backman always spins such a good tale! Good characters that bantered back and forth and had me chuckling a few times. Ove and Beartown are still my favorites but this one will sell well too.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman has been described as a book about a bank robbery gone wrong, but really a book about idiots...

And yes, the first part of the book, which appeared to be a series of random anxious thoughts, is about seemingly idiotic statements made to the police during the robbery investigation. BUT, and this is a necessary BUT, the first half of the book beautifully sets up the story for the second half of the book.

The second half of the book has all the feels... The reader begins to understand why Backman included the seemingly unrelated stories about random people. He reveals their interconnectedness in ways you wouldn’t imagine. For me, this book was about the impact of a person and how one decision can change the trajectory of your life. Trigger warning: It’s also about suicide.

What I love about Backman’s writing are his quotable lines. He writes what people think but don’t always say. He normalizes those strands of anxious thoughts running through our minds.

When one of your favorite authors has a new book, you always think, gosh I hope I like it so I can keep loving this author. Fredrik Backman has nothing to worry about. Although this book is very different in tone (much lighter, funnier, sharper) that some of his previous books. The whole time I kept thinking it was a comedy of errors. There are so many layers to this book that are slowly revealed as the book goes on. Some of the same phrases kept repeating (as Backman has done in other books) but this didn't annoy me, I understood it was for emphasis and it was pitch perfect.

This has an unlikely cast of characters who are much more than they first seem and I really enjoyed (and was not stressed out by) the hostage situation they found themselves in together. The lighter tone of this book is what makes it successful. When compared to a book like Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Mortiarty (who I normally love but I hated that book), the characters in Anxious People are introduced and written in an enjoyable way. They formed connections with each other and revealed their personalities, backstories, and motives in a way that made sense but was also brilliant. I am always amazed at how clever writers can be and how they can take a very specific situation and make it universally understandable.

Please read this book and then read Beartown and Us Against You again. This one is not related to those but just as good (read Beartown before Us Again You because they are sequential.) I'm going to. (Side note: if you like audiobooks, all three of these Backman books are narrated by Marin Ireland, who has such a dry and unusual voice that is perfect for the writing. I didn't listen to this one, I read it, but I could still hear her voice the whole time from the other audio versions that I listened to years ago.)

Thank you to NetGalley for the copy for review. I appreciate it, even though I had bought and read it the day it came out, as all fans of Backman should do because he is worth it.

I will be in the minority with this review and I'm okay with that. I have loved many of Backman's other books. No one was more excited to for Us Against You to continue to read the story of Beartown's characters. Anxious People was no Beartown. It moved incredibly slowly, vacillating between funny and odd, without much distinction. Many readers have said this is one of their favorites of the year and encouraged me to keep going because it all came together in the end. I wanted more. I didn't want to have to wait the entire book for the coming together. Books like Where the Forest Meets the Stars and The Silent Treatment were often overlooked, but were fulfilling and cry-worthy. Anxious People didn't work for me. I applaud those you who loved it, yet it was not for me.

I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley for review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
I was actually able to get a digital edition, prior to my request being approved. I have enjoyed the authors ' prior works immensely, but this one I just didn't care for. I wish I could recommend it more highly.

Fredrick Backman is one of my favorite authors. Just the title of this one speaks to me! There is something about his writing and the way he can craft an unforgettable story and relatable characters. Anxious People is about a bank robber and a hostage situation that will make you laugh but also touch your heart. The character development is amazing for not just one character, but every single one of them. Going into the book blind is the best way to go! I loved this book so much that I own the physical copy as well.

My ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley and Atria books in exchange for an honest review.

I just finished reading this book and I just have so many feelings! It was so good! There’s quite a cast of characters to keep up with, but I loved them all. I’d love to see this book made into a movie.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for my copy of Anxious People by Fredrik Backman, it published September 8, 2020.
This was in perfect Backman form. Extremely readable, impossible to put down. Emotionally stunted folks like me will be moved to laughter and tears. I adored this, and the dedication is perfect.
Side note: My Grandma adored this too!

Anxious People was on my list of top 20 reads for the year. I have loved everything Fredrik Backman has ever written. Unfortunately, Anxious People was probably my least favorite book so far.

I will say that I was intrigued for the first quarter of the book. By the second quarter I realized that all of the characters were made to be terrible people. The most likable character was the bank robber. The characters ended up somewhat redeeming themselves the further on the story went but by that time I was kind of already over them. There were little bits of Backman humor sprinkled throughout this book but overall I just didn’t enjoy it.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for approving me to read a copy of this book!

