Beartown and Hed are at it again, with hockey at its center, but so much more underneath the surface. The Winners has an element of criminal activity where a local reporter is digging into the Beartown hockey club's finances. I thought this was an interesting deviation in the storyline and one that I was personally invested in, being that I work in financial fraud. Along with this storyline, we have Maya and Benji returning from being gone for two years, a new player being recruited to the team, Amat struggling emotionally after losing out on his chance for the NHL, Peter having a mid-life crisis now that he no longer works with Beartown hockey, a kid named Matteo wandering around in a snowstorm and sneaking into people's houses. There's A LOT going on. It is hard to keep it all straight at times, but Backman ends up tying all the loose ends together in a final, dramatic crescendo.

What holds me back from giving this book five stars is the length. We are talking over 600 pages, much of which could be cut out because it was repetitive from the first and second books. Personally, I prefer standalone books to series and that may play into my thoughts on this, but it could have easily been 200-300 pages shorter. I also could have done without the series in general. Beartown is an amazing standalone story. I enjoyed Us Against You and The Winners, but I did not feel like they were necessary to keep the story of these towns going.

Which book in the Beartown series is better? My vote is still, and always will be, the first book, Beartown. Nothing tops that initial story of heart and hockey. The book where I fell in love with Benji and Amat and this little town hidden away in the forest.

This is the third in the Beartown trilogy about the lives of residents in two rival communities where hockey rules. Although I hadn’t read the first two, I did not feel at a disadvantage reading The Winners.

Beautifully written, it explores the connections among people within a community, traversing the full range of human emotions and behaviors.

A long book, the writing style and thought provoking prose do not allow for a fast read. That is not a negative. The reader will want to ponder many of the ideas expressed in this deeply affecting tome. It is a story that will stay with me for quite a while.

A five star read.

He didn’t want to write this book but readers begged for more. He wanted to leave things where they stood. Hadn’t enough happened? Hadn’t there been enough pain and heartbreak? But Backman gives readers what they’ve asked for. And once he started, it was obvious Backman was as reticent to leave Beartown as us readers. It can be seen in the length of the book, the lingering attention to detail, and an overall feeling of melancholy. Instead of being written, it is as though the words are being pulled from him against his will. Backman is a reluctant story teller. He doesn’t want to tell us what has happened because some of it’s not good. Instead, Backman steels himself and the readers through a long lead up, getting us reacquainted with the characters, and some heavy foreshadowing. I am normally not a fan of this approach but I felt it added to the overall mood of the story and the book is crowded. There are so many characters and so many plots that a good foundation is a comfort.

As is always the case with Backman, the writing is exquisite, almost poetic at times. Chapter 104 reads like the scene in the Hamilton musical where the bullet slowly travels across the stage from the gun to kill Hamilton (that’s not a spoiler - it’s history). Slow and exquisitely torturous. It’s hard to read while crying. Before I started reading, I posted on social media “send tissues and hot chocolate.” I stand by that statement. Stock up, cuddle up, and dig in! You’re going to need it to get through this heart wringer of a book. Sure, it is too long, but it is hard to say goodbye to good friends, and Backman wants to do right by the characters and the readers.

I have loved everything I have read by this author, he has such a magical way with words. I enjoyed the town rivalries over hockey. I enjoyed how the sport became such an integral part of the town and the way of life.

The final book in the Beartown series is just what you expect it to be - it is nuanced and incredibly emotional and I loved the time I spent with it. The final 10% of the book is emotionally devastating, and I loved it. I think Backman writes incredibly human stories, and that's what I most appreciate about this series. The only thing that does not fully work here is the pacing (the book is really long and drags in certain parts), but I still really enjoyed it, given how attached I am to the story and the characters. I also really loved all the new characters in here. Could not recommend this series enough, and I think this is a worthy conclusion.

The end of an Era! Beartown is one of my favorite series of all time and I've been excited for this but also didn't want it to end. What can I say except for that Backman always hits it out of the park and I always enjoy reading his stories. Beartown will always hold a special place in my reading heart and I will always always recommend this series!!

I didn't possibly think a book could wreck me more than Us Against You did, but I was so wrong. This book left me ugly crying on my front porch for at last the last 30 minutes of reading. I'm not even mad about it. This book makes you feel ever emotion and these characters terse are so so easy to love. This was the perfect ending to my favorite series and I'm sad that it's over and sad I don't get to read it again for the first time. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The brilliance of Fredrik Backman’s writing is his ability to captivate an audience and write about the human condition. I fell in love with Ove and there hasn’t been a book of his I haven’t enjoyed, “The Winners” included. I would definitely recommend reading the first two in the series before picking this up. There is a bit of a recap at the beginning of this book, but the series is worth your time as is the length of this installment. I’ve read books that were much shorter, but felt longer when reading, if that makes sense. Pick this one up, but read the previous two books! No spoilers here as Backman’s books are best when going into blind. Check trigger warnings when starting the series. The Winners is a winner…it’s excellent! Completely atmospheric, absorbing, and everything you expect from this writer. 4/5 stars!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

One of the ways I judge a book, is if I can’t stop thinking about it throughout my day. September is a busy month as a kindergarten teacher and I often don’t read much for the first month of school. The Winners had me watching the clock, waiting for the workday to end so I could get back to reading. This book was long, but the characters and book were so complex that the slow build to the ending was necessary. I am sad to see t he Beartown series end, but it will go down as one of my favorites.

