I've been putting off writing my review for this one. Not because I didn't love it, but because I have so many thoughts and I want to be at least somewhat coherent. This one is heavy, which I knew going in - I've read everything Backman's published in the US, he has a gift for heavy. But, he also has a gift for humor and humanity. This one didn't have as much humor, but lots of humanity. I had to stop and walk away several times because I was crying so hard. It is a beautiful story, as all the Beartown books are. I definitely don't regretting reading it, but I could see how someone could be content stopping at Us Against You. However, if you're a glutton for punishment, you'll be glad to be back in Beartown surrounded by characters that feel like family. Just make sure you bring plenty of tissues.
A small complaint - this one is looong and I'm not sure it needed to be. Some of the political machinations and rehashing of events from the first two books felt overwrought and unnecessary. I think it could have been edited down some, but I'll read anything Backman writes so I pushed passed that to the really good stuff.
Standouts: Sune and Alyssa, Benji, Bobo, the Anderssons, Ana and a new character, Hannah.

I would like to thank the publisher Atria Books and Netgalley for the ARC of The Winners by Fredrik Backman. I have to begin this review by admitting that Fredrik Backman is one of my favourite authors and, true to form, it was truly a joy to read this novel, the conclusion to the Beartown trilogy.

What amazes me about Backman is his ability to deal with difficult subjects like sexual abuse, gender identity, gun violence, and discrimination while having at the heart redemption and essential goodness. In an interview Backman did for Us Against Them, he talked about how fundamental it was for him as a writer to be true to the essence of each character, and this really comes through in his writing.

The Winners picks up the story after Us Against You, and it brings in all the characters who were introduced in the first two novels of the trilogy. The trauma introduced in Us Against Them remains, and families struggle to make sense of their new reality. People have left Beartown, as an attempt to escape what has happened there. People left behind attempt to move on with their lives through hockey and competition with Hed, the neighbouring town. And yet, right at the beginning they are hit again with a major storm, a birth and a death.

These events bring the people back to Beartown where they will grow in understanding of each other and the community that draws them. As Backman asks in the book:
Do you want to understand people? Really understand them? Then you need to know all the best that we are capable of.

The Winners is truly the story of ‘the best we are capable of’, not in a sugar coated way but rather in the depths of the messiness of life. And that ‘best we are capable of’ brings out love and redemption, even in the darkest hour—and yes, there are dark hours in this story as well! But in the midst of darkness, the characters are required to put away regrets and focus on hope, that desire to work for the best of a person and love. It is a story that I cried over, but ultimately it is a statement that one can find joy and togetherness that can overcome the many ‘idiots’ and trials put in our lives. Tears and sadness do not have the final word. We are Winners and in that there is joy.

“Life doesn’t go on, it starts again, everything is possible once more. Anything can happen, all the best and all the most beautiful and all the biggest adventures in the world.” I think this could be the credo of Fredrik Backman, and this story is another example of how he brings this to life.
Read The Winners. It can restore your hope, even in the midst of an imperfect world!

I am a huge fan of Backman and was excited to read this book. In hindsight, I only wished that I had re-read Beartown first.

Backman reflects on old characters and introduces a slew of new ones. His writing has a lot of heart and his expert juggling of characters amazes me. A marvel at storytelling. I fell in love with Beartown’s characters and can’t wait to see what Backman comes up with next.

QUICK TAKE: You really have to be a BIG fan of Beartown and Backman to prioritize this 600-page slog. The first 200 pages is just Backman meandering around town during a windstorm and introducing the reader to a bunch of new characters. That's right, no Benji for a veeeery long time. But I adore Beartown, and at this point Backman is an auto-buy author, so even though this beast took me a month to read, I absolutely loved it. I laughed, I cried, I cheered my favorite characters on, and I am sad this is the final book of the trilogy. I will recommend this series to friends and family for years to come. Bravo.

It’s been two years since we readers left Beartown and things have changed. Town people will be back as will some new ones. This is a exceptional ending to this series.
Fredrik Backman will ones again grab at pull at every human emotion possible. The storytelling is once again exquisite and perfect. An Exceptionally rewarding finale.
This is a story to be read and enjoyed. I loved it


Thank you NetGalley and Atria for the electronic copy of this book in exchange for my honesty review.

