This was truly a silly, goofy, hot, fun time! I enjoyed Oscar’s inner monologue and his personality (aside from that bit right as our third act conflict begins). And while I did find Guinevere a bit much when it came to her overthinking, she was incredibly endearing and even more so by the end of the book.

I think I would have enjoyed this much more if it were a bit longer, more adventurous, and the characters were aged up!

PS: I’m not familiar with the Tusk Love origins/Critical Role but I know this is connected to that :)

This has been my favorite read of the year and dare I say… a 6 ⭐️ read.

I knew I was in for a wonderful story when the dedication read “To anyone who is young and wants to create something. Do it.”

This being my first Fredrik Backman novel feels like such a blessing because I guess like the artist, I only now how to do things backwards. I am excited to go back and discover my way through the rest of Backman’s work.

I am a sucker for any novel that tells the story of a human (or humans) being human. Whether you are showing me romantic love, friendship, adulthood, childhood— you name it and I am there, ready to be split open.

Reading a story as raw as this one is no easy feat. If you have even a sliver of a heart, you have no choice to see yourself in these characters and Backman makes it even easier for you to do. The way every single one of these characters were written made me feel as though I spent a lifetime getting to know them. Some only had a few pages of time and yet I’m sat here wondering what they would be up to in this moment if they lived in my world. Do you know how talented you have to be to create a feeling like that? And to be able to write people so accurately at different ages? Incredible.

The story telling with the back and forth timelines of sorts was done SO well. Normally that’s a thing not all authors can do well. It’s like you can spot the moment they gave up on putting effort and things get messy. I never felt that way a single time in this story.

Joar, Ali, KimKim, Ted, and my darling Louisa. I truly felt as if they were my own children. I love well crafted books with all of my heart. This was a hopeful yet absolutely heart breaking and honest story.

Make your art. It’s worth it. You’re worth it. I believe in you :)