Fredrik Backman, especially on audiobook, is a glorious writer.

Backman tells us what will happen before he tells us how it happens. Then he tells it to us again, from another perspective, with different information. Then again. Again. Again.

The author's gift for writing realistic and flawed characters astounds me. Beartown is no different. This town lives and breathes. Our omniscient narrator weaves us through the turbulent and tumultuous life of several dozen characters, all of which have successes, failures, heartaches, traumas, selfish interests, love, and more and more and more.

This book deals with the incredibly painful topic of character assassination of a survivor of sexual assault. It covers motivations people may have that lead to this lack of compassion, it shows why even those who do feel compassionate won't always say anything, and it presents that isolating hellish desperate existence with rawness and sensitivity. In other words: I had a couple of good cries.

Recommended if you don't think you'll ever enjoy a book about hockey but are interested in the interests of the collective vs interests in the individual, love character-driven plots, and want to spend time in a small frozen town in the woods that puts all its hopes on a handful of teenagers.

More thoughts here: https://youtu.be/AiaZh8Bpmyw