Listen to my heart

by Helena von Zweigbergk

Rare Book

Genres: Biography, Music, Swedish Literature, Nonfiction, Autobiography

224 pages, hardcover

First published October 7, 2015

Reviews

[Antje · Rating 4 out of 5]

Die Art und Weise, wie Helena von Zweigbergks ihre Gespräche mit Marie Fredriksson zu einer (Auto)-Biographie zusammenstellt, entspricht zwar nicht so ganz meinem Geschmack. Nachdem ich meine literarischen Ansprüche jedoch heruntergeschraubt hatte und mich ausschließlich auf den Menschen und die Künstlerin einließ, tauchte ich zunehmend tiefer in dieses Buch hinein. Es ist eigenartig, dass ich auch zwei Tage nach dem Auslesen noch immer mit den Gedanken bei ihr bin.
Denn eines versteht dieses Buch auf jeden Fall. Man kommt Marie Fredriksson sehr nahe, ohne unbedingt Fan von ihr oder Roxette gewesen zu sein. Ich mochte zu dem die Auswahl an persönlichen Fotos, die für sich sprechen; ebenso die Liste ihrer Lieblingslieder.

Außerdem wurde ich durch das Lesen inspiriert, endlich ihre schwedischen Soloalben kennenzulernen. Ihre Lieder, ihre Stimme werden unsterblich bleiben.

[Robert Lambregts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally I've read Listen to My Heart, the book that Marie Fredriksson wrote together with Helena von Zweigbergk. The book was first released in Swedish and later translated to German. I had to wait a while to get it in English, found a kickstarter for a special edition version, had to wait 2 years to hear that the special edition wouldn't be made, and then found the book I currently have and just finished reading. Finally. 4.5 years after Marie left us on December 9th, 2019. Marie Fredriksson was one of my heroes. I grew up listening to her music as the front woman of Roxette, but soon I also became a big fan of her solo work, which is mostly in Swedish, which I don't speak, yet I love her style and her voice so much. I adore her.
The book, however, deals mostly about her illness. In 2001 Marie was confronted with a brain tumor, which changed her life. One of the treatments caused her to lose her ability to speak, and affected her memory so much, she had to recover for many years. And things were never the same again. She released raw and beautiful music afterwards, but reading about her journey was tough. The time she spend on her solo career and in Roxette is spoken about in the book, but it wasn't all hunky dory and it seems that next to the memory loss, she doesn't always want to talk about it either. She even writes regretting not inviting Per Gessle, the other half of Roxette, to her wedding. A lot of the story I already knew about, being a fan having a good memory, because many things are linked to my own experiences at the time, but it was nice to finally be able to read it in her words. Which are also very raw. And I do recognize the aftermath of the illness in that as well, having lost a friend to cancer who also over time had the same tone of voice when talking about life.
The book is gorgeous, has many photos and relations to the music, but the translation often leaves some to be desired. There are typos and the choice of words is sometimes awkward and wrong in my eyes. I'm not so sure if I like the writing style of Helena as well.
That is a minor detail though, because I'm so glad to now own the book and have read it. I'm giving it 4 stars, but Marie will always get 5 in my heart and memories.

[Inma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnífica biografía, en algunos capítulos la misma Marie se encarga de hablar de sentimientos, amor, infancia, su maldita enfermedad... En los otros es la autora la que se encarga de explicar las cosas.
Una biografía especial, hay que escuchar la música de la que hablan para disfrutar.
Saltos del pasaron al presente.
Y Marie, con esa dualidad que hizo que me volviera loca por ella hace un millón de años:.frágil, vulnerable y, a la vez, con una fuerza y cabezonería que la mantienen cuerda.
He subrayado pasajes enteros, cuando Marie habla todo se detiene, llega la calma.
Indispensable si, como yo, creciste con Roxette

