Fredrik Backman does not know how to write anything other than a five star masterpiece. "The Winners" is the third installment in the "Beartown" trilogy and takes place two years after the events in "Us Against You." A storm and the death of a beloved friend bring characters who had left home and the beginnings of trouble for the towns of Beartown and Hed.

Reading "The Winners" was like coming home and getting to hang out with old friends. I didn't realize how much I had missed Maya and her parents, Ramona, Ana, Amat, Benji, Bobo, and all the other residents of Beartown! The new characters added depth and new drama to the Beartown saga, and they became like friends as well.

"The Winners" and the "Beartown" trilogy as a whole, is about so much more than hockey. It's about friendship and grief, love and forgiveness, politics and greed. It's about the power of anger and how even good people can do not-so-good things. and bad people can do good things.

This is the first book I've thrown across the room screaming and sobbing "No!" since Professor Dumbledore was killed in one of the Harry Potter books. After I finished the last word on the last page, I just sat there for a few minutes, stunned...and then the tears began. In true Backman fashion, "The Winners" is ugly and beautiful and will ABSOLUTELY BREAK YOUR HEART and then put it back together again. This is a long read, but I wanted it to go on forever. I didn't want to leave the little town in the forest that I've come to think of as home.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the privilege of reading an advanced digital copy of this extraordinary book. in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for letting me spend some time in Beartown again!

3.5 OMG THIS WAS TOO LONG. Too many characters. Too much politics. Too much that took away from the many amazing portions about the characters we’ve grown to love in the first two books.

What an absolutely heart-wrenching conclusion to the series, in line with the rest of Backman's work. It's a softer and at the same time more wrenching work than the previous two, because as someone wise has said - Hope is the thing that kills, and we left our characters/friends with such hope last time that carries us through nearly the entire final book.

Wrapping up the Beartown series, The Winners focuses on the rivalry between the towns of Beartown and Hed, the people in the towns, how alike they really are, and how fiercely they love. Backman draws us into the towns through individual stories, with an omniscient narrator speaking of love, loyalty, and hatred.

Fredrik Backman can do no wrong. The perfect follow-up to this series. Always puts me right in my feels! 5 stars.

I am so sad to say goodbye to Beartown and these characters but this is a very satisfying end. Fredrik Backman is incredible at getting the reader invested in the story and tapping into all the feelings. We get to see all of our favorite characters and although there are many familiar themes (love, loss, competition, anger) this storyline really does feel new. I think you could read this on its own but it is a revisit to the two books before and there is a lot of foundation from them that adds to the plot. It is long. I do think some parts could be condensed but Backman’s writing is so incredible, it’s worth the investment. I loved it and since most of you picking this one up are doing so as an end to the Beartown trilogy, I know you will love it too.

Thanks Fredrik Backman, Atria Books, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

STELLAR! What a finale.

Swedish storyteller Fredrik Backman returns with his popular Beartown trilogy, THE WINNERS —A powerful conclusion to a masterful series by a tremendously gifted author bringing his characters and small-town setting to life with a wise lesson for us all.

A massive fan of the author was delighted to receive an early reading copy of THE WINNERS. There is no one quite like him with his signature winning style. My favorite of the series!

The ongoing question is, "Do you want to understand the people who reside in two hockey towns? If so, you need to know the WORST and the BEST they are capable of.

Full of heart, with characters from the previous two books and some new ones, the author does a superb job catching you up between the two towns, the characters, and their rivalry—Beartown and Hed.

So everything that seemed so utterly improbable when Maya and Benji left now feels, two years later, like merely a question of time; the green town is on its way up, and the red village is on its way down.

A winding road through the trees is the only thing separating Beartown and Hed. Beartown plays in green jerseys with a bear. Hed plays in red with a bull. They hate one another. Their sport is about much more than sport.

They live and breathe hockey even outside of the game. This may be a hockey town, but they are forest folk. Surrounded by trees, rocks, and land. Soon a terrible natural disaster is going to destroy things they love. A storm is coming.

HAVES AND THE HAVE-NOTS. From the pressure to WIN at all costs, greed, entitlement, victimization, prejudices, violence, dark secrets, abuse, damage, hatred, threats, corruption, and manipulation. There are also political, financial, and legal aspects.

The author examines the issues with compassion, understanding, wisdom, and insight.

