Beartown

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Maya is distraught after the incident and is unable to keep it to herself any longer. She tells her parents, who are enraged and subsequently proceed to report the incident. Kevin is pulled from an upcoming game last minute, which causes the team to lose the match. I utterly believed in the residents of Beartown and felt ripped apart by the events in the book' JOJO MOYES Sadly, not everyone survives in this novel of high-stakes competition, and others fall in less deadly, yet still consequential, ways. The game is no less significant in this sequel, and those who remain at the end must solider on as they’ve always done.

On the night of the semi-final victory, Kevin's parents are out of town. This gives Kevin the opportunity to host a big party for his team and many other teenagers from the community. At the party, many of the teenagers are drinking and indulging in marijuana use and the team members boast about having sex with the supportive female fans. Maya and Kevin sneak off to an upstairs bedroom to make out. Maya resists Kevin's advances, and he proceeds to rape her. Amat, himself drunk and harboring feelings for Maya, stumbles in to witness the rape. Maya takes advantage of Amat's intrusion to free herself from Kevin. These new circumstances ignite a spark that burns slowly throughout the novel and builds to an utterly explosive climax, while also weaving in intimate character portraits of the strengths and weaknesses of the townspeople. This book talks about right vs. wrong, violence, justice, community, fears, dreams, culture, integrity, privilege, pressure, prejudices, misjudgment, silence, authority, family, decisions, belonging, winners, losers, hope, loneliness, loyalty, betrayal, forgiveness… I’m trying to be really careful while reviewing this book. I don’t want to scare off someone who’s trying to avoid deep, sad, heartbreaking tales. I’m also usually trying to avoid books that can make me cry. But I’ve loved this one so much, it would be a real shame if I’d skipped it.Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected. Maya Andersson has a crush on Kevin, and Amat has a crush on Maya. While Maya and her best friend, Ana, are goofing around at the rink before the game, Amat approaches them and shyly attempts to ask Maya out, but Kevin smoothly preempts him, inviting Maya to the party at his house that evening. The Bears go on to win the semifinal in spectacular fashion, sending the town into raucous celebration. One evening in late March, a teenager walks into the forest, puts a shotgun to another teenager’s forehead, and pulls the trigger. I am not gonna say that I liked the violence in this book, but I definitely loved how it was presented. It got me frightened for sure. It made me feel all the helplessness and frustration of an individual who’s trying to do something against the wishes of a much larger, stronger, ruthless crowd.

An uplifting, life-affirming and often comic tale of how kindness, love and happiness can be found in the most unlikely places Sunday Express With the town's future at stake, no one can stand by or stay silent. Everyone is on one side or the other. A new female coach, Elisabeth, gives the team a fighting chance with Benji, who is struggling with being secretly gay, at the helm. Meanwhile, Maya’s best friend, Ana, falls for team player, Vidar, and this relationship has lasting consequences. A kind of problem play that moves extremely skilfully near the melodramatic without derailing. Its originality is substantial and the book credibly conveys the dual faces of everyday life. An impressive novel, like no other BTJ, Sweden Beartown has its heartbreaking moments, but it is so much more than a sad book. It is filled with so many amazing things, like love, family, loyalty, devotion, warmth, small acts of kindness and so much hope – it can make you laugh and cry at the same time.The center of the team is the 17-year-old star, Kevin, coached by David and managed by Peter. Peter is married to Kira (a lawyer), and they have two children, Maya and Leo. Maya is a teen whose best friend is Ana. Amat, whose mother Fatima is a cleaner, is added to the team for his speed. Benji is Kevin’s best friend, and Ramona runs the local pub. These, and even more characters, round out the complex cast.

Beartown is as close to perfect as a book gets (if you ask me). The characters are fully developed and their actions have motivations and consequences that fully immerse the reader in their lives. Furthermore, the writing style is intriguing and darkly poetic — the kind of eerily woven sentences that leave a lasting impact.

The rape case against Kevin is dropped due to insufficient evidence. Maya continues to suffer distress and decides she must either kill herself or kill Kevin to be relieved of the pain. Late at night, Maya surprises Kevin with a shotgun and forces him to kneel in front of her. Maya thrusts the gun to a whimpering Kevin's forehead and pulls the trigger, but he doesn't die as she intentionally didn't load the gun. Maya reasons that the fear Kevin felt at the moment she pulled the trigger will continue to haunt him for the rest of his life, just as the rape will haunt her. I also loved how the characters were presented in relation to one another. So you often get two very different people coming to the same conclusion, or two very similar people end up being very different in their essences.