actions? What actions cause which consequences? There are still levels of good versus bad in this so you're not left in a totally amoral morass, and yet you're made to question how people come to make the choices they do.

The ending was a little on the "pat" side for me and yet, in many ways, still captured the complexity of reality.

Backman never disappoints me.34:T779,This book was so reminiscent of how it felt growing up in a small town. The small town politics and social hierarchies were perfectly described. The characters felt real, which is a talent considering how many there were.
I did struggle to pick up this book during the rising action. The pacing seemed to stall. I figure it was an attempt to build up tension, but I just got irritated and bored. Once the main conflict happened though, the book took off and had me hooked. Backman’s writing was able to illicit such strong emotions.
My biggest critique: You will never question what a characters’ intention was. Nothing is left for interpretation. Often ideas are stated multiple times which started to feel a bit predictable. Especially with the tiny “twists” at the end(ex: Amat’s action at the meeting, Benji going to the island, David’s reaction to Benji in the forest). I wish the author would’ve trusted the audience to interpret the characters’ actions. There’s a way to get your point across without having to spell it out.

All in all, a great read and a testament to the strength of the human spirit. “People round here don’t always know the difference between right and wrong. But we know the difference between good and evil.” (pg. 391)

Some quotes I marked:
“There are plenty of things that hurt people without people ever really knowing why. Anxiety can act as an internal gravity, shrinking the soul” (pg. 112)

“Loneliness is an invisible ailment” (pg. 138)

“Humanity has many shortcomings, but none is stronger than pride” (pg. 179)

“One

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