Us Against You

After listening to and loving Beartown, the first book in this series last week, I jumped right into this follow-up. Us Against You picks up in the aftermath of Beartown with a focus on the rivalry between the hockey teams of two small towns, Beartown politics and how the tragedies of the first book impact the townspeople in various ways.

This was a good read, but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as Beartown. I liked how Backman explores the idea that good people can do bad things and shows the gray areas in humanity, but this book wasn't as emotional as the first book and had a repetitive feel. Too much page time was spent on A) rehashing what happened in Beartown, B) the nefarious antics of gang of troublemakers who support the other hockey team and C) small-town politics. The writing was still thought-provoking, and I continue to enjoy the foreshadowing Backman liberally adds, but this story felt more like a bridge between Beartown (a book that could stand on its own) and The Winners, the upcoming third book. 

Backman is a skilled writer and gives people oodles of beautiful quotes, tackles important topics and the last quarter of the book was great! It just took too long to get to the good stuff. For me this book felt less poignant and impactful than Beartown. That said, I am eager to see how things progress in Backman's upcoming book The Winners when it hits stores at the end of this month. 

Note on the narration: I noticed that narrator Marin Ireland, who does a fantastic job, pronounced the name Sune in Beartown as 'Soon' but in this book she pronounced it 'Soon-ah'. I checked a print copy to clarify that it was the same person. A pronunciation fix, perhaps?

My Rating: 3 stars

Author: Fredrik Backman

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Type and Source: eAudio from public library

Series: #2 in the Beartown series

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

First Published: August 21, 2017

Narrator: Marin Ireland

Run Time: 14 hours, 17 min

Book Description from GoodReads: After everything that the citizens of Beartown have gone through, they are struck yet another blow when they learn that their beloved local hockey team will soon be disbanded. What makes it worse is the obvious satisfaction that all the former Beartown players, who now play for a rival team in Hed, take in that fact. Amidst the mounting tension between the two rivals, a surprising newcomer is handpicked to be Beartown’s new hockey coach.

Soon a new team starts to take shape around Amat, the fastest player you’ll ever see; Benji, the crazed lone wolf; and Vidar, a born-to-be-bad troublemaker. Bringing this team together is a challenge as old bonds are broken, new ones are formed, and the enmity with Hed grows more and more acute.

As the big match approaches, the not-so-innocent pranks and incidents between the communities pile up, and hatred grows deeper. When the last game is finally played, one of Beartown’s key players will be dead, and residents of both towns are forced to wonder whether, after all they’ve been through, the game they love can ever return to something simple and innocent.