Following on from the events of the first book, the rivalry between Beartown and Hed intensifies and spills out of the hockey rink…

I don’t want to spoil anything from the first book so I’ll keep this vague, but this is another brilliantly observed book by Backman. The simplicity of the writing is deceptive, because it’s full of astute observations on human nature, the “us” vs “them” mindset that so easily leads to the division of communities and acceptance (or not) of anyone deemed different, which have a universality to them. Unlike Beartown, which centres around one main event and its repercussions, this one has lots of little events that crescendo throughout the book, so Backman’s foreshadowing technique did start to feel a little overdone and repetitive as a storytelling device, though it was effective in adding a sense of dread. A shrewd, gripping depiction of unscrupulous politicians, the deliberate stirring up of tensions and hatred of “the other” (in many forms) and how easily such tensions can escalate.