Thank you @michaeljbooks for sending me a free copy of Anxious People by Fredrik Backman to review! I'm a huge fan of A Man Called Ove, seriously one of my all-time favourites which you should go and read if you haven't already. I didn't love Anxious People as much as Ove (is that possible?) and in fact, it did take me around 150 pages to fully warm up to the characters. If it wasn't by a tried and tested author I might have been worried... But I trusted Backman to bring it together and he did in the end!

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Anxious People is a bank robbery gone wrong, turned hostage situation. Except with the worst bank robber and hostages ever. Stuck in close quarters, the hostages have no choice but to get to know one another, realising they have more in common than they initially thought. When the hostages are released, the bank robber seems to have disappeared into thin air.

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I loved how everyone in this book was just a bit of a mess basically. It's a nice reminder that, despite what they might project, no one is perfect and everyone is fighting their own battles. Backman blends humour and seriousness delicately, with the end result being that Anxious People is a bit of a rollercoaster of emotion! The characters' life stories unfold slowly, so don't go in expecting a fast-paced locked room mystery - that's not what this is about.

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Backman's style, translated by Neil Smith, is as easy to read as ever, but I didn't care for the transcripts included here and there. Usually I enjoy inclusions like this in books, but at this point I was still finding the characters annoying rather than endearing and their responses were exasperating!

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Overall though, I'd still recommend it for something both funny and poignant - but if you're trying Backman for the first time then I suggest A Man Called Ove! I still need to read Bear Town myself, as that's another one that gets consistently great reviews!