Us Against You is an amazing book! It is so well-written - real, raw, powerful, and well-written. It is heart-breaking, but yet uplifting. Us Against You is the sequel to Beartown, which is also fantastic, but I think you could read <i>Us Against You</i> as a stand alone because the story is so powerful.

The elite hokey club in Beartown is in trouble once again. In the aftermath of a rape and other socially-dividing events, Beartown is left fighting for it's club. The club that everyone stands for. But how far will you go for it?

Kudos needs to be given to the translator, as well. The prose is magical, but yet not written first in English! Amazing!

I marvel at Fredrick Backman's writing. The story is laid out in such a unique style; disjointed, yet the reader never feels confused, just left anticipating what is to come. I can't celebrate Backman enough!

...I cried. A lot.

The sequel to Beartown, a novel about two towns, two rival teams and multiple relationships. This novel is once again not just about hockey, it’s about family, friendships, and rivalries and what can happen when we reveal the best and worst of ourselves. 5/5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars

I wasn’t going to give this 5 stars when I started reading. I was a little disappointed with the slower start and the characters seemed a little flat. However, that all changed and by the middle of the book, I was fully engaged and eager to keep reading.

This book doesn’t have the same intrigue or the same level of suspense that Beartown had but what it lacks in that department it gains in other ways. I felt it was a good sequel and a good conclusion to the series.

Once again, the audiobook narrator was fantastic. If you have the opportunity to listen to this or if you enjoy audio, this and Beartown are currently my top two suggestions.

I absolutely loved this book! Such a great sequel to Beartown, which I loved as well.
Check out my full review here:

https://readwithsam.com/2018/09/05/book-review-us-against-you-by-fredrik-backman/

5 fantastically wild bear chants to raise the rink roof

Beartown was one of my favorite books of 2017 and so it comes as no surprise that book two in the Swedish hockey town trilogy was highly anticipated and it didn't disappoint. Like its predecessor, I was hooked from the very beginning. The little town thought that the worst had already happened but it seems fate isn't done with them yet. For maximum enjoyment I would encourage future readers to read Beartown first to fully understand the characters.

People we love will die. We will bury our children beneath our most beautiful trees


As I returned again to Beartown I felt different emotions as Fredrik Backman's tale unfolded. So many times in this book I gasped whenever I felt danger coming for one character or another. I think my two favorite players are Benji and Bobo who both had storylines that made my heart ache. I also appreciated Backman's allotment of growth for Peter's children, Leo and Maya, and his wife Kira. In fact, Peter is probably my least favorite character. Mostly because his relationships with people highlight how incredibly selfish he can really is. But that is just my opinion.


It's always the aggressors' feelings we have to defend. As if they are the ones who need our understanding.


One of the reasons that I absolutely adore F.B's books is because he's a reader of people, bringing both beautiful and ugly parts of that person to the surface. As many of my fellow reviewers have stated, this particular trilogy isn't about curmudgeonly men and women, but ALL people. It's about bullies, victims, and bystanders. In particular, Us Against Them is about hockey politics in two small towns. Let me tell you, some of the children in this series are more mature than adults in the town.

Finally, I am as sure as I was when reading Beartown that towns like this one do exist. Some of my fellow reviewers have raised the plausibility of a hockey team having this much power in this day and age. While I grew up in a town much like Beartown, I am happy to say nowadays sports has diversified and many of my family and friends are able to give their sons and daughters much more choice. However, the hockey gods still do rain supreme in many communities still. I would also want to say a sincere thanks to the author for opening the doors wide open on hockey and lack of acceptance of the gay community. For those who don't follow hockey, the NHL(National Hockey League) remains the only professional sports organization in North America that remains silent on representation in the gay community. Imagine, it's 2018 and don't ask, don't tell is still the locker room code!

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. Beartown was such a heart wrenching beautiful book and I was wary about a sequel. The author is one of my favourite so regardless of my wariness this was one of my most anticipated reads. Backman did not disappoint. He wove an incredible story and it’s one that will stay with me for a long time.

Well, Mr. Backman has done it again. I shouldn't be surprised, because almost without fail his books always suck me in, get me invested in his characters, and put me through the wringer as I follow their trials and tribulations. It doesn't seem to matter the cast size (just a few characters or, as in this case, a whole damn town), or who those characters are (from small girls, to frazzled mothers, to conniving politicians, or old men), Backman paints such an accurate portrait of each of the players that they fell very, very real.

In Us Against You, the follow up to the amazing Beartown, we pick things up pretty much where we left everyone at the end of Beartown. The fallout from the happenings in the previous book are still unfolding, and the characters are still grappling with how to handle knowing the things they now know.

