Many thanks for Netgalley and publishers for providing my review copy.

Fredrick Backman does it again! The Winners was just as magical but heartbreaking as the rest of the Beartown series. I will miss this place and these people and the feeling that they are my family. FB is for sure one of my top authors and I can't wait to see what is next. Highly recommend this series!

In transparency, I have not read the other 2 books but I would like to read them in the future. Does that mean this is not a stand alone, I think it is ok but reading the other two I may have more depth of what the town, people, the game of hockey were really battling. I think their story is our story. In our realm of the world of family, work, politics, and relationships. Fredrik has a gift of having unique characters. They are over "actors" to drive a point, a division, a commonality, a love of family. And ultimately in death, what are eyes are open to. I thought more about the title and how it related to the stories of Beartown. It answers the question, what makes a winner.

A special thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

I loved this book so much. I'm so upset the series is over but this was such a perfect, heartbreaking ending. I already miss the characters.

a nice conclusion to the Beartown trilogy. This one takes place two years later with Mya in college, Benji trying to find his way home, Amat making something of himself, and Ana recovering from Vadar's death. New characters are introduced and seamlessly fit in; death takes place and brings two communities together.

Wonderful trilogy with well drawn characters and a well timed plot. Some repetitive phrasing throughout the series, but probably because I read them in a row.

And so The Beartown series comes to a close. While The Winners was a very long book, perhaps too long, it wrapped up the series in the best way possible. Backman has such a way of writing. Only he can put words to what we all feel as humans. Even the most mundane subjects become profound with Backman’s prose. I wept while reading this one. Simply out, he can make me feel like no other author can. An absolutely beautiful end to the series.

“…hopelessly simple but horribly complicated. Ordinary, unusual people. Unusually ordinary people. We just try to live our lives, live with each other, live with ourselves. Accepting joy when we find it, bearing grief when it finds us, and being amazed at our children’s happiness without falling apart when we think that we can never really protect them.”

Like most fans of Beartown by Fredrik Backman, I was both ecstatic to return to the characters while sad for the series to end. The Winners begins with a blizzard that engenders both destruction and resilience. In its wake, Maya and Benji return, only to find that the competition between Hed and Beartown, dormant for two years, has reached a boiling point. Rooting for hockey gives most residents a raison d'etre but a young man, mired in grief and anger, turns against the community in which he feels invisible.

The fate of one beloved character is telegraphed in the first book, so part of me was on guard, waiting for the inevitable pain. Once I started crying, I didn’t stop! I think if I hadn’t been so devastated, I would have been able to better appreciate the ending. I underlined so many passages that I loved. At the same time, I thought the book had repetition that could have been edited to make it more concise.

Reading the trilogy is transformative. Who would think a series about hockey could say so much about love, relationships, and communities!

This is a beautiful, emotional addition to the trilogy. Backman's writing style is unique, it's as if someone is casually telling you a story. He does a great job of summing up the action in the previous two books, for those of us with less than stellar memories! I enjoyed all the characters and their adventures. I highly recommend this series.

If you're a fan of the Beartown series, it's definitely worth the read. However, as much as I love Backman and his writing style...this one is just way too long. I slogged through it in the middle. Also, if it's been awhile since you've read the first two, I don't think you need to go back and reread them (I didn't) unless you want to. There is quite a bit of recap at the beginning. Overall a good end to the series, just too long.

Over the past few years, Backman has been one of my very favorite authors. His use of language (even as he is translated from Swedish) and commentary on the human condition is unparalleled. Beartown was one of three books to ever make me cry (I ugly sobbed on an airplane). In comparison, I found Us Against You to be a bit of a letdown, though still greater than most books. The Winners was my second favorite of the series, falling behind Beartown but ahead of Us Against You. The characters are incredibly well developed and sympathetic, but it’s not plot-driven. Regardless, The Winners finished out the series with satisfying and heart-breaking resolution. It took me a couple of weeks to finish this one because I had to keep setting it down so that I didn’t get too sad— Backman breaks my heart like no one else.

