4 stars

You can read all of my reviews at Nerd Girl Loves Books.

This is another wonderful book by one of my favorite authors. Backman carefully crafts a story that at first seems random, but slowly the people and events weave together into one beautiful tapestry.

A desperate bank robber, that doesn't commit a robbery, accidentally escapes into an apartment that is having an open house and is full of potential buyers. The bank robber now has hostages for a bank robbery that didn't occur, and the apartment is surrounded by police and reporters. As if the bank robber isn't having a bad enough day, the hostages aren't the most cooperative people and have issues of their own to deal with. One by one the hostages start to open up to one another, and suddenly the hostages aren't strangers in a room anymore.

Backman's writing is beautiful as ever, with nuggets of universal truths generously sprinkled throughout. This story didn't resonate with me as much as his previous books, but it's still a wonderful book that I highly recommend you read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for giving me a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

It's no shocker that I ended up loving this book. I was hooked after reading the first page. Backman has a way with words that I just can't explain, but what I do know is that reading his books just makes my heart and soul happy.⁣
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If you are familiar with Backman's work, this one won't let you down. It gave me similar vibes to Britt-Marie Was Here but with a whole different cast of characters. ⁣
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In Anxious People, we have a failed bank robbery turned hostage situation at an open house in the condo across the way. Unfortunately for this bank robber, the people inside the condo are not the ideal hostages with all of their own unique personalities and issues. ⁣
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A lot of the characters gave me a good chuckle here and there along with a sense of empathy for what they have going on in their lives. If you're looking for a book with a cast of quirky characters, this is it people. ⁣
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I should mention that this book talks heavily of a past suicide and a suicide attempt. If that is a trigger you have, this book would not be for you.⁣
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4.5/5⭐️

You know those books you want to hug when you're finished? This was one of those for me. Backman never fails to impress me with his ability to craft a story and give the reader flawed characters to root for. The story is surprising - it's about a bank robber who really isn't a bank robber who inadvertently holds a group of people hostage at an apartment viewing. Each of the characters was frustrating in their own way, and in typical Backman fashion, he gets you to look past the surface and see into the characters' souls. I listened to parts of this too (thanks @librofm!), and the narration was A+. Overall, this is a contender for my favorite of the year

Fun, Funny, Quirky and Sad!
This novel had my head spinning in such a wonderful way!
One really bad idea can ruin a person's life!
Anxious People is the story of a bank robber and a hostage taking during the Open House of an apartment for sale. Comedy ensues as the police try to rescue the hostages and determine exactly what happened.
The author reminds us, on numerous occasions, that this is a story of idiots, a roomful of people unbeknownst to each other and how there lives will forever be changed on this day.
In true Backman style he delivers magic on every page.
Loved it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I am such a huge fan of Backman so it pains me to give a 3 star rating. The first half of this book was so boring and confusing at the same time. The writing was impeccable and so quotable but I just did not care for the characters. I wanted to love this but unfortunately just couldn’t.

I have never read this author before and I feel this was the wrong one to begin with. Based on all the great reviews I wanted to love it but sadly I didn’t. I am sorrow to say that I didn’t finish but I just couldn’t get into the characters. I read about 65% but started skimming so I gave up. I will try this author again

Ok, so I loved this book. This was my first to read by Backman, but all my friends love his books so when I got approved for an ARC I was thankful and excited but didn't really know what to expect.

I guess we could say that this was the story about a bank robber who failed to rob a bank but instead managed to spark a hostage drama. I prefer to see it as: "Everyone you know is fighting a battle you know nothing about." The reason the bank robber wants to rob the bank is heartbreaking. I found myself going from holler-laughing to tearing up. There is also wisdom and morality throughout. Anxious People is a dark comedy that centers around a group of people (and a would-be bank robber) during a hostage situation. Except, the situation isn't quite what you think it is. But one thing's for certain: each character has their own anxieties, secrets, and dreams. Because that's what it is to be human. Eight stranger's anxieties that are all in one apartment viewing when a masked individual walks in, a suicide, a psychologist, and two cops trying to get to the bottom of it all, becomes the perfect mixture for a good novel.

Surprisingly funny and sad with moments of revelation is what Anxious People delivers to this reader. I became engrossed in the life of these people. How fate has put them all together in one place to bring out all of their issues into the open. I really enjoyed this- particularly how stereotypes were handled. The scene with the cops trying to figure out the perp was beautifully done. Great book. Thank you for my approval. I will read Backman again for sure!

This was an interesting one.
I think that this will appeal to a lot of people.
Once the story got going, I really enjoyed it. Each character was unique and the book does a good job at exploring each characters problems and how those problems got them to where they are.
The book takes on a theme of interconnectedness and how people can effect and change each others lives without even knowing it. I think it explores these things really well.
It's a book that touches on many sad topics but leaves the reader feeling uplifted.
The first half of this book I found incredibly hard to get through. The dialogue was so over-the-top and ridiculous that I had a hard time seeing the characters as anything other than caricatures. This does get remedied in the second half of the book though.
The inner monologue of the characters has a tendency to ramble in ways that I found super annoying. One sentence would turn into a full page of rambling about some small detail.
Personally, I found the ending to be very cheesy and a little too sappy but I think a lot of other people will enjoy it.

