Beartown

update: 24 hours after I declared I could not finish the book and that I give up trying to - I did just that :3 turns out, the key event happens just after I quit the book. and this cold gloomy town became even worse. I won't rate this because of how stressful and infuriating the central theme was. The aftermath felt so real, ugh, I can't even. Toxic masculinity and bad behaviour from “winners” are enabled by a society, we know. this book breaks that down so bloody well. I liked the weird ending, now I'm done with this book.


22nd September:
that's it. I am DNF-ing this. I cannot go through this book anymore.
This is the first DNF of this year. I am almost 40% through, and there is not a single character I give a damn about. The setting feels so grey and sad. I am sure it's intentional, but I don't like this book's energy.

This is not a criticism of the writing or the story (or the narration). I am sure they are all great; I love Backman's work. But I feel like this book, right now, is not for me. It's a classic case of it's not you, it's me . Maybe another time, another place, I would enjoy this. Returned this book to get Secret History, lol.