Title: Beartown
Author: Frederik Backman
Publication: April 25, 2017
Publisher: Atria Books
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 434
SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)
People say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground to the ever encroaching trees. But down by the lake stands an old ice rink, built generations ago by the working men who founded this town. And in that ice rink is the reason people in Beartown believe tomorrow will be better than today. Their junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national semi-finals, and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys.
Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected.
REVIEW:
For the month of June, one of my book clubs picked the book Beartown by Fredrik Backman. I was so excited to read it. I had heard great things about the author and actually have this plus some of his other books sitting on my shelf to be read. So needless to say I was super excited to start it.
Full disclosure guys. I never made it past 19% read. I just couldn’t get into this book. I could totally tell that it was written by a guy and could also tell that it was translated from another language. I always go into translated books with trepidation since I am worried they will lose something in translation. I didn’t like the constant changing of characters. Every paragraph it seemed was changing characters. There was also a crazy amount of characters. I had a hard time with the new characters and the constant change between all of them. I didn’t even make it to the thing that shook the town. Like I said I never made it past 19%. I dreading having to read it on all levels. There was no excitement at all. It does make me nervous to read the other books by him that I have on my shelf. Will they be the same way?
Take what I have said with a grain of salt and read the book for yourself. I for one will not be finishing this book or reading the other two in the series.
STAR RATING: 2/5
Pick up your copy of Beartown by Frederik Backman on Amazon, Barnes and Noble or check your local bookstore. Also make sure to add it to your To Reads list on Goodreads and leave feedback for the author when you are finished. You can check out more from author Frederik Backman on his website HERE.