“This story is about a lot of things, but mostly about idiots.”

This line is on the first page of Anxious People and it grasped my attention right from the start!

This book is also about: A robbery of a cashless bank. A hostage situation with incredibly annoying people. Relationship drama. A locked room mystery. Comedy.

5 ⭐️

This was the first book I’ve read from Fredrik Backman and it certainly won’t be the last! His writing style is next level. He creates a story that flows so well, characters that are so multifaceted they feel like people you would know, and he is so talented at balancing humor with deep subjects.

A line that stuck out to me the most was, “What we think stories are about often isn’t what they’re about.” Because doesn’t that just apply to all things in life?

Anxious People is a book that will make you want to connect more with the people around you - it is a title that shows great empathy, and kindness, and reminds you that we are all going through the same types of problems, doubts, and fears.

It is also witty and clever and fun to read. It made me cry and laugh and it made me feel more hope than anything has in a long time. Because it is just so very, very human - Backman makes you feel things without using narrative tricks often employed by writers to make people cry or get angry. He knows people and he cares about people and he makes you want to care about people too. Even people who it seems like you might have nothing in common with.

The plot of this book is a bank robber invades an apartment viewing and takes the viewers hostage. This is a story about the people in that viewing, the bank robber, the police who show up, and something that happened on a bridge you can see from the apartment 10 years before.

I think the last book that touched me this much was The Remains of the Day. However instead of filling me with existential dread and despair, this book made me feel more connected with my fellow humans. "Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree today." Read this book.

Whenever I learn that a new Fredrik Backman book is available I try to read it as soon as possible because I know I’m guaranteed a ‘good read’. Well, “Anxious People” did not disappoint at all. Interesting characters, as usual also. I loved how the author tied so much of the story together. Clever and entertaining. Recommended.

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

Way back in time, I read a series of books about middle-aged men who suffer a loss of some kind and then meet someone or someones new and have a sort-of rebirth. In the midst of this spate, I read A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman and enjoyed it. So I requested Backman’s latest, Anxious People: A novel, from Netgalley and was fortunate to have the request approved.

This is a feel-good book with quirky characters who are thrown together on the fateful day when a desperate person attempts a bank robbery, fails, and flees the scene only to stumble upon an apartment viewing, inadvertently turning the crime into a hostage crisis.

The crime(s) are handled by two small-town policemen, who happen to be father and son. The hostages include a retired couple who have taken to flipping apartments as projects, a young couple about to become parents, an elderly woman ostensibly looking for a place for her daughter while waiting for her husband to park the car, an obnoxious, hard-nosed banker whose hobby is to go to open houses to see how the other half lives, an amateur actor, and the real estate agent. We get to know these people in part through the interviews with the police and in part by their interactions with one another. They are kind-hearted odd ducks, all carrying baggage of one kind or another.

The plot is an unraveling of the failed robbery/hostage crisis as the police try to determine, after the fact, what happened to the perpetrator, who somehow vanished from the scene. There are surprises galore, snippets of wisdom, and a good dose of humor throughout.

Reading this novel was a delightful way to spend a few hours.

Why did I take so long to read a book by Fredrik Backman? I honestly thought he wasn’t for me and I’m so pleased to have been proven wrong. I loved this quirky book! It was heart-wrenching, funny, outlandish at times and just so darn relatable. ⁣⁣
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This book pulled at my heartstrings. At first glance, it’s a story about a would-be bank robber and an apartment full of hostages but really it’s about so much more. It’s about being human with all the messy, ridiculous mistakes we make along the way. It’s about love and forgiveness. It’s about allowing ourselves to grieve and move on. It’s about acceptance, friendship, despair and hope. ⁣⁣
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I don’t know how Backman tackles such big themes (suicide, infidelity, mental health and more) with such wit and grace but does he ever.

Almost everyone has a favorite author that makes their way onto your “auto-buy” list – meaning that, as soon as you find out they’re publishing a new book, you just absolutely have to have it, no questions asked. Fredrik Backman is one such author for me. I’ve read the majority of his books, and I’ve been enthralled with each and every one. Anxious People was no exception.

This is a book about idiots. About a bridge. About a bank robbery gone wrong, and about redemption in your darkest moments. This is a book that will make you laugh, make you cringe, make you smile, and make you cry (at least, it made me cry, as is typical for most of Backman’s books).

Backman weaves a whimsical yet poignant story about the connection and impact that people have with and on each other. It has similar elements of style that he uses in his other stories, and yet, it is entirely different than anything he’s written before. He broaches tough topics through his characters, and their struggles and pain are so palpable, so vivid, that you have no choice but to feel the raw and honest emotions that they feel. Sometimes while reading, I felt like Backman had plucked bits and pieces of my own mind out and wrote them into his story, such as with the quote below.

