published: 2016
heard/read: 1/14-17/2020
book: 4 in 2020
SYNOPSIS
its long af. follow the link. or google it.
MY THOUGHTS
P H E W.
and I mean that in about 100 different ways.
get ready (or skip it) cause this one gon' be looong.
I don't even know where to begin with this one.
If I said I meant what I said about Mr Burns when I read The Wives, well that was nothing compared to this book. I made so many side notes all over this book because
I. Just. Couldn't. Deal!!!
So first off, Beartown is a hockey town.
WHO ARE WE!? (they yell)
you're the fucking town that's built on hockey where all of your residents suck ass to the max because W O W.
you'd rather turn a blind eye to the truth than believe the horrible truth even when faced with the facts all to protect your precious little.....i don't even know how to end that.
I assumed the book was going to be just about hockey and while 97.6% of the book is,
I HAD NO FUCKING IDEA THAT IT ALSO INVOLVED RAPE!
(sorry for that spoiler but I feel it's not even a spoiler at this point. it's more of a trigger warning.)
I guess the last paragraph of the synopsis kinda hints at it. but this book is everywhere (as in like everyone and their mother has read it) so I just took it for face value that it was JUST about hockey because no one that i came across mentioned that it involved rape.
I guess that's my bad there.
anyway, I looked for spoilers and couldn't find any (!!!!!!) so I let it go. then I was "cooking"* one night and i was all "let me skip around!!!!" and omg!
It starts off with hockey and this whole hoopla about the junior team NEEDING to win in order to basically bring life back into the town or it'll go to shit and everyone will leave and Beartown will die.
don't worry darling little 16 year old teens; the survival of your hometown is only dependent of you guys and your win.
NO
BIG
DEAL
U G H!!!!!
and then the game is about to happen.
and then it does happen.
and you still have a hefty chunk of pages left so you're all what's gunna happen now?
and then it fucking happens.
someone gets raped.
(I'm not naming who was raped and who was the piece of shit rapist because I don't want to spoil it here.)
and from there its just, well, everyone in Beartown is just horrible.
this is the worst little town i have ever had the displeasure of fictionally visiting.
If you haven't read this, I guess my warning for you would be to make sure that you're in the right state of mind to read this. after my last read which left me a bit heart broken and anxious, I was looking for something light.
this was not it.
for some reason i own a lot of Backman's books which is odd because besides his short story, I've never read any of his work (tbh, its probably because his covers are so catchy) but my library audio hold came in so I was like okay!, let's do this.
AND THAT BEGINNING!!!!
literally the first page!
omg!
I was like hell yes! (obvs before i knew)
.....then you're introduced to a shit load of characters.
and the story starts.
and all of the hockey!!!!
AHHH!!!!
and look, the story, I mean, it's not bad.
I didn't hate it but I was frustrated a lot of time and I wanted to just yell at all of them that for as much "Beartown" pride they had, they were all bullshit (minus a few) because as soon as shit hit the fan and against their favor, they were out.
And this gang of black jackets (I forgot what they're called. oh, The Pack)....they keep going on and on about trust and how they don't know who they can and cannot trust and how its something hard to just hand out (and I get it cause they've gotten the shit end of the stick) BUT OMG!!!! They legit witness the bribery, they witnessed the kid standing up for himself and taking the beating of a lifetime after he stood up to the entire town and spoke the truth instead of running away AND THEY STILL DON'T KNOW IF THEY CANT TRUST HIM!!????? at some point you gotta realize that the embodiment of trust is staring you right in the face and you need to let your guard down a little.
Eeeerrrrrmahgod!!!!
You know what it is?
All of the adults in this damn story have no fucking spine, no gumption. they pressure the kids to pull the town forward no matter the strain on the child, they face the other way when the truth doesn't align with their wants, they don't stand up for shit, they legit see kids beating ass and they're all "okay cool. Not gunna deal with this".
they just sucked (not all but mostly)
The story itself for me, I couldn't wait to be over with it. I even considered DNF'ing it because I knew the who, what, where not the why so much but its never really answered anyway so it wouldn't have mattered.
Ugh. I'm over it
I'm a bit mad that there's a book 2 because of course I'm going to read it. but whatever.
ALL OF THAT BEING SAID,
Yes, the story frustrated me BUT that was all just about the story.
The writing itself, 😍
Boy does this man have a way with words.
the way this was written, the way this was told, the way you get the present but also bits of the future! I loooooved that! I thought that was so well done.