This was probably the book I was most looking forward to reading in 2020 and it was everything I'd hoped it would be and more.

Anxious People revolves around a group of strangers thrown together after a botched bank robbery and features all of Fredrik Backman's signature touches - unforgettable characters, layered backstories and surprising connections that combine to tug at your heart. The way he wields words just slays me. I laughed, I teared up and I was sad to say goodbye to the people I'd come to love over the course of the book when it ended.

Thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books and the author for an ecopy to review.

3 middle-of-the-road stars

Unlike everyone else that is absolutely gushing about this book, I found this book to be...well perfectly fine.

I was PUMPED to read this considering every single person has been raving about this, so I probably went in with too high expectations.

But here's the thing, I have a weird relationship with Backman.

I read Ove and loved it with all my heart and soul. One of my all time favorites.

Then tried reading Britt-Marie and DNFd it, then I tried Beartown and DNFd it. Then I got My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry from the library and the library took it away before I was done and I had no interest in getting it back so yet...another DNF.

So as you can see, I loved one book and DNFd three. YET I still went into this one HYPED.

And it was fine.

But O M G, did I get annoyed with the characters. Their overly-quirkiness just got to me. I felt like I was reading a Wes Anderson movie.

Sure, I liked the way Backman interlaced everything and it was really sweet but I think my annoyance with all the characters and the repetitiveness just got in the way of my loving this.

I am clearly in the minority here as everyone else seems to love this book

Fans of Fredrik Backman rejoice! ANXIOUS PEOPLE is every bit as good as our favorite Backman novels - yes, even A MAN CALLED OVE. I can't say enough good things about this story, which will likely go on my top 5 list for the year. An intriguing premise, well-rounded characters with interesting back stories, fast-paced, funny, sensitive, gracious, and above all, compassionate. Don't miss this one.

Backman hit the mark again!
I'm a fan of his previous books and, although a bit different from some of his others, I thoroughly enjoyed. hist latest. It's a mixture of laughter and sensitivity. The outlandish plot of a bank robbery gone awry lets the author create a world that could never exist. Yet, the insight into the lives of the characters provides the sensitivities and emotions that exist in all of us.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½

Anxious People is the second Fredrik Backman book that I have read and I really liked it! I read A Man Called Ove a few years ago and although I really liked that book, I liked Anxious People more.

This book is about a hostage situation and the police investigation after the hostages are released. A bank robber was fleeing the bank and ran into an apartment while a group of strangers were viewing it. The bank robber does not intend to take hostages but everything happens so quickly and suddenly it becomes a hostage situation. After the hostages are released, the police storm the apartment and the bank robber is nowhere to be found. This story follows the investigation into what happened in the apartment and it also covers the back story of all of the people involved and what led them to the apartment viewing.

This may sound like a thriller/suspense story, but it really isn't. Backman takes a very serious and potentially scary situation and puts a comical spin on it. This book was clever, amusing and funny but also moving and poignant at the same time. I loved how all of the storylines of the different characters tied together throughout the book. I was a little worried that the story would be scattered with so many characters to track, but Backman is adept at writing character driven stories that allows you to focus on each character as he brings them to the forefront. I really liked the pockets of information that are revealed a little at a time so that you can't really guess what happened until the full picture is exposed.

Even though this book had tons of entertainment value, there are many significant layers to unpack from this story. This book touches on anxiety, depression, suicide, addiction, family, friendship, love, and second chances. I also really liked the social commentary weaved throughout this book.

Anxious People has been nominated for the opening round of the Goodreads Choice Awards 2020 and the nomination is well-deserved. This is a book I am going to be recommending to all of my friends!

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the free digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Five 100% bright, full stars.

I love everything Fredrik Backman, and so I was surprised when I was not too thrilled with the first third of this book. Much of the book is comprised of the written interviews between the police and the hostages after the fact, so it does not flow as well, but also the hostages appear to all be terrible people. I should have known better. Forgive me for doubting you, Mr. Backman!

It took me quite a while to read this book, but only because 2020 is the disaster that keeps on giving at my house. I recommend you take 2-3 days to read it all at once, because too much happens to keep track if you have to take long breaks. There is quite a group of characters involved, (not too many, just right), but a few of them are connected in ways you don't find out until later. And pay attention to the stories about the bridge.