"SOMETIMES IT HURTS, IT REALLY HURTS, FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN THE FACT THAT OUR SKIN DOESN’T FEEL LIKE IT’S OURS. SOMETIMES WE PANIC, BECAUSE THE BILLS NEED PAYING AND WE HAVE TO BE GROWN-UP AND WE DON’T KNOW HOW, BECAUSE IT’S SO HORRIBLY, DESPERATELY EASY TO FAIL AT BEING GROWN-UP."

I do not think it was a coincidence that the English translation was published during Suicide Prevention Week. Anxious People is a raw portrayal of what most people try to hide from others – their pain, their fear, their doubts and worries. We try to protect those we care for by hiding these things, but Backman shows us a way that makes it okay to feel these things, and not just that, but he shows us a way to get through feeling them, to see that there can be a light at the end of the tunnel if only we let others in.

We don’t have to be alone, even if we think we are worthy of nothing more. If you or someone you know has been struggling lately, especially now with the bleak reality many of us are forced to face, please reach out and check in with them. If you need someone, or just want information and support, the resources below are freely available to you (note: these resources were listed at the end of Anxious People by Backman, and I strongly felt that they should be noted here, too):

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

Crisis Text Line: text “talk” to… US & Canada: 741741 || UK: 85258 || Ireland: 50808

zerosuicide.com

sprc.org

A bank robber who never wanted to be a bank robber ends up with a room full of people who just happened to be attending an apartment open house and now are hostages. They have nothing in common, or do they?

Backman is a master at developing characters without telling you all that much about them, he just lets them reveal themselves as the story unspools. At times I wished he would be more forthright with his information but it works when you suddenly discover a hidden nugget, and there are plenty of hidden nuggets. In Backman’s words, “The whole thing is a complicated, unlikely story. Perhaps that’s because what we think stories are about often isn’t what they’re about at all. This, for instance, might not actually be the story of a bank robbery, or an apartment viewing, or a hostage drama. Perhaps it isn’t even a story about idiots....Perhaps this is a story about a bridge.” And I posit that it’s not about any of those things..

I read to 15% before giving up. The author tries too hard to be witty and quirky to send a message, but is neither funny or appealing to me. He uses odd similes comparing children to kites (you hold on tight but the wind carries them off anyway) and fog is "like someone setting fire to ghosts", which makes my eyes roll The witnesses disrespect to the police and the 3rd person POV is not helping matters.

I don't find this style of writing appealing. Many others have loved it so check out other reviews.. I'm obviously the wrong reader for this story.

Sometimes a book finds its way to you at the exact right time and this one came to me at a time I needed it the most, all thanks to Netgalley .

About 2 weeks back, I went through a phase of stress, doubt and sleepless nights. That’s when this book landed on my mail. It bolstered me and gave me so much hope to move forward, knowing that I may fail but it would still be alright.

Anxious people, as the name suggests is about a bunch of Anxious people. It is the story of a botched bank robbery turned hostage situation where a bank robber gets locked in an apartment with the worst set of hostages ever and mayhem ensues.

The book started off terrifically with Backman’s characteristic quirky characters in wacky situations, that will make you laugh and think with plenty of quotable quotes and relatable passages. But somewhere along the way, the situation and the characters’ response to said situations becomes a little too forced and the pace starts slowing down as well. If it was anyone other than Fredrik Backman, I probably would have dnfed the book but I persisted and boy, was I rewarded!

The second half delivered on everything I was hoping for. Backman deftly manipulates all of your heart strings to make you laugh, cry and feel all the feels.

This book is not perfect in any way but it made me feel good at a time I desperately needed it to and for that, this would remain my forever favourite. Backman’s books are relatable in a way no other book is and will leave you wanting to believe that humanity and goodness will persevere at the end. I would forever be recommending his books and making everyone I know read them.

Another Backman winner!
A bank robbery gone wrong, a missing culprit and a group of hostages who have their own problems. A bank robbery with a twist as only Backman can conjour.
Exploring the stories behind those involved shines a light on our own humanity with its failings and joys.

An Atria Books ARC via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

I have a love-hate relationship with this one. It's definitely a great book and I wish everyone could read it but it also annoyed me at times. I didn't like the main character.

I love everything Backman writes & thankfully I was not disappointed with his newest release! If your only experience with Backman is from Beartown (which I also highly recommend) this book is definitely a bit different but don’t let that deter you. Anxious people still has the heart & soul you come to expect from Backman’s writing.

It’s a story about idiots. Or is it a story about a hostage drama? Or is it about a bridge? Well... it’s a story about all these things. It’s a human story, a complicated and beautiful story about how our lives are interconnected. A story about the impact we can have on one another (good & bad) with some laugh out loud moments along the way.

I loved watching the story reveal itself as I turned the pages & was pleasantly surprised a few times by the direction it took. I also was not prepared for how funny it would be!

I loved this book & I think you will too.

5 ⭐️s