Let's talk about Backman

Hi, it's very nice to see you here.

I have multiple authors that I truly enjoy reading, but last year I discovered someone that might stay with me forever. I know it's kind of exaggerated but hear me out.

One day when I was doomscrolling and probably rotting on my bed, I saw a content creator talking about a book called 'My grandmother asked me to tell you she's sorry', and the only thing I could think about in that moment was like 'wow, that's a pretty straightforward title ngl'. I watched the video, and it convinced me, so the last thing I knew is that the book was on my TBR.

Many months later, I finally read it, and I have no words to tell y'all how much I cried (though I cry pretty easily, to be honest), and it became one of my favorite books so far. After that, I read 'A man called Ove', which I also loved (and also made me cry a river), because the same creator was talking about it. After reading it I could say that I really liked Fredrik Backman's stories. That lead me to read this last book (which was also the last book I read in 2025) called 'Beartown', book one of the trilogy named after it; the story of a small town where the people love hockey with the strength of their souls that turns out to be a pretty dark story in the blink of an eye. I literally devoured that book in less than a week. I had to take a break because it gave me reader's hangover (and it's been a while since that last happened to me).

Fredrik Backman (born 2 June 1981) is a Swedish author, blogger, and columnist. He wrote A Man Called Ove (2012), Things My Son Needs to Know about the World (2012), My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry (2013), Britt-Marie Was Here (2014), Beartown (2017), Us Against You (2018), Anxious People (2020), The Winners (2022), and My Friends (2025). The books were number one bestsellers in his home country of Sweden. Backman's books have been published in more than twenty-five languages. (Taken from Wikipedia).

To me, Backman's books are a mix between humor and seriousness, I wouldn't say it's dark humor, but more something like 'I'm going to tell you a little joke, so you laugh a little bit, and you won't have a clue when I slap you on the face with this bomb'. Surprisingly, I really like it. He can make me laugh out loud and then cry my eyes out in the same chapter.

I've loved the three books I've read so far, and I'm planning to read the ones I have left by him. There are minor details about his writing that I don't quite enjoy; however, I fall towards the fact that it might be because of the translations (I don't speak Swedish, so I really can't make a comparison lol).

His books are moving, easy to read, with memorable characters. It's always on my list every time someone asks me for book recommendations. Some of you might like him, some of you might not, but I can assure you that you might pick something out of his books.

Beartown summary and review (with spoilers)

I have to advise that some of the topics here might be triggering for some people.

Beartown is a little town in the middle of nowhere, extremely cold, isolated. But this little place has a extreme passion for hockey (I mean, there's a lot of ice, what other sport could they practice? [plot twist: they do later on]). You follow the point of view of multiple people from that town, Peter, Kira, their daughter Maya, Ana, Amat, Benji, Kevin, Zacharias, Ramona, Sune, David, and so on. At first, I felt like it was a lot of people to pay attention to, but you catch up very quicky and you follow each story with almost no effort at all. So, once I got used to it, I cared about every single character and wanted a good ending for SOME of them.

Talking about that, this hockey town has its star: Kevin. The 17-year-old promised player that might end up in the NHL and getting Beartown finally on a map, so people don't think about it as a ghost town anymore. Benji is his best friend, a guy that everyone knows he's a lost cause, but no one can hate him or not believe in what he says (I wanted to give him a hug every time, I swear). There are some side plots going on, like Amat proving he's good enough while having a crush on Maya. Zac's fear of being alone. Ramona's grief. Peter and Kira trying to figure out whether they're good parents. Sune being too old to coach a hockey team. But all of these are literally side quests from the main plot.

During a celebration party at Kevin's house (his parents were away, which is another story; Kevin's absent parents) because the junior team won the semi-final, Maya (15 y/o) goes to Kevin's bedroom with him. They were extremely drunk and high. Some make out here and there, but of course Kevin wanted more. Maya wanted to stop, he didn't. Kevin rapes her. And THERE is when you see what's the actual plot of the book, hockey just happens to be important too. Amat (who was also pretty drunk) had a bad feeling (powered by jealousy, honestly, but still) and went to the bedroom and basically caught Kevin in the act. Maya takes advantage of it and escapes. And the hell starts burning.

The trauma, the frustration, the fear, everything strikes you literally from one page to another.

The biggest problem is what Maya addresses as soon as Amat tells her that she needs to call the police: 'no one will do anything, because this is a hockey town'. How is she supposed to say a word, when we're talking about the richest kid in town which is also the hockey superstar? She had a point; she unfortunately had a point.

'There are thousands of ways to die in Beartown. Especially on the inside'.

After the shock, she speaks, tells her parents what happened, and the war starts. Kira is a lawyer, and she's a very good one. On the other hand, Peter is the hockey team's GM. So, the interests were on the table. But Peter does everything to defend his daughter, not caring about the entire town and sponsors going after his head. Kevin is imprisoned, the team losses the final, everyone blames it on Kevin's absence, so the entire town goes over Maya, Peter, and the entire family and anyone who shows any sign of support towards the family.

They fight with everything they've got, do everything's that's on their power, but this is a hockey town. After all this time, the police dropped the case due to lack of evidence. So, there's nothing more we can do... isn't there?

Well, Maya took justice on her hands. With a lot of encountered emotions and a shotgun between Kevin's eyebrows. She didn't kill him, though, but she scared the hell out of him. It was a type of revenge where she didn't want him dead, but traumatized, just like she was; 'now he's scared of the dark too'.

The book was bittersweet, like the previous books I've read by this author, but this one has been the darkest so far. Everything had such a level of accuracy that I felt every single one of those emotions, I barely sleep one of those nights because the anxiety/rage wasn't allowing me to put down the book ('just one more chapter' I kept telling myself). It was unexpected how hard that book went on me. It's definitely not your typical 'light reading' book, at least it wasn't for me, I imagine the trigger level might differ from person to person. The plot is raw, cruel, and shows you how inhuman people can be around this world of sports where the team is more important than anything else, no matter what it is. The blind fanatism and this built-up fellowship that goes to the point it looks more like a cult gave me the chills more than once.

I loved the book, and each character that deserved to be loved. I'll read the following books in the trilogy to figure out what happened to all of them in the future, and of course I'm reading the other books I have left by Mr. Fredrik. 10/10 for Beartown.

For now, that's all I needed to say. It's very likely that I'll talk about other authors I like and books I've read. If y'all would like to share your opinions with me feel free to do so. I hope we'll see each other soon.

Yours truly.

A chigüirito.