Fredrik Backman's writing first captured me with My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry, and I've since read nearly all of his work and am equally enamored with each moving piece of fiction.

His latest novel, Anxious People, is due out September 8, 2020 from Atria Books. Net Galley and Atria Books provided me with an advanced copy such that I could review it, and I'm incredibly grateful they did. I was absolutely riveted, from the first page to the last. 

A bank robber. An apartment showing. An act of desperation. These components combine to create the potential for chaos and have the capacity to change the life of every person involved.

I finished this novel within 24 hours of beginning it, and stayed up past midnight reading. It's one of those rare novels where the plot and the characters are equally engaging and engrossing, where you simply must read just one more chapter, just one more page, just one more paragraph (or, if you're like me, you tell yourself this is the last chapter for several in a row and only put it down when your eyelids start sticking together for want of sleep!).

From the first page, the plot is absolutely riveting. With increasingly higher stakes and a decreasing probability for ending well for all, the tension steadily builds as you try solve the mystery and hope for the best while fearing the worse. It's a roller coaster ride of a novel, but incredibly well paced and thought provoking.

Told with a third person omniscient narrator, the story unfurls like a plume of smoke: it twists this way and that, flashes back and then returns to the present, and is interspersed with the police interviews of the hostages to both illuminate character's inner workings and keep the reader engaged. The storytelling mastery is evident as the police interviews, which could easily be dull and dry, are just as absorbing as the hostage situation itself.

What drives someone to do something desperate? How can one act of tragedy spiderweb out and touch many lives? Does doing the wrong thing for the right reason change how wrong it is? Anxious People explores these and more moral quandaries, in a thought provoking but not laborious way. Though the subject matter is, in general, a bit heavy, it is told with care and delicacy. At the same time, the small bits of humor in everyday life are not lost and hold even more value in the events of the novel.

Fredrik Backman's characters are always memorable, and this is no exception. From the bank robber to the real estate agent to the other hostages to the police officers, every character is thoroughly developed and their character is gradually revealed. We are reminded that each person we meet is the culmination of their experiences and desires of who they wish to be, and that each and every person we meet has their own unique motivations and stories that make up who they are. While jumping to conclusions is easy, it is worth listening a little longer to see if just perhaps someone is more than they seem.

Anxious People is one of those novels that will stay with you, long after you've finished it. It is one you'll want to return to again and again, to look for clues you may have missed and subtle foreshadowing to further illuminate the events. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and look forward to going back and reading it again.

As I have seen other reviewers note, I did not know what to expect going into this book. But, I do know I have very much enjoyed the other books I have read by Backman. Anxious People was no exception, however it did take some time for me to enjoy. Overall, I would rate this 3.5 stars but have rounded up for this review.

For about the first quarter of the book I was just not enjoying it. I didn’t care for the police interviews, and was thrown off by much of them because it felt like they were going nowhere. It felt slow and came off trying too hard to be funny (or maybe I just didn’t find it funny).

But...after that point it just got better and better. There were parts I really loved, moments and characters I so connected with. The slow revealing of these characters and their respective stories was ultimately satisfying it just took some time to get there. Backman always excels at this, creating characters that stay with the reader.

I think it might be best to go into this book not knowing more than is described in the book description as it can give away so much of what is beautiful about it but I also think the description could be misleading - I know I went in thinking this would be something very different.

So many thanks to the publishers for this copy to review.

Unfortunately Backman is just not the author for me. This book’s premise sounded good so I tried it but it didn’t work for me. But plenty of other readers love him so my opinion is in the minority.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This was a fun book about “idiots”. We all have our issues and Backman weaves together the connections of everyday people in this witty, heartfelt novel.

I really didn't know what to expect from this book just from the title; I just knew Backman is a genius. I was up until 3am reading this and at several points I was laughing out loud and by the end I was sobbing and couldn't stop. Funny, heartbreaking and everything in between.

My best summary is this book is about people. Hilarious, broken, inept, kind people. I loved the interrogations of the hostages - I was rolling in laughter at some of these folks! The humor helps balance out the heartbreak and despair, because that is there, too.