Rich in character, the author does not hold back on the hard-hitting issues from rape, depression, etc., that make up the lengthy novel. While the book is about hockey, it is so MUCH MORE. It is about LOVE in many forms; nobody does that better than Backman.

Oh, does this author have a way with his WORDS! A master craftsman, Backman's writing grips you from his teasing, the suspense, his humor, his wisdom —keeping you glued to the pages to learn what is to come. You will be highlighting many pages in awe.

An examination of good intentions going wrong. The author delves deep into the human psyche, the good, the bad, and the gray areas. From the athletes, the parents, the students, and the community. Both brutal and beautiful. Tragic and hopeful.

Ultimately, regardless of who wins, there are no winners if they cannot get past their hatred. However, no matter how dark, there is always HOPE.

Beautifully told, as always, the author's novels feature strong characters and an array of emotions from tragedy, forgiveness, revenge, hope, and redemption. I was immersed and invested in all the characters and storylines.

Backman fans will enjoy this captivating, epic, and satisfying conclusion to a remarkable and compelling series. We are all anxious to see what comes next. A must-read soul-searching book for every person in this world.

The book description describes the novel to perfection: "As it beautifully captures all the complexities of daily life and explores questions of friendship, loyalty, loss, and identity, this emotion-packed novel asks us to reconsider what it means to WIN, what it means to LOSE, and what it means to FORGIVE."

I highly recommend reading all the books in the series and his complete backlist. Life-changing.

Thanks to #AtriaBooks and #NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: Sept 27, 2022
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Thank you NetGallery and Mr. Backman for giving me the opportunity to review "The Winners." I selected this title because I had read MrBackman's book "Anxious People." I did not realized that this is the third book of a series. I discovered this shortly after getting the advance copy and decided to give it a go anyway and boy am I glad I did. Never in a million years would I think I would enjoy a book centered around two small hockey towns. Mr.Backman has a wonderful way of developing interesting characters. His style of writing one sentence cliff hangers at the end of his chapters entices the reader to want to read more. Sometimes, I had trouble keeping track of the characters and I wonder if I read the series in order if this wouldn't have been an issue. That being said, I think I really would have enjoyed the entire series and I do suggest that you read this book last since this novel wraps up what happens to the characters. I highly suggest this series and book for those who like contemporary fiction.

This is the third book in the Beartown trilogy. Filled with a large cast of characters, Backman has brought back many of the memorable ones from the first and second books with some new ones added. All the various threads are neatly woven together and the growing rivalry between Beartown and Hed comes to a head.

There is a lot of intensity in this book, but with so many characters and subplots, the author spends quite a bit of time setting up the scene and re-introducing the characters. It is the characters who will leave an indelible mark. They are unforgettable, flaws and all. The uniqueness of the people inhabiting Beartown and Hed might bring to mind the quirky and odd, yet beloved characters of Dickens. Benji, Amat, Ana, BoBo, Tess, Alicia, Maya and Big City are just some of the memorable and unique young adults who have rich stories. The adults like Teemu, Ramona, Tails, Lev among others, stand out as leaders, but not always admirable. Two sets of parents – one from each town – demonstrate stability and love. But both stability and love are often absent from the lives of many of the young people. No one is simply good or evil; all of the characters have shades of gray.

The series is set in the landscape of smalltown life where the only entertainment is hockey. Everyone in Hed and Beartown lives and breathes hockey, even if they don’t play or have a family member who plays. Hockey consumes the youth with dreams of the NHL, a continent away. But even those who are not skilled enough to ever make the pros, there’s the community aspect of being part of something bigger than themselves. The bottom line is what hockey means to the youth. It gives them purpose, gives them a place to fit in, a way to get recognition, to be a part of a team; at least for a time.

The players lose themselves when they play and the communities that support them are consumed with beating the other team. Hockey is not just critical to the players, it’s everything to the community. The two towns are pitted against each other. For years the need to triumph over the opposing team has morphed into a growing hatred, an inability to be rational about the other side. This spills over into ordinary life, far removed from the ice.

The two towns are a microcosm for the world today. Taunts and threats taint even casual encounters. The hatred has taken on a life of its own and adds to the growing tension of the book. Backman constantly drops little hints of foreboding. These are little breadcrumbs that will keep readers pressing on in this lengthy book.

