disappoint readers. It is a wonderfully written story of friendship, family, loyalty, and loss. The characters are developed in such an interesting way and the plot moves quickly. All of Backman's books carry a unique style and charm. This one is a definite 5+ stars.

Us Against You is a difficult book. Maybe because of the inflated egos reaching for power and not concerned who they step on. Or maybe it’s because of the powerless who can’t help themselves. Or perhaps it’s due to the repetition of themes that hammers in the points. It is, admittedly, an effective story of two towns in conflict, ostensibly over hockey, but actually over so much more.

I think my sadness on reading this book is not only from the book but from the life of the world around me that it represents, where emotions are manipulated by those in a position to do so, communities are set artificially against one another so they won’t notice that the powers that be are plotting against both. If real life were not so difficult at the moment, would I have tolerated the harsh realities of this world better? Would the moments of redemption worked better? I don’t know. And I’m not sure Backman intends them to. Life is often unjust. We learn that throughout our lives.

Other than the relentless emotional pull, my quibble with this novel has to do with style: there is a repetitive technique used throughout that at times seemed very effective and at others, annoying. I like all that I have read from Backman. His ability to capture the variety of human emotions, behaviors and rationales is spot on for all age groups. This is the sequel that Beartown needed. But I wonder if it could have been better. Or perhaps I wish for something merely different, nicer, more pleasing.

Another thought I had since I finished reading is to wonder if I might have liked the style of the book better if I had read it more quickly. Would what I found to be repetitive be instead flowing connections between sections of the story? Would they read like a chorus, a Greek chorus observing all that is happening just as the narrator is both of and separate from Beartown? This thought is causing me to rethink some of my concerns mentioned above. Oh the world of books. It keeps us pondering even when we finish reading.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review

I loved all of Backman's other books except Beartown. In spite of this I thought I'd give the sequel a try and way pleasantly surprised. It still lacked the charm of Ove and some of his other ones but I did like it it more than Beartown just because I felt like it moved along better.