When it's all over, you are in love with each and every one of these characters. The hostages, the policemen, the bank robber, and a few side characters. You've learned a little more about love, and you understand that laughter and a sense of humor are what will keep you together. You might start to understand how immensely difficult it is to be a parent, how you have to make impossible decisions that are not always the correct ones, and that sometimes, because you are human, you will have a very bad day.

There is a very unexpected twist in this story that caught me completely off guard, one done so well that I want to go back and read the whole thing over again. And since I had to read this book over a long period of time I want to go back and get the bridge stories all straight again. And because now I understand why the hostages all seemed like despicable people in their interviews, I want to read those over again too.

The book certainly had me in (happy) tears by the end, like all Backman books. I feel like I know and love all the characters, they are my family and friends, and I want happy endings for them all.

I give my immense gratitude to NetGalley and Atria Books for giving me an ARC for review. Here's hoping that 2021 will give us enough peace to read our ARCs on time, and that they will include perhaps another book by Fredrik Backman soon.

Totally not what I was expecting.

A character driven narrative, with twists and turns. There is a very reluctant bank robber-to-be and when attempting to rob a bank, the bank robber makes the biggest mistake a bank robber can make. So the failed bank robber runs and accidently takes an apartment of people hostage. The now hostage taker is having a very bad day, worse than the bad day they were having before they tried to rob a bank. When police come to the apartment, the bank robber has disappeared, what happened? The characters are interviewed, but all to little avail.

Things happen, mistakes are made, but sometimes we can do things that alter the path of those mistakes before they become so destructive that we can't pull back from the black hole we are facing.

If you have not read any Frederik Backman-- I am jealous of you! You have a whole, wonderful catalog to read ahead of you! Leave this review immediately and read Anxious People (or any of his other works, really)!

Anxious People is a really funny and heartwarming story of a bunch of people caught in an accidental hostage situation. Backman is amazing at pulling out our shared human weirdnesses and making them seem both funny and great. I am not even going to say much more about the plot because there are a lot of twists and turns!

Just know, you will love this book!

I have loved every Fredrik Backman book that I have read. Which makes me a little nervous to pick up his newest books, because what if I don't love them? Fortunately, there was no need to worry about that with Anxious People. I was in love from the very first page! Actually I think it was the moment on the first page when Backman describes the universal human struggle to correctly plug in a USB cord on the first try. Because that is just such a real and seemingly trivial thing, but we all can relate. Backman is able to find those moments that we can relate to, and then he writes about them with such great cleverness and beauty.

The book begins by describing what it is about: a bank robbery and a hostage situation, but mostly Backman says, it's a book about idiots. But really, more than all those things, this book is about being human and it's about our relationships with other humans. It's about looking beyond appearances and seeking to really understand our fellow humans, to have compassion and recognize the camaraderie that we all share in our humanity. Because as I mentioned above, can't we all agree that it is nearly impossible to plug in that darn USB cord correctly? If we can recognize what we do have in common, if we can stop judging based on first impressions, if we can truly listen to each other's stories and experiences, then we just might find that we have more in common with each other than we might think.

This book is full of quirky characters, and it is easy to make assumptions about all of them based on what we see when we first meet them. But Backman cleverly pulls back the curtain and reveals one by one the complexities that lie behind the first impressions. We start to understand why the characters act the way that we do, and even the most unlikeable of characters grow to be likeable by the end. As is typical of Backman, the story weaves around each of the different characters and it is not told in chronological order. Instead it is expertly pieced together to allow small and big revelations to happen at exactly the right moment from beginning to end.

I rarely highlight or take notes while reading fiction, but I wanted to highlight everything in this book. Backman writes beautifully, but he also writes with honesty and wit and humor and compassion. His descriptions of every day life and relationships are just perfection. I love every single word.

If I were to get nitpicky, I did feel like the story slowed down a bit in the last half and there may have been a few pages where I felt a little restless with it. But I don't feel like being nitpicky, because I loved everything else so much!

This book is full of hope and humor, and it just might be the most perfect book to read in this period of time right now. If social media and the current political climate have caused you to lose faith in humanity, this story will remind you of the good and the potential that exists in all of us!

WoW is all I can say! This was very interesting!
I loved it. This was a book where I found myself thinking slot.
It had me laughing, thinking. I was just an overall great book!
Highly recommend!

Although I am a fan of Fredrik Backman, this book felt too convoluted for me, as though the plot was a vehicle to get the dialogue to be cute and quirky. Not my favorite but I know loads who loved it.