Besides the outstanding character development, there are many issues at play – the haves vs have-nots, the pressure to win at all costs, the greed of people wanting to profit from kids’ sport, the damage done by some parents, the victimization of girls at the hands of entitled boys, the willingness to overlook bad behavior by talented athletes, mob mentality that tends toward violence. These are just some of the weighty problems that make up the novel.

Though hockey permeates every page, this is so much more than a sports novel. Backman is an amazing writer. He delves into people’s psyches, looks beyond the exterior, shows the flaws and the mistakes that even well-intentioned people make. He examines parenthood, loneliness, sibling support, desperation, the true meaning of love, overcoming trauma, the value of good friends, and the need to be a part of something.

Two key themes are forgiveness and revenge. Some characters can’t forgive others and some just can’t forgive themselves. Some need to strike out for wrongs done and some will be haunted by the unfairness of the world and driven to avenge injustice.

Readers will be moved by the sadness of some lives and the humanity of others. When adversity strikes, there are always victims, but there’s also those who run into the fray, putting themselves at risk to help others. A powerful conclusion to a masterful series by a tremendously gifted writer.

I am a huge fan of Frederick Backman. And I loved the first two books in this trilogy. At first, I was worried I wasn’t going to love this as much. It started off a little slow and took a bit to get me invested. But once it did, boy, oh, boy. If I was initially worried that 688 pages was going to be too much, I needn’t have worried.
The book starts with a colossal storm with fierce winds causing trees to fall and power to be cut. We learn early on that someone dies but not who it was. This is one of Backman’s typical ploys, teasing the reader with hints of what’s to come. In fact, as the book progresses, there are multiple sources of suspense, even after we learn who has initially died. Backman uses an anonymous omniscient narrator - if we had known, we had hoped, etc.
Backman peppers his stories with folksy wisdom that under other situations might irritate me if he wasn’t so darn spot on. So, instead, I found myself highlighting multiple passages. And oh, he does have a way with words. “The atmosphere in the locker room gradually became more jovial, because all muscles relax there, especially tongues.” He also has such an understanding of human nature.
We are privy to everyone’s life and so many just seemed tired. Everyone is keeping secrets to spare their loved ones. People who are hurting badly act out and the dominoes start to fall. The story is a tragedy in the true sense of the word.
My thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for an advance copy of this book.

The Winners is the perfect conclusion to the Beartown trilogy. It is both brutal and undeniably beautiful. Backman takes his readers on a journey back to small, rural towns, Beartown, and their rival, Hed and gives us exactly what we crave, stories that come together to remind us just how connected we all are, even when we think we are bitter enemies. His words take us on a journey through every emotion our heart is capable of feeling. You’ll end this book equal parts wrecked and revived, and ultimately, better for having read it.

I DNF’d this book at 62%.

Beartown is one of my favorite books of all time and I love all the books I’ve ever read by Fredrick Backman, so I was disappointed that I didn’t feel the same about this.

First of this is about 700 pages long.

I think at a lot of points, the writing in this book is just as beautiful as in Beartown, but at other points it felt like there were lines thrown in that were supposed to be deep or wrap up a vignette, but fell flat.

I still love the way he gives little snippets at a time of each character, but there were TOO MANY characters to follow in this one. I really liked the beginning- there was a storyline about a storm and it introduced some of the new characters very well. But then it began going back to all the characters from previous books, and some of the new people we hear from so rarely that I began to wonder why they were introduced in the first place. It was hard to keep up with who some people were. After the storm, it began delving in to corruption of the hockey club, and this dragged on so much, hitting the same points several times and not being wrapped up.

I put hours upon hours into this book and just did not have the patience to see it through. My kindle tells me I have 5 hours left in the book, so I’d rather spend that on something I’m loving.

The Winners continues the saga of Beartown and Us Against You by Fredrik Backman.

This story picks back up the lives of numerous characters. The opening chapters foreshadow death of a character, and the later fore shadow death of another. The story unwinds in the same non-linear timeline, with chapters focused on various characters, as the books before.. at first this made it difficult for me to find a rhythm with reading, but eventually it made it impossible to put the book down.