[Mariann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fülszöveg kicsit túloz, nem tudunk meg hihetetlen titkokat a Roxette-ről, annál inkább Marie múltjáról, betegségéről.
Elsők között vettem meg ezt a könyvet, aztán rengeteget toltam magam előtt az olvasást, mert pont az történt, amire számítottam: hogy sokat bőgtem rajta. Nekem Marie a példakép, a SZTÁR, nem a mostani tévécelebek, akiket ki tudja milyen bokorból húzott elő a hírnév. A 10 Roxette lemezből 8 CD áll itthon, és a Look Sharp még bakeliten van meg. Két budapesti koncertjükön is ott voltam, 1992-ben és 2011-ben.
Volt aztán időszak az életemben, mikor éjjel-nappal Roxette-t hallgattam, tönkre is tettem egy-két fülhallgatót miatta :) A fanfictionök is elképzelhetetlenek voltak Per szövegei nélkül, ő volt az ihletem, a Múzsám.

Marie hangja nyers, vad volt fiatalon (kb.mint Rúzsa Magdié), a betegség, öregedés rengeteget finomított rajta, elvitte egy kifinomultabb, jazz jellegbe. Amikor kiderült az agydaganata 2002-ben, 5% esélye volt a túlélésre; volt egy időszak, mikor svédül sem tudott beszélni; újra betanulta az angol szövegeket, de többé már nem adott interjút egyedül. És végig, 2010 óta úgy élt, hogy a bal szemére vak, így állt ki színpadra, énekelt, táncolt, mozgott... hát nem Csoda, hogy kitartott mindvégig?
Szóval igen, ez példaértékű, hogy valaki az abszolút mínuszból újra a fénybe merészkedett, és nagyon őszinte, szívhez szóló, keresetlenül szókimondó néha a kötet. Marie nem mindegyik szövege egybefüggő, de úgy hagyták, és én ennek a kendőzetlenségnek nagyon örülök.

Csak idézni tudom a sminkesét:
"Nekem ő a példaképem. Olyasvalakire csak felnézni lehet, akinek ennyi sok nehézsége volt az életben, és nem adta fel. Ha ő nem adta fel, akkor ki teheti azt meg?"

[Janilyn Kocher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A poignant read.
Roxette had some huge hits during the 1980s and I listened to all of them. I never knew the band members’ stories, this was pre internet days.
It’s a slim volume but full of Marie’s stories. I enjoyed her personal history as a child the best. The worst diagnosis one can get, she did, a brain tumor. It was hard reading how it affected her but she fought it for many years.
Her legacy lives on in her music and this book.
Thanks to Edelweiss and Libras Cupula for the advance read.

[Meggies Fussnoten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marie Fredrikkson, bekannt als Sängerin der schwedischen Popband Roxette, beschreibt in ihrer Biografie ungeschönt die Folgen ihrer schweren Erkrankung. Doch nicht nur ihr aktuelles Leben wird beleuchtet, auch ihre berufliche Karriere.
Ihre Anfänge als Solokünstlerin bis hin zu der Erfolgswelle, die mit Roxette gestartet ist. Marie führte ein wahres Luxusleben bis zu dem verhängnisvollen Tag, an welchem sie die Diagnose Hirntumor bekam.

Mit Roxette verbinde ich meine Jugend. Songs wie "The Look", "Joyride" oder "It must have been Love" gehören genauso dazu, wie auch "Dangerous" oder "Sleeping in my car". Ich habe alle CDs zu Hause und höre diese auch heute noch sehr gerne.
Es gab Zeiten, da sammelte ich jeden Schnipsel über die Band, war natürlich in Per verliebt, fand Marie einfach super und immer, wenn ich in einer Zeitschrift (bevorzugt die Bravo) einen Artikel fand, wurde dieser ausgeschnitten und aufgehoben. Ich war froh, etwas über meine Lieblingsband zu lesen, auch weil ich so etwas Neues erfuhr. Internet war ja damals noch nicht so. Ich verließ mich auf Fernseh, Radio und Zeitungen.

