Beartown is unflinchingly, and at times unbearably, human. Backman's character work is unlike any other and he manages to portray the complexity of humans and communities without turning away from how horrific they can be. Reading this book left me feeling like a raw nerve as both the characters and the plot are perfectly, devastatingly realistic.

It feels a little strange giving this 5 stars because it hurt so much to read, but Backman's writing is always incredible and he absolutely nailed every aspect of how people react to sexual assault from the hive mind to the language choices.

For those who enjoy fast paced, high intensity plots, that is not Backman's style, so you may not enjoy this. But for those who enjoy great character work that takes its time to establish everything necessary, this is for you.

TW: sexual assault is critical to the plot and not every character deals with it well.

Masters of Death is literary magic. It feels like the kind of book that you had to read for class but halfway through it became the book that changed your life. The plot takes its time and relies heavily on the theatrical cast and poetic and humorous prose, but aside from a lull around the 40-60% mark which is spent setting up character relationships and bringing together subplots, the pacing moves steadily.

Olivie Blake's skill as a writer is on full display in this novel for the reasons above, but to me it was especially distinct when the moral of the story was pulled together at the end. I often criticize books for their preachy endings when the rest of the story didn't support such lofty philosophizing, but this book was the exact opposite. OB excellently brings together the stories of each character up to the moment the questions are presented such that it just feels right that the character asks and in so doing, the reader naturally follows. The philosophical point of the book isn't new or unique, but OB's presentation of it is nothing short of breathtaking.

The primary reason this falls short of 5 stars for me is that middle-of-the-book lull. I think there were ways to maintain the reader's interest better as the number of flashbacks and lack of location changes in the present felt a little tedious. Nonetheless, I felt that the last 25% more than made up for the middle 20% and I have no regrets for reading this book.

If you like literary fantasy with punchy philosophy and heart-wrenching character arcs, you will love this novel.

Some versions of this book have an Amy Schumer quote on the cover and that is very representative of the overall vibe. At times, this book was incredibly relatable and demonstrated the complexities of humanity and those were my favorite parts. But it is also a style of humor that I just don’t connect with. I can see this being an absolute hit for some people, but overall, it just wasn’t my type of book.