Beartown is my favorite book of all time, and I loved Us Against You. This final book in the Beartown series broke my heart, and I’m so sad that I will no longer be in Beartown with Benji, Amat, Kira, Maya, Bobo, and Alicia.. The story started off slow for me. It introduced new characters and I wasn’t sure why they were needed. But everything comes together in the 2nd half of the story. Backman wrapped everything up in a way that fit with the Beartown and Us Against You, I am going to miss these characters so much and I can only hope that one of them will get their own book in the future and maybe other characters will pop up.

“This hurts too much to touch with words.” - Bodil Malmsten

This has been a hard handful of days, and I’m not surprised that Fredrik Backman helped me discover a quote that not only sums up my feelings on the Roe v Wade decision being overturned, but also aptly describes how I’m feeling after reading The Winners.

I fell in love with Beartown and it’s many residents (especially Benji, Amat, Bobo, Maya, and Anna) while reading the first two books in this series, and though Beartown and Us Against You both brought me to tears, The Winners had me ugly crying not only as I read it, but even hours later, as I tried to explain it to my husband.

Backman’s characters have always felt so vivid and real to me, and having to say farewell to them after all these years made this book even more touching. A very character-driven read that touches on many heavy and timely topics (suicide, addiction, gun violence, sexual assault, etc.), The Winners both shattered and filled my heart with some of the most heartbreakingly beautiful quotes and thoughts, and though I intended to savor this final Beartown chapter for as long as I could, once I hit the 60-percent point, it was a veritable sprint to the end of this 650+ page book .

No one pulls at my heartstrings quite like Fredrik Backman, and The Winners is absolutely no exception. I read this one with a pit in my stomach and tears streaming down my face, but it was absolutely worth it.

Thank you ever so much to @backmansk @atriabooks @arielestewart and @netgalley for my gifted advance reader galley of this penultimate book. I have loved this series since the very beginning, and though I’m sad to say goodbye to it, I can’t wait to read what Backman writes next. The Winners hits shelves Sept. 27!

I think this is the only series I’ve read that got better and better with each book.

Beartown was good, Us Against You was great and The Winners was incredible. I don’t remember the last time a book emotionally destroyed me. There were endearing moments that had me laughing, but such tender and heartbreaking moments that had me sobbing. I didn’t even realize how massive this book was because I read it on my kindle, but I wanted to take my time with it…I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the good people of Beartown. So many characters have left a lasting impact on me- Bobo, Benji, Kira, Maya, Hannah, Ana, Amat, Peter…need I go on? This was truly the perfect ending to what is now a favorite series of mine. I can only hope HBO gives us an extended series of Beartown.

Thank you Atria Books for this advance reading copy- I can’t wait to buy a physical copy in October 2022.

4.5 stars

The Winners is the third and final book in the Beartown series. At 600+ pages it's a long read and perhaps could have been trimmed a bit in length. But as someone who has loved the series, I also didn't want it to end. Fredrik Backman just gets human nature and that's why his writing resonates with me. As with his other books, be prepared to run the gamut of emotions. It's truly extraordinary how he brought this small Swedish community of diehard hockey fans to life.

Normally, I'd give some sort of synopsis in my review but it feels pointless to do so here. If you liked the first two books, by all means, read The Winners. It has the familiar cast of characters along with some new faces. Comparing the books in the series, I'd say this one is more similar to Us Against You rather than Beartown. All three are good reads but Beartown is the absolute gold standard in my opinion. It was a herculean task to top that book, but the author really did do an admirable job with the sequels.

The Winners is worth reading and this book just went to further cement the writer's status as one of my favorite authors.

I have been anxiously waiting for this final book in The Beartown trilogy - I was truly shocked and absolutely honoured when this early copy arrived in my inbox. Thank you Atria Books!

First I want to say - I’m hope the size of this book won’t deter some people when it’s out in print. This book is a beast - coming in at almost 700 pages - it’s truly giant, but please don’t let that scare you. It took me almost all month to read, but there isn’t a single page that I would do without.

If you’re a fan of Backman’s work - then you know his writing is like no other. His writing style is truly unique, thought provoking and beautiful. Every single sentence has meaning. That shines through this entire book.

Reading this was like coming home to your hometown that you haven’t visited for awhile. You know the people, the places, but it’s all changed a little bit since you’ve been there. The author does a great job of reminding you along the way what happened in the last few books, and how things got to the way they are now.

It was such a pleasure to be back in the presence of all of these characters again: Maya, Kira, Peter, Amat, Bobo, Ramona, Anna, BENJI (I know you’re smiling reading all of their names!!). There are also some new characters that you get to know just as well as the ones you’ve known for what feels like their entire life.


