Beartown By Fredrik Backman Review & Book Club Questions

Beartown Book Review

Let me be the first to say that I don’t care about hockey. I barely care about any kind of sport. But, wow, Beartown made me care. Not in a buy a jersey and cheer from the stands sort of way, but in watch the drama from my couch kind of way.

Beartown is a story of a small town, whose lives centre the junior hockey team. A classic Friday Night Lights situation, but their team motto “Win!” isn’t as poetic as “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose”.

You’ve got characters deeply imbedded into the hockey culture, and those that drift outside of it (like black sheep). In fact, hockey feels like another character in the book.

We start off with a gun shot. You don’t know who shot it or why. So, we go back to the beginning to explain the story.

We get multiple points of views from the general manager of the Beartown hockey team to the players, the coaches, and their families and friends. Each character is well developed and offers important insights into the town culture and the impact that privilege and class play into their lives.

The day before an important game, a player is accused of sexual assault. This tears the town apart and almost starts a sort of witch hunt. Loyalties are drawn and it brings out the best and worst in everyone.

Now, I find that most male writers don’t write about sexual assault very well. Most of them just don’t seem to get it. Backman, on the other hand, does.

It’s probably one of the most realistic takes I’ve read in a while. Not just from the male and town’s point of view, but also from the female victim’s side. It’s heart breaking to read at times, but important.

In fact, Backman tackles many difficult topics well. The coming of age of teenagers, sexuality, suicide, class, privilege. It’s a story that has stayed with me and that I will continue to keep thinking about in years to come.

There are many things in this book that I know nothing about. Growing up in Australia, I don’t really know the harsh winters of Sweden. Hockey’s not a big thing here and my family’s not that into sport. And I grew up in the suburbs, not a small tight knit town where everyone knows everyone.

But Beartown still seems relatable. It’s more than just a story about a small town that’s into hockey. It’s about the people, their relationships, and how complex and messy life can be. It reminds me of Big Little Lies* by Liane Moriarty in that way.

There’s no doubt that this is a five-star book and I can see why it gets so much hype. I highly recommend it to pretty much everyone and it’s by far the best book I’ve read this year.

Prefer to watch rather than read? Beartown has been adapted into a five-episode miniseries. I haven’t seen it yet, but it’s high up on my watch list.