Book info

• Title Beartown
• Author Fredrik Backman
• Year 2016
• Genre Contemporary

In a large Swedish forest, Beartown hides a dark secret... Cut-off from everywhere else, it experiences the kind of isolation that tears people apart. And each year, more and more of the town is swallowed by the forest. Then the town is offered a bright new future. But it is all put in jeopardy by a single, brutal act. It divides the town into those who think it should be hushed up and forgotten, and those who'll risk the future to see justice done. Who will speak up? Could you stand by and stay silent? Or would you risk everything for justice? Which side would you be on?

Thoughts

I thought I was going to like this, because I liked Ove and My Friends. This one was written in a similar style, but it just didn’t grab me. The setting was evocative but there were maybe too many characters to really give anyone chance to develop, and there was certainly a lot of switching between scenes, particularly towards the end of the book. It was like a montage and that didn’t help trying to develop a bond with any of the adults or kids alike. I had thought I would get stuck into this and then enjoy the two follow ups but I’ll probably leave it for now.

Rating: 2 / 5