If you love sport you’ll love this book; but even if you don’t you’ll probably still love this book. Backman brings Beartown and its hockey-mad personality to life through a raft of vivid characters. What is most striking is how he captures the intoxicating feeling of team loyalty and love of a sport – how obsession balances on a thin line between being motivation and violence, invigoration and danger. Although I found Backman’s tendency to drop in witty one-liners jarring within the narrative, generally it was fast-paced, and full of tension and raw human emotion.

The Scandal is an expansively written story set in a very small town.
Beartown could well be called Hockeytown, in that that's mostly all the town is about.
The first part of the story sets up the people in the town. Having read and enjoyed this author's other book, Ove, I stuck with it as I thought the story was going nowhere. Nothing seemed to be happening much. Until we got to The Scandal. After that, I realised why we needed so much prelude. I was hooked.

A small town in the forest lives and breathes ice hockey. The junior team has got to the semi finals and everyone is talking about it. A win would mean investment in the town, more jobs, a better school, hope.

The hockey team have a party and the star player is accused of rape. The fallout from the accusation reaches beyond the two families and their best friends, It affects friendships, careers, the town's prospects and causes a lot of moral soul searching.

It took a little time for the book to get going, I was concerned that the story was going to be all about ice hockey. However once the tale gets underway there was no stopping it. I tore through the second half, I felt for the parents and the girl, but also for the friends who were faced with so many dilemmas.

Terrific read!

This is a book about hockey. Only it's not about hockey, it's about everything else.

But it's about hockey.

This book will stay with me for a long while - I'm stunned, obsessed, enthralled. I have, as the teenagers say, all the feels. It is a rare book that can do that these days. This is a rare book.

I adored every single one of the characters. I felt every single one of the gamut of emotions, each one so delicately and devastatingly elicited. I felt every single bodycheck of the mind, soul and spirit like I was on a mental icerink of my own. The writing is so good, so easy and light of touch. The tone is deceptively careless and all the more effective for it. The humour is there too, subtle but a necessary balance to the darkness. The narrative has that unique and gorgeous and indefinable pull, the words so attractive that it is hard for eyes to be wrenched away. And oh, Fredrik, your turn of phrase is perfection. How can you alter my entire world with barely a shift in tone, with just a few words, you clever man.

Heart breaking, hilarious, devastating, uplifting. Hockey.

As near to perfection as a book can get, I doubt I'll read a better one this year .... or ever.

Beartown is a book about the residents of a small town, for whom everything revolves around hockey. But more specifically it is a book about morality, loyalty, sacrifice, courage, friendship, and the overwhelming power of a team (for both good and bad).

We are introduced to a huge cast of characters, and still they all seem important. The story demonstrates how all actions have consequences and small decisions can have lasting effects. Intricate details weave together to create a rich tapestry. I felt like I knew Beartown. I knew its residents and I felt for them. It was emotional and touching, but also difficult to read at times because my heart broke and my goodness did I get angry. It shows how invested I was in this book that it could evoke such genuine, raw emotions. The reason I ended up rounding this down to a 4 star rating was exactly because of those emotions. I was left angry. What happens to Maya, not just the incident but largely people's reactions and treatment of her, was harrowing and I do wish the blurb had given me a content warning so I could've gone in prepared. For those who may appreciate it - warning for rape and victim shaming.

Recommended for everyone looking for a powerful, thought-provoking read. Note the content warning for rape.

This book is in my top five reads. Not read anything else by this author, but devoured this. Definitely recommend and cannot wait to try the authors other titles *****

A fantastic and powerful read. The characters are believable and well developed, and it's full of clever, heart-wrenching detail.

Never would I have though a book based around a small town and ice hockey players would be so enjoyable! I was completely drawn into Beartown and the people who live there. The book builds the characters stories so well and I was disappointed to reach the end.
This is easily the best book I read in 2017.

I don't think I've ever read a book about hockey before, so I wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did! The book captured what a unified love for a sport can do to a town, in terms of the good things and the bad. I got swept up into their passion for hockey, and actually enjoyed the first half of the book more (before a terrible incident divides the town). The characters were developed exceptionally well, and I enjoyed learning about their relationships and back stories as they gradually unfolded. I'll look out for more books by Friedrich Backman in future, as this was a brilliant one.

