I purchased this book for my own personal collection.
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: September 12, 2023
Summary:
Over the course of two weeks, everything in Beartown will change.
Two years have passed since the events that no one wants to think about. Everyone has tried to move on, but there’s something about this place that prevents it. The destruction caused by a ferocious late-summer storm reignites the old rivalry between Beartown and the neighboring town of Hed, a rivalry which has always been fought through their ice hockey teams.
Maya Andersson and Benji Ovich, two young people who left in search of a better life, come home and joyfully reunite with their closest childhood friends. There is a new sense of optimism and purpose in the town, embodied in the impressive new ice rink that has been built down by the lake.
Maya’s parents, meanwhile, are caught up in an investigation of the hockey club’s murky finances, and Amat—once the star of the Beartown team—has lost his way after an injury and a failed attempt to get drafted into the NHL. Simmering tensions between the two towns turn into acts of intimidation and then violence. All the while, a fourteen-year-old boy grows increasingly alienated from this hockey-obsessed community and is determined to take revenge on the people he holds responsible for his beloved sister’s death. He has a pistol and a plan that will leave Beartown with a loss that is almost more that it can stand.
Discover what it means to forgive with this “hell of a conclusion to an outstanding series” (Booklist, starred review).
My thoughts:
Oh my heart! I knew going into this book, the final book in Fredrik Backman’s Beartown trilogy, that this would be an emotionally draining book if the previous two were anything to go by, and as much as I prepared myself for it, I was not even remotely ready for all that came at me. And yet, I’m already looking forward to tackling this series again.
This book is so much more than just a story about hockey. It is about a small town and the people who live there and how far they are willing to go to protect those they love. But what makes it truly magical is just how complex these characters are and how connected and intertwined they are with each other. These are characters that have worked their way into my heart and won’t be leaving anytime soon.
This book might be big, coming in at just under 700 pages, but I was so invested in what was happening I could have read another 700 pages easily. I was completely wrapped up in the drama and turmoil that unfolds and did not want to put this one down once I started reading it. At times it seems like nothing is happening here and yet, everything is happening here.
This book is at times a tough one to read as there are tough themes addressed, but the way it is handled keeps you wanting to read, wanting to know how it will all be resolved. This book broke me but also left me with a sense of hope. I laughed, cried, and felt so many other emotions as I read this, which I’ve come to expect when I read this author.
Fredrik Backman has become a must-read author for me and I cannot wait to read the rest of his books. If you have not yet read this series, I highly recommend it…just have those tissues at the ready!
Books in this series:
- Beartown
- Us Against You
- The Winners
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I’ve only read the first one, but I loved it! I plan to follow through with Us Against You next. I’ll get the third book eventually!
Author
As much as I loved all three, I could not read them back to back – they are heavy reads. Glad I finally read them and definitely will be reading them again!