Cover Image: The Winners

The Winners

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Member Reviews

This is the third installment of Backman's Beartown series. As with the previous two books (and honestly all of his books) I was emotionally worn out after reading this book. I cried, I laughed, and as always I was astonished at his ability to capture the complexities of human existence. Even though you are told at the end of book one what was going to happen at the end of this book, I read it with the hope that it wouldn't happen.

One of the book's strongest assets is its multifaceted characters. Backman excels at crafting flawed yet lovable protagonists, and ""The Winners"" is no exception. The reader is invited into the inner workings of these characters' minds, witnessing their insecurities, regrets, and personal battles. Their struggles and personal growth throughout the story are beautifully portrayed, allowing readers to connect with them on a deep emotional level.

Backman's writing style is as engaging as ever, filled with his signature blend of humor and poignancy. He explores themes such as the pursuit of happiness, the masks people wear, and the complexities of human relationships. Through his witty prose and profound observations, Backman encourages readers to reflect on their own lives and the pursuit of their own dreams.

I would recommend this to anyone and everyone. Some might find the number of characters you need to keep track of daunting but I think it shows how many lives are affected by each other person in the world. "

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I’m always worried at the beginning of a Backman novel that I won’t be able to keep track of all of the characters…but he just has a way to help you with that. He writes characters with so much heart and so much love that they leap off the page and into your own heart.

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This was gorgeous and gutting, but had a weird problem with being both a) too long and b) having some under-baked storylines? It almost would've made more sense to split it into two books to give Backman more space to explore and beef up those stories. I'll read anything he writes, though, and this was still five stars for me.

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I read this book not having read the first Beartown book. The simmering tensions that run through these 2 towns build for a "showdown". I love getting into the heads of everyone involved and yo will be in for some unexpected results

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The Winners unfortunately did not “win” in my book. While I’m happy to have completed this series, I feel as if the book could have been edited heavily, cut heavily, and less new storylines that needed to get wrapped up while also wrapping up the other storylines. I also feel like the ending and what happens is unnecessary trauma. It was all too much trauma.

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Oh Beartown... I miss you already. I put off reading this book as long as I could because I didn't want it to be over. I love Backman's writing style (I know not everyone does) and this was no exception. This book is told with a mix of narration... a bit of omnipresent narration, which tells us what will happen in the future and a bit of in the moment narration.

There are characters that stay unnamed because why introduce new names? I love it. I love these characters. They are flawed but in a way that makes sense. They make mistakes. They forgive and are forgiven. They love and they hate.

I love Benji. And Alicia. And Maya. And Peter and Kira. And Amat. And so many more. And I am so sad that I don't get any more of their stories.

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Omg this book was amazing. I loved this whole series but this book will forever stay with me. I’ve never cried so much and felt this attached to characters. The growth of everyone and just the underlying message is amazing.

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Fredrik Backman does it again. He is truly gifted in his storytelling.

The Winners is the 3rd book in the Beartown series. After a tragedy in the past the community tries to recover. We follow along as many face different life challenges. Benji carries on as we continue to watch him grow and change.

Beautifully done. Backman has such a way with words. He effortlessly tells a story that wraps you up like a warm blanket.

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I've been a fan of Backman since I first read My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry back in 2015. Each of his books has given me something new to love, but none have touched me as deeply as Beartown in 2018. Reading that book was a revelation -- and I hadn't even been that excited to start it because of the sports-focused summary. But from the first two sentences, I was hooked. You can read my review of that book (https://www.soobsessedwith.com/2018/06/this-is-story-of-how-we-got-there.html) and its sequel, Us Against You (https://www.soobsessedwith.com/2018/06/have-you-ever-seen-town-fall-ours-did.html), to hear all the reasons why they became such beloved reads, for me and others.

So, it was with great anticipation that I re-read both in 2022 before diving in to the conclusion, The Winners. They held up on re-read, as I'd expected they would, and I was so glad that I'd gone back in time with this town and its inhabitants. Backman's thought-provoking trilogy is full of foreshadowing, and some of it is best appreciated on re-read. Now, I'll be honest and admit that The Winners got off to a slow start for me -- and did continue to have a few overall pace issues for me, personally. But I flew through the second half and loved how it all came together. These characters mean so much to me, and Backman does such a beautiful job of fleshing them out. It was hard to say goodbye when I closed the last page, but I loved every second I spent reading it. I would highly recommend all three -- but be prepared for the heavy emotions they'll evoke! I know I've barely written anything about the book or its plot, but what is there to say? If you've read the first two, you don't need me to sell you on this one. But if you haven't, you're in for such a treat with this series. Backman has done something remarkable with this trilogy, which I will absolutely re-read again and again. I'm So Obsessed With It.

