2.5 stars
Honestly, I feel like I must be the grumpy old man in this situation, because I didn't seem to enjoy this book as much as everyone else.

Let's get this out of the way right now. The lovable curmudgeon is a character type that I think can work really well. Someone who starts out gruff and cranky and soon you see that they are really a fluffy ball of sweetness under the surface. Unfortunately, I don't feel like that is what we are dealing with in this book.

True, the character of Ove (pronounced oo-vuh) does experience some growth and change from the beginning to the end of this book. But I just don't know if I believed his transformation.

This book tried really hard to get us to love Ove and feel sorry for him. He does have some truly awful things happen to him throughout the course of his life. However, his crappy attitude isn't a result of these sad events that he's suffered. He has always been unlikable. That is made crystal clear over and over (and over) again during the book.

Also, I got really tired of his incessant tirades about everything under the sun: foreigners (his word), women, children, fat people, people who choose not to drive boring cars...it was a lot. Maybe I'm a little sensitive to some of that nonsense in this day and age where hateful old white men spew their racist and sexist rhetoric about anything that isn't other hateful old white men that I just can't personally find it lovable. Sorry, not sorry.

Also, if I didn't know any better I would think he was much older than he is. His character reads closer to 80 than 60, in my opinion.

I will admit to liking him more at the end of the book than at the beginning, but really, it was a low bar.

I would also issue a trigger warning to anyone sensitive to stories about suicide and/or suicidal thoughts. It never gets super dark, but there is focus put on the topic throughout the book. Also, speaking of suicide, I thought it was treated very flippantly by the author, and while some may see it as quirky, I could see people sensitive to the topic might not appreciate the manner in which it is approached.

I enjoyed the side characters well enough, specifically Parvana. It was obvious that she could sense that Ove needed help and I liked that she didn't take his crap.

One last thing I wanted to talk about was the audiobook. I listened to this in one day while I was doing chores around the house (yay, multitasking!!) and I have to say, I did NOT like the voice actor who did this book. It felt like he was reading the book for the first time while he was recording. He had very strange inflections and the reading was choppy. Also, he would place emphasis on the wrong words, especially with dialogue. One scene I specifically remember is when

a woman is being told that her husband needs to go to a home because there is no one to care for him, to which the wife responds, "I am!" Now, to me, in the context of the conversation, the word 'I' should be emphasized. Instead, the actor emphasizes the word 'am'. The result is a woman who sounds more whiny than defiant, and that was only one of several instances where this happened.

If you are inclined to pick up this book, I would suggest you pick up the physical copy rather than the audiobook. However, the poor quality of the audiobook did not affect my final goodreads rating. It was just one more thing I didn't love about the book.

I still want to read Beartown, but it's definitely not one that is on the top of my list at this point. It's entirely possible this book just isn't for me.