Today I’m sharing my review of Beartown by Fredrik Backman! If you are a little late to the Beartown party, as I was, you’ll be happy to learn more.
Beartown is book #1 in a series. This series has been turned into a show on HBO which I haven’t started to watch yet (though I’m very interested). I have to read the books before I watch the show! That’s how I started reading C.J. Box last year in preparation for The Highway!
Like a lot of Backman’s books that I’ve read, this one is full of characters that are truly incredible. Some people have said that his characters seem thrown together but I find it to be quite the opposite. His character, especially those in Beartown are so human.
These are characters I wanted to hug or run down in my car, characters that inspire and terrify, and like most humans, these characters are never quite what we expect. I love that the characters in Beartown have as many twists as the plot itself!
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What is Beartown about?
Beartown is a story about hockey. Just kidding. It’s a story about people in a town that loves hockey. I know next to nothing about hockey, I’ve never even been ice skating (will rectify this as soon as possible, only seems fitting) and I didn’t struggle to love the book.
The story follows the hockey club in Beartown as they approach some very important games. This group of 17 year old kids is essentially carrying the hopes and dreams and financial future of an entire town on their backs.
As the team works up to the championship games we see some changes in personnel both in the staff and on the team itself. Amidst these changes we also learn about the characters and their relationships with each. We see Maya, who is the General Manager’s daughter and her best friend Ana growing up in a town that puts all of its focus on its young men.
On the other hand we see Benji and Kevin who are the two leading members of this all important hockey team. We also see their coach David and the coach of the upper level team, Sune, at odds over these two boys and how much pressure they deserve in the name of the town.
There’s also a subtle look at racism built into the book in the character of Amat. He faces hatred from the town not just because he’s an amazing hockey player and gets to play despite being two years younger than the rest of the team, but also because he and his mother are immigrants.

Beartown has some amazing and strong female characters. It’s a great read for National Women’s Month! Not only do we have Ramona the local bar owner and resident badass who takes no shit from the town and will stand for nothing less than the truth, we also have Benji’s sisters.
Benji has a secret of his own that we learn about throughout the book but you can tell early on that despite his aggression on the ice he’s morally sound young man. In a town full of boys who have been raised to believe they’re God’s because they are good at a sport, Benji stands out because of his heart.
We have several other young men on the team who stand out in this same fashion. You know I try not to give too much away in my reviews but there are some twists and turns throughout the book that show us the complexities of morality.
Trigger Warning/Spoiler Alert: This book deals with sexual assault. It is occasionally graphic about a topic that is, at its very nature, horribly graphic. I did not feel like it was overblown or unnecessary at any point.
That said, one of the big events in the book occurs when one of our main characters is rapped. It’s not the only big twist in the book and on more than one occasion I found myself completely riveted and waiting to see if all of the characters were going to survive.

In the end (as with other of his works) there was a stream of emotions but the book ended in a satisfying way. I cried with Maya and Ana, I laughed with Amat and Bobo, I wished desperately to be able to rage in a mad fury alongside Benji, and I wanted to play guitar with Peter on drums in the garage.
What did you love about this book?
I loved the characters. Benji is by far my favorite character in this series and I can’t wait to read Us Against You to see where his story goes. I need more Benji in my life.
Another thing I really loved about this book was the way Backman makes you think about your own life and choices through these characters. It was uncomfortable at times to look at my own feelings while reading this one…in a good way.
Life is a complicated thing. Living is difficult and everyday we make choices that shape the future we haven’t encountered yet. This book deals with loss on more than one level and a lot of them spoke to me personally in ways that I wasn’t necessarily prepared for.
Beartown by Fredrik Backman is beautiful and riddled with characters who have been traumatized each in their own way. There’s so much going on throughout the book but it works, or at least it did for me!

What did you not love about this book?
There’s nothing I can come up with off the top of my head. This was a 5 start read for me so I’m not exactly sitting here with a laundry list of things I would have changed.
I do think it took a bit for me to get into the story. The first bit is world building and background but we really do need it. If you are finding it a slow start, push on, I promise it gets wild before you know it.
Once the action starts the book takes off and it’s hard to put down and as much as it could be a pacing issue I really think it’s mostly just about the background info that we need. It’s important for these characters to develop and be human enough for us to accept their flaws and victories.
Will you read more in the Beartown by Fredrik Backman series?
I will absolutely continue the series! Beartown by Fredrick Backman is book #1 of three as far as I can tell as of now.
If he writes ten of them and they’re all as good as this installment I will read them all!
I’ve read that this is a departure from his usual style and if that’s the case I say he should lean into it! While this wasn’t as whimsical as other books Backman has written I think it was full of his usual characters. For me, no one else writes characters quite like Backman does.
Overall opinions of this book:
Beartown had me from the start. These characters and this town are so rich and flawed and totally human. As much as this story is uncomfortable to look straight at, it’s also beautiful for that same reason.
I could see so much of myself in some of these characters and that’s hard thing when you are looking at a story with this much trauma flying around!
One of the main reasons I loved this book so much was the characters. There were characters I wanted to be friends with, characters I wanted to hug, characters I wanted to cry for and others that I would have happily beaten to death if given half a chance.
I’m excited for Us Against You, I can’t wait to see where these characters go next and I’m stoked to check out the show! I can see how this might seem out of sorts for Backman, it’s certainly not as light or whimsical as some of his other books but his characters. I’ll stop saying that now but it’s my favorite thing about his writing style and it’s worth mentioning a time or ten.
This isn’t a story that has characters. These are characters that have a story and I really love that about Backman’s novels.
Where can I buy this book for myself?
Kindle Unlimited Membership PlansWhat else can I read by Fredrick Backman?
Fredrick Backman has written a bunch of other novels and they are all worth checking out in my opinion. I loved Anxious People so so much. I gave four copies as gifts at Christmas last year, it’s a great read as well. Here are some of his other works:
Keep in mind that Beartown by Fredrik Backman is book #1 in a series. Us Against You is the second book in the series and is already out (I’m late to the Beartown game) 🙂
Looking for more reviews to check out now that you’ve finished Beartown by Fredrik Backman?
Check out these other book reviews and bookish posts. I think you’ll love them! Make sure to let me know in the comments what kinds of books you like to read and what you’d like to see more of.
I’d love to hear about your favorite books, I’m always adding to my TBR (to be read) pile so leave those suggestions below!