In true Backman fashion, he reveals little foreshadowing gems along the way…you suspect you might know what will happen. I read the entire book with a worried feeling in the pit of my stomach because of it. There’s a lot going on, but it doesn’t feel like it’s too much. I’m being vague but I don’t want to spoil a SINGLE thing for anyone.

This book shattered me. Ripped my heart out and stomped on it. It was truly difficult to say good bye to this cast of characters. I definitely see a reread of the entire series in my future. A perfect end to a perfect series. 🏒

This was the finale to the best series ever written. A bit draggy but no one wants to edit this writer!!!

"It’s a terrible moment for all kids when we realize that our parents can’t protect us. That we won’t be able to protect our own. That the whole world can come and take us whenever it likes."

I have loved every book Backman has written. I have loved the Beartown series so very much and I wasn't sure I was prepared to read another book on it and I also wasn't sure I was prepared for it to end. I loved this small town with its broken and violent and struggling and loving people. I both wanted to swallow this book up in one sitting and also savor every single moment I spent with it.

I wanted to go slowly and yet I couldn't stop reading it. These characters are all so real, they jump off the page and they pull you into their lives. You fall in love with each of them in unique and inexplicable ways.

"There ought to be a different word for it once you’ve been married for enough years. When you’ve long since passed the point where it stopped feeling like a choice. I no longer choose you every morning, that was a beautiful thing we said on our wedding day, I just can’t imagine life without you now. We aren’t freshly blooming flowers, we’re two trees with intertwined roots, you’ve grown old within me."

And even though you know the book is going to break your heart, you know it from the first line because Backman tells you, you can't stop hoping that it won't happen. You can't stop falling apart when it does even though he's warned you again and again. Because you're so invested in these characters and you've grown to love them so very much.

Backman has a way of creating characters that are so flawed and yet still so lovable. He has a way of getting to the heart of what makes us each human and pulling out the essence of his characters. Once you've seen their beauty, even in the midst of all the terrible things they do, you can't help but root for them. Every single character in this book is three dimensional, flawed and broken and also extraordinary. They are showing up to life. Facing it head on. You can't help but root for even the most irredeemable ones.

"All children are victims of their parents’ childhoods, because all adults try to give their kids what they themselves enjoyed or lacked. In the end everything is either a revolt against the adults we encountered or an attempt to copy them. That’s why someone who hated their own childhood often has greater empathy than someone who loved theirs. Because someone who had a hard time dreamed of other realities, but someone who had it easy can hardly imagine that things could be any different. We take happiness so easily for granted if we’ve had it from the start."

There's so much in this book, like all of them. So much about parenting, marriage, community, love, friendship, family. So much heart. I loved every single minute I spent with it. I was worried it would be too many pages and in the end it felt like not nearly enough because these characters will stay with me forever.

with gratitude to atria books and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

The Winners is the third installment of the Beartown series. It is 2 years since the events of the first novel occured, and all of Beartown was changed forever. We revisit the original characters and are introduced to some others both from Beartown and the neighboring town of Hed. Every character is expertly drawn, their backstories explained completely. The story is magnificently written in a way that draws you in and has you begging for more. The connections between the events and characters are revealed all in perfect timing. Fans of Fredrik Backman and the Beartown series will not be disappointed.
This is a story that will touch your soul, and leave you changed forever. One where when you get to the last page you will need to pause and breathe. Then you will re-read the last chapter to bask in the beauty of it all.
In the end this is a story about community and connection. It is about hopes and fears, and how we are all interconnected. How we can choose to help each other or hurt each other, but ultimately every decision we make has a consequence, not only to ourselves, but to everyone in our lives. What can appear to be something small and inconsequential to one person can be life changing for another. It is a story about humanity. Everyone who reads it will find a personal connection.
Backman is quite simply a genius. The word that best describes this book is just "wow"!

After binging Beartown and Us Against You, I was ready to dive right into The Winners. As the third in the series, you’re now fully entrenched in the small town of Beartown and neighboring Hed. So I was excited to see what was next for the players.

I decided to start writing my thoughts on this review as I’m reading - usually I wait until the end after I’ve fully digested. But at nearly 700 pages, and 42% of the way through the book, it’s becoming a bit of a slog and I wanted to be sure I noted that. I’m hoping things take off soon. There are so many plot lines and I’m hoping Backman works his magic to make them merge.