This book has been published in the UK under the name of ‘The Scandal ‘and in the US under the name of ’Beartown’.
I have been given an ebook by netgally to give an honest review of this book.
I first read this book in August 2017 under the name of ‘The Scandal’ and have again read it for Netgalley.
I have read other books by the author previously and enjoyed them as quirky books to read. This book however is different, whilst it starts off as a slow read , it builds up into the most amazing read. It is at times sad and moving and other times funny and entertaining.
It is a book about ice hockey. Also, a book about moral dilemmas and what is right and what is wrong wrong. It is a book of many parts and facets.
A totally engrossing good read. Highly recommended.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Mixed feelings about Bear Town. This is a tricky book to review, as the first and second halves were totally different experiences.
The first half dragged unbearably, going deep into the minutiae of the characters and the patterns of the town, to no real effect. The pace of the second half picks up considerably, but as a result feels rushed and a little vague.
I’m not sure how much was lost in translation from the original version, but the whole novel feels as though there is something missing, or not quite right. This could be due not totally understanding the dynamics of small-town politics and the importance of hockey in Canadian/Nordic countries.
Nevertheless, the characters are well-rounded and developed, and the book, as a whole, was relatively enjoyable with an interesting climax.

The Scandal, or Beartown as it is published in the United States, is one of those books that have been everywhere these last few months - seemingly universal rave reviews have been following the book, both before and after its international release dates, and for good reason. The Scandal is very apt in its timing, coinciding with the ‘locker room talk’ of the current President of the United States and the #metoo movement, as it examines rape culture and the toxic masculinity surrounding sport; showing a culture in which sport stars are told that they deserve everything because of their success on the rink.
Unfortunately, because of this, the first third of the book was rather grating (which is the primary reason for The Scandal not receiving a 5*) as Backman explains again and again the large role that ice hockey plays in the town and, as someone who has never personally felt such fervour towards a sport (I mean, outside of looking forward to rugby days primarily for the excuse to drink cider during the day), this quickly became monotonous and boring.
Thankfully, the intensity and examinations of the majority of the book made up for the sport-orientated world-building of its beginning, as it shows how easy it is for the town to dehumanise and villainize the victim of sexual assault and how hard it is for victims to come forward, I mean, jesus christ! The greek chorus of the town, most of who have kidded themselves into thinking that they are good people, reveal their true colours to be well and truly awful and honestly, and the main character is so damn brave coming forward and facing their horrifically misplaced wrath.
The Scandal is so, so, so important, masterful in its handling of the trauma surrounding sexual assault, and one which everyone needs to read in this society where sexual violence (and its minimisation) seems to be becoming more and more commonplace.

This book was something else. And not in a good way. I suspect that if you were a fan of Fredrik Backman before and have read his other novels, you'd be a little more keyed into how his books work and his individual writing style. Whereas, this was my first time reading one of his books and it kind of threw me. I received an e-arc of this book very kindly from Netgalley and Michael Joseph, and I genuinely did want to like it, but it just didn't work. Sometimes people and books just aren't compatible and this just happened to be one of them.

I will admit, the concept of this book was interesting. It takes place in a small town- Beartown- where Hockey is king and essentially dictates the entire society. There are a whole host of characters, a huge amount that are very easily confused, and the story is focused around an event that happens that throws the entire town into turmoil. I will put a trigger warning here for sexual assault and rape.

A personal thing for me is that I don't like books that use sexual assault and/or rape as a plot device. It plays to this stereotype of teenage girls and the way the men act in this book was enough to make me feel a little sick. I understand that Backman was trying to capture the culture of masculine sports, but all it did was make me want to not keep reading this book. It was a real struggle to get through, which was disappointing because I did want to like. Moreover, Backman's prose is long-winded and takes forever to get to the point. It took 200 pages for anything to actually happen, and even the most basic action required an entire paragraph to describe, particularly connoting to their feelings.

I think a certain kind of reader would enjoy this book. Someone who likes small town dramas, who likes novels with many character perspectives. I am not that reader, and that makes me sad, because I had heard so many good things about this one. I know it's an unpopular opinion, but I didn't have a good time reading this book. Rather than making me cry, as some people seem to have done here, it just made me feel indifferent.