Fredrik Backman, you magnificent bastard. How dare you.

How dare you write this masterpiece of a trilogy?
How dare you be so observant of human nature, it feels like you can see into our very souls?
How dare you write so eloquently, yet so simply, about what it means to be lonely, to be loved, to be afraid, to be brave, to be invisible, to be understood, to be part of a community, to be part of a family, to be part of a team, to be part of a movement?
How dare you create these characters, these beautifully flawed characters, these brave and stupid characters, these kind and violent characters, these characters who love and who hate with equal passion, these characters who will crawl slowly into your heart only to break it into a million pieces?
How dare you make me laugh in the midst of my tears? So many tears. Oh so many.
How dare you tell us on page one what will happen yet tell the story in such a way that the tension only builds and builds and builds and when The Terrible Thing happens it is no less impactful for having known it was coming?
How dare you write 1568 pages about this town and these people and leave me still wanting more?

Bravo.

Thank you to Atria books and Ariele Fredman Stewart for the advanced review copy.

CW: Violence, sexual violence, stalking, gun violence, drug use, alcoholism, homophobia including slurs, misogyny, death of an animal, death of a child, child abuse

The Winners has probably been one of my top two or three anticipated books for the whole year, and what a ride! I laughed, I cried - well, mostly cried to be honest. I loved revisiting all my favorite characters from Maya and Benji to Ana and Ramona and Amat.

Their stories round out the Beartown trilogy with Backman’s unique understanding and compassion for human behavior and what separates us and what has the power to bring us together. In a tiny forest town of Sweden, that something is hockey- a game my husband, my sons and I have loved and fully embraced for years.

I don’t want to give too much away for those who have this on their TBR but the characters and their stories are well rounded out and their futures solidified. Yes it is full of heartbreak. You’ll expect that if you’ve read Beartown and Us Against You. But it’s also brimming with warm and tender moments. Yes, this one’s a chunk of a doorstop, but it’s well worth the time and tissues.

Thank you so much to @atriabooks and @netgalley for the eARC that allowed me to speed through the novel!

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Hands down the best of the Beartown trilogy. By a lot.

A tale of two towns!

How does Backman do it! He’s genius, he’s sneaky—slippery even! The eternal war between Beartown and Hed . The story of lives told through hockey. You wade in with the two towns forced to pick a side, a winner, but you can’t choose. Everyone has a story, everyone’s legitimate
It started with Benji and Maya, Ana and Kevin. It’s now came full circle.
In the beginning we are given clues, “Boys like Benji die young. They die violently.”
Even though I knew it was coming, I just sobbed at the ending. Fredrik Backman you’ve wrung me out! I sobbed for them all. I rejoiced where appropriate. We came for the ride at the beginning, and just hung on through the saga, hung on for everyone’s story. There’s a host of characters remembered, appreciated or not, roles changing as the towns go on, and there’s some new characters with heart.
There’s a new coach who’s brilliant, yet has trouble connecting on an emotional level with her players. Yet she brings what players need. It’s alchemy, and it’s undefined.
Then there’s Matteo, unnoticed and unappreciated. And a new force, Lev the stranger who has a scrapyard outside of Hed. “…He chose to settle down in this forest because the people here are also survivors, and not that much less dangerous than he.”
Forest people in forest towns! The forest—so magnificent! “First and foremost we are forest folk.” The forest is in the background exerting its pressure on the people it surrounds.
Throughout this final to the saga I was buoyed, downcast, angry and sad and then redemption is given in small and large ways, leading to renewal. Such an amazing and heartfelt read!

A Atria Books Invitation ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change

A lot of time has passed since the tragic events of Beartown. Maya Andersson and Benji Ovich have left the village to start a new life somewhere else, the rest of the inhabitants has found a way of either forgetting or ignoring. But now they are threatened by a storm and a fateful series of events brings people home, opens up old wounds and creates new ones. Beartown as its rival village of Hed will never be the same again, they all will have changed and one person’s life especially will be determined by the events of only a very short time.

I have read almost all novels by Fredrik Backman and yet, I am overwhelmed each time and even though I am all but prone to extreme emotion, I can’t help crying while reading his stories. From the first two books settled in the Swedish village of Beartown, I knew what to expect from “The Winners” and was somehow prepared, but nevertheless, the author managed to trigger something in me.

Maybe it is the characters who are the most normal people one can imagine, who have their good and caring sides as well as the others which would much rather be hidden. Maybe it is the setting in an unknown village somewhere in the forest which nobody has ever heard of. It is the maximum of normalcy that we encounter in this trilogy and that makes you feel at home and bond with the characters immediately.

