I often struggle to write 5 Star reviews, but I struggle more with Fredrik Backman books. I don't know how to explain the experience of reading one of his books, and I can't find the words to tell you the impact they have. Objectively, I can understand that this narrative style will not appeal to everyone. But in practice I cannot fathom someone not being gripped by the way he imagines and unpacks stories.

It took me a good bit to get into this book, but I did grow to enjoy it. There were times that I found it quite tedious, but on the whole I liked the story. I do think that you must like the original play as a prerequisite to this book, though; it stands strongly as a prequel but not very well on its own.

I read this book because it won the Pulitzer Prize and I was curious about the unique structure. I didn't know anything about the plot going in, and I was instantly nervous because I'm not a huge fan of war novels. But I stuck with it, and I'm so glad I did. I remember thinking outright, more than once, "Oh, THIS is why it won the Pulitzer." I found it to be stunning and exciting and heartbreaking and beautiful and brilliantly unique.

I really enjoyed this book at the start. The writing — taking place in 1960s California — felt atmospheric and retro in a way I was really into. And the plot is fascinating, because this is an angle that's pretty unique. Around the halfway mark, it was clear that this was leaning more literary mystery than mystery thriller (the latter being the intended genre), and things got so much worse from there. It was slow, unclear, repetitive, and ultimately unimaginative.

When I read a book that I love, I often find it difficult to write a review. How am I supposed to put into words the way this book made me feel? What could I possibly say to properly express the most brilliant parts of it? I can't, really, which is why I rarely write reviews for my 5 Star books. I wanted to try with Beartown, because I think it's an amazing work of art.

The description of this book makes it seem like it's going to be a mystery, and it's not. It's a good story, but if you're looking for a mystery and want to watch them investigate to solve whose skeleton was found, you're going to be disappointed. Honestly, I spent the first bit a little disoriented about this. Once I found my actual footing, though, I did enjoy the story for what it was. I just think it could've used some refining around the start.

Despite it's few faults, I really did love reading this book. You also don't get a lot of people exploring what life in Helsingør looked like before the events of the play, and I thought this author did a really great job building out the origins of the characters and their conflicts. It was a good balance of being true to Shakespeare's version of the characters while also feeling original to this author. Ultimately, this is a great example of how to make the story of Hamlet

I really enjoyed this book, although I was curious whether I liked it because it's about "Hamlet" or if I liked it because I truly thought it was a good book. But with how beautifully written and highly emotional it was, I think it's fine to say I just liked it.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel Pages: 333 Genre: sci-fi dystopian Rating: 4 Star My Kindle Notes and Highlights One night in...