At nearly 700 pages, this is hands down the longest book I’ve ever read but WOW was it absolute perfection.

Backman’s writing, as always, was exceptional. I felt every emotion possible while reading and cried both happy and sad tears. His foreshadowing, anecdotes of the future, and character-driven plot made it all the more impossible to put down.

If you have not read Beartown yet, please give this series a try! This trilogy touches on many timely topics and dives into the challenges life throws at us and best of all, you do not have to be a hockey fan to enjoy it.

Thank you Atria for the advanced copy! Pub 9/27

This long-awaited novel did not disappoint. The Winners, by Fredrik Backman, is the final of the Beartown trilogy and was worth the wait. Yet again, Backman has provided us with a winner!
While this is the third of a series, it would be enjoyable as a read-alone. I, however, would highly recommend you do yourself a favor and treat yourself to the first two before diving into this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ebook version ARC to read in exchange for my honest review.

Every time I start another Fredrik Backman book, I second guess myself. For some reason, his writing takes a long while for me to get “into” and become invested in. However, once I finish the books, I am ALWAYS thankful I stuck it out. His books have a knack of being quietly memorable in a way unlike anything else I’ve ever read. The characters in this book have absolutely broken my heart and then put it back together again. The two towns in this book are nothing if not resilient, and in this day and age, that is pretty special. The events of this book unfold in an interesting way, giving tiny snippets here and there that help you as the reader eventually get the entire picture. It was interesting the way he shared a major plot point early in the story, and then filled in the details of how this community got to that point bit by bit until you as the reader reached the resolution at the end. I highly recommend this book and this author for anyone who has not yet tried his writing. Don’t give up on it if you find that it’s a slow start for you, too…it is worth the wait.

Thanks to Atria for the ARC.
This was my most anticipated book of 2022, and I have so many feelings about it. Backman writes in a way that captures human nuances and complexities. While this is a sports town in northern Sweden, it feels like it could be a sports town anywhere. I have spent my last week in Beartown because I had to read them all together, and at the end of The WInners, I was so impressed with how he weaved this story together. There is so much intentionality present in book one - hints that are fully fleshed out in book three.
This book is long, but I could've read so much more about these characters. I grew attached to some of the new ones and hated others. I cried so many times because well, I can't say or it'd spoil it, just have some tissues ready. These characters have been through so much, yet Backman doesn't give them a fairytale ending. He shows what real life looks like and how it can be so overwhelming hard at times while also being filled with some of the best moments. These characters are a story of perseverance, growth, and change. I liked the closure and glimpses into the future for the characters in this one. After becoming so attached, I liked to see them grow and mature. I will always have a special place in my heart for this series, and I'll revisit it again and again. Benji, in particular, especially after this book, will always be an all-time favorite character.

The Winners. Whoo boy, the Winners. I didn't love it. I did love Beartown. Only once before can I remember really really wishing that an author had not written a sequel to a book I loved. I wish the author had not written The Winners. I didn't love Us Against You or find it necessary, but I really didn't love The Winners. It was long and draggy, the plot and characters meandered all over the place so much that I almost forgot about certain storylines by the time they reappeared, almost every character got short shrift, and the author kept dropping heavy hints about the Bad Thing that was going to happen before the end. And then there’s the Bad Thing. My biggest reaction while reading The Winners was Wow, Fredrik Backman is really Going Through Some Things. The Winners was sad and depressing, and (spoilers hidden in the Goodreads review). Fredrik Backman, how could you? *sobs in Beartown*

Fredrik Backman has a very particular writing style, and most readers either like it or they don't. I do. But I have become emotionally invested in the people of Beartown and Hed and found The Winners painful to read (especially the foreshadowing). It was actually quite anxiety producing - I found myself dreading picking it back up even though I really wanted to know what happened next. My not reading it couldn’t change the fact that the author had written it. But so much trauma.

An important character dies early in The Winners, and Backman chose not to reveal who, while throwing red herrings at us, for the first one fifth of the book. I found that a bit of a cheap trick. There were way too many plot threads, and some of the messaging was very heavy handed. Like Beartown, The Winners reminded me of J.K. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy. Maybe The Winners was more painful to read because I had spent two previous books with the characters.