I absolutely cannot say enough about his style of writing. I loved EVERYTHING about this book in that aspect. I can see why everyone loves his work.
so the writing was a win for me.
Overall, it was a free book (I think i got it from the hotel I was staying at in Cancun) so I'm not mad at it. I guess it does a good job of evoking emotions from you, which it does!!, and isn't that the point of stories? it's just for me, it wasn't without frustration.
especially Maggan.
UGH I HATED HER!!!!!
I've never hated a character as much as i hate her.
anyway, I loved the writing.
It was just how shitty everyone in Beartown was that irritated me.
Bleh.
Also, beware, there's a shit load of characters. You learn em eventually but I took hella notes in regards to the people and what they did or whatever because woah!
Anyway, *gasps for air* yea,....
Jump over for sorta spoilers
thanks for reading!
#bookslesreads on IG
SPOILERS
the kids do win the game that leads to the final game.
After the game, Kevin has a party at his house and he invites Maya who has a crush on him. She goes with her bff Anna (Ana. Idk) they drink up, she challenges Kevin to a drinking game. They drink (everyone is drinking), get twisted, another kid in the team bets Kevin that he won't sleep with Maya. Kevin is all fuck yea I will, so he keeps getting her drunk. PURPOSELY!
He then asks her to his room, they go, they make out, he tries, she says no, but he ends up raping her.
As this is going on Amat walks in on them, Kevin's all wtf? She manages to escape.
-she eventually does turn him in but no one believes her.
-Kevin's dad tries to bribe Amat by giving him 500 kroner.
-Kevin's mom knows he raped Maya but never speaks up. She does go to Mayas home to apologize acknowledging to her and her parents that she knows her kid raped her but she still doesn't say shit.
-because of the accusation, and because Amat spoke the truth, everyone who claimed to be all about team Beartown up and leaves for Hed so the hockey team is going to be out there now.
BUT
Lamar, Benji, Bobo & Zacharias stay back and form the new team and that's where book 2 takes us I assume.
Maya spoke her truth but no on believes her.
They drop the case against Kevin and there's nothing she can do. She waited a week to report it. She showered and disposed of the bloody evidence.
So she takes matters into her own hands. Even though she is afraid of the dark, she, well, spies on Kevin as he runs by the forest by his house. She times his laps. In that, she asks Anna to show her how to shoot to let off steam.
One night she stays over Anna's house and sneaks out.
She spies on Kevin as he runs. He feels someone spying on him but he just thinks he's imagining it so he keeps going. On his last lap, Maya comes out from the dark and pulls the gun on him (I forgot what kind). She point it at his forehead. Hes afraid. He pisses himself and she pulls the trigger.
He thinks hes dying but it turns out it was empty. She only meant to scare him.
She tells him that he will now also be afraid of the dark.
It flashes forward to 10 years and Kevin is in a parking lot with his wife. he's loading his car when he sees Maya. He's shitting bricks because here he is, married to the love of his life who is pregnant and she holds the power. She let's it go because she knows that to this day, he is still afraid of the dark. He goes home and tells his wife everything that he did.
Maya walks into the ice rink to play a sold out show. (She plays guitar and has since become famous)
Benji knew all along what Kevin did and how Maya was hiding. He never says anything.
His father killed himself.
He's always causing pain to himself to avoid having to feel.
Benji is gay.
He never tells anyone.
David, the coach, accidentally finds out but never confronts him.
David gets a job being coach of the Hed team and apparently he will have a long, fruitful career.
Bobo was a dick in the beginning but hes the one that grows on you.
Major change.
There's a lot I left out bit I'm over it and I wana get on to my next read so...yea.
Byyee
but before you leave, here is a list of the characters in the story
-Peter & Kira (Kia): P is the GM of the hockey ice rink whatever the fuck. Kira is a lawyer.
-Maya & Leo & Ana: Maya & Leo are P&K's kids. Ana is Maya's bff who basically lives with them.
-Kevin: the hockey star
-Benji: the hockey stars bff who is another hockey star.
-Amat: ends up being another hockey star
(jesus, this town produces stars)
-bobo: another hockey player (who really surprised me)
-Ramona: the bar owner
-Tails: supermarket owner, one of Peter's classmate
-Jeanette: teacher with a hellavu lotta patience
-Sune: the original OG coach.
-David: the jr coach who is just a bag of dicks as well. he is supposed to replace Sune but then gets taken to Hed.
okay now off to start book two (sad face)
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