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*Disclaimer: An ARC of Us Against You by Fredrik Backman was provided to me by Simon & Schuster Canada in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinion in any way.

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Initial Post Reading Thoughts

I won’t lie. I was cautiously optimistic going into this one because I LOVED Beartown so much. I’m so happy that this sequel was just as beautiful and heartbreaking as the first novel.

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*CAUTION* There are some minor spoilers regarding Beartown within this review.

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What I Liked

First, let me tell you how excited I was to receive an ARC of Us Against You by Fredrik Backman. Beartown was probably my favourite book of last year, so the second I heard that there was going to be a sequel, I lost my damn mind. At first I was beyond excited…but then I started to become more cautiously optimistic. I loved Beartown so much and I didn’t want a sequel that was going to take anything away from my experience with the first novel. I didn’t know if this story was going to continue where we left off or tell a completely different story, but I was hesitant to become too overly excited. Let me tell you, I was blown away once again.

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The characters. Beartown was a very character driven story and Us Against You was no different. My personal reading tastes tend to gravitate towards character driven stories, and this series has been no exception. Us Against You lets the reader learn more about characters that we didn’t get to see much of in Beartown. Side characters now become main characters which provided a fresh look on this small Swedish hockey town and the people that live there.

The change of focus. As mentioned above, the characters were all the same (with a few new introductions) from Beartown, but the focus changed on which characters were more prominent this time around. Not only was there a change of focus on the characters, but there was also a change of focus on the storyline. Beartown dealt with the rape of a young teenaged girl by the star of the local hockey team. Us Against You focuses more on the aftermath of the rape and the effect it had on the town, as well as the coming of age and coming out story of Benji, an enigmatic enforcer on the Beartown hockey team. Benjoy was one of my favourite characters from Beartown, even though he had a minor role, so I was beyond excited to read more about him in Us Against You. We also get to meet new characters including a surprising new coach and a troubled young goalie which made Us Against You feel like an entirely new story even though it picks up right where Beartown left off.

The writing. These books contain some of the most beautiful writing I have ever read. Fredrik Backman has a very deep and profound way of thinking and writing and I’m absolutely in love with his writing style. I’m planning on reading the rest of his work as soon as possible.

The emotions. I’m not a very emotional person and it takes a lot for me to laugh or cry out loud, or at all, while reading a novel, and I’ll tell you right now that both Beartown and Us Against You made me feel all of the emotions. I actually let some tears fall towards the end of Us Against You, and that’s really saying something.

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What I Didn’t Like

I literally loved everything and I’m so happy about it. This is going to be one of those series that I will never forget for as long as I’m alive. They are some of the best books I have ever read and I recommend everyone give these a read.

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Overall, READ BEARTOWN & US AGAINST YOU.