Jahre später traf mich Maries Diagnose, die 2002 gestellt wurde, sehr hart. Ihren Leidensweg konnte man mitverfolgen, diesmal ausführlicher Dank des Internets. Doch man erfuhr eben nicht alles oder gar falsche Dinge.

Nun liegt ihre Biografie vor. Schweren Herzens bin ich an dieses Buch herangegangen, wollte ich einerseits natürlich wissen, wie es Marie ergangen ist, andererseits wollte ich das Bild, das ich von Marie hatte, nicht zerstören. Die quirlige, stimmgewaltige Frau, die es schafft, auf der Bühne ganze Säle zum Rocken zu bringen. Und nun sollte ich lesen, wie eine Krankheit ihr Leben zerstört?
Doch ich wurde eines besseren belehrt. Auch wenn Marie schonungslos ehrlich ist und mit nichts hinterm Berg hält, so hat man fast niemals das Gefühl, dass Marie sich ganz aufgegeben hat. Natürlich gab es Zeiten, in denen Marie schwere Gedanken hatte, doch stets hatte sie auch zwei besondere Worte in ihrem Kopf: Kämpfen und Leben.
Und Marie ist eine Kämpfernatur. Sie kämpft, um zu leben. Und versucht auch, ihr Leben als Sängerin mit dem Leben als Kranke zu verbinden. Was ihr teilweise auch sehr gut gelungen ist.

Doch ihr Körper macht einfach den Streß nicht mehr mit. Es war nicht der Tumor, der letztendlich gesiegt hat, sondern die nachfolgenden Behandlungen, wie die Bestrahlung des Gehirns. Die Folgen führen dazu, dass Marie nicht mehr lange stehen kann, ihr Bein macht nicht mehr mit. Ihr Fuß krampft und sie muss sitzen. Dies war auch der Grund, dass sie die letzte Tour sitzend gesungen hat.

Marie war aufgeweckt, quirlig und rotzfrech. Sie stand gerne im Mittelpunkt, suchte Aufmerksamkeit. Dies wurde ihr von der Krankheit genommen. Nunmehr liebt sie die Stille, zieht sich zurück und genießt das Familienleben mit ihrem Mann und ihren beiden Kindern.

In ihrer Biografie geht es aber auch um ihre Anfänge als Sängerin. Um den Kampf um Erfolg und auch darum, als Frau ernst genommen zu werden. Als sie Per Gessle kennenlernt, gründet sie mit ihm zusammen die Band Roxette. Und wird zum Überflieger. Der Erfolg setzt ein und ein turbulentes Leben beginnt. Aber nicht nur mit Roxette ist Marie erfolgreich, auch als Solokünstlerin konnte sie vor allem in Schweden viel Erfolg verbuchen.

Marie führte ein bewegtes Leben. Sie bereut nichts, würde alles wieder so machen. Sie ist eine bewundernswerte und vor allem starke Frau. Ich wünsche ihr nur das Allerbeste.

Fazit:
Eine wortgewaltige Biografie über eine bewegende Frau.

