Take a photo of a barcode or cover
wretchedtheo 's review for:
Britt-Marie Was Here
by Fredrik Backman
So, what I've learned is that Frederik Backman just cannot miss. He's officially an autobuy author for me. One can't help but love his misfit characters with all their endearing quirks and idiosyncrasies, his quietly optimistic insight on human nature, the emotion and tenderness and hope he puts into each of his stories.
The very premise of this book makes it a winner imo. A fussy, self-effacing, closed-off woman of 63 years, who has lived her whole life for other people, finally learns to let herself live as she pleases. She tries new things and loves others and finally follows her innermost dreams, and *spoiler alert* she does it WITHOUT a love storyline. She learns to love herself, and that makes her an independent and happy woman and AGH. I'm so emotional thinking about the importance of this story. The message that life doesn't end at 25 years, and that we are able to change and reinvent ourselves and find love and adventure and happiness and dreams at ANY AGE is one that I hope to see in more and more literature. Well done, Mr. Backman.
From a technical and stylistic standpoint, Britt-Marie Was Here is almost perfect. Good pacing that plods along without boring lulls, but without crashing ahead at tiring speed; good balance between narration and dialogue; well-developed and lovable side characters. The novel's main flaw, I think, and the reason it didn't steal my heart quite as much as A Man Called Ove did, is that it keeps interjecting random little "The Author's Opinion" segments along the way. They're in no way as long and tedious as Hugo's infamous rabbit trails, but I found myself skimming them anyway. The ones that did catch my attention were indeed quite pretty, but not all readers will agree with me on this.
All in all, Britt-Marie is a heart-warming, stereotype-smashing novel with a lovely message and characters you'll genuinely care about, and though some readers might find it a little TOO wholesome, I certainly did not. It's a breath of fresh air among all the Angsty Fighty Man stories that seem so popular nowadays.
The very premise of this book makes it a winner imo. A fussy, self-effacing, closed-off woman of 63 years, who has lived her whole life for other people, finally learns to let herself live as she pleases. She tries new things and loves others and finally follows her innermost dreams, and *spoiler alert* she does it WITHOUT a love storyline. She learns to love herself, and that makes her an independent and happy woman and AGH. I'm so emotional thinking about the importance of this story. The message that life doesn't end at 25 years, and that we are able to change and reinvent ourselves and find love and adventure and happiness and dreams at ANY AGE is one that I hope to see in more and more literature. Well done, Mr. Backman.
From a technical and stylistic standpoint, Britt-Marie Was Here is almost perfect. Good pacing that plods along without boring lulls, but without crashing ahead at tiring speed; good balance between narration and dialogue; well-developed and lovable side characters. The novel's main flaw, I think, and the reason it didn't steal my heart quite as much as A Man Called Ove did, is that it keeps interjecting random little "The Author's Opinion" segments along the way. They're in no way as long and tedious as Hugo's infamous rabbit trails, but I found myself skimming them anyway. The ones that did catch my attention were indeed quite pretty, but not all readers will agree with me on this.
All in all, Britt-Marie is a heart-warming, stereotype-smashing novel with a lovely message and characters you'll genuinely care about, and though some readers might find it a little TOO wholesome, I certainly did not. It's a breath of fresh air among all the Angsty Fighty Man stories that seem so popular nowadays.