By Fredrik Backman
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Goodreads: 4.36)
GENRE: Drama
PART OF A SERIES? Yes {Beartown, #2}
WORTH READING? Yes
SUMMARY:
Can a damaged town survive another tragedy? Us Against You is the story of two towns, two teams, and what it means to believe in something bigger than yourself. The citizens of Beartown bleed hockey, so are devasted to learn that their beloved team will soon be disbanded. Enter an unusual new hockey coach and a repulsive local councillor.
A new team starts to take shape around Amat, the fastest player you’ll ever see; Benji, the intense lone wolf; and Vidar, an impetuous rebel. As the big match approaches, tensions between Beartown and their biggest rivals, Hed, reach boiling point. By the time the last game is finally played, a resident of Beartown will be dead.
Opening lines: “Have you ever seen a town fall? Ours did.”
This was my third time reading Us Against You and the rest of the Beartown series. The series holds the special honour of being the only books I’ve read three times. That should show you how much I love this series! Picking any of these books up again is like snuggling under your duvet on a cold, winter’s night.
In Us Against You, Fredrik Backman continues the motif of ‘Bang, bang’ that he began in Beartown. Not only does he use it for the hockey puck, but Backman also uses it for things like people banging their empty glasses down on the counter. The way Backman peppers this motif throughout the book is extremely effective. This is one example of Fredrik Backman’s immaculate use of timing.
Another example of Backman’s control of timing is how he tells his reader just enough about something, without revealing it all at once. E.g. “If they had lived their whole lives with each other, they would have become something remarkable together.”
There was a little about the politics behind sports in Beartown, but Backman takes it up a notch in Us Against You, via a rather contemptuous character, Richard Theo. This councillor seems to have his finger in every pie, playing group after group against each other.
The depth of Fredrik Backman’s knowledge of human nature astounds me. His books are filled with little nuggets of observations. E.g. “What does it take to be a good parent? Not much. Just everything.”
Please don’t avoid this book if you’re not particularly a sports fan. It honestly doesn’t matter. I know next to nothing about ice hockey. Fredrik Backman is an incredibly talented writer, because even ‘telling’ a story to a non-ice hockey fan like me, he made me care about his characters with all of my being. He made me feel the characters’ horror, their fear, their sorrow, their excitement, their heartache, their anxiety, their anger and their frustration (particularly in the case of Maya’s brother, who emerges as a much bigger character in this second book, as he tries to help his family recover from Maya’s assault, in the only way he can think of).
Whilst Us Against You could theoretically stand on its own, I would highly recommend reading Beartown first. Backman does rehash important plots for the first little bit of Us Against You, but to really invest all your heart in these characters, immerse yourself in their lives through the first book.
Click here for Us Against You
To purchase the other two books in the series:
Click here to purchase book 1, Beartown
Click here for book 3, The Winners (AKA Those who Run Towards Fire)
N.B: I earn from affiliate Amazon links.
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