I really struggled with a rating. There are plenty of five star passages, and the climax moved me to tears. Knowing what Backman is capable of, it’s hard to award him five stars for The Winners. I did not enjoy it. But it certainly takes skill to break me up over a fictional character.

If you have read and loved Beartown and Us Against Them, read The Winners at your own risk. If you have not yet read the Beartown trilogy, I envy you getting to sit down and read them one after the other, without the long waits in between. Or maybe you should just stop after Beartown. I don’t know, when I have more time maybe I’ll go back and read all three a second time and see how they work as one long book.

I read an advance reader copy of The Winners from Netgalley.

Now I’m going to go focus on the movie version of a A Man Called Ove starring Tom Hanks coming soon!

This is VERY VERY long - I slowly made my way through it. I think only true Beartown fans will be able to appreciate this story. Not much happens, but I do enjoy the Beartown characters, which kept me reading.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Two years after the event that tore apart a small Swedish town, residents must contend with prejudices once again. A storm reveals inequities between the town and its fiercest rival, but it also brings home some of the young adults who help it heal again. Author Fredrik Backman takes readers back to Beartown and Hed in the wrenching finale to the Beartown trilogy with a worthy ending in The Winners.

It's been two years since Kevin Erdahl raped Maya Andersson. Two years since the towns of Beartown and Hed found themselves nearly at one another’s throats. The fallout from the rape left Maya without any legal justice but with a stronger sense of self. It’s made her brave enough to leave her small town in the forest and go to the big city to pursue her love for music at college.

Back in Beartown, Maya’s parents, Peter and Kira, are trying to find some semblance of normal again. Peter is no longer the general manager for Beartown hockey, once the team he played for and led to victory time and again. These days Peter works with Kira in her law office. At least, that’s what both of them are saying.

Neither wants to admit how miserable Peter is or how he should find his way back to the rink again. Instead, Peter goes to work with Kira and spends the rest of his time baking bread. Lots and lots of bread. When Maya comes home after a major storm strikes, it gives Peter an excuse to spend time with her instead of knead dough all day.

In another part of the world, Benji Ovich has left Beartown behind. Once one of the team’s rising stars, Benji fled after Kevin left town following his trial. The worst part was that in the aftermath of Kevin’s selfishness, everyone found out that Benji is gay and bullied him. It was bad enough people knew he and Kevin were best friends; this pushes him away from the town completely.

Since then, Benji has traveled the world seeking love and fulfillment. All he’s found is dingy bars and dark spaces where he wakes up next to strangers. When word comes of the storm, it gives Benji a legitimate excuse to go home instead of having to make up one.

The storm doesn’t last long, yet it whips up a different kind of frenzy. At one time, Beartown hockey was on the brink of financial disaster. Now the team has a brand new rink, and neighboring Hed is on the verge of losing everything. Residents of Beartown hate the residents of Hed, yet the financial scheming of some greedy inhabitants means that the fates of both towns will be tied together.

When Maya and Benji come home, they’re surprised at how much has changed about Beartown and how much is, heartbreakingly, the same. Hockey season is coming soon, and everyone knows it’s just a matter of time before Beartown and Hed face off. What neither town sees coming is how the events that Kevin set in motion two years earlier are only just now going to find their completion. And both towns will have to live with the consequences forever.

Bringing back his trademark whimsical writing style writing, author Fredrik Backman writes his most emotional novel yet about the residents of Beartown and Hed. Mirroring the reality of rape victims, Backman traces the delicate story of what happens to Maya and her loved ones after the fact. As the omniscient narrator tells us, for Maya the rape is a part of her existence. Many days, she feels like she’s still there.

This third book brings Backman closer to the series than ever before. Several times his omniscient narrator character makes reference to the fact that “he” is also a member of that community. There’s no doubt that Backman has lived with these characters for a long time and is giving readers one last look at their lives before moving on.

Old characters from the previous two books return, and new characters become just as important to the narrative. Readers will be hard pressed to pick a favorite by the end. No one will walk away from the book unaffected.

Although Backman offers some semblance of hope for most of the characters by the end—their lives are irrevocably changed, yet they’re still forging ahead—some readers might experience a sense of melancholy. That testament to Backman’s talent in creating this world and these people will leave many of those readers wanting to read the entire trilogy, start to finish, as soon as they close this last book.

