Beartown
- 448
- Pages
- about 8 h
- Reading time
- NYT bestseller · 1 week on the list
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Our view
“Beartown” is a hockey novel that is about far more than hockey: a small town built around its club, and what one violent incident does to it. Backman moves between many townspeople and ties their lives together so tightly that the act is felt in every household. Some readers describe being angered, saddened and made to smile in turn. The subject is heavy, and it is handled with compassion.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Beartown is a novel by Swedish writer Fredrik Backman. The novel, noted as "hockey literature", centers on a declining youth hockey team in a small town. The story follows the events leading up to a violent incident involving two teenagers and the consequences that they face, the hockey players, their families, friends, and the community which has a long-standing reputation as a hockey town. It is the first book in the Beartown series, followed by Us Against You and The Winners.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.7 across 685 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 82% of the weight and the score stays at 8.5 — the Rankings average of 7.8 barely moves it.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | 8.7 | 685 | 100% |
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.