Fredrik Backman ends his Beartown trilogy with The Winners. A storm threatens, and the impact ripples through the two towns; a truce has been intact but is threatened, and violence simmers at regular turns. Hockey appears to be the focus, but there's more underneath. Who has power? Who has control? Who is allowed to orchestrate the decisions? Who are the scapegoats? Who gets to escape for a new, different future of their own choosing?

Backman is a genius at nuanced repetition, cleverly building insight and revealing more history with each instance. Everyone is an imperfect version of themselves -- there are no saints, no villains, all simply a blend of the range of human nature. Do we succumb to temptation, wither within ourselves, seek help, give of ourselves, allow others to see past our carefully curated persona?

Backman writes beautifully and has his pulse on the core of human nature, and readers can't help but be drawn into the world of his characters and root for these beautiful, imperfect people.

(I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.)

What an absolute piece of ART the Beartown series is. Fredrik Backman has given us a story so powerful with characters that are going to endure the test of time. I want to see more books like Beartown being taught in classrooms. The character development, the amazing nuggets of wisdom, the setting. . . .everything is absolutely top-notch. Is this final installment about 200 pages too long? Yes, but I will always forgive Backman for writing a little too much!

If you go into this one, be prepared for a bit of a beginning that drags, but that's a little par for the course with these books. However, it will still be one of your favorite of the year.

RATING 🔽
⭐⭐⭐⭐💫/5

I absolutely loved the first two books in the series. Reading the last in the series was a wonderful check-in with friends and maybe some not so loved members of the community. But as always, there are bumps in the road of life to be crossed and passed. But I love these people of Beartown and how they care for each other even in unexpected ways. I also love the voice the Bachman used to write the books. I will forever recommend this series to everyone!

Fredrik Backman has become an author I truly enjoy, and The Winners is another wonderful book. It was wonderful to see the characters of the Beartown series again.

This wasn’t my favorite from Backman unfortunately. I couldn’t get into this trilogy as much as I wanted to. I look forward to his next book though!

I took so long to read this book because I didn’t want the series to end. Backman is a genius. The way you feel connected to each and every character from Beartown and Hed is like no other writer can do. Highly recommend this 3 book series to ANYONE, even if you don’t like or know anything about hockey!

Loved this so damn much. Backman can do no wrong. I am so sad that this series is over but this book did it justice!

There aren't enough stars for this book or this series. I cannot believe how much I came to care about these characters and a sport I don't even enjoy. Backman's writing is perfection and this was an emotional and beautiful way to end a truly special series. I have no doubt this will end up one one of my top three books of 2022.

Thanks to Atria books for the copy to review.

—t h e w i n n e r s— ⁣
whats your go-to sport to watch? ⁣
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The Winners, the final book in the Beartown trilogy, was at the tippity top of my TBR list for 2022. I am so glad I got a chance to read it. It nicely completed the moving stories of all my Beartown faves. That said, the book took a while to get into and added some interesting but sometimes slightly unnecessary characters and plot lines. But it was a treat to revisit this town, revel in their lives, and close the series. ⁣
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Like all his books, Backman’s writing is profound, wry, and clever- delivering punch after punch. I would read a million more pages about Beartown. ⁣
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I am grateful to @netgalley and @atriabooks for the copy! I had to get it on audio too because Beartown isn’t Beartown to me without Marin Ireland! ⁣
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#bookreview #netgalleyreview #books #bookstagram #booklover #bookstagrammer #booksaremagic #littlebooknook📚

I love Fredrik Backman and have read everything he has written!! I loved “Beartown” and enjoyed it immensely, I thought it was a complete book on its own. Then I read “Us Against You'' and it was just alright for me, there were some new highlights and I was good with it.

When I saw that Mr. Backman had a third book out, of course I grabbed it. I wish I would have checked the length of the book first, at 688 pages this is a LOT of book to get through.

It took me a while to catch my breath in the end, to absorb all that happened in this third and final book of the Beartown series. If you are a fan of the first two books, I suspect you will want to know what happened now that two years have passed since what happened to Maya, what happened in this town, to these families, to these characters - Benji, Ana, Ramona, Maya, Bobo, Peter, Amat, Sune and others and you will welcome the new characters. I had to know and for me this is the best of the three.

d I’m not even a hockey fan, but these stories are about so much more than hockey . These stories are about family, friendships, community, about people’s flaws and strengths. They are about tragedies, about loss, about the ties that bind people during hard times, about tough politics, about some bad actors, too . They are a slice of life in small Swedish towns, near the forest, where hockey reigns and shapes daily life. But the things that happen here can happen anywhere - drugs, alcohol , deaths, rape and sexual violence, dysfunctional families, troubled marriages. This is not an easy book to read. I was gutted at times. Thankfully, there are genuine friendships, and love and even though that doesn’t erase the pain, it somehow makes it a little easier to bear.

