I wanted to love this book.

I wanted to love it because EVERYONE else seems to love it.

I wanted to love it because I LOVED A Man Called Ove and My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry also by Fredrik Backman.

But, I just didn’t love it and I can’t really put my finger on why.

Bear Town is the story of a small town, a dying small town like so many small towns. But a small town with a big dream.

Bear Town is also a story of how athletes are often given a free pass in situations where the rest of us are not. How the goal of winning can create tunnel-vision and for some people lose sight of morality and truth.

Bear Town is a story of different families and how raising our children to be honest and good is the most important thing in the world.

Bear Town is depressing but also courageous – taking the reader through a violent event that tears a town apart but ultimately shows who has the courage to tell the truth.

Perhaps it was just too real for me. I’ve seen behavior like this first hand. Perhaps your experience reading Bear Town will be less visceral.

⭐️⭐️⭐️Three stars for Bear Town by Fredrik Backman. Read last week’s review of The Lowland