I did not figure out what happened until Backman revealed it, so there were surprises right up until the end. The mystery is good, but the heart of this book is the people. And life, and how it can break you sometimes.

This book gave me anxiety at times while reading! The story was cute but the way it went back and forth was hard to keep up with at times. Though I felt this was Backman’s intentions don’t I kept reading though because I was interested in seeing how it would end. The way it was written made me feel like I was one of the hostages trying to figure out what was going on and what my next move was going to be. I’ve enjoyed several of Backman’s other stories so I was so glad when I received this copy to read

It took me a while to get used to this.  This is the first full Frederik Backman I've read, and the style was just so hard for me to follow for the first half.  I've tried to read Frederick Backman before and haven't been successful, so I'm wondering if perhaps he takes some getting used to.

This is a tough one to rate because it's hard to say I "enjoyed" it for much of the story because these characters - literally all of them - were truly so awful to other people around them.  That was hard to "watch." BUT, the commentary these characters brought forth on the state of humans today was so spot on.  From social media to online dating, to how we treat and view other people in general, I almost feel like I'm looking at people a little differently now, as silly as that sounds. While I can’t say I’ve behaved in the wildly unpleasant ways many of these characters did to one another, it did highlight how all the hundreds of big and little things every day put us on edge to the extent that we don’t know how to just “be” anymore.  So many of these characters were so desperately trying to fill the holes in their lives (or what they perceived to be holes) and I can absolutely relate to that.

So ultimately this gets four stars from me because while at times it wasn't "enjoyable," it was completely 100% intuitive, creative, and realistic about the way people are today.

I finished this one with tears in my eyes. I rarely read books like this - I enjoy plot-driven novels, and this is more character-driven. Overall, this book is about the human experience. It winds and spirals through the lives of multiple people held hostage after a failed bank robbery - but trust me, it’s not what you think. Each of the characters’ lives intertwines with another’s in an unexpected way, and there are several twists in this book that made my jaw drop. It’s a story of pain, redemption, love, kindness, and the human condition. I recommend it - but only when you’re feeling emotionally stable!

“This was a story about many different things, but most of all about idiots. Because we’re doing the best we can, we really are. We’re trying to be grown-up and love each other and understand how the hell you’re supposed to insert USB leads. We are looking for something to cling onto, something to fight for, something to look forward to. We’re doing all we can to teach our children how to swim”.

Love Fredrik Backman? Long time fan?
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His stories ... in the most raw sense of the word....are about humanity!

“How do you manage to have such a long marriage? she asked”.
“You fight for it, Estelle replied honestly”.
“Julia didn’t seem to like that quite as much”.
“That doesn’t sound very romantic”.
“Estelle grinned knowingly.
“You have to listen to each other all the time. But not ‘all’ the time. If you listen to each other ‘all’ the time, there’s a risk that you can’t forgive each other afterward”.

“And that’s the weirdest thing about being someone’s parent. Not just a bank robber parent, but any parent: that you are loved in spite of everything that you are. Even astonishingly late in life, people seem incapable of considering that their parents might not be super- smart and really funny and immortal. Perhaps there’s a biological reason for that, that up to a certain age a child loves you unconditionally and hopelessly for one single reason: you’re theirs. Which is a pretty smart move on biology’s heart, you have to give it that”.

Fredrik Backman has an exceptional keen eye ...
a brilliant light touch... for the way that tragic, comic, and tenderness mingle together.

This book reminded me of how short life really is. During our journey we see changes, possibly the truth,
hopefully love, and an openness for reconciliation.

...Touching and relatable ....
...Beautiful, quirky, playful, compelling, urgent, funny,
and compassionate.

Thank you Atria Books, Netgalley, and Fredrik Backman

ANXIOUS PEOPLE
BY FREDRIK BACKMAN

I have read all of Fredrik Backman's books and have loved every one of them. "Anxious People," his latest novel does not disappoint either. At first I thought I wasn't going to like this one but the more I read, the more I became enchanted again with his writing. He can take a plot that seems like pure satire and through his character's interpersonal relationship's breathe pure love of humanity so that he makes a true believer out of me that his plot could happen. He writes with a philosophical style in his latest narrative. He was really able to transform me by his tender renderings of each character who treat each other in the end with so much love.