The good news is I did become more invested about 75% of the way through, but I wish it hadn’t taken so long, and worry those with a 100 page rule may not give it a chance.

Having finished the book now, the “big moment” that was foreshadowed definitely took until the very end. The characters were ultimately all weaved together and while the ending hurt a bit, it held true to many of the characters.

Most importantly, I have never been so satisfied with the final few chapters of any book. Backman gave us the full stories, start to finish of all of the characters. You aren’t left wondering what path they took following the books conclusion. In this specific scenario I found that satisfying, but could see how others may want to leave that up to their imagination.

And of course, through this series we’ve been taught a plethora of valuable lessons through the challenges and events encountered in Beartown and Hed.

The Winners was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022, and am so grateful to have had the opportunity to read it early. I can't go too far into the plot without leaving spoilers, however there was am event that the entire story lead up to which I felt came too late in the book. I'm not sure I was able to properly process my feelings about it since it didn't happen in the first 600 or so pages.

As always, Backman's writing was stunning, and I was in no way displeased with the length because more of a good thing is always a good thing, in my opinion. However, I think the pacing and timeline layout could have been improved. All that to say, I may have gone in with astronomical expectations since Beartown and Us Against You are two of my favourite books of all time.

5 stars

A huge thank you to Ariele Fredman, NetGalley and Atria Books for reaching out to me and offering this advanced reading copy! I am a huge fan of Fredrik Backman since I have read Beartown and I was over the moon to be able to read this story!
The downside is that the publishing house is asking not to quote parts of the book before checking with a finished copy. And yet I highlighted so many quotes while reading!
Backman is a magician with words and, I’ll say it again, the translator did an outstanding job!

I took my time reading it because I really wanted to savor the story.
Once again, Backman’s prose is efficient and as sharp as a knife. In just a few sentences, he makes you care for a character that will only have a half page in that story. You can feel that people fascinate Fredrik Backman and that he has a keen sense of observation of human nature. I’d call it a razor sharp prose. Terribly efficient and conveying tons of feeling and wisdom.
You will never be able to hate any character, even the villains, as Fredrik Backman will make you care for each of them in making you see through their eyes and heart.

I also knew right from the start that I would have my heart shredded to pieces. And I did. Oh I did! And I cried so hard!

What is The Winners about?

The Winners is once more a character driven story. It is the third book in the Beartown series.
As before, the community is a central theme of The Winners as well as family and friendship. They can be your stepping stone as well as drag you down. And we’ll also see that sometimes, a bad choice, one small decision, will have catastrophic consequences.
Taking place two years after Us Against You, the catalysts of the book will be a huge storm hitting Beartown and Hed but also someone who will be laid to rest. Both events will be the start of a chain reaction, giving us the famous Butterfly Effect that we had in Beartown and Us Against You.


Written in the third person, the story will follow many protagonists and I must say that all were captivating, the old ones and the new ones:
-Maya who is studying music will go back home for the funeral as well as Benji who had left town to wander to Asia and try to find happiness. How have they changed? Do they still feel like forest folk? Is Beartown still their home? Are they happy? Rape has not stopped for Maya, she still is living with it every day of her life.
-A couple from Hed, Hannah the midwife, Johnny the firefighter and their three children will become new very important characters in the Beartown saga. They are from Hed and as beloved and respected as their Beartown counterpart Peter and Kira. When the tensions between both towns are growing and everyone feels like sitting on a powder keg, will they help bring peace or pull the trigger?
-Kira and Peter’s marriage is at risk. Both are harboring so many unresolved feelings since what happened to Maya that it physically hurt seeing them drifting apart, living with the weight of silence upon their shoulder. What is a marriage really? Is love enough to salvage one?
-Ana. Savage, strong Ana. Running towards a fire and not from a fire. Always ready to protect her best friend Maya. Always there to care for her drunk of a father. Her courage will be tested and she will find her calling.
- Amat and Bobo will have their own questioning, their own choices to make that will decide their whole future.
…
Someone will arrive in town, set on unearthing secrets and having someone pay for it. That coupled with another character wanting to have his revenge against some of the hockey players will make for a rising tension throughout the book.

These folk love with passion and hate with as great a fervor. There is no half hearted feelings with these forest people. Prompt to hate and prompt to love. What is certain is that when you live in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by woods and glacial temperatures, your community is essential for your survival. Alone, you’ll never make it.

