Reviews
✨️Audiobook review✨️ Beartown by Fredrik Backman⭐️⭐️"Time always moves at the same rate, only feelings have different speeds." I'm not really sure how I feel about this book if I'm honest. I mean I listened to the whole thing, it kind of draws you in. There was a lot that bored me, but there were topics that kept you intrigued on where it was going. I don't know if I really enjoyed the writing style and the narration was pretty mediocre. All in all it's a no from me. It was a long old book too, and it just kept going on but as I say there was something that kept pulling you back in. I will not be reading the others in this series.
Probably one of my favorite books this year. But it did make me feel SO MANY things.
Alright, y’all. Buckle your seat belts because this might be my gushiest review ever. I knew nothing about this book going in aside from the blurb, and honestly, the blurb did not make me want to pick it up (nothing against Fredrik Backman, I’ve just never been a fan of inspirational sports stories). The only reason I listened to this book is because Craig could. not. stop. talking about it.I’ll get the narration bit out of the way so I can go on to tell you how much I fucking loved this book. John Sackville is an absolute gem, and gave such life and vibrancy to the characters and the setting. Every character had a distinct voice, and the accents were subtle, but I could always tell when someone had lived in Beartown for their entire life and when someone had moved after their natural accent had already been established. Honestly the inflections were to die for. Grade A narration like I’ve never heard.Right, on to the main attraction. Beartown (or The Scandal, as published in the UK) is set in a small, isolated town of the same name. Surrounded by woods and with a dwindling population, the entire community has rallied around their junior ice hockey team as they prepare for their championship game: a game from which a victory would mean national attention, government funding, an influx of athletes and visitors, and, ultimately, the revitalisation of the town. The weight on the shoulders of these 15-17 year old boys is heavy, and would buckle many adults.The scandal that the UK title refers to occurs a week before the championship game, and sends the town reeling. Changing the entire trajectory of the story, the reader is catapulted forward into events that truly seem out of control. Have no fear though, Fredrik Backman will not let you down.Let me just say, I haven’t cared this much about characters since Harry Potter (that’s ELEVEN YEARS, for those keeping track). I was so, so, SO invested in every single person I met, however briefly. They were so well-drawn and had such realistic backstories, I really felt like I could meet them anywhere, and when it comes down to it, the book was about them, not hockey. It’s that aspect of the book – the humanness – that really affected me. Due to my own personal experiences, I spent a large part of this book uncomfortable and angry, but it didn’t detract at all from my enjoyment of the story; if anything, it enhanced my reading experience because I felt so deeply and so extremely. It really was the most infuriatingly realistic work of fiction, and I just loved the characters so much (well, except for a select few) and wanted them to be happy and loved. Mya is my girl and I see so much of myself in her – I will fight for her and then wrap her in a blanket and make her hot chocolate.