I went from thinking I was not going to like this one to loving it. He writes the absurd happenings and can turn the tables of suspended belief into making me a true believer. There are not that many writer's who can turn the ludicrous plot into making it seem from being preposterous into making me willing to automatically believing that he is really writing about reality and life.

"The truth? The truth about all this? The truth is that this was a story about many different
things, but most of all about idiots. Because we're doing the best we can, we really are.
We're trying to be grown-up and love each other and understand how the hell you're
supposed to insert USB-leads. We're looking for something to cling onto, something to
fight for, something to look forward to. We're doing all we can to teach our children how
to swim. We have all of this in common, yet most of us remain strangers, we never know
what we do to each other, how your life is affected by mine. Perhaps we hurried past each
other in a crowd today, and neither of us noticed, and the fibers of your coat brushed against
mine for a single moment and then we were gone. I don't know who you are. But when you
get home this evening, when this day is over and the night takes us, allow yourself a deep
breath. Because we made it through this day as well. There'll be another one along tomorrow."

I am so enchanted by Fredrik Backman's writing. He has the power to make me believe that this world is a better place, especially in these difficult times. What more can you ask for when you curl up with a great novel? I highly recommend this book as well as all of his previous work if you have not had the pleasure to discover this very talented author.

Publication Date: September 8, 2020

A special thanks to Net Galley, Fredrik Backman and Atria Publishing for generously providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#AnxiousPeople #FredrikBackman #AtriaPublishing #NetGalley

I am glad that I got to read this book early. It was funny and sad. Simple and complex. I enjoyed finding out more as the story went along and how everything was tied together. I will encourage patrons to read it if/when I am back to work at my library. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

There are hardly appropriate words to describe how much I love this book. It’s hilarious, it’s heartbreaking, it’s profound. If I start copying sentences while reading, I know a book is special, and I did it multiple times with this book. I loved the crazy, sad, weird bunch of “hostages” , and Backman writes in a way that is so real and relatable. This is truly one of the best, most moving books I have ever read. I can’t wait to recommend it to patrons.

I'm a firm believer in how a book will almost magically find its way into your hands at the exact right moment and when it does it can be an extremely powerful reading experience. That was the case for me with Anxious People. The message of the story is something I desperately needed to hear right now. Will everyone be a weepy mess like I was when I finished the book? Probably not, but I do think it is going to hit home with quite a few people. While this was my first book I have read by this much loved author, it certainly won't be my last.

The premise sounds fairly simple but yet the author created a complex tale. A bank robber holds a group of people hostage in an apartment building. After a standoff the hostages are released. Police enter the apartment but they can't find the bank robber. What happened? Well, police conduct interviews with the witnesses to get answers.

The author has a bit of a quirky writing style which took me a few chapters to get used to but I did grow to love it. I think a story like this could have gotten out of hand and over the top very easily but the author did a nice job staying in bounds. It wasn't too much of a stretch of my imagination to believe in the characters and plot. There's heart to the story which was a nice balance to the humorous parts.

While some readers are big on underlining quotes or marking them to read again later in books, I rarely do it. Maybe once a month or so I find a line that sticks with me and I want to revisit it later. With this book, I have six pages in which I doggy eared the page so I could go back and read the parts that strongly resonated with me. What I find amazing about this story is there's enough here in which each reader might pull something different from it. If you are asking each reader what was the message of the story the answers could vary. I found myself reflecting on my life while reading the book and when you have the opportunity to do that, it's often a meaningful reading experience which was the case here.

Thank you to Atria Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!

"Anxious People" is a new book from the seasoned author, Fredrik Backman. The novel tells the tale of a botched bank robbery that turns into an odd hostage situation. The bandit just needs money to save his personal life and the hostages happened to be at a nearby apartment which becomes the thief's escape route.

