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The Winners by Fredrik Bachman
Stacey Irving • March 3, 2023
Book 3 in the beartown series
I just finished The Winners by Fredrik Backman and here are my thoughts.
Maya and Benji both feel the pull to leave beartown in their rearview mirrors. Beartown is back on top and the town feels optimistic. The ice rink has been rebuilt into something amazing and the town is finally back to normal.
It’s 2 years since us against you and the rivalry between Hed and Beartown comes back in full force after a devastating storm destroys Hed’s ice rink.
Peter, having quit as GM to beartown 2 years previously, is still somehow caught up in an investigation into the hockey club's finances. Amat riding low after the debacle at the NHL draft is barely hanging in there.
A 14 year old with nothing to lose after his sister passes, has a plan and that plan includes a gun and revenge.
The one thing that always stands out for me in this series is the friendships that are forged and how much they impact the lives of the people around them.
Benji and Maya both return after the death of someone the town loves, to attend the funeral. Seeing how they have changed and grown is quite inspiring. They still have heavy burdens that weigh on them but it’s hard not to adore both of them.
I found the pace of this book was pretty even for the most part but did lull in places but it actually worked for the book. I usually don’t like books that pick up on a different character during a chapter but the author weaves such a clever tale that it feels like it flows perfectly.
I also really enjoyed the depths of some of the more unsavory characters and the idea of the pack in hockey was marvelous. You can see why the pack acted the way it did and it wasn’t for barbaric reasons even though it looks like that on the surface. It was a very interesting way to write and I loved every single second of it.
This series will teach you how to love without boundaries and how to rise up from rock bottom. No one gives up, no one is the victim and that is a powerful message.
Beartown is so much more than a hockey team, it's a family. This book is more than just hockey, its life lessons through the eyes of teenagers. Beartown has been carved into my heart and I am so glad I got to go through the journey with them all.
5 stars. If you love general fiction that will draw you into a world you won’t want to leave, then this series has to be on your list.
Thank you #netgalley and #simon&schustercanada for my review copy
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I just finished How to help a Hungry Werewolf by Charlotte Stein and here are my thoughts. Cassandra returns to her hometown after the death of her grandmother. The last person she expects to see is her old best friend Seth. Seth needs her help. He is a werewolf and he needs the potion her grandmother was making for him and she just discovered she is a witch.. They come to a truce to get what they both need but the mating bond that is heating up between them and it really is a case of life or death. Cassie is my kind of MC. She was funny and sweet. I wasn’t a massive fan of Seths. I think he did a poor job of apologizing to Cassie for how he treated her. The pace was a bit insane. One minute the story was going a million miles per min then it didn’t seem to go anywhere but I kinda liked it. It felt like it was giving me time to catch up with my heart. The smut was perfect. Even if you don’t enjoy the story, the steam will do it for you. I think it was a good start to a series, the paranormal storyline was highly entertaining. I enjoyed the humor and I laughed out loud a few times. The world building was done really well but the writing got a bit juvenile in places but I could overlook that. 4 stars Thank you to @stmartinspress for my gifted copy. #howtohelpahungrywerewolf #charlottestein #paranormalromance #shifterromance #smuttyread #booklover #smp #stmartinspress #bookinfluencer #bookreview #bookishblog #readerblog #reading #bookalorian #thewrightkindofbooktalk
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Bitter is the heart by Mina Hardy When Tamar has to allow her abusive mother to move in with her temporarily, all the old memories resurface but the things happening now can’t be explained and remembering what happened in her mothers house all those years ago… Makes her wonder just what other evils were lurking within those walls. I really enjoyed this book. It was the right mix of horror and thriller with some excellent characters. The pace wasn’t fast enough for my freaky brain but this book was fantastically scary on a whole other level. I thought all the threads came together nicely at the end and definitely a must read for the spooky season. 4.5 stars
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I just finished The First Day without you by Melissa Hill Moving to California was a snap decision made by Leonie. She needed a fresh start, a place to flee from the mess she left behind back home. Not ready to face what she did, Leonie, while cleaning her new home, finds a stack of letters. Unable to help herself, Leonie decides to get the letters to the person they are addressed to. Dragging her neighbor into her quest, Leonie embarks on a journey with Alex to try and give someone else the happily ever after she knows she doesn’t deserve. I quite enjoyed this book. It's split between two POV, Leonies that span current day and her past and Alex’s. I usually like one POV more in these kinds of books but I enjoyed both ladies' stories. Alex is trying to divorce her ex Seth but he is as elusive as bigfoot. She works as a reporter and her skills helped Leonie track down Helena. As a hopeless romantic myself I found the book very cute and I liked the cynical balance that Alex provided Leonie the romantic. The writing was solid and I was entertained through the whole book. I liked the ending. I don’t think it could have been done better. I like the mystery of the letters and all the descriptive talk of San Francisco. I feel like it’s never too late to reach out when your heart aches for someone. 4 stars Thank you @bookmarked @melissahillbooks for my gifted copy #sourcebooks #landmarkbooks #melissahill #thefirstdaywithoutyou #romanceread #chicklit #bookblogger #bookstagram #booksbooksbooks #igreader
I just finished Book Lovers by Emily Henry and here are my musings. Nora Stephens is a workaholic and who can blame her? Well, everyone she meets thinks she has no work life balance but she is a literary agent and she is a shark at what she does. The only person she is soft for is her little sister Libby. And when Libby wants to go to Sunshine Falls for a month. A sister bonding trip before Libby’s third child arrives into the world. Libby has a bucket list of small town things they are both to do. Proving it is a small world, Nora keeps jumping into an editor from New york, a man she has contrasting viewpoints on with one of her authors. Charlie may be hot, but he isn’t what she’s there for. The cosmos has other ideas and the two of them find themselves unexpectedly bumping into each other and each time the ice thaws a little more. This book is CUTE CUTE CUTE CUTE….. Did I mention how cute this book is? I was completely charmed by Nora from the get go. Kindred spirit and all that. She crushes her goals then makes new ones. Charlie is too cute. That frosty bookish man just needed to get in the water with the “shark” to figure out that there is more to life. I love small town settings. If I could read one type of book for the rest of my life, it would be a small town book. I loved all the fun things Libby had them doing and the budding friendship between Nora and Charlie. I have fast become a fan of Emily Henry so maybe I am biased but I don’t care. This book is well written, highly entertaining and I love falling in love with books like this. 4 stars! Excellent read! #booklovers #emilyhenry #romancereader #chicklit #februaryread #bookworm #bibliophile #booksofinstagram #bookcommunity #bookdragon #bookishlife