[Marc Pastor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Literàriament té la qualitat estilística d'un reportatge llarg de la Superpop.
Però si mai vau escoltar Roxette o vau anar a algun concert i en seguíeu la carrera, com era el meu cas fa una colla d'anys, té força interés.
El llibre està narrat a dos nivells: un, l'aparició i evolució de la malaltia de Marie Frediksson el 2002. Paral·lelament, la vida d'ella des de petita fins el 2015, sempre connectada amb la música.
És curiós, perquè he descobert que no els coneixia gens ni mica, als dos caps visibles de Roxette. No sabia com eren ni res més més enllà de les seves cançons.
M'ha quedat clar que ella va tenir una infància digna d'Oliver Twist (fins i tot en alguns moments sembla ridícul i tot) i es va obsessionar amb triomfar. Li he vist una personalitat una mica superficial, desconnectada del món a partir que va tenir éxit, centrada en si mateixa i la seva família i amb rampells d'una mica d'insuportabilitat. De fet, és curiós que la relació amb Per, tot i que acaba sent longeva, no ha estat mai del tot bona.
Descobreixo també que Roxette és una invenció discogràfica quan ella està petant-ho a Suècia en solitari i en Per ja va de capa caiguda, i que l'únic que volia ella era ser coneguda als Estats Units.
Parla dels seus fans com si fossin zombies que l'adoren acríticament, una mica com les coplistes (me debo a mi público) i sempre amb condescendència.
La narració sobre la malaltia és la part més dura, evidentment, i on s'obre força. No és tan sols el tumor cerebral, sinó les conseqüències que la radiació del tractament van causar-hi en els darrers 18 anys, i que l'han anat apagant mica a mica, tot i reivindicar-se com a lluitadora.
Vaja, que és interessant, sí.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher for the electronic version of this booK.

What a touching book.

I loved listening to Roxette, and I was very excited when I heard about this book.

This is not a regular memoir. It is more a book with vignettes and snippets focusing on music and Marie's honest thoughts and emotions towards her illness. Her determination is so inspiring, and this book exists because of her determination.

Sad, inspiring, and honest.

This book is more about emotion and feeling so, I will leave my review short and encourage readers to discover this wonderful book.

[Christina Tholander · Rating 5 out of 5]

A true pearl about the most difficult fight against cancer and the road back to touring the world and headlining the live stage! Even if you are not a fan it's a very interesting read and extremely inspiring. Very well written! I do hope it will be translated into other languages for more to enjoy. I can only praise it.

[Christopher Hood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read both the Swedish version of the book & the English (hardback) version of the book. Goodreads only has one entry for the book, so I will put both of my reviews together.

Here is my review for the Swedish version (done in 2022):
"I took a trip to Sweden in September. While I was there, I bought a copy of “Kärleken Till Livet”, which, in essence, is an autobiography by Marie Fredriksson. As noted in my previous post, I had been learning Swedish on Duolingo for the past three years so that I could read this book. I also noted in that post that, ironically, during the trip, the news came out that the book (first published in 2015) would finally be getting an English version (coming out in April 2023). Despite this, I am pleased that I have learnt Swedish, that I book the book, and that I have now finished reading it.

The first thing I should make clear is that my Swedish is, naturally, far from fluent. Indeed, I suspect that overall I probably understood around a third of the book – though there were parts where it was much higher than this, but, on the flip side, parts where I struggled to follow any of it. But I didn’t want to stop and check every word that I didn’t know with a dictionary. I treated it as any book that I speed read, where getting the gist is largely sufficient. I have completed the book in about 4 weeks (when I have been reading other books too) and I have got the gist of it (I think), and in due course I can go through it in more detail (looking up more words in a dictionary). I will also get the English version.

One thing to make clear about this book is that it is not an autobiography. The book has been put together by Helena Von Zweigbergk, whose name also appears in the cover of the book. Having said that, many chapters are in Marie’s own words. So, it is both an autobiography and a biography. The next thing to be aware of – and I wonder how some readers will feel about this if the English version keeps the same style – is that the chapters don’t follow a precise chronological order through Marie’s life. As I read many Japanese books, I am used to this more fluid way of connecting things, but I also read many autobiographies in English and know that these tend to have a more linear structure.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book – at least as much as you can enjoy a book that has so much space dedicated to Marie discussing the impact of the illness that ultimately took her life. There were moments when I laughed, but there were many sadder parts, and not just those relating to Marie’s illness. I do wish that there had been more on the Roxette years, particularly the 1980s and 1990s, but at least this does leave an obvious gap for Per Gessle to fill one day (though he’s still very busy making music, including with the new incarnation of Roxette itself, PG Roxette).