Really readable. I didn't think I would enjoy it when I read the blurb as I thought the ice hockey would be dull, but it is a very well written and immersive novel

I requested this from NetGalley quite a few months ago. I promptly forgot about it until I read some rave reviews recently by some blogging friends and picked it up in anticipation of a great read. Unfortunately for me the writing style, and possibly the translation, definitely made this just an okay read for me.

Like other readers I managed to get through the hockey dominated first half by telling myself that it would improve and pick up speed. It didn't get fast enough for me and was something of a let down, with only the mystery of who pulled the trigger as mentioned in the synopsis) making me keep reading until the end.

I'd recommend this if you enjoy novels set around hockey and sports.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for my digital copy.

Also known as Beartown, the Scandal is a deep and profound novel about a rundown small town that has big dreams, about ice hockey. When a young girl is the victim of a violent act, the town plunges into turmoil. This is a literary thriller that will engross the reader, compelling characters and an atmospheric setting that will linger long after the last page has been turned.

This book was very different to other Fredrik Bakman books I have read. and like those, I enjoyed it very much, it had suspense and was fascinating. It starts with a dramatic opening that will keep you engrossed until the end of the book. A teenager picks up a double barrelled shotgun, goes to the forest and points it at someone's head. The story is set in Beartown, Sweden and is about an ice hockey community. Getting to understand any fanatical sport's people is not easy for me but this book is believable and I learnt a lot about the sport in a way I never expected. The characters of the book are a real mixture and you can see the diversity of the town. The plot is gripping without unnecessary 'drama'. In some ways it is sad to think life can be like this. Cant wait for the next book by Fredrik Backman.

BRILLIANT! STORYTELLING AT ITS BEST:
Having written "A Man Called Ove", a bestseller which I have to admit I own but haven't found the time to read, Fredrick Backman is an accomplished author.
"The Scandal" is an exceptional tale set in Beartown: a town which lives and breathes Ice Hockey. Otherwise it has little going for it. It is a town in decline: population, employment and opportunity.
The Scandal is about one month in the town's history when the Junior Hockey Team reach the semi-final of a national competition. Success could bring regeneration. Failure condemn the town to oblivion.
The hockey team depends on one star player, Kevin, to create and score goals. Kevin in turn relies on his best friend, Benji, to protect him whilst he produces that streak of genius to score a goal.
The tale focuses on the mind-set of a team on the brink of success as it wrestles with a serious allegation against its main star, Kevin. Whilst the story features a Hockey team in reality it could be any sporting team. The allegation against Kevin may have implications for the Junior Team's chances of success in the national competition.
Beartown is a town where everyone's measure is taken by the contribution they make to the town's Ice Hockey Club.
This is a tale of tragedy, ambition, camaraderie, deceit, betrayal, class, devotion and revenge. The novel, like the sport, takes few prisoners and is not short of violence on and off the rink.
The story is narrated in a unique style: sometimes seeming repetitive at times but this is deliberate. The author is reinforcing facts in the readers mind.
The novel primarily deals with the crime of rape and its repercussions. This is "The Scandal" of the title. A rape which takes place in a small, closed community sees a town divided in opinion as to who is telling the truth. Indeed some inhabitants have a loose definition as to what the word itself means.
Backman poses the moral question: what happens to the truth when it may be detrimental to a town or community itself. For Beartown read "AnyTown". Anywhere.
This novel is unlike any other I've read in 2017, simply a class act. It deserves to be widely read as it has a strong moral core. So different, so brilliant.
This is the first novel I've read by Fredrick Backman, but I can't wait to get started on "A Man Called Ove".

A small town in northern Sweden. There is not much that connects the people in Beartown, it is too small and too insignificant to be known beyond the town’s limits. Yet, when the junior hockey boys win the semi-finals, for the first time in history, something big can happen. Beartown has always been a hockey town, if you don’t play, you are nobody. If you are not connected somehow with the local club, you are an outsider. Peter is the manager of the club and of course his wife Kira and their kids Maya and Leo also have to live for the club. Coach David has raised a generation of winners and with this junior team, they can finally pick the fruits of many years of hard work. But one evening will change everything, old friendships and loyalties will be tested, values will be questioned. The town will never be the same when the scandal comes to light.

