(A content warning for this book: The story involves a completed suicide, as well as some suicidal ideation. I won’t touch on that here, but tread lightly with this book if that is a sensitive topic for you.)

Backman did it again, y’all. As I started reading, I was a little wary and unsure. The writing style was so different from his other books—short, choppy, bouncing between characters and across time. Several people from our book club felt annoyed by it, and so did I at first. But by the end, I realized how the storytelling pace and tone almost mirrors the anxiety Backman wants the reader to understand. (And as someone who deals with anxiety on a regular basis, I got it.)

This book tells the story of a bank robbery and hostage situation, and it explores the traumas and anxieties each character carries with them into the situation. The story surprised me every step of the way. (Am I too gullible a reader? I saw almost none of it coming.) What I love about Backman’s novels is that though the tones and stories have been so different, he always explores the value of intergenerational relationships (especially among neighbors). I don’t know if I’ll ever get tired of telling those stories. He paints a picture of a better way forward into relationship, even with all our brokenness and idiocy. Backman asks us to consider: Do we have what it takes as individuals? Do we have what it takes as a community?