The 3rd book in the Beartown saga brings a conclusion to the characters we read about in Beartown and Us Against You. A new family is introduced (I don't remember Ruth or Matteo being mentioned in the previous books) and the actions of one of them will affect the town and people in it forever.

Nothing I say here will sway Backman fans one way or the other. If you love Beartown or Backman you'll read this book. With that being said, this book took me FOREVER to get through. It just never took off for me. This is the kind of book you can't pick up, read for 10 minutes, and put back down again. There's too much going on to keep track of. It also felt kind too convenient to have Matteo all of a sudden introduced into the story when he wasn't in the first two books. It almost felt like Backman needed to come up with a plot to have a 3rd book and developed this character. I feel like we knew just about everyone in town already.

So, I didn't love this one. The hardcover says it's just under 700 pages which is a big commitment for a book that isn't going to blow me away. I do love Backman's empathetic writing style and how he has a way of expressing peoples' emotions, but felt like he used some of the same phrase over and over again and it was repetitive. His constant one sentence foreshadowing has always bothered me as well. The corruption and political parts were also confusing at times.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley, but this one wasn't for me.

I've been sitting on this book and my thoughts for over a month now. Backman takes us back to Beartown where we see communities bend, break, and change. I had a family member ask me who The Winners focused on, and it's the town. The Winners dives into the town and tells complicated stories that have no easy resolution. The Winners also highlights the beauty in humanity and drives home that even when we're broken we can love and lift. Unsurprisingly this book made me cry, and I'll probably revisit it again later this year. These books are modern masterpieces, and I'm so grateful to Backman for sharing them with us.

Exceptional as always. The third trip to Beartown is delightful. I loved spending time again with these wonderful characters with all their faults, hopes and dreams. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exhange for an honest review.

I don't even know exactly where to start with a review of this book. Maybe I'll start by noting that I had been anticipating this book since the second I finished Us Against You in 2018 - and to have it land in my email inbox a few months before publication was a highlight of my reading year. I quickly reread Beartown and Us Against You on audio (which was SUCH a good idea, I had forgotten a lot of small intricacies in the last few years) and was ready to dive right in and pick up with these beloved characters in Beartown.

Every reader dreams of a favourite book that just never ends. Isn't that what we say about books we're loving? That we don't want them to end? I felt this tenfold while reading this extremely lengthy book. I didn't want it to end, partially because I knew this was the conclusion to a beloved trilogy, and because Backman has a way of tying all the pieces together to build to an elevated conclusion in his books and I was hesitant of the emotional journey. Fortunately, despite my speed-reading-need-to-find-out-what-happens tendencies, this book was very long and the language and way it was written absolutely forced me to savour it more than I usually do with books I'm loving. Backman is a literary genius - the way he can make the reader simultaneously follow and care for 20+ "main characters" is mind-boggling and this book at times felt a bit like a choose your own adventure book with all its paths taken (except the choice was the author's, not ours). There were so many things hinted at throughout the book and as soon as I'd start to wonder about one thing, we were back at another group of people or a different situation. It was intense and flawless in its execution.

In regard to the actual content and plot of the story, there is not much I want to say without spoiling any of the story, but as expected, this storyline continues with the heightened tension between the communities of Hed and Beartown, particularly after a disastrous storm causes one of the communities to lose its ice hockey roof and practice in the other rink. We catch up with many of our beloved favourite characters from the first two books including Maya, Amat, Benji, Peter and Kira, Bobo, Zackell, Alicia, Sune, and Anna. Of course, there's some hockey. As usual, there is some political drama and scheming and there are tensions between couples and there are heartwarming moments and heartwrenching moments. I laughed and smiled and cried and choked up and gasped and all of that. It was exactly the experience I expected.

Diehard fans of the series will likely savour every single page of this magnificent conclusion to where we began in Beartown - don't let the length daunt you because this was worth every single second of my reading time and more. I was beyond sad to say goodbye to these characters but also so grateful for my many hours spent with them over the years.

Thank you so much to Arielle Fredman, Atria Books/Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fredrick Backman ended his trilogy in a way I expected, good and bad. This book made me laugh and broke my heart at the same time. These characters came to feel like family, the backstory on them was articulate and complete.

I am sure I am going to be in minority, but I just could not get into to this book. I have LOVED the other books I read from Fredrick Backman and I am not sure why, but this one was not for me.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC for an honest review.

The Winners is the 3rd book in the Beartown trilogy from Fredrik Backman.

