WOOF. That’s the first thing that comes to mind when I think about this book. I was a big fan of Backman’s heartbreaking and hopeful A Man Called Ove so when a friend said they had just finished it and was going on a bit of a Backman Bender (alliteration!) I was happy to join in for a two person book club. But alas, I gotta say now that I’m done, I would not have finished this book if I was not reading it with a friend.
The opener is one of the darkest I can think of. On page one, we are told that a teenager takes another teenager in the woods, puts a gun against their head and pulls the trigger. “This is how we got there.” So the rest of the action of the book is leading you to that moment. I MEAN. DAMN. That alone was enough for me not to want to read. As a parent of a teenager, that literal trigger warning was a lot to stomach. But, I had promised so I very reluctantly picked it back up. And put it back down. And picked it back up again. The junior ice hockey team is on the cusp of the semi-finals and to say that the prospect of winning would would mean someething to every single resident of this small town is putting it lightly. A lot is on the line, for the coaches, the players, the board, and everyone who has hockey in their veins.
This book is coming of age, not just for highschoolers, but for an entire town, that must face secrets and the consequences of their own actions. It’s an unfliching look at small town living, one that I had a hard time with. Also, there is a bit of a bait and switch done with the plot that left me feeling cold, I felt the rug a bit pulled out from under me. With a little time and distance, I can appreciate the story but in the middle of it, you are surrounded by a sea of characters that are lonely and scrambling to find meaning and purpose in an ice cold hockey town.I might, with a lot of encouragement, pick up the 2nd book of the series, but it’s going to take a while before I want to return to Beartown.