Beartown is a fictional novel that centers around a small town whose citizens live for hockey. The story follows the perspective of different people throughout the town, and their thoughts and actions when a shockingly tragic event strikes their community. I would highly recommend this book, as it carries many different themes and stories within it. It addresses hard topics in an honest and insightful way. It has a bit of a slow start, but ends up completely captivating and gripping you. This is an incredible read, but it does include descriptive depictions of sexual assault, which can be triggering to some.

What I love about this book is that the community feels like a character who has an active impact on the plot. There are so many secondary characters that make the city feel real, like a place you could find yourself in by chance during a road trip. A thrilling exploration of how private trauma can become distorted and manipulated by public drama.

I have read 5 books by Fredrik Backman and loved every one of them until Beartown. I do not like the culture of sports with winning as the ultimate goal as opposed to learning teamwork and personal growth. Until the violent event that drives the second half of the novel, I really disliked the book intensely. I especially hated the ostracism, prejudice, and homophobic attitudes that characterized the players without constraint. Mr. Backman's novels have always been ones of hope or humor, but this one had not humor for me. I don't want to give away the ending, so I will not say more. I still recommend the author heartily! Kristi & Abby Tabby

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I loved A Man Called Ove, so I had high expectations for this book. It's very different. In many ways, it's a tough read (sexual assault), and the misogyny of some of the characters is pretty hard to stomach. I thought it was pretty good, but I wasn't crazy about it. I did like the ending.

I really liked this a lot.
The way Backman unfolded the ending, I've never experienced an unpacking like that (novice reader).
The character development at the start was worrying me a bit, was getting overwhelmed by nearly meeting the whole town.
I am picking up the sequel this afternoon. Back to back Backman!

I am definitely not a fan of hockey, but I enjoyed this book very much. I finally understand how wrapped up people become in a sport. This book crosses all generations. It's about love and hatred and loneliness and pride and character and parenting and being a teenager and LIFE. Terrific book.

“The very worst events in life have that effect on a family: we always remember, more sharply than anything else, the last happy moments before everything fell apart.”

This book was a very nice surprise and it wouldn’t have been under my “reading radar” if it wasn’t a recommendation from my friend. So, thank you KB! Definitively book was much more than a hockey story....Time well spent.... I loved it!

This at times heart-wrenching novel that asks readers to consider morality, honesty, belonging, the role of heroes and how our silence can empower the wrong people. Many Canadians will feel drawn to the story as it centers around hockey and some of the well drawn characters feel familiar. The prose has moments of sentimentality and at times plot details veer into common tropes, but overall it is worth a read. This is the first in a series of books.

"there are few words that are harder to expain then "loyalty".Its always regarded as a positive characteristic, because a lot of people would say that mwny of the best things people do for earh other occur precisely because of loyalty. The only problem is that many of the bery worst things we do to each other occur because of the same thing. "
One of the many, many thoughts I loved in this book.