Thank you, net galley, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fredrik Backman has become one of my favorite authors. I just love his character development, and this one did not disappoint.

The book starts a couple of years after the awful events of Beartown. The residents are all still trying to move on from the past, while still dealing with all of the highs and lows of life.

This is another heart wrenching novel, where you feel what the characters are feeling. I adored it, just like all of his previous books.

5/5 Stars

Fredrik Backman is one of my favorite authors. I can pretty much settle in with one of his books and know I’m going to like it, even when the subject is hockey. So now you know. I never understood hockey, it moved so fast (yet I complain about baseball because it moves so slow!) While I expect in Sweden hockey is a huge part of life, here in The Winners, it’s the backdrop to life, a metaphor for any of us especially in the U.S. as we come from one election to the other. There was too much in this that resonated and not well.

The series begins with Beartown, continues with Us Against You and finishes with this, The Winners. In the beginning we are introduced to the towns of Beartown and Hed, small secluded towns separated by a forest and fealty to their teams. Hockey demands much of its players, fans and sponsoring towns. We won’t even talk about the players. There is one team, and that is one’s own. Everyone else is to be beaten. And always on any team there is the star, the one to be revered, protected, emulated, and beaten. And this is high school hockey.

In Beartown, something happens to bring down the promise of the national championship, something that tears apart the town, the hockey club, the loyalties to families and each other. This event changes everything for everyone because now, the people of both towns much choose. Are you loyal to your family? To your team? To your town? To yourself?

We’ve all heard the saying, “what cost loyalty?” Because of the backlash of loyalty businesses fail, one of the towns is on the brink of failing, fearing the loss of their team and rink. This could mean merging the teams of Hed and Beartown and no one will tolerate that.

And then there’s a crack in the armor surrounding the towns. People who have left to escape come home and all over again, wounds are opened. But this time, there is a winner, this time loyalty reaches a fever pitch that can only have one outcome after the people of Hed and Beartown do unspeakable things to each other.

There has to be a limit, doesn’t there? A limit to what we do to each other before someone blinks and realizes what they’ve been doing? For me this was a hard book to read, living in the U.S. and watching the news every night and seeing what we are doing to each other. I wondered as I read The Winners what our breaking point would be because so many times in the past few years I’ve wondered when enough was going to be enough. And apparently we haven’t gotten there yet. We are still swamped in Us Against You.

To read these three books is not to read about hockey, it’s to read about us. Against you. And we long for The Winners.

This third installment of the Beartown trilogy broke my heart in so many ways while also giving me hope that if enough people read it maybe we can change the world for the better. Backman has a way of getting into the human mind, of showing us at our very best and worst, of showing the humanity of us all. I want to give it to everyone I know; the only downside is that you really do have to read the first two to appreciate the arc of the characters' lives.

A fitting end to this trilogy. In retrospect, Beartown probably should have been a standalone novel since its incredibly strong story becomes a bit diluted through the ensuing sequels. However, the fallout to that book's events are nearly as interesting to follow and I relished spending two more books with these characters as well as the complicated dynamics between the two towns. Backman leans on foreshadowing a bit too often and there is an ongoing storyline with tragic results that would have been much more impactful if the book had been shorter; with everything else going on, it was somewhat of a jolt to occasionally return to it. Despite those minor quibbles, this is a worthwhile read for anyone who enjoyed the first two books of the series with a definitive ending for all involved.

HIGHLY recommend. I thoroughly enjoyed Beartown, but Us Against You a little less. This final novel in the story of Beartown is exceptional. I was riveted to the final stories of the citizens of Hed and Beartown, and how the lives of the central characters had spiraled away and then back to the Forest in Sweden through the years since the initial story.

I loved Beartown and although I really enjoyed Us Against You, I didn't think the story needed to continue. The Winners was more like the second book, adding more characters with more tragic stories. I like it when a book breaks my heart, but to do so with book after book in a series, it was a little too much for me. By the time I read The Winners, I think I was over the series but I was hoping to get more happy endings for the characters. It went down a road of tragedy that I didn't expect and left me even more sad that the first book.