"A terrible storm blows through. Some return to Beartown for the funeral of a long-time resident. Violence breaks out between Hed and Beartown parents. Old enemies become allies. Families struggle. The editor of the paper chases corruption. A young man full of hate seeks revenge for his sister. And tragedy strikes"

This is an epic finish to the Beartown story - 688 pages of great characters and story. Backman spends more time in Hed in this book and there's no hockey games. But there's still the sense of how important hockey is to both communities.

There's tragedy but also hope. Backman looks at what happens when two groups are on opposite sides and how it pulls apart community and families.

We get to see what happens to these characters - Maya, Amat, Benji, Bobo and Peter.

Some great observations about love and marriage.

For fans of Beartown and Backman this book is a must. And if you love great characters you definitely want to set aside some time for this one.

I don’t know what to say without giving anything away, except that Fredrik Backman sure knows how to make you care about his characters. I waited years for this book and immediately fell deep into the world of Beartown as soon as I got my hands on it. Worth the wait, but man are my emotions all over the place now. Someone else please get an advanced copy so that I have someone to talk to about this!

Thank you to Netgalley who gave me this book in exchange for an honest review. Little did I know five years ago when I read BEARTOWN that it was the start of a trilogy. I strongly recommend reading the trilogy in order. You will land in a small town. Actually two towns, Beartown and Hed. These towns live for hockey. As soon as children can walk, they find themselves on ice skates. The towns are fierce competitors. Some shocking things take place due to the rivalry. THE WINNERS is a satisfying finale to the saga. I finished the book with a sense of closure. It wasn't exactly happily ever after, but the questions were answered.

The Winners is the third book in the Beartown series. I’d recommend reading the other two books and then read this one as there are several points that refer back to the other two books. The Winners explores social class, community, politics, and family. The book is a little under 700 pages and it took me almost a month to finish. I loved this book and it was a five star read. However, read this book with care. The author discusses a lot of heavy subjects: rape, alcoholism, abuse, suicide, gun violence, death, and so many other subjects. There were quite a few times I had to stop reading because it spurred all sorts of emotions. In terms of the writing style, this is a very character driven book. Sometimes it will feel like a slow build or it will feel repetitive in writing, but this all serves a purpose in the story flow. I really liked the multiple subplots going in within the community and the introduction to new characters interacting with beloved characters from the previous books. For those who love the Beartown series will really enjoy The Winners.

Backman has a way of examining the human condition, showing that it's not always about what happens but the journey there, how everyone is connected and how individual actions by one can have such an impact on others. I wanted so desperately to get my hands on this book for so long, not realizing how unprepared I was for the trilogy to end. Early on I began to see where the story was going, the whole way through I kept hoping I would be wrong. After finishing, I've found myself in mourning, not just from the losses in the book, but for the end of the trilogy and that there will be no more installments of this small forest town. Backman does a beautiful job of wrapping up all loose ends and leaves the reader feeling as if they have lived in Beartown and truly know these characters.

I’ve looked forward to reading “The Winners” since I first read Beartown in 2018. After falling in love with Benji, Maya, Amat, Ana, and Bobo, I steeled myself for the final chapter in this haunting and uplifting saga.

I knew going into this story that we would lose many of the characters that are dear to us, and boy did I shed some tears. But through the introduction of some new characters, readers gain even deeper understanding of the lives in Beartown and Hed. I really liked the additional storylines that Backman brought in, and I think he did a fine job of delivering a satisfying and heartbreaking end to this series.

This is the concluding book of a trilogy, and a very tough review for me to write. Once again we revisit the HED/BEARTOWN hockey rivalry in the small forest towns of northern Sweden. Hockey dominates,and with that as the background we get the things that Backman excels in-family, tragedies, loyalties, good and bad marriages, -in short everything that makes us human, whether in 2 small towns or anywhere in the world. Very few authors are better at describing and very few authors do it better. You will laugh, and cry along with the characters.
Having said that, the book is way too long, and even for anyone unfamiliar with the characters and events in the first two books, just too repetitious . In addition, the long complicated descriptions of the politics, the money laundering and the legal ramifications of such were just too complex and to me almost irrelevant to the main storyline.
So all in all a tough book to rate. There are sections you will read and reread, they are so cogent, and others you will just slog through. I’m glad I read it, if for no other reason to find out what happens to the characters in the first two books.

What a perfect conclusion to this trilogy!

Backman takes us back to Beartown, back to Hed., into the world of hockey rivalries, tragic secrets, love, and loss. He does not get in a hurry with this tale; be patient and the reward is great.