Backman has delivered another outstanding novel in the form of "Anxious People." With a diverse cast of characters being held hostage, tensions are high but hysterical. Backman's writing is witty, comical and endearing. The characters are well developed throughout the story and the dialogue is extremely engaging. Backman crafts a tale that will have readers thinking about the importance of connection and community while enjoying some laughs along the way. With themes like family and friendships, this unforgettable book has solidified that Backman should be an "auto-buy" author.

Please note: Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Backman has written another quirky, funny story about many disparate people and events which converge in Swedish town near New Year's. Some of the characters are a father and son police duo, a gay couple looking for a home for their growing family, an elderly widow, a man in a rabbit head, and a suicidal man on a bridge. Classic Frederik Backman!

Breathtaking!

Fredrik Backman never disappoints. Backman fills this novel with a cast of eccentric, lovable characters and a plot that keeps you guessing until the end.

The story is set around a bank robber, an apartment viewing, two policemen, and the potential buyers who have come to view said apartment. Seems simple enough, but in typical Backman style, things are not always as they seem.

Backman excels in character development and dialogue; I found something to empathize with in every single character and just as in "A Man Called Ove," I loved all of them. The story is filled with rich, evocative prose, lovely literary references, and beautifully turned phrases.

I don't want to say much more here because I don't want to reveal one single spoiler, and there are many. If you loved Ove, you will love this novel.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I have been excited to read this book for a looooong time and let me say (once again) Fredrick Backman knocked it out of the park with Anxious People! There is just something about Backman’s writing that immediately draws you in! The storyline has many dimensions/layers and I enjoyed that the story is told from many character perspectives. As per usual, with all of Fredrik Backman’s novel not every character is initially what they seem and he’s a master at conveying that throughout the book! I love a book that makes you think introspectively and this 5+++ star novel most definitely had me thinking way after I finished the last page. Anxious People is a 2020 favorite for me and I already see a re-read of it in my near future!! If you’re wondering what your next book club selection should be, I highly recommend Anxious People—this is a book you can discuss for hours lol!!!

I have read almost all of Fredrik Blackman's prior novels and have loved them all. Anxious People was different from anything that he had previously written in my opinion. It was brilliant and yet so quirky in both the writing and the plot. This story was most definitely character driven and even though each character was uniquely different they all found a connection with one another. Blackman was able to put the most unlikely people together and have them be rewarded with the gifts of self discovery, human compassion, forgiveness, love, friendship, coming to terms with grief, loneliness and even trauma. I was so excited to read Anxious People and I was not disappointed.

As I already stated, the plot was brilliant. Who thinks to base their book on a bank robbery that took place in a cashless bank, about bridges, hostages and idiots? Fredrik Blackman was able to weave an outstanding plot around all those things. The unfortunate but desperate bank robber chose the wrong bank to rob. The amount the bank robber wanted was quite specific. It was not an enormous amount of money. The amount was just enough to pay a month's rent but no matter how much or little the bank robber intended to take it was useless in a cashless bank. Faced with being caught by the police, the bank robber escaped the bank and found refuge in an apartment building across the street from the bank. The bank robber took the steps in the apartment building looking for an exit. The higher the bank robber climbed the stairs the more it became evident that there was no other way out of the building. Quite by accident, the bank robber noticed that an apartment door was open. With no apparent choice left, the bank robber entered the apartment to find that it was being viewed by potential buyers. The bank robber, still wearing a face mask and holding a gun, joined the group of perspective buyers. All of a sudden, there was a hostage situation. Could it be described as a hostage situation in the true sense of the word, though?

All the characters in Anxious People were so real. I loved how they all fit together and had connections even if those connections did not come together all at once. Some of the characters were even comical like the Rabbit hostage. Some were definitely easy to relate to, and yet complex like elderly Estelle or pregnant Julia and her fiance Ro. I laughed out loud at some parts, rolled my eyes at other parts, and even cried. This was one of the best novels I have read in a long time. The human connection was what made it so real for me. The themes of suicide, metal illness and death were apparent throughout the novel and yet it wasn't at all depressing. Finding hope, having someone to talk to and working through difficult situations in life is key.

