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Jessica J.'s Reviews > Britt-Marie Was Here
Britt-Marie Was Here
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I feel like the jerkiest of jerks here, but I was honestly just kind of bored with this one. If you liked Backman's A Man Called Ove, there's a good chance that you will like this one, too. It feels very familiar, with its tale of a stubborn senior citizen won over and softened by the bigger world. In my Ove review, I commented that Backman toed the line of treacly without falling completely in. Maybe he finally fell; I think that reading another book that was so similar thematically was just too much saccharine for me. Britt-Marie was fine, but I felt like I was reading something I'd already gone through before and I found myself struggling to engage. Because I'm a jerk.
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Reading Progress
January 13, 2016
– Shelved
March 27, 2016
–
Started Reading
March 29, 2016
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-21 of 21 (21 new)
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Constance
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rated it 3 stars
May 15, 2016 06:47AM
Ditto.
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I'm so glad it's not just me! I loved A Man Called Ove, but Britt-Marie not so much. I've tried, I'm on page 74, but I have to force myself to pick it up. I'm on the verge of giving up on this book.
You're not alone! "Saccharine" was the EXACT word I'd use to describe this book.
Then I'm a jerkiest of jerks too. I adored Ove and liked 'Grandmother' but had to force myself to finish this. Just writing my review now. I'm waivering between 2.5 and 3 stars.
I think maybe if you hadn't read the other ones, this one wouldn't feel quite so stagnant. But it gets tired reading what is essentially the same story over and over again, with just a few minor changes in between.
Agreed but I still think Ove had more depth. It's too bad because I was really looking forward to this book.
I agree. I really wanted to love this book but I just couldn't!
I am Ove's #1 fan and I too have been very disappointed with Backman's other two books.
It was boring. I haven't even read Ove yet and this one was boooooring. I struggled though...
I agree. I only gave it 2 stars but I really liked A Man Called Ove. The whole soccer aspect did not really gel for me either. This book lacked depth for me too.
You wrote my thoughts exactly! Ove was pretty boring in my opinion as well.
I had a hard time with this one despite liking ove and I wonder if he just was less comfortable with Britt-Marie as a character. That is to say, he maybe wrote the grandmother book and had this ¨not nice" character, followed by the thought that every not nice person has a story - but he couldn´t relate enough to make it believable. I got caught up in the other characters more than Britt-Marie - in some ways it seems like, well, grumpy men are likeable but women not as much? But I think it must have had something to do with the author feeling out of his element - you could see that he was trying to explore Britt-Marie, but it fell flat. I wonder though if the expression of Ove fell flat for men? As in, as a woman, I find Ove amusing, but the female counterpart not as much? Dunno, I enjoyed reading it, but don´t find it memorable.
Don't feel bad. I didn't like it either AFTER Kent showed up. Basically skimmed it after that. I felt it was really hard to follow the story line.
A female versionif Ove. I think the only reason I liked Ove better, was because I read it first. I am sure if I had read Britt-Marie first, that I would have preferred that story over Ove. I felt I was reading matching Male/Female versions of the same book. Maybee I should not have read them back to back. Neither were a personal favorite.
Yeah, Ove was fine, Grandmother was fine in a different way but with more flaws, imo, so I think I'm done with Backman. Unless he really works, stretches, in something new. Thank you for a fantastically helpful review.
Cheryl wrote: "Yeah, Ove was fine, Grandmother was fine in a different way but with more flaws, imo, so I think I'm done with Backman. Unless he really works, stretches, in something new. Thank you for a fantasti..."Beartown was really different, and I liked it quite a bit.
Jessica wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "Yeah, Ove was fine, Grandmother was fine in a different way but with more flaws, imo, so I think I'm done with Backman. Unless he really works, stretches, in something new. Thank you..."I loved Beartown. So good!!
I'm fully giving up on Backman now after feeling a bit brain dead from this book. I got so bored and sick of the same tone and characters. I love the way you worded how he overdid the sentimentalities. I really wanted to get into it like most of the other readers but his sentences for me were too fluffy and clunky.