With that said, Backman is a prolific storyteller that is unrivaled by few globally known writers, in my opinion. I was engrossed in Beartown again with this story and it's such a unique experience to get the feel for a setting and the characters like Backman does in this book. He added more depth to his characters than he had already developed in the other two books and I felt like I knew them.

Perhaps I wasn't in the headspace of receiving this book as positively as I'd hoped. I think fans of the first two books will love this book.

⚠️: rape, addiction, death of a loved one, industrial accident, homophobia, death of a dog, self harm, suicidal thoughts, overdose, murder, gun violence & shooting, mention of: fatal car accident, child abuse & neglect, and infidelity

This. This was my most anticipated release of the entire year. I am so grateful for this ARC!
I don’t even know where to begin.
First, this book is LONG. There are so many new characters in the first 20-30% that it felt slow and I was worried I was about to be disappointed in the finale to my favorite trilogy.
Second, I shouldn’t doubt Backman. He’s going to get us where we need to go and drag out all the feelings on the way. This is both heart breaking and inspiring. Hard lessons in grief and loss. The expectations we carry from ourselves and others. The bonding together and ripping apart that happens in a small town rivalry. I feel like it’s hard to go into too much detail without spoiling the journey.
Third, was this the perfect ending for Beartown? Yes, and also no. Did it feel too heartbreaking and emotional at times? Yes. Did part of me want a sunshine and rainbows happy ending? Also, yes, a little. Did it feel like the only ending in some ways? Yes. If you know and love all things Backman like I do, you know it’s not all about the ending but the journey. We saw so much heart break, questioning of values, crushing grief, and violence. We also saw unconditional love, support when it’s needed most, taking a leap of faith, and trust.
I have said it before and I’ll say it again. Fredrik Backman is a MASTER at writing human emotion. It’s so real and relatable. It’s things we all experience and sometimes don’t have the words to explain.

The end of the book description says it best: “As it beautifully captures all the complexities of daily life and explores questions of friendship, loyalty, loss, and identity, this emotion-packed novel asks us to reconsider what it means to win, what it means to lose, and what it means to forgive.”

There is so much I could say about this book which is evidenced by the many sections I have highlighted. Fredrick Backman has a unique way of telling a story, he tells you exactly what is going to happen, but somehow you never see it coming. I cried all the way through this story and never wanted it to end. I hope you pick it up read it and pass it on. It is a story that is going to stick with me for a long time to come. Well done Mr. Backman! Well done!

The Winners is book 3 of the Beartown Trilogy, and what a fitting end it is. The Beartown Trilogy takes its rightful and permanent place on my all-time Top 10 best-books-ever-read list.

I could write a 20-page review for this novel and its two companion books, but I will keep this short. Fredrik Backman has earned a place in my heart as my favorite author. I have loved all his novels and novellas, but the Beartown Trilogy is his crown jewel. I have never read another author who has such a grasp on the human spirit, who is able to tell a story of common people in such a powerful way, who can create characters whom a reader will never ever forget. These books are quiet books, yet they made a sledge-hammer-like impression on this reader.

The themes are vast and include violence, corruption, revenge, hate, death, healing, integrity, redemption, survival, and love. And through these themes the author evokes a rainbow of feelings in his readers, not the least of which is heartbreak. I became so invested in these true-to-life characters that I found myself reacting to them as if they were my own best friends. I felt grief-stricken many times throughout my reading of The Winners, yet I didn’t want the book to end. I felt I could not say goodbye forever to these people of Beartown and Hed, and I feel I will not, as they have given me much to think about over the rest of my life.

Where will Mr. Backman go from here? Maybe it’s wishful thinking on my part, but there are words at the end of the novel that make me wonder if there will be a book about Alicia’s subsequent life. If so, I’m all in. Wait. Who am I kidding? I am all in on whatever novel Mr. Backman writes next. I just hope we don’t have to wait long.

I would like to thank Net Galley, Atria Books, and Fredrik Backman for granting me an ARC of The Winners. My opinions are my own, and they are not biased in any way.