All of the familiar characters are here: Maya, Amat, Benji, Peter and Kira. There are some new faces, too. Backman weaves his story slowly and carefully, prodding and exploring every thought and nuance and when the big fight comes at the rink, as you know it will, we are there, hearing every sound, seeing every hit.

Well done! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

The first half felt very slow and took me a long time to get through. I think this was because of so many story lines jumping back and forth (This shouldn’t have surprised me because I’ve read a lot of Backman’s books). Then I got halfway through and couldn’t put it down. Backman develops characters so well which is why the start felt so slow/disconnected. But all of that was necessary to understand the depth of the second half. I laughed out loud and also cried. Backman has a way of capturing your heart! This felt like great closure to this series and I loved it.

Fredrick Backman is one of my favorite authors and this book does not disappoint! The Beartown saga continues in this third book (which could be a standalone) so don’t be intimidated if you haven’t read the first two in the series. Hockey is everything in Beartown and its chief rival, Hed, which is a nearby town. The children, the adults, the politicians, and the businessman are all involved in hockey, and wheeling and dealing and scheming, each in their own way, legal or not. This gives rise to a sub plot that is in the background throughout the book about one of the characters that comes to a culmination at the end and helps to keep your interest throughout. The only caveat for me was the inclusion of some contractual finagling and underhandedness that bog things down for a minute. I feel the book would have done just as well if that part were left out. Nevertheless, I loved the book and gladly give it a five star rating. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance read copy.

This book is THE ALL TIME WINNER!

Fredrik Backman ruined every book for me by creating this extra ordinary masterpiece that left me speechless ! This is dreamy reading journey for the bookworms who get used to lose themselves inside a well written story.

This book shattered me. It woken so many different feelings of me that I didn’t know I had them. But one thing I’m so sure: I haven’t cried so hard for a long time! Those characters Backman created will hold a special place in my heart forever!

Now I’ll compare the other books with “We are winners”and hardly enjoy any of them! I don’t have enough words to tell how much I love this book!

I was surprised when I found out third book of Beartown series was coming up! I thought all my favorite characters’ stories concluded including Peter, Ramona, Maya, Anna, Benji, Amat, Bobo, Kira… I couldn’t get so wrong!

There was more to tell! Especially that ominous opening informing us something extremely ominous will rip our hearts apart ! I just read the words ! And I started to scream: “No!!!” Those words are about the fate of one of my favorite characters in this book. Tears already started to drip down! My fists clenched! This is shocking! This is sad! But I couldn’t stop reading! I owed to my favorite characters to go on!

I kept reading because this book is not only about losses, grief, it’s about power of darkness! How it takes control of ordinary people, how the grudge, anger force people do things beyond their control. It’s about: good people can be capable of great evil and evil people can be capable of great good.

This book is about corruption, abuse, rape, politics, power, money, hypocrisy, pure rage! It’s also about eternal flame of friendship. It’s about doing wrong things to do the right thing. It’s about love. It’s about parenthood. It’s about the community. It’s about hockey. It’s about second chances. But mostly this book is about forgiveness, paying your dues, embracing your community, your family, your loved ones!

We think it was chivalry move that Peter has made by leaving his position at hockey club to work with his wife Kira. We couldn’t be so wrong! Peter struggles. Peter bakes breads to feed the emptiness growing inside of him. Peter misses to be someone. He misses the plays. He misses to be the manager. He even misses to be a father after Maya left the house.
Kira struggles, too… She works more, she has financial problems, she keeps secrets from her husband.
We thought Maya saved her soul with her music. Yes, she left the town two years ago. Just like her rapist left. Leaving town and memories behind to find a new home, studying music don’t fix Maya! She still suffers, she still lives that haunted night, she feels the pain Kevin gave her over and over again.

We thought Amat was over the moon after being the star of hockey team. Nope! He’s suffering. There are rumors that he failed at NFL meetings, he’s faking his injury and he is not gonna be a member of team any more. He’s an useless drunk who is hating himself.

And Benji… he left the town for good like Maya did. But is he having time of his life? He escaped to Asia because Asian people weren’t interested in hockey. So he aimed to be a nobody, getting skinnier, running away from attachments, drifting apart.

Bobo became assistant coach, still get his hopes up for Amat’s returning to the rinks, trying to allure a Hed girl with his cooking skills.