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This was a cute follow up to the series! His writing is sarcastic, funny, but also deeply heart wrenching. I love this town!

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This book.
I adore Backman, and this series, and it ended perfectly and I will not be able to read anything else for some time just absorbing it all.
I loved it. So so much.

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I really enjoyed this closing to Backman's Beartown Trilogy. I certainly wasn't overly thrilled with it, but his stories always have a great cozy quality to them.

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I tried to like this book, I really did. It was just not for me though. The story was too long, too drawn out. I am such a fan of Backman, but this story was just not for me.

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What a wonderful and heartbreaking conclusion. At least, I’m pretty sure it’s the conclusion. This is a very difficult read but also so powerful. Backman is truly a magician with words and tells stories so well and in such a uniquely riveting manner. I can’t believe I almost didn’t read this series.
content warnings: gun violence, death, rape

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Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for a copy of Fredrik Backman’s The Winners.

The Winners is the third installment in Backman’s Beartown trilogy, taking us back to the small, hockey obsessed, rival towns in Northern Sweden. This time, a severe snow storm has hit Beartown and Hed, destroying one of the hockey arenas. The rivalry between the two towns in alternatively suspended as they help save lives, but also restored when old wounds and biases resurface.

I absolutely love Backman. He is one of my favorite authors and I will read anything he writes, but that said, I’m not sure if I needed this to be a trilogy. The Winners was little long and slow-paced, yet I held on because of Backman’s wonderful characters. He also teased the death of a major character throughout the entire story, saving the reveal for near the end and writing as though any number of beloved characters could have been on the chopping block. This made me anxious, yet it kept me turning pages.

Without giving a spoiler, the death made me cry, but other aspects of the story made me cry even more. Backman excels at sentimental situations. He always manages to have his tough-as-nails characters be hit with a tender moment: cue the tears. I think this works so well, because Backman also infuses his stories with a fair bit of dark humor, allowing his readers to experience a range of emotions. It’s always complex.

The Winners is the weakest in the trilogy, but it is still excellent and absolutely a must-read if you are a Backman fan. Only Backman could make a non-sports fan like me, love a trilogy centered around hockey fanatics!

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Such a good end to a series. Heartwrentching. Backman is a master at character depth and crafting character driven works. You can't help but come to love his characters and i end almost every book in some form of tears. There were some repetitive elements that i noticed in this that i thought we could do without three books in, but still really good.

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Maya Andersson and Benji Ovich, two young people who left Beartown after the events that happened in the books Beartown and Us Against You, come home after tragedy strikes their forest town. It has been two years, yet it seems that time has stood still. Beartown and Hed still suffer because of their rivalry, not just on the hockey ice, but also in the larger world. When a big summer storm creates more discord, will the two towns ever be able to come together?

The Winners suffers from repetitiveness, just like Us Against You. The author takes the reader on a journey through the towns and their competitive natures, yet only those new to the series would find this interesting. The tragic ending is shown to readers early on, though the exact way it happens does not materialize until the conclusion.

The last few pages were written so well, with the emotion and heart that mainly the rest of the book lacked. I was glad that I hung in there, though I struggled. The punch of the ending would have reverberated throughout the book had it been tightened up. As a big fan of the author and his previous works, I was pretty disappointed. I would recommend readers to this book if they read the two other books in the series.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Reader's Copy by NetGalley and the publisher. The decision to read and review this book was entirely my own.

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Sorry it took me so long to write a review. OMG!! I read this on my kindle and at times I was wondering how long this book was going to be but it did not bother me too much because of the characters, especially Benji. The characters had me for this book and the plot from the middle to the end. And oh my gosh, the ending of this book!!! You had me at my full attention at the end!

I will read any book by this author, he is that good. But I feel like with this book, it is a good time to end the Beartown series because of how it ended. Highly recommended author.

Thanks to Fredrik Backman, Netgalley and Atria Book for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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I have yet to read a Fredrik Backman book that I didn't like, and The Winners is no exception. I've grown to love the characters in the Beartown series. I'm not a hockey fan in the slightest but I was hooked from the beginning of the series to the end. Absolute perfection!

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Fredrik Backman can just take all of my money. I am a lifetime devotee of Beartown and of anything Backman puts his mind to.

The Winners is the perfect conclusion to a perfect trilogy. I laughed, I cried, I paused reading when my mind was blown away by a casual yet life altering sentence casually tossed into a harrowing, page turning journey. I will forever love Benji. He's beautifully flawed perfection.

One moment can change the lives of so many. On person's decision can create a before and after for hundreds. the weight of this is heavy yet carried by every human daily.

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