On the surface, this book is about a small towns obsessed with ice hockey. Under the surface, it is so much more.
Beartown is a small, dying town where everyone struggles to survive. But they do have a junior hockey team that just might make the state finals and the whole town is relying on them to bring Beartown back to life. The residents believe that a victory will bring much-needed investment and publicity to revitalize the area. When one of the players commits a horrendous crime, who will the town side with - the criminal or the victim? One thing is for sure, life will never be the same in Beartown.
Backman is at his best with Beartown, and lets you into the hearts and lives of his characters. The first third is a lot of character and story development that is essential, but might deter some readers. But it is so worth it to stick with this story, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this is made into a movie.