This was both a heartbreaking and uplifting conclusion to the Beartown trilogy, and definitely satisfying. While one could read it on its own, it's so much better as the third novel, and Backman does a great job reminding us of past events. Highly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reading copy of The Winners by Fredrik Backman. The Winners is the conclusion to the Beartown series.
Pros: My favorite quote in the book is "The problem with both hockey and life is that simple moments are rare." If you have read the first two this book is a must read to see what happens between Hed and Beartown. Backman does a great job capturing the human spirit. The book did a great job in wrapping of the stories of these two towns.
Cons; I felt like the book was a little long.

The Winners, Fredrick Backman
I have always loved reading books by this author because of his final message which is always filled with hope, in spite of the tricks life often plays on us. This one, however, gave me doubts about whether or not that would happen, since it brought me to such height and depths of emotion, that reading it, I found I thought I might lose hope. How could such needless tragedy take place again and again? This book felt almost too close to reality, at times. For isn’t that the source of the stress we experience daily, the constant occurrence of unexplained, unnecessary, unwanted fury and violence for which we seem always unprepared and surprised? Backman does pull hope from the jaws of despair, finally, and that is what saved the book for me.
It took me a long time to read this novel because I kept anticipating that something bad was going to happen and after reading the first two books, these characters had become family. I did not want to feel the pain of their sorrows with such immediacy, and with such force as Backman packs very strong feelings into each sentence and description. The scenes seemed so real and full of the emotions the characters were feeling, that I identified with each of their traumas and joys. Each of their problems became my own to solve. In this book, I did not get an equal amount of the hopefulness, I felt in the others, at first. This one played out more intensity, until the end.
So many of the characters were motivated by pure vengeance and the quest for power, without thinking through the reasons or consequences of their actions beforehand. This resulted in so much unnecessary destruction, threats, wasted lives, and negative behavior. In the other books, I always felt that there was an equal or better force fighting the forces of evil in his previous books, but in this book, the forces of evil won so often, that the brutality was palpable, building the tension within me to almost unbearable levels. Was this a representation of our real world? Are we really so thoughtless when it comes to how we treat each other? Are we really so self-interested that we will sacrifice each other to save our own face or something material, something far more meaningless than a life? I was left wondering if Tails act of sacrifice, at the end, was enough, was appropriate, was even moral? Did it mean he had learned to respect the rules and the people above his own needs, but what about the others? Did it mean he was still motivated by the need to save the town, regardless of the cost, regardless of the means to the end or to save a good person and repent for his own misdeeds? Oh yes, Backman has truly captured Sir Walter Scott’s tangled web that we weave, when first we practice to deceive, in this series of books.
The pettiness, immaturity, lying and cheating, adults acting like children, motivated by vengeance, the arrogance and the bullying, the thugs vs the good guys in conflict constantly, the search for someone to hurt or blame, even in the cause of justice seemed cruel, not fair, and all of these emotions and feelings that are deep within each of us is captured by this author. He seems to understand every minute emotional moment perfectly. The book is hypnotic, so you will be compelled to keep reading. Every single word has power. Every human condition will appear at some time and be analyzed for what it really is and what it really means to us. Race, gender, the media, sports, the environment, sex, poverty, fear, shame, guilt, wealth, power, hope, hopelessness, crime, all subjects are fair game as the motivations for actions are deconstructed. Nothing and no one is portrayed as perfect. In the recurrent themes and the bang, bang, bang of the hockey puck, their flaws are exposed, but still, even the worst of the characters is redeemable, as each has some good within them, no matter how bad they seem. I suppose that is the hopefulness at the end of the book, even though it felt overshadowed by so much pain, from natural and unnatural causes.
Hed and Beartown will continue to feud, as real cities continue to have problems, but they will, like all cities and people, repair their damage and move on, as life, too, must go on. This book is not really about hockey, it is about people, real life, friendship, love, how we live, how we die, who we are and who we are not, how we cope and how we don’t, how we respond and how we repent. The yin and the yang are on every page as Backman gives his story life, and as he gives it breath. Each individual character becomes less important than the whole, and it is the survival of the whole that we fight for, in the end. In that purpose is our hope.

I wanted to love this as much as I love the previous two in the series but this felt winding and unfocused, although the writing is still very beautiful. It was hard to hold on to my love of the characters in this case.