I recommend rereading they first two, and think this book really should be read as part of the series rather than a stand alone. In my excitement to read it, didn’t reread the others in the series and struggled at first to remember all the characters and nuisances of the story line. This left me at first feeling like this book wasn’t living up to its predecessors, but by the end I did not feel that way. I’d rate it as a 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria books, and Fredrik Backman for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A wonderful conclusion to the Beartown series. I’m not usually a series type of gal. The last time I was this engrossed in one was Hunger Games. However, Mr. Backman has a simple prose style, a very direct way of writing, that just pulls me in. He makes me laugh and cry on the same page.. My one note is that this book could have been shorter. There was quite a bit of repetition from the last two books in the series. However, I read the books one after another, so maybe if there had been time in between my readings this week this would not have been so glaring. This did not detract from my enjoyment of the spectacular book.

I absolutely loved this book. It has to be one of my favourites for this year. This is the follow-up of Bear Town, and Us Against You. This author really knows how to capture what it is like living in small towns. The culture of sport heroes, thinking they can do what ever they want when they want.
This book is about the aftermath of how so many lives were affected by the acts of the town trying to cover-up what happened in Bear Town. Two towns -' can they come together as one??This is the 3rd book in the series.
I loved the characters. You could really get behind them, You either loved them or hated them. I had many emotions while reading this story.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this before it came out.

When I was approved for the winners by Fredrik Backman I will admit I did not realize it was a part of a series! So I quickly read the first two books of the Beartown series! These books are so good especially this last one that I’m desperately searching for the series on HBO to no avail maybe because I’m in the US I don’t know but I’ll keep watching and waiting.
Great book by Backman, I’m not searching and adding his other books to my ever growing to be read pile.
Thanks for the chance to read this one early for my honest opinion. Don’t wait, grab this one at your local bookstore near you next month.

Neighbouring towns Beartown and Hed have hated each other both on and off the hockey rink ice for as long as anyone in either town can remember. On the night of a huge storm, a child is born to a Hed couple and a beloved citizen of Beartown dies. These two events will precipitate major upheavals in both towns.

The Winners is the third and final chapter in the Beartown series by author Fredrik Backman and it was just as compelling and unputdownable as the previous two books. And, like in those previous books, Backman deals with some very important but dark issues like rape, depression, and the dangers of ‘othering’ whether in politics or because of intense loyalty to a game like hockey.. But as always, although he doesn’t try to sugarcoat them, he treats every issue with compassion, insight, and empathy.

Returning to Beartown is like visiting a place and people you have grown to love making it hard to say goodbye. Backman has the ability to create places and characters that are completely relatable. Even those who do terrible things are treated with empathy. He also makes you care what will happen to the two towns and their citizens after these events and, even though, it’s clear, at the end that, people being people, their dislike of each other will not likely change, there is still the hope that they will find a way to overcome their differences because, in the end, regardless of who beats who on the rink, there are no winners if they can’t get past this hatred. And perhaps that’s Backman’s great gift as a writer and why he is one of my favourite authors - because, no matter how dark things get, there is always hope.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review</i>

This book WRECKED me. Like, full on ugly cry with snot running down my face for the last 20 minutes. I walked around sighing forlornly for days afterwards, alternating tearing up and smiling at the thought of a section of the book that was everything I needed. Just thinking about it makes me tear up! This book was MAGNIFICENT. Spectacular. Absolutely, 100%, without a doubt my favorite in the series. This was everything I hoped for in the conclusion of the trilogy and more. There’s really nothing I can say that will equate to how I feel about this book. It’s without adjectives. READ this series!!! Backman is a literary genius and this was an epic conclusion to a series that will forever live in my heart. ALL OF THE STARS AND MORE!!

I don’t know of a book that has affected me so deeply in a long time. Although Backman made it explicitly clear from the first chapter of the book that my favorite character of the series would die (as had been hinted in previous books) I was not expecting the flood of emotions I felt over these 600+ pages. Just as with the last book, there was a good balance of storylines with the characters we’d come to know and new characters. While I didn’t feel quite as connected to these new characters at first, by the end I was deeply invested in their stories. I love how there were glimpses of the future that gave me comfort. I honestly cannot imagine a more perfect conclusion to this series.

Thanks to Atria books for the publicity copy of Fredrik Backman's newest, THE WINNERS, expected pub date of September 27, 2022.

Fredrik Backman has a gift for writing characters that are fully and completely human. For finding the hurt and the love and the aches and the nuances of each person. THE WINNERS is exactly what I didn't even know I wanted for the conclusion of the *Beartown* trilogy (which if you haven't read, do it, just know there are oodles of trigger warnings about this series so if you need to, do your research first).

I highly recommend, and no doubt, I will be rereading all three of these books in the future.