I have read novels by Fredrik Backman before and really like his style and his eye for the detail in creating singular characters. However, “The Scandal” is so much more than interesting characters at a crucial moment of their life, it is the portrait of a community, the study of an average small town and the way these places work and how the individual is just a small cog in the machine. Admittedly, I also wouldn’t ever have imagined that a novel about ice hockey could be interesting, but it is.

First of all, the structure of the novel is full of suspense. You get to know the small town, all the important people, logically connected to the club, yet, the narrator warns you quite early that something is about to change everything, that things are not going to stay the way they are.

We have the kids, the boys playing hockey, friendships based on doing sports together, on being in a team, on standing in for one another. We have the girls who only play a minor role in the public opinion since they do not play hockey, there is no girls team, they are just a reward for the successful player, an accessory to decorate oneself with. We have the functional and the dysfunctional families, the rich and the poor, the local heroes and prestigious and the outsiders whom everybody ignores. Beartown is just like any small town anywhere in the world.

When the scandal finally becomes known, people have to take sides and have to admit to their values: is winning with the club more important than the individual’s fate? Whose side do you take, whom do you believe? What are you willing to give up and risk for a hockey team? Many are ready to forget long-time friendships, to forget their ideals, to place success before justice. It is impressive how Backman traces the development of the mood in town, how the machine finally starts and how opinions are formed.

Actually, it is not a novel about hockey. It is a novel about you and me and the question what is important in life and what you are willing to do to defend your principles or to be successful.

Small Towns Do It For Me
I’ve already talked about how I love stories about small towns. They fascinate me. The atmosphere of small towns is something I adore and I find it fascinating how everyone always knows everyone else and all the residents are in some way connected. I think small town stories offer so much room for exploration of different kinds of relationships and interactions.

This was the case with Beartown. There’s an incredible cast of characters here and they are all very interconnected. It’s a story that offers you a ton of different people and manages to make them all very nuanced and fleshed out. I appreciated all of the characters in here, since they were all so very well done.

Not Everything is Black and White
Backman’s characters are really flawed. None of them are perfect. Some are bad people, some are good, but ultimately, they are all human, and they are all very flawed. A lot of mistakes made here, a lot of irritating decisions, but it was all so well done. I think that it’s a true testament of writing skill when a writer manages to create subtle and nuanced characters who feel so very real.

I loved Kira a lot
Kira is the mother of a girl who goes through this horrible experience and she was possibly my favorite character, although I liked all of them. The reason I want to talk about her is because I think she is a spectacular female character. I have talked previously how I struggle with female characters written by men. Turns out I was just reading the wrong male writers. Kira is an incredibly well done character, and Backman managed to capture her so well. She struggles with her need for a career and the fact that she wants to spend time with her kids. She is a really capable and successful woman. She makes sacrifices for her family. She is fierce. I just loved her and I am so pleasantly surprised by that fact.

And the rest of the characters are spectacular as well. I really loved Benjamin, he was such a wonderfully written character, and probably my second favorite.

Sports Everywhere
I loved how hockey was handled in this. I loved all the talk about it, the sense of comradery and community. The team spirit and the coach-players dynamic was so well done. I am not a huge sports fan, but I loved every bit of that aspect of the book. Hell, I might even start watching hockey. It’s so persuasive and detailed and just, again, so well done.

Finally, The Big Issue
As I’ve said previously, this book deals heavily with rape. It’s the catalyst for the whole story and the whole disintegration of the town. And it was handled so well.
The author discusses rape culture and victim blaming and does such a good job at talking about these issues.

And he manages so well to capture it all. The privilege, the slut shaming, the way we respond to this, by looking away, by ignoring, by turning it towards the victim (who must have done something wrong), the apologetic attitude we assume when the perpetrator is someone we know and admire. There’s so much stuff that’s talked about in here. Virtually every topic around rape is explored here and done justice and just handled masterfully.

But the main thing that Backman manages to do is express feelings so well. From guilt that everyone feels somehow (the parents, the best friend, the teammates), over anger that also everyone feels (the girl, the parents, the best friend) and to hopelessness that all of them end up with, it’s all just portrayed so honestly and laid bare. I LOVED IT.

Overall, I am in love with this book and everything it managed to do. Go read it, buy it for your friends, give it as a gift. It should be read widely.