The Winners Book Review

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The Winners is the third instalment of the Beartown series and I was eager to get my hands on a copy as soon as it was published in English. As with the previous two, it’s a hard book to write a synopsis about without spoiling things, so all I’ll say is that we are once again with the characters of Beartown and Hed, learning more about their people, their rivalry, their humanity, and their future, be it precarious. Some have left, but will return and in doing so cause an unknowable amount of suffering but we will also witness the best of humankind and human kindness too.

I will forever and always be in love with Fredrik Backman’s writing; he does exactly what I would like every writer to do – write beautifully for the sake of it. Can he sometimes go one or two pages without moving the plot forward, but instead ruminate about the human condition and what we mean to each other? Abso-bloody-lutely and I can’t get enough!!

I loved that for the most part of The Winners, we were with familiar characters, from Benji and Maya, to Peter and Tails, but this was so emotional because it’s hard to go on a journey with the same people for three books and not be really invested. Even from the first paragraph of this book, you’ll know why this is such an emotional rollercoaster…

As always, Backman has a lot to say about the state of humanity in this book and I loved the way he so subtly inserts his thoughts into the plot and if nothing else, makes you think about things in a completely different way to before. He also manages to balance commentary on social issues, and tough subjects but in a very un-dogmatic way, though you can’t help but agree with him.

I am completely bias but this is one of the best books ever written; if you’ve not read Beartown, go read it and then go read Us Against You and then go read The Winners, and I promise you will not be disappointed by any of them!