The focus shifts slightly to different characters in this book, with some new characters also thrown into the mix. I think this book might actually have more "action", but as with Beartown, the true emphasis is on the people, how they behave, and how they react to various situations. For me, Backman is somehow able to show those behaviours in an entirely realistic (read: not hyperdramatc/overblown) way while still making a highly entertaining and readable book.

I did find this book didn't feel quite as "tight" for the first few chapters. There is a fair bit of repetition from the first book, yet some of the characters seem different somehow. By the end of the book, I was in love with them all again, but I found myself wishing there'd been a slightly better transition between the two stories. Also, in this Canadian version, as with many Canadian books, I'm baffled as to whom the editor knows who actually talks about the height and weight of people in metric, or who uses the word "anticlockwise". I get following Canadian conventions and all, but it's annoying when unnatural phrases yoink one from being immersed in the story.

So now I'm left with a problem of how to rate this book. I gave Beartown 5 stars, and Us Against You has a couple of minor places where it's not quite as good as Beartown. But I still loved this book, and would highly recommend it to anyone who likes Backman, hockey, small towns, people, or just well-woven stories in general. In the end, I'll give this one 4.75 stars rounded up to 5.

Badass Female Character Score: 5/5 -- Backman fills his books with rich and strong female characters doing some pretty awesome things; there is no tokenism here.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with a DRC of this book.

<i>I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Honestly, I never thought I would want so many more books about a town obsessed with hockey, but here we are.

Backman's characters are so real, so deep, it is impossible not to care about them. I was reading with bated breath, hoping they would all come out okay in the end (don't worry, no spoilers).

I would highly recommend this book, even if you only sort of enjoyed the first. This is a case of the sequel being even better.

Backman is unparalleled in his realistic portrayal of human interactions, motivations and foibles. Misleading foreshadowing keeps you surprised throughout the novel. Not a "comfy" read - a difficult topic and no fairy tale endings - but a powerful read, difficult to put down.

Fredrik Backman is great at hurting my heart.

I was afraid to read his follow up to Beartown - what if it was going to ruin it?

The start of Us Against You started off a little rough for me. There seemed to be a lot of reiterating and resetting the scene. But as the story unfolded, I got that delicious sinking feeling that big moments were snowballing. Harsh realities took over and made me feel like the town and its people are like a wounded animal you find at the side of the road. You want it to survive. You’re worried it’s too late. You wonder if it will ever be the same. You’re glad it’s not you or someone you love.

I feel deeply fatigued from reading the book. It’s probably because this is the first time in a while I’ve let myself have so many feelings while reading: sign of a great author, obviously.

Thank you, Netgalley, for giving me the chance to read it a little early.

"Sometimes hating one another is so easy that it seems incomprehensible that we ever do anything else. "

This book contains so much that it's hard to sum it up in just a few sentences. It's such a strong and impactful story, so much so that I just want to shove it into anyone's hands who will give me a chance to convince them to read it. It's the sequel to Beartown, a book just as moving, and this book definitely lives up to the previous. Backman has a way with words and storytelling; he can create so much emotion with his writing. This book follows the events in Beartown after its last season; it follows Maya's family and how they change after that one night, the hockey club and its team, and many of the towns other citizens. I've honestly never read a book that contains as many well developed characters as this one.

But anyway, to sum it up, this town has so much unrest and unease in it with all the changes going on, and this town isnt one that deals well with change. People take sides and people get hurt.

The events of this series all take place around a hockey team, and I don't even like hockey, but it's just THAT good of a book. It was a bit slower to start, but once we got more into the events and less of the political background stuff to start off the plot, I had to fight myself to put the book down when I had to do other things.

My absolute favourite aspect of this book is the writing. The combination of Backman's moving writing with this powerful story creates an absolutely heartbreaking read. If a book can break my heart, it's a good book. And this is the kind of book won't leave you dry-eyed.

It was also a hard read. I had read so much homophobic hatred from many characters in this book, but it was also challenged and characters were given so much room for growth. Many took it.

My words and thoughts can't do this book justice, and that's how I felt with the first as well. I fell in love with this town (as well as hated it) and cared so much for Maya and Benji. If you can bear reading about horrible and heartbreaking events in this town, I'd 100% recommend reading this series. This book will move you and make you cry but it'll be worth every moment.

