The Winners: A Novel

OCT 2022 : 4 STARS.DESCRIPTION: Two years have passed since the events that no one wants to think about. Everyone has tried to move on, but there’s something about this place that prevents it. The residents continue to grapple with life’s big questions: What is a family? What is a community? And what, if anything, are we willing to sacrifice in order to protect them? As the locals of Beartown struggle to overcome the past, great change is on the horizon. Someone is coming home after a long time away. Someone will be laid to rest. Someone will fall in love, someone will try to fix their marriage, and someone will do anything to save their children. Someone will submit to hate, someone will fight, and someone will grab a gun and walk towards the ice rink.REVIEW: The first 2 books of this series, Beartown (‘17) & Us Against You (‘18) both received 5 stars from me. Other books by this author were all over the charts for me: Anxious People (‘20 - 3 Stars), My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry (‘15 - Read ‘17 - 2 Stars) and A Man Called Ove (‘14 - Read ‘17 - 4 Stars).Be ready to commit to this book; it’s 684 pages! As soon as I started, I remembered the great writing. It flows so smoothly. Definitely a lot to “set-up” between the old characters and new ones. I do wish it was written closer in time to the other 2 books, which were 4&5 years ago. At 75% I feel nothing has really happened. If there was any sort of plot, I didn’t get it so far. At this point the narrator starts hinting something is going to happen - well it sure took a long time. I think this book could have been cut in half. I do think we have seen the main characters mature and change for the better. The writing is definitely what kept me reading, Mr. Backman has such a way with words and feelings. His writing is definitely what got this book 4 stars, not the story itself. I was happy with the ending.BY THE WAY, A Man Called Ove is becoming a movie on 12/14/22 with Tom Hanks called A Man Called Otto. I can’t wait !

Can you somehow rate a book 7 stars? Or at least 6? This book, and the whole trilogy, are one of my favorite fiction works of all time. There are characters you will come to care deeply about, and a sentence or two every few pages you'll want to write down somewhere to memorize.I took it down from 8 stars because the author used the same major plot point for two characters, which may have been trying to make a point a little too loudly. Also lost another tenth of a star because being a hockey guy myself (please understand, this is not a book about hockey, it is a book about people, and community, the hockey is just a backdrop) some of the terms were mis-translated, which took me out of the narrative for a bit. (I know the literal translation of a certain position from the Swedish would be "backs", but we call them "defensemen", and it's "checking" in North America, not "tackling", etc.)But it's been a week since I finished it and I can't bring myself to start my next book.A magnificent piece of literature.

A Man Called Ove is one of my favorite books. After reading it, I started reading more of Mr. Backman's books and they have all been amazing. This trilogy is no exception.I started reading the first book without knowing it was part of a trilogy (no open endings) and thoroughly enjoyed it. When I found out it had a sequel I dived right in, and again, was completely engrossed, and still had no idea a third was coming. When I saw that there was a last installment I rushed to buy it and was absolutely blown away.Mr. Backman has not only served us a perfect ending to this wonderful story and the town at its center (notice how I did not say happy) but throughout the book wrote these amazing thoughts on life in general, some made me laugh, other brought me to tears. Example: "being married is easy, she usually thinks. You just pick an argument you're really good at, then repeat it at least once a week for all eternity".Mr. Backman has become one of my favorite authors, thanks to his impeccable writing style (kudos to the translator as well!), his wonderfully human characters and his heartfelt stories.Starting this trilogy is a no-brainer. Just go for it - I'm sure you'll love it.

Another WOW book by Backman. He seems to be able to write of all our thoughts and feelings, in such a human way.The last of the Beartown trilogy. Goes through all the characters two years on, and continues everyone’s story. What I love about Backman is he isn’t afraid to tackle some very heavy topics - rape, suicide, loneliness, etc - but does it with depth and human-ness so you really feel it and empathize with it.A long book for sure, and one that you can’t read too quickly as the writing style, weight and prose makes you want to savor the words bit by bit.Read this book, and read all others by Backman. He is brilliant.

What a perfect final book in this trilogy. Those who haven't read the Beartown trilogy because they don't like hockey are missing out on an amazing story about relationships and the human spirit. When I first finished Beartown several years ago, I put it on my top 10 list. The Winners goes right up there with it. Before I started The Winners, I wondered if I should read the first 2 books again. No need. Backman's genius is that he has written this in such a way that the other 2 books come immediately back to you.

It was heart wrenching a lot of the time, but FB didn't disappoint. So much wisdom included all over. I enjoyed some of the new characters very much. I'm glad he wrote this last book and closed the stories of so many characters and both towns.I had a hard time at parts in the first half, but trusted that he knew what he is what he was doing.Bang, bang....how much more in this last one.

I read the end of this book, and the trilogy, with tears streaming down my face. This author knows the human soul like no other author I have read. He takes you up to the highest heights, then plunges you into the abyss, where emotions are concerned. Keep the Millennium Trilogy! The Beartown trilogy is so much better and will live with you forever.

This set of books has gripped me from start to finish. I don't watch hockey, know little about it and these books haven't made me want to change that. But the characters , the relationships, the complex circumstances of small town communities. That's where this got me. I cared about them by the end. I can see this being picked up by Netflix and serialized but it is the writing that took me on the journey. The

The final book of the series at last. Still very much in the style of the other two, Backman has a knack to make you well up and smile on the same page, with character building like no other author. I feel it's the saddest of the three, with huge tension running through it. So enjoyable.

I loved every word. It's sad and funny and every character is real. What a brilliant writer

I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this wonderful trilogy for anything! Thank you Fredrick you for a truly absorbing read.