I would highly recommend Anxious People by Fredrik Blackman. My rating is 4.5 stars. It is set to be publish on September 8, 2020. I received a complimentary digital version of this book from Atria Books through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

ANXIOUS PEOPLE by Frederik Backman
A theme of ANXIOUS PEOPLE is that people are idiots doing the best we can.
I’m grateful to be one of the idiots lucky enough to read this book. I still won’t remember all my passwords---but I will always remember this book.
The world’s least likely group of people are held hostage, after a failed bank robbery the day before New Year’s Eve, at an open house for an apartment for sale. That group, and those involved in investigating the events of the day, are the core of the book. Their stories are sort of like people; sweet, inspiring, implausible, hilarious, frustrating, not quite what they seem.
Fun topics include: financial failure, divorce, loss of job, death by suicide, loneliness, addiction, cancer, family fissures, and infidelity. In Backman’s hands, those stories make you laugh as much as they make you cry.
And the way he tells the story: so the idiots reading get it.
Who’d think you would read a book and come out cheering for the bank robber/hostage taker? (Did you ever consider the toll moneyless banks must have taken on the bank robbery business?)
I am in love with the characters; I’ll mention three.
Banker Zara is one of my favorite new characters. She is judgmental, self-absorbed, unfiltered, unkind, and hilarious. She goes to apartment sales as a hobby, largely to mock the lives of those who live in those apartments. She tells her therapist she has cancer just to prove how people will believe anything.
Are there uncomplicated mother/daughter relationships?
Married couple Julia and Ro are nervous about their relationship, and the birth of their first child. Julia’s mother asks her how they decided which of the couple should carry the child. An annoyed Julia says we played rock, paper, scissors. The mother asked who won.
During labor, Julia squeezed Ro’s hand so hard that both Moms needed pain killers, one before the birth and one after.
If you are a reader notes of a passage you want to remember, you might find this book exhausting. To say it is a charming read downplays how smart and how funny it is. This book is a treat to read.

This ARC was provided by ATRIA BOOKS via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

"All we’ve managed to find out about the boundaries of the universe is that it hasn’t got any,"

Backman really knows how to write. He has a particular style and it might not resonate with you but his books have so much heart that it's not possible to not love his people by the time you finish his books.

This book is no exception.

This is the story of a bank robber who ends up having to run away from the robbery and ends up taking a bunch of people at an open house hostage. Backman tells you that part from the very beginning.

As it seems common in his books, the characters don't seem all that lovable on the surface. Some are downright annoying. And yet, as he often does, he slowly unwinds the story to show you how we are all connected to each other with invisible strings that tie together all of humanity. How we are each only a handful of steps removed from each others' lives.

How each of us is struggling and striving to make a life for ourselves in different ways and coping with loss, grief, fear and anxiety.

"But she found ways to cope, to tunnel her way out of herself, to climb down. Some people accept that they will never be free of their anxiety, they just learn to carry it. She tried to be one of them."

As is always the case, you can't help but fall in love with each of his characters and they, of course, fall in love with each other too. Each other's humanity. Each other's frailty. Each other's flaws. They see the beauty of each other and help each other. And in return they end up less alone, and more healed.

As if all that wouldn't be enough, the writing in the book is also so beautiful:
"the sky doesn’t seem to bother even attempting to impress us, it greets us with the color of newspaper in a puddle, and dawn leaves behind it a fog as if someone has been setting fire to ghosts."

And here's the other magical thing about Backman: he leaves no loose ends. Everything ties up in this book, even the things you didn't remember, he does. Everything comes full circle. There are surprises, sadness, happiness and of course hope. So much hope.

I cried big, fat tears as I finished this one. I am so so grateful I got to read it, especially in the middle of all that is going on in the world right now, I needed a book with this much hope and heart in my life. Thank you, Frederik Backman.

with gratitude to netgalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review