Us Against You book review - no spoilers - Do not read further if you haven't read Beartown.
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"People we love will die. We will bury our children beneath our most beautiful trees."
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Us Against You takes off right after where Beartown left us. It appears everyone has lost. A girl has lost her innocence and her reputation, the town has lost their A-team, and it seems noone is able to move forward. Until a stranger arrives in Beartown. Us Against You is about rebuilding, not just in the case of sports but in life. Finding one's self, the ebb and flow of friendship: the lost and found of love and of life.
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I enjoyed this even more than Beartown and was happy to continue the journey in via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada as well.
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Wow! A gripping story, full of insight into the complexity of human emotions. I found it easy to follow the story even though I haven’t read the first book.

A remarkable follow up story to Beartown, by the same, author, which I recommend you read first. In a small hockey town (Beartown) the coach's daughter is raped at a party by his very best player. On the day they were playing Hed in the hockey finals, his daughter finally told her father and he pulled Kevin off the team, hence they lost. Many of people did not believe the story, but Kevin's best friend had witnessed it and told the truth. The town is torn apart. His Daughter is ostracized and he almost loses his job,
Us Against You involves the politics, emotional reactions and bullying that results from the losing of a hockey game and their best player. Kevin is never punished, but leaves town. How do the inhabitants cope with what they consider a disaster? The insights, emotions and actions of the inhabitants are Incredibly well written and, I believe, give us an insight on how intense competition can affect our lives and the lives of our children.. Highly recommended.

Hockey was my life. I grew up in arenas, I am Canadian! Interesting to ponder the relevance of the game in parts of the country where nothing else matters. Rivalries build over jobs, relationships, and sports. Well told, multi-dimentional composition leaving the reader looking forward to the episode

There are positive qualities about this book, notably Backman's ability to write a story about the fundamental goodness in people, but there were two things that I really did not like:
1. Municipal politics. Ugh.
2. Any writing class will teach its students to "show, not tell." I felt like I was constantly being told how it is, instead of being shown how it is.

A special thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Can a town that is already broken, survive more tragedy?

After a scandal rocks Beartown and leaves a town divided, the citizens are dealt another blow when they learn that their beloved junior hockey team will be dismantled. Hockey is what binds them together and brings meaning to the term community. The only people that are happy about this are the former Beartown players that now play for the rival team in Hed. Tension is at an all time high and things are starting to get dangerous.

A new team starts to form around the fastest player, Amat; the loner, Benji; and instigator, Vidar. Under a new and unlikely coach, the boys learn to grow together, breaking old bonds and forging new ones.

As the big game between Beartown and Hed approaches, the incidents between the towns are piling up and the hatred is growing stronger day-by-day. Can Beartown hockey and its residents be saved?

Us Against You is thought provoking and at times, heartbreaking. It is a fantastic followup to Beartown—I found that book greatly appealing and timely covering topics such as homophobia, racism, sexism and politics.

My only complaint is that I found the narrative disjointed, choppy, and it rambled at times. Backman also breaks the fourth wall on a few occasions, reminding his audience what kind of story they are reading and I don't think this is necessary because the reader is already vested in the story—he is an engaging and dynamic writer and I was glad to reside in Beartown again.

Review : Us against you by Fredrik Backman
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Backman continues to impress me with his writing in Us Against You. I loved returning to this town and seeing how some of my favourite characters had grown. As in Beartown, this novel tackles challenging topics including violence, mental health, empathy, hatred and love. It discusses gender and sexuality in sports. These topics continue to be discussed within the themes of community, forgiveness, family, acceptance and the work it can take to maintain relationships. This book is not only an enjoyable read but it provides the reader with an opportunity for self reflection and personal growth.

In true Backman style the narration and imagery are beautiful. Though many parts of this story are emotional I still felt hopeful after finishing the novel. It is an emotional read that won’t drain you but still lets you feel for each and every character. Another 5 star read from Fredrik Backman.

Additional review will be posted to my instagram account closer to publication date: https://www.instagram.com/simpleexplorations/

ARC was provided in exchange for a honest review from NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada.

《“It’s only a sports club, there are more important things.” It’s easy to say that sort of thing if you believe that sports is merely a matter of numbers. But it never is, and you can only understand that if you start with the simplest question: how does it feel for a child to play hockey? It’s not so hard to answer that. Have you ever been in love? That’s how it feels.》

I went into Us Against You without knowing it was a sequel, and I did okay following the story, although you are going to want to read Beartown (I do).

Us Against You is full of emotion and heart. I highly recommend it. I was told to read Beartown first to get the full effect.

Thanks to Net Galley for the opportunity to preview this book. More typos than usual, but still another amazing story by Backman about the people of Beartown and Hed. Strongly recommended.