Fredrik Backman can do no wrong. I'm also obsessed with Marin Ireland and will listen to any book she narrates. This is a long one but a good one! Love this series so much.

𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭!

Almost 700 pages and it wasn’t long enough. This book, this series, these books, captivating, moving, dark, mesmerizing, I don’t think I have enough words. Every page, every chapter, every word, it was so worth it, this book took my breath away. You need to read this series. All the stars.

Thank you Atria Books, NetGalley and Libro.fm for this gifted copy and ALC.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

To those of you who have been living under the rock 😜, The Winners is the last installment in Backman's ultra-popular Beartown series.

Beartown is a small town in north Sweden built at the edge of the forest by the factory workers. Riddled with the typical small-town problems (mostly due to the lack of economic growth), Beartown's founders' "survivor''" mentality persevered through generations. As did its inhabitants' seemingly one and only passion: The Beartown Bears Hockey Club.

At the first glance Beartown trilogy may appear to be about hockey - which can be off-putting to those of us who are not into team sports. But don't let the blurbs fool you. Beartown books are not really REALLY about hockey. Backman uses hockey as a vehicle to explore human behavior in the close-knit, fairly isolated community. Because hockey is such a paramount in Beartown, whatever happens on ice seemingly affects everything and everyone else in the community: from the entire neighborhoods to the individual family units. But that's not all. Backman shows how what happens in the personal lives of everyone involved with the Beartown Hockey Club affects the game. Time and time again, the author uses the allegory to explain...well... life. No matter how violent, extreme, "too simple", inconsequential, and straight up off-putting hockey may seem to you -- life is like hockey, and hockey is like life: you give it your all in hopes of becoming a winner. And sometimes you get lucky. And other times someone who you think of as undeserving gets lucky. And, yes everyone loves a winner. And everything is forgiven to the ones who win. The question is: is it worth it if somewhere along the way you stop having fun? And what does "winning" actually mean?

Although I enjoyed The Winners immensely (coming from a true BEAR here 🐻🏒) even I found this last book, The Winners, to be fairly repetitive, and perhaps unnecessarily long winded. This is, in my opinion, very unlike Backman's other books, that tend to be just the perfect length: not too long, but enough to convey all that the author set out to convey. I cannot believe I am saying this, but The Winners, in my opinion, could have actually benefited from some additional editing 💁.

In addition to that the book seems to explore many of the same topics as the first two books in the series, Beartown, and Us Against You. Backman dwelled even deeper into the morally gray area of community corruption. Is it OK to "look the other way" if you truly believe that this is the only way to save the community? Is committing financial crimes really that bad if you are not taking any money for yourself, but instead pouring everything into saving something that is meant to "save your town"?

Other revisited topics included:
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*Violence against young women and girls,

*The question of whether someone is complicit because he/she did not intervene to stop the crime.

*What are we willing to do to protect our family? Is the "I will stop at nothing" mentality really OK?

To be clear there were plenty of the new(ish) topics in The Winners as well. I mean…the audiobook was 22 h long so….Here are some (but not all) just to give you a taste:

*The pressure that is being put on young athletes, and how this pressure and the burden of everyone's expectations can affect a young adult's mental state.

*Xenophobia, and its impact on small communities

*The enormous effect that the child's circumstances have on his/her mental and physical wellbeing. How children in horrible situations still manage to thrive if they have supportive, caring parents Vs the children in the exact same situation but with unsupportive parents.

*Not everyone is born to be a hero. Not all of us will always "run towards the fire". Is it forgivable if you did not stop a crime because you were afraid for your own life?

Still for the most part The Winners felt like the regurgitation of the same old.

If you have not enjoyed Beartown and Us Against You then I do not see why you'd want to read The Winners. I would most definitely NOT read it as a standalone novel.

Yet for the true fans I think just the joy of revisiting your favorite characters for one last time will overshadow all the shortcomings of the novel.

Oh, to skate one more time with Bobo, Amat and Benji! Fast, happy and carefree. On the brink of adulthood, but still definitely children at heart! To hear their laughter, to feel that sense of security and belonging that they find in each other!

Did I think the novel was too long? Yes, yes, I did. Am I complaining about it? No. I enjoyed every moment, and was sad when it ended. Were there pages and pages of "build up" for just about anything that ever happened in this book? Yep. But…I was there for Bobo and Amat. I was there for Peter and Kira. I was there for Ana and Maya. And I was sure as hell, 1000% there for Benji and Alicia. And I would not have had it any other way.

Much love to you, my friends, and may you find a book in your life that brings you as much joy as the Beartown series brought me!

Few words re audio: I listened to all three books and would not have done it any other way. Magnificent Marin Ireland narrated all three perfectly. This being said can I not even imagine enjoying reading all three? I would not say so. I think these are the types of books that can be enjoyed equally either way: on audio or in physical form - that just depends on your preference.

For me, the Beartown story has gone downhill from the first novel. This installment seemed particularly overwrought, and some of the writing really irritated me. I just didn't feel a connection to any of the characters, and the main conflict alluded to throughout the book was violent and brutal.