I can’t say that the book was perfect. The parts about the corruption, the politics, the sponsors, the schemes to save the teams, the towns was a bit much at times and honestly confusing. Having said that, the strength of this story lies in Backman’s keen observation of human nature, his empathy for the human condition and in creating characters that I loved. I was grateful to know what happens to them and how their lives will be in the future. I didn’t realize how much I missed these characters until I started reading this book . Now that the Beartown trilogy has ended I miss them even more. It’s hard to say goodbye to characters that you love, but it won’t be goodbye because they will be with me for a long time. That in itself is worthy of all the stars.

I received this book and started reading it before realizing it was part of a trilogy. Luckily, there is enough information that you don't have to have read the other two books to understand what is going on, but I did go back and read the first two after I finished The Winners. This book was a winner and another great story that will break your heart by Fredrik Backman. I much preferred his writing style in this trilogy to Anxious People and enjoyed the story and the characters in this book.

My heart, will I ever recover from The Winners? Backman has me in a chokehold with this series, knowing it will rip my heart out and me picking the book up anyways. Bring the tissues.

As a reader, it has been a true pleasure to watch the characters grow and change throughout this trilogy. Any new characters introduced in this last installment only add to the richness of Beartown and a story that needs to be told. Like the two books before this, it is a roller coaster of emotions that will leave the reader feeling like the Beartown story is both complete and ongoing.

Not sure how this happened, but I managed to get an e-galley of the third book book before reading the second one. I read Beartown years ago, and was a huge fan of Anxious People when it come out. However, if you would’ve told me I would cram in Us Against You and The Winners in just a few weeks—I would’ve called you crazy! But I did! And I loved it.

While my favorite of the three was Us Against You, The Winners was the best way to wrap up the series. Backman is so talented and his writing is so full of wisdom. I had not really envisioned how he planned to end these characters’ stories, so I felt shocked at several moments, yet I cannot imagine a better execution.

There was definitely some heartache, lots in fact, so be sure you have tissues handy.

Obviously if you’re reading this, most likely you’re planning to read it after loving the other books. And if you’re like me and had previously only read Beartown, I definitely recommend continuing on with the books as there’s so much more to love about the writing, the characters, and their stories.

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @atriabooks for the advanced e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

Backman, Backman, Backman. My heart!!! Why do you do us like this!

We are thrown back into the Beartown and He'd world here and it's such a ride.

In his signature move everyone thing in this book is a flawless, in depth character. Even the surroundings. I literally never have thought of snow being a main character, but here we have it.

Flawless!

Thank you so much Atria for the advanced copy!!!!!

5 Stars!!

I LOVED this book. I've enjoyed the Beartown series but this is definitely my all time favorite from the series and from Fredrik Backman.

Again I was lucky to have both audio and ebook and it was great being able to switch back and forth between them. 671 pages seemed like a lot but in the end I wanted even more.

I love the way Backman writes. His characters are always so well written, the stories entertaining and compelling.

"The Winners" was an excellent story about love, family, friendship, loss and so much more. Emotional and impactful. I am sad that the series has come to an end but happy with how it all came together.

I am definitely looking forward to reading more from this very talented author.

I’M WRECKED 😭

I finally finished. I had stalled for months at the 60% mark in fear of finishing a series that I’ve felt so invested in. It’s as if Beartown and Hed were real places with these real people and I don’t want to forget them. Benji is my favorite fictional character (replacing Francie Nolan from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn…maybe they should tie).

Saying I have a book hangover is an understatement. I am sobbing. Sobbing for this story and the end of the series. My heart aches and all I can say is that Backman is the most beautiful writer. He can pack a simple sentence with the strongest punch. While his stories often make me cry, I can’t sing his praises enough.

If you’re about to embark on the last of The Beartown series, The Winners, I’m sending you so much love.

I started the ebook via NetGalley thanks to Atria then had to buy the printed copy from my local indie bookstore

Fredrik Backman can do no wrong. Love this series so much. This book is a bit too long, pacing wise, but I'ts hard to complaiin about that because I just want eternity with these characters! I just have a short attention span so I had to take my time with this one.

Starting with "My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry", I've read and loved Backman's work. "Beartown" was one of his best books. So it was with some trepidation I started to read this third installment.
As others have commented, the book is too long and I really struggled to engage with the first half. In his attempt to provide backstorys and updates on characters, we just meandered too much. Once we hit the actual storyline though it became a real page turner and I once again found myself sucked into Beartown.
This is still a story of family, community, trauma, hate, prejudice and love. And the exploration of the events of the first book a few , and then many, years on was well done. We don't often think about how small acts can have huge ripples and Backman has done this perfectly over three books.

If you enjoyed Beartown, I still recommend this one, but be prepared to stick with it and you will find it worthwhile.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Backman is a literary genius and I believe will be one of the greats of our time. Every thing I’ve read by him I have been so in love with! Beartown is one of my all time favorites and the sequels have been absolutely amazing! The Winners was fantastic and I was so appreciative of the opportunity to read it. I love going back to the characters of Beartown and I always love to revisit them.