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This book is a sequel to Beartownbut can be read as a stand-alone book. I am biased about this author and I devour every word/book he writes. As a disclosure, I received this book compliments of Simon and Schuster in exchange for an honest review. So��.

In all honesty, I say this book is a page-turner. Only Backman (unbelievably young as he is) can capture a mood, an emotion, a passion as profound and vivid as he can. In the beginning, I found the content to be “not new�� as I am aware of the characters and their lives having read Beartown before. The repetition, I believe, was intentional to allow this book to be read comfortably by itself without its prequel.

Backman writes impersonally at times so you will read sentences which begin like these:

“The eighteen-year-old man in the forest takes off his backpack…��
“There is a stranger sitting in a jeep��.��
“A mother is standing outside a house. She’s packing her child’s things…��

Most writers use this technique to create mystery and intensify interest but overuse of this can become tiresome especially if it is easy enough to intuit who the characters are.

I highly recommend this book. It gets under skin which is a sure sign of talented writer. I found myself hating a manipulative politician and rooting for a young man who is considered different. Friendships are broken and mended; marriages are tested and strained; there is betrayal, death, grief, and loss. There is reconciliation and forgiveness, hatred and love. Us against you is a book about a small community; its love for hockey and the people who inhabit this small town. I like how Backman provides hints into the future about the characters �� those who were able to move on, who stayed behind �� their successes, the losses, and the in-between. A professional NHL player emerged; a girl found solace in music, a young man won his parents�� admiration when he won a gaming competition instead of a hockey game; a fire created havoc and a town was rebuilt. Now, I am starting to write like Backman.

In Backman’s own words:

It is a story about hockey rinks and all the hearts that beat around them, about people and sports and how they take turns carrying each other��.��

Read it �� 5stars.