I'm so sad this series is over! Backman has this way of writing that pulls you in and makes you fall in love with the characters. This was was definitely longer than the previous two in the series, but it didn't seem longer.

Be prepared to feel things while reading through this one.

I have long loved Beartown, and have given this book to nearly everyone I know. I have loved the continuing novels, and the exploration of the ripple effects of one life-changing event. This third installment was long anticipated, but perhaps that anticipation also led to unrealistic expectations. While by the end of the novel, I was teary and the payoff was worth it, the book just felt too long in getting there. There were so many characters, many of them completely new, that I had a hard time connecting with them all. That said, it was well worth the read, and I will enthusiastically hand this one to anyone who loved the first two in the series.

I loved this book and this entire series. You can't go wrong with Fredrik Backman, his writing never dissapoints. Great ending to this amazing series.

-I was really looking forward to reading this
-Definitely a long read that feels like there could have been places cut out or down
-Emotional and captivating
-I enjoyed all these books set in Beartown

There is something so pure about Backman's writing that anything associated with this small town called Beartown takes a life of its own and grabs the reader's hearts right away. The way the author writes about the various thoughts running in the minds of the characters seems so normal and yet leaves profound meaning at the same time. My only issue is that it is slightly longer than I would prefer and it could have been trimmed a bit. I was already so involved with these characters that there was no way I would have missed this one and it pulled me into this hockey world immediately and messed with my emotions yet again.

Highly recommend this series! But be prepared to get emotional without a doubt!

The Beartown series is one of the best written series of books of this current times. In this final installment of the series, Frederik Backman beautifully closes the story of this small, snowy town.

As expected from the experience of the first two books in the series, this story is full of conflict between towns and groups of people. Mia and Benji both return to Beartown to attend the funeral of a Beartown icon. A terrible storm results in rising tensions between Beartown and Hedd, and these tensions fuel the plot of this book. Things do not end well for all our favorite characters, a fact which is foreshadowed in the first pages of the book.

This book is just as well-constructed as the first two in the series. Backman carries motifs established in book one through to the end of the series, making the entire reading experience cohesive and satisfying. The story could have been a bit shorter and still achieved it's goals, but the writing is so good that the reader can overlook some of the superfluous content.

Overall, this book concludes the series in a satisfying manner. I would have preferred a happier ending for some characters, but I accept that the choices made by the author fulfill his design. I highly recommend this book and the entire Beartown series to anyone who loves an engaging plot with beautiful prose.

I knew from the beginning there would be weeping. I even reread the first two books in preparation for this.

Backman's writing is as good as ever here and the characters feel SO real. I realize that's a huge part of how I judge and rate books. Sometimes you read a book and it's enjoyable but you are constantly aware that these are fictional characters, but that never happens for me with Backman. Though I think the first half dragged on a little more than it had to , by the end it did land at a 5 star read for me or at least the high end of 4.5. Character development, greater questions about life, all that good stuff. But be ready for pain.

I haven't read this one yet, because I haven't read the first two. How my book club is starting the series in January. I'll be back to review then.

Fredrik Backman takes us back to Bjoernstad and his brilliantly written cast of characters in the final installment of his Beartown trilogy.
I loved checking back in with Benji, Amat, Maya, Sune et al. Backman really has a talent for fleshing out characters... the reader gets to see all their flaws, pain, mental struggles, charm, passions, what drives them, what scares them, what makes them and what breaks them.
The Winners was a great end to a story I was entirely wrapped up in and well worth the read if you enjoyed the first two books
If I had one criticism, I would say it was a little long and might have benefitted from tighter editing. But then again, I can only imagine how hard it would be for an author to say their final goodbye to their beloved characters... it seems understandable that they would want to savor every word!

this book was a great disappointment. I read the first two books of the Beartown trilogy and loved the story and the characters.. after being heavily invested in the people of Beartown this book was a terrible letdown

I found it almost impossible to get through. Every page was foreshadowing some terrible event but nothing really happened until the end. every story ended badly.. The author threw is so many random characters that is just complicated the story without adding any value. At 500 plus pages the book was a waste of time. I kept hoping it would get better but it didn’t.