Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Beartown (Beartown, Bk 1)

Beartown (Beartown, Bk 1)
orchid7 avatar reviewed on + 265 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


I was excited to read this one, since it was getting such high star ratings, and I loved Backman's Ove book. So did I love Beartown? Not really.
The book is about a struggling town that is filled with hockey fanatics. Their junior league team is gearing up for the semi-finals, and the boys of the team can do no wrong... until one of them does.
I struggled with getting into the book- the tone is very dark. I never really became overly attached to any of the characters, maybe due to the sheer number of them. They just weren't very likable. I was also very frustrated with Backman's choice of writing style here. He would drop these little "hints" about future events, and the writing seemed somewhat choppy and repetitive. The ending was also frustrating, because Backman simply dropped more hints as to the futures of some of the characters. I had to go back and re-read a few times to make sure I hadn't missed anything, and even then I'm not 100% sure I got it right.
This one felt like Backman was simply trying too hard to be profound, and I think he missed the mark.
Trigger warnings: Rape, bullying