I started reading the book when I was still in Sweden and I have happy memories of reading the book while enjoying my afternoon ‘fika’ (can drinking and reading a book by yourself really be called ‘fika’ even if you feel as though you are interacting with another person in some way due to the book having autobiographic content?), and visiting the village where Marie grew up soon after I had read about that part of her life. I also liked the fact that, as the book had a lot of interviews and information written in 2015, that this had been around the time of the final Roxette tour – one which I managed to see in Amsterdam. At the time of the concert I hadn’t been fully aware of Marie’s illness and found it hard to see someone who used to be so energetic on stage, having to sit on a chair the whole time. Reading the book helped me understand the situation so much more and brought back good memories of the concert itself.

Of course Marie battled on for another 4 years after 2015 – even 2015 was many more years than she had been expected to live when the brain tumour was first discovered back in 2002. I feel as though, given that the book is part biography, there is room for more information about happened after 2015 and expect this will be in the English edition, since it would be easy to update the ‘Afterword’ section. But, in other respects, it’s not relevant and even in the Swedish version, I’m not sure if that chapter is needed. I say this, as much as anything, due to how powerful the final main chapter is – which is written in Marie’s words. I’m so glad that I could understand large sections of it. For that chapter alone, the book is worth reading and I look forward to seeing whether the English translation will be just as powerful."
See also: https://hoodcp.wordpress.com/2022/10/...

Review of English version:
"The first thing I would like to discuss in relation to the book, is the presentation of the book itself. I got the special edition hardback version. It looks absolutely magnificent. The silver edges on the pages really make the book seem extra special.

With the special edition hardback version of the book, you also get a CD (which sits in a sleeve in the inside back cover). The CD is ‘The Change’ by Marie Fredriksson was originally released in 2004 and the front sleeve features a self-portrait by Marie. Although I already had a copy of ‘The Change’, I wanted to get this version as it also contained an extra bonus track, ‘Sea of Love’, which was the last song that Marie recorded.

As noted above, I had originally attempted to read the book in Swedish having only learnt Swedish (to read) via Duolingo. At the end of that read, I had estimated that I probably understood around a third of the book – which I was pleasantly surprised by. When reading the English version, I was on the look out to see how much I really had understood. Of course, since about 15 months had passed since I read the Swedish version, there were limits to how much I could remember from that read. On top of this, due to additional knowledge from news articles and the Wikipedia page that I have read over the years, there’s a degree to which I don’t know how much I was recalling information from those sources as opposed to the Swedish version of the book. However, there were plenty of times where I read sentences and I remember reading the Swedish equivalent and, remarkably, my understanding being correct. After reading the book, my feeling now is that I actually probably had understood closer to 60% of the Swedish version correctly. Whether I could achieve such a high percentage now, given that I have not kept up my Swedish in the past year, is another matter. Perhaps if I keep re-reading both versions of the book, together with another book (‘Brända Brev’ (‘The Burnt Letter Society’) by Dan T. Sehlberg) which I have both the Swedish and English versions for, that will help.

As noted in my previous review of the book, one thing to make clear about this book is that it is not an autobiography. It does not cover all of Marie’s life. It is a collection of memories and thoughts on life in general. A lot of the text is in Marie’s own words, but it also contains observations by Helena Von Zweigbergk, and also contributions from others. So, it is both an autobiography and a biography.

As with the Swedish version, overall, I really enjoyed the book – at least as much as you can enjoy a book that has so much space dedicated to Marie discussing the impact of the illness that ultimately took her life. There were moments when I laughed, but there were many sadder parts, and not just those relating to Marie’s illness. As with the Swedish version, I do wish that there had been more on the Roxette years, particularly the 1980s and 1990s, but at least this does leave an obvious gap for Per Gessle to fill one day (though he’s still very busy making music, including with the new incarnation of Roxette itself, PG Roxette).

As the book is so beautifully