Penguin Beartown Paperback – 1 January 2019

"Community is the fact that we work toward the same goal, that we accept our respective roles in order to reach it. Values is the fact that we trust each other. That we love each other.For me, culture is as much about what we encourage as what we actually permit.” When I started reading this book, I was expecting a warm uplifting story of a small town hockey club like the previous works by this same author. Let me tell you, I was in for quiet a shock. The story begins in a small town called Beartown, which is largely dying due to the lack of oppurtunities and resources. The one thing that holds the town together is the hockey club, which is their pride and joy. The hockey players are idolised and treated like legends. Multiple characters who play a crucial role in the story are introduced in the beginning. We get to have a glimpse of their loves, their dreams, hopes and fears in the initial pages of the book. What follows after that is the incident, that impacts the entire town and shakes it down to its core. Its raw and its heartbreaking. It will test beliefs, loyalties and friendships. “Most people don’t do what we tell them to. They do what we let them get away with.” The story is told in a matter-of-fact almost detached style and that is what makes it so poignant and heart-rending. But even at the height of despair, there is always an underlying thread of hope weaved through the entire story that makes this book unputdownable. The true beauty of the book lies in that ray of hope which makes you laugh even in the midst of tears. Many serious issues like rape, bullying, small town politics and ostracisation are dealt with a lot of sensitivity and empathy. When I finally turned the last page of this book, it left me with a profound sense of hope which is the best possible thing a book can gift you. I highly, HIGHLY, recommend you to give this book a chance. I promise you, you won't regret it. Meanwhile, I will be counting down the days to the release of its sequel. Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

So many themes like camaraderie, loyalty, friendships, trauma, family values, faulty individuals, long term and long lastinf impact of decisions are explored beautifully with hockey as a glue.. It could have been about any game what remains with you is all those themes and so mamy facets of human nature that you knew existed but never articulated such masterfully by anyone. A GEM..!!

Fredrick Backman does a very good job of making the characters three-dimensional and I felt like I was in the town and living through everythig with them. Absolutely loved this book and cant wait to continue reading this trilogy.Would suggest looking up trigger warnings before reading though.

“Sometimes the entire community feels like a philosophical experiment: If a town falls in the forest but no one hears it, does it matter at all?”“Beartown” is a story of a small town where people are obsessed with Ice Hockey and much more than that. As a community what keeps us connected? A shared view? Maybe love for a game?It’s a story about hope, desire, community, anger, jealousy, loss and much more. It’s about various problems in the society, like from community pressure(peer pressure), to homophobia, to rape culture, to how we treat people, to choosing between loyalty and morality. The book will force you to look into your morals, what you believe, whom do you idolize.It is definitely one of the emotional roller coaster books I have read. You hate how things turn out, you scream at them, you love them, you cry with them and moreover you live with them. What I loved most about the book is how Backman developed his characters. I mean I should have expected this after Anxious People. The past connections, their feelings, thoughts, he has described everything so beautifully.I highly recommend this book to those who haven’t read this already. I have already started the sequel to this but like any other Backman book, you just can’t predict how the story is going to unfold.“Everyone has a thousand wishes before a tragedy, but just one afterward.”

Good

To begin with, I became a fan of Fredrik Backman after I read “ A man called Ove”. I was not expecting anything less from this book too, and of course it surpassed all my expectations. Here is a book that teaches us about how far can we go to protect our families, family pride and community. It also makes you brood about the concept of community, the right doing and the wrong doing.A must read for people looking out for relatable stories.