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stephsbooktalk 's review for:
The Winners
by Fredrik Backman
"Because not everyone always makes it. You have to make the most of the happy endings whenever you get the chance."
Thank you so much to Atria Books for an advance copy of this!!!
Wow. Wow. Wow.
Backman is such a remarkable writer. My exposure to Backman is still just the Beartown series but I really need to start working on his backlog because the writing is just exceptional.
He has such a skill to weave multiple storylines and characters and somehow make it all make sense by the end. As I was reading, I kept thinking "I wonder what the purpose of this character or this moment is" and then it eventually all make sense.
In the beginning of the book Backman says you do not have to read the first two books in order to read this one. I do feel as though it is true but to really get a sense of connection with these characters I think reading the first two books are important to read. I felt such a connection with them and to see how they have grown between books felt like a warm comforting blanket.
"We all have a hundred fake personalities depending upon who we're with. We pretend and dissemble and stifle ourselves just to fit in."
This book was not a super quick read for me. Due to a busy September the time it took for me to dedicate to this book wasn't ideal but we made it work. This book was a hefty size coming in at 670 pages with rather small font. And as I mentioned earlier with the storylines and characters, it was a lot to take in and remember as I read. But we did it.
Did I throw my book during one point in the home stretch? Yes I did.
Am I going to say at what moment? Nope. Those who have read should know the moment.
Am I ever going to forgive Backman? Hm that is debatable.
The way Backman writes is that you never know what way the story is going to go.
It is like a thriller when you think the author is going to take you one way but then it ends up being something completely different. He did this to use in the prior books and this one was no exception.
Beartown is reeling after a natural disaster damaged the city as well as the neighboring city Hed. Their ice hockey rink collapsed after the storm and Beartown's rink was offered to them to use. If you know anything about this series, you know that these two cities do not get along at all so this arrangement was not welcomed.
We continue the lives of the Anderson family, the Ovich family and the other hockey players.
We meet more new families, characters - Hannah & Johnny and their children, Matteo & Ruth and their parents.
I won't say more than this but I truly hate Tails with every fiber in my body.
This series will stay with me and I am sad that it is coming to a close.
I thought it did wrap up nicely and gave us an insight on what happens to all the characters.
Would I want to see a book take place in the future so we could see what all happens with Alicia being a female hockey player? Heck yes!
I will constantly be recommending this series.
And honestly how does Backman write anything else after this?!
Sample of some of the quotes I liked from the book:
Thank you so much to Atria Books for an advance copy of this!!!
Wow. Wow. Wow.
Backman is such a remarkable writer. My exposure to Backman is still just the Beartown series but I really need to start working on his backlog because the writing is just exceptional.
He has such a skill to weave multiple storylines and characters and somehow make it all make sense by the end. As I was reading, I kept thinking "I wonder what the purpose of this character or this moment is" and then it eventually all make sense.
In the beginning of the book Backman says you do not have to read the first two books in order to read this one. I do feel as though it is true but to really get a sense of connection with these characters I think reading the first two books are important to read. I felt such a connection with them and to see how they have grown between books felt like a warm comforting blanket.
"We all have a hundred fake personalities depending upon who we're with. We pretend and dissemble and stifle ourselves just to fit in."
This book was not a super quick read for me. Due to a busy September the time it took for me to dedicate to this book wasn't ideal but we made it work. This book was a hefty size coming in at 670 pages with rather small font. And as I mentioned earlier with the storylines and characters, it was a lot to take in and remember as I read. But we did it.
Did I throw my book during one point in the home stretch? Yes I did.
Am I going to say at what moment? Nope. Those who have read should know the moment.
Am I ever going to forgive Backman? Hm that is debatable.
The way Backman writes is that you never know what way the story is going to go.
It is like a thriller when you think the author is going to take you one way but then it ends up being something completely different. He did this to use in the prior books and this one was no exception.
Beartown is reeling after a natural disaster damaged the city as well as the neighboring city Hed. Their ice hockey rink collapsed after the storm and Beartown's rink was offered to them to use. If you know anything about this series, you know that these two cities do not get along at all so this arrangement was not welcomed.
We continue the lives of the Anderson family, the Ovich family and the other hockey players.
We meet more new families, characters - Hannah & Johnny and their children, Matteo & Ruth and their parents.
I won't say more than this but I truly hate Tails with every fiber in my body.
This series will stay with me and I am sad that it is coming to a close.
I thought it did wrap up nicely and gave us an insight on what happens to all the characters.
Would I want to see a book take place in the future so we could see what all happens with Alicia being a female hockey player? Heck yes!
I will constantly be recommending this series.
And honestly how does Backman write anything else after this?!
Sample of some of the quotes I liked from the book:
- "Fairy tales are what help us cope with funerals."
- "If they do their jobs perfectly, no one will even notice how important they are until the day they disappear. And often note even then, sadly."
- "No one ever tells you when you become a parent that it's a trap, a trick question, a cruel joke: you're never enough, and you can never win."
- "All the best players have a darkness inside them, that's why they end up the best, they think the darkness will disappear if they can just win enough times."
- "My dad says pressure is a privilege. If you don't feel pressure, that's just because you've never done anything valuable enough for people to have expectations of you."
- "No matter how many mornings he gets woken by those eager paws on the edge of the bed, that rough tongue on his face, he is still taken aback by its acceptance of him. Dogs are like hockey, a fresh chance every morning, everything is constantly beginning again."