There are new characters we’re introduced :midwife Hannah, her idiot, emotional fireman husband Johnny, their daughter Tess, their hockey player sons Ted, Tobias, Ture. We also meet trash bandit Lev: a con man dancing in the thin line between good and evil, Matteo: 14 years old broken boy, who is missing his sister. And seven years old Alicia is taken away from her abusive parents, dreaming of being an aspiring hockey player.

All of those new characters are extremely important for the entire execution of the story.
So you just go with the flow and read their stories slowly, concentrating on the details and empathize with their predicaments just like you did for your favorite characters you’ve known from the previous books.

So many things have changed during two years.
Only thing didn’t change is lifelong rivalry and hostility between Beartown and Hed.

The main thing that has changed is the financial balance between the teams. Beartown is the winner now! It was on the brink of collapse when a stubborn local business tried to save it with more money and new sponsors with the help of an opportunist politician. And Hed’s coach signed for a larger club, taking his best players with him. Now Beartown is stronger with the unconventional methods of Coach Zackell. As Beartown rises from its ashes, Hed is on the brink of financial collapse.

Then the storm came…Anna; crazy, relentless, brave forest girl drives her father’s car to help a midwife from Hed to save a woman who is giving birth, stuck in the forest in the middle of the storm that terrorized the townies! But this is just the beginning of the chaos! After the storm, a funeral changes entire balances in Beartown.

The council wants to close both teams and merge them into new one! A reporter snicks around to write about the corruption of Beartown Hockey! And she already chose her scapegoat! Someone we love. Someone who doesn’t deserve it!

The tension builds… The animosity between Hed and Beartown escalates as hooliganism and violence beat the fair game. Trash bandits are all set to fight with black jackets!

But those problems are least of both of townies’ worries. Because the darkness is coming out to threaten the peace they’d hardly built over the years. When the tragedy hit their homes, nothing will ever be the same!

Dear Backman saved the best for last! I tried to read as slow as possible because I didn’t want to say goodbye to those amazing characters! I think it’s not only the best book of the series, it’s also his best work and it’s also guaranteed its place at my all time top five reads! It’s not fair to rate this book with five stars! It deserves at least fifteen gazillion stars!

Millions of thanks to Ariele Fredman, NetGalley and Atria Books for sharing this AMAZING digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

5 ⭐️ for the Winners

Pages: 688 (book 3/3)
Pace: steady
Genre: contemporary fiction
Pub day: Sept 27, 2022

Themes: team mentality, community, family, heroism, giving back, hate that drives violence, breaking the cycle, fighting for change, redemption, forgiveness, loss

My thoughts: this is the third book in the Beartown trilogy, and if you know me at all, you know that Beartown is one of my favorite books EVER. We’re talking top 10 here, people. So needless to say, I was emotional when I received the advance reader’s edition of this book. I was both honored to have the opportunity to read the finale of one of my favorite series, and sad to see it end. And the emotion didn’t end there—I was an emotional wreck throughout this entire book. Nobody writes human beings like Backman. Nobody captures feelings and society and relationships like him. I highlighted so many quotes, embarrassed myself by ugly crying on the airplane while reading, and was absolutely blown away. If you haven’t already read Beartown, and the sequel, do it NOW! You don’t want to miss the third and final book when it publishes this September.

Who should read: fans of Beartown, 13 Reasons Why, Night Swim, Firekeeper’s Daughter, Nineteen Minutes

Thank you @atriabooks for this advance reader’s edition in exchange for an honest review.

What an absolutely epic novel/series! The Winner is the 3rd and final installment in the Beartown series and I couldn’t have ever imagined how brilliantly Fredrik Backman would round out this journey! I am blown away how fantastic the storyline is and how eloquently it’s conveyed—so many beautiful and memorable quotes throughout this gem! Fredrik has always masterfully written characters and their complex emotions and this series is the perfect example of exactly that! It’s been a long time since I felt so emotionally invested in a series and I know that these characters will stay with me! The Winner is a 5++++ star read that will be one of my top books for 2022! If you have not gotten a chance to dive into this series, I highly recommend you put it at the very top of your reading list! I want to send my sincerest gratitude to Fredrik Backman for giving us such a phenomenal series—truly one of my favorites ever!

Thank you for the opportunity to review The Winners (part of the Beartown series) by Fredrik Backman. I'm not even sure where to start- I was THRILLED to be able to review this arc as the Beartown series is one of my favorites of recent years. Backman, to put it lightly, does not disappoint. This is an excellent addition- well written, compelling, and hard to put down. A solid five stars.