JMSwan

Oh my god

I very confidently thought to myself “Wow I guess this book isn't gonna make me cry” about 15 minutes before I started sobbing uncontrollably in my car because of this book, so another point for Fredrik Backman, I suppose.

I'll be honest here. I found this book utterly mind numbing and after starting it, I literally had to force myself to pick it back up. I never once felt any sort of desire to continue, whatsoever. It was just a deep dive into mundanity and being well-written is not an excuse for me to finish a book that I find painful and horribly boring to read. Nothing about this interested me and I'm sure I just didn't “get it”, but if I'm being perfectly honest, I'm not sure I want to “get it”. Frustrating book. I genuinely would rather watch paint dry than read another page of this book. At least with the paint, I have something to root for.

I think this book is really interesting, but it’s far too slow for my tastes and the stakes felt too low for me, if I’m honest. I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong, but maybe just not as much as everyone else did.

Absolutely couldn't put it down! So so so good. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time.