The Winners talks about corruption, about politics, about family, about friendship, first love, hockey.
Here again, the plot is not what’s important in the book. It’s the people. Their feelings. Their reactions. Their joy and their pain. Their secrets. Their love. Their hate. And above all else their resilience.
It talks about revenge. About forgiving sons for the sins they do and warning girls about the length of their skirt and their behavior. It’s about extreme acts committed when all your life you have suffered in silence, as an outcast, excluded of that community. It’s about lost kids and found friends. It’s about the fierce love of a mother and a father, the protective love of a wife but also the damage parental neglect can do to kids. It’s about courage and cowardice.
It's about life in all its passion and imperfection.

And it’s just one of Fredrik Backman’s best works if not THE best work!

Now I want more. I want maybe Alyssa’s story? When she’ll be grown up? And will look back? Or Ana’s story? Or…? I simply don’t have enough of Beartown stories.

Who needs an organized closet when you've got Fredrik Backman; his books bring me joy! The Winners wraps up the Beartown trilogy. As with the other books in this series, it centers on the people who live in a forest town in Sweden called Beartown. Backman utilizes the townsfolks' love and ardent support for the game of hockey, in particular their local hockey club The Bears, as a foundation to explore relationships, love and passion, and sense of community pride. He also relies on Beartown's hatred for the neighboring town Hed and their hockey club to depict how tribalism and distrust lead to disastrous outcomes.

As with much of Backman's work, this is a character-driven story. We revisit the primary characters from the series and are introduced to some new voices that play important roles. Like all his other work, The Winners is impeccably written. The book is long. It takes time to wrap up the various storyline's as well as that of each individual character. But it is well worth your time to read The Winners (and all his other novels if you haven't already).

I received a digital copy of this book in exchange for my review. Thanks to Atria Books, Netgalley and Frederick Backman.

I absolutely adored the two previous books in this series but this one I found slow going. It started really well with the accident in the storm and I was dragged in thinking whao this is going to be so good. But somewhere along the line it fell short and sadly I lost interest. Possibly too much hockey.involved. But I am sure I will still be waiting with baited breath for this author’s next book.

⭐️Mini Review⭐️
The Winners by @backmansk
Out late September @atriabooks
•
I won’t say much. Too many people love these characters and shall receive no spoilers from me. 🤐

But I will say. Backman, as always, is a master of words. Truly. Is this my favorite in the series? Nope— that goes to book 2. But was this a heart wrenching wrap up to a heart wrenching series? Yes.

If you’ve loved the previous #Beartown books, don’t forget to preorder this one as soon as you’re done reading this review! 5⭐️

Moving from the heated division between Beartown and Hed depicted in Us Against You, there are forces that may just unite them explored within Fredrik Backman’s The Winners.

Two years have passed since the events people don’t want to think or talk about have happened; an effort to move on beyond the events and their consequences was made, but there’s still some deeply ingrained resistance to fully emerging from the aftermath of everything that took place. As the locals of Beartown struggle with overcoming the town’s past, there’s immense change on the way and already beginning that’s underscored by a massive storm that seems to set things in motion: a couple young people are coming home after years away to remember and honor another who passed as they’re laid to rest on the same day as another lost, and seemingly forgotten, soul, some marriages undergo tests of their limits, some will fall in love, and some will succumb to hate and violence, raising questions for just how far the residents of Beartown, and Hed, are willing to go to protect their children and their hockey-loving community at large.

Continuing the method of revealing the story through the use of roving perspectives of a wide cast of characters, directly or tangentially involved, this installment in the larger Beartown narrative is long with some repeated information of what previously happened, slowly building with simmering tension, and dense with the heaviness of the topics it discussed. From the outset, the text obliquely refers to eventual outcomes while it takes time to build up to it actually making an appearance within the story as it progresses, which was like a tapestry unfolding, with detailed threads depicting the specifics that comprise the intricate whole. There’s an emotional heaviness to the story with losses illustrating a disconnection of tethers that kept Beartown together and that heaviness persists throughout but begins to be accompanied by a slight optimistic note to bring them back together again. A phrase repeated a few times throughout the story aptly describes the overarching feel of this narrative and the role that “almost” and other circumstantial forces drive and shape how you and your life turns out: “two of everything, one we see and one we don’t.” With a title including the term winner, it’s no surprise that the text widely explores what winning means, how it contributes to identity, both in formation and validation, and how winning in games is easy to see but in life it’s far murkier.

Overall, I’d give it a 4 out of 5 stars.