Backman’s masterful foreshadowing gives a glimpse in what is to come, it only hints at the upcoming tragedies and thus raises suspense which keeps you reading on, unable to put the book aside. You know that something really dreadful, horrible is waiting at the end and yet, just like life goes on you continue until you reach that moment where you are hit with a hammer.

I am lacking the words to adequately convey what the novel did to me, to describe the experience of reading and after the last page, of leaving this wonderful story. Backman is an exceptional author and his Beartown series is an exceptional read.

Bachman writes from the outside in and from the inside out; while he is part of the tale he writes as an observer anticipating what will happen as we read on. Tough thing to do. Bachman’s final book in the Beartown series takes up the stories of the characters seamlessly and takes us through the dark and violent as well as the light and human. His character development is skilled. The last part of this book is terribly emotional and wrenching, then he takes us through a series of stories of what happens in the future with each character that are never trite and feel right. Anyone that thinks this book, and the others in the series, are just hockey books set in the rural forrest of northern Sweden, well they are just a lazy reader.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for gifting me with an ARC of The Winners. In exchange I offer my unbiased review.

I wanted to LOVE this book but it was way too long and overly written. There were too many subplots that drew me away from the heart of the story and ultimately added no value. Every time I set the book down, I had little interest in picking it back up. Beartown as a standalone would have been enough - in my opinion that book was PERFECTION. While I was happy to reunite with many characters from the first two books and I was pleased to have further closure, I’m still not sure Fredrik Backman did his readers any great service with The Winners. I might be in the minority and hope I am. Backman certainly knows how to pull at the heartstrings and this book had many beautiful moments. A good read but not quite the book I was anticipating.

Title: The Winners
Author: Fredrik Backman
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5

Two years have passed since the events that no one wants to think about. Everyone has tried to move on, but there’s something about this place that prevents it. The residents continue to grapple with life’s big questions: What is a family? What is a community? And what, if anything, are we willing to sacrifice in order to protect them?

As the locals of Beartown struggle to overcome the past, great change is on the horizon. Someone is coming home after a long time away. Someone will be laid to rest. Someone will fall in love, someone will try to fix their marriage, and someone will do anything to save their children. Someone will submit to hate, someone will fight, and someone will grab a gun and walk towards the ice rink.

So what are the residents of Beartown willing to sacrifice for their home?

This book. I was up until 2 a.m. finishing it, if that tells you anything. Beartown took me completely by surprise. I don’t really care about hockey, and small towns usually give me the creeps, but it was my first introduction to Backman’s writing and I was blown away. Us Against You was the same experience, and so was The Winners.

I loved these characters and was completely enthralled by the story. Even the seemingly minor characters are compelling in the hands of a master author like this. He is so, so good at creating believable characters that you care about and feel like you’ve met. I’m not super thrilled by what happened to one of my favorite characters, but I laughed, cried, and was in turn awed by the occasional absolutely perfect sentence that truly captured the moment. Go read this.

Fredrik Backman is a bestselling author. The Winners is his newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.)

I am so grateful to Atria Books for the eARC of The Winners (Beartown book 3). I absolutely love Fredrick Backman’s writing, and I could not wait to be devastated once again by the events in Beartown. The Winners follows many of the characters from the first two books in the series, but Backman introduces some new characters from both Beartown and Hed to really illustrate the interconnections in the story. A look at those who win and those who lose, and how often the difference between them relies on so many small instances of standing up for what is right. I can’t really give an objective review because I loved this book before I read it, but Backman’s writing pulled me right back to a small town in northern Sweden, and I’m so sad that now I have to leave.

In the Winners, Backman brings the Beartown series to a heartwarming and heartwrenching conclusion. The relationship between Beartown and Hed comes to a boiling point over hockey and it shows how quickly actions can be misinterpreted and tempers can rise. However, Backman shows all sides well with his usual touch of humanity, realistic actions, and sense of humor. You'll both laugh and cry as you read along, but in the end you'll be rooting for everyone to achieve what they want and find peace in their situation and future. An excellent, if a bit long, read.

Beartown is the third and final book in the Beartown series. The book takes place two years after the last book, Us Against You. The story is told in the third person plural, symbolizing Beartown as a collective. This book focuses on what happened after a tragic event occurred there.

This book exceeds my expectations. Anxious People was painfully awful to get through, and I have not had the pleasure of reading the other two books in the series, so I went into this book blindly. This book was overly complex and lengthy, but the detail of the writing was captivating. Fredrik Backman wrote the story beautifully in that he brought the small town of Beartown to life. I felt like I was experiencing every moment with them, and that is something that not a lot of authors can do. The vivid imagery was perfect, and I could easily imagine the town and the people. The character development was fantastic. I felt each character's emotions as they were playing out. I also felt the significance of their community. I finally understood and appreciated his writing style after reading this book.

Thank you to NetGallery and to Atria Books for giving me a copy of the book.