Backman breaks my heart in many a way. But I think The Winners is the first Backman to break my heart through disappointment.

It's a sequel to Beartown. It's a sequel to Us Against You, which rode the coattails of Beartown (and, in retrospect, this is what helped me see it I through rose-coloured glasses). I echo other posters who ask whether Beartown needed a sequel, and one reviewer I saw who suggested that Us Against You and the ending of the Winners could have been blended together. I'm inclined to agree.

What worked: it's Backman, so you know what you're going to get. Spoilers from the beginning, repetition of scenes from multiple perspectives, complicated human relationships brimming with emotion, and one liners that feel like a greeting card but somehow ring true. Characters you can't help but develop a soft spot for (I could read about Maya forever).

All of that is here. But it runs out of steam. I set the audiobook down for a month at about the 30% mark and forgot about it. It was easy to hop back into after the hiatus because everything was so familiar. I hope the ending (with its six-feet-under-esque closure of "where will they go from here) is a definitive one.

I dont want to bloat this review with more grievances, so here is instead a list of characters/subplots that I have some frustrations with:
Alicia ("it was all about her" was it?)
Ana (where...did her grief go....)
Matteo (that plotline was A Lot)
Alexander (where did you come from, where did you go)
Tails + every politician (I wish I cared about you)

Recommended for completionists in need of another Backman hockey town fix. I don't regret reading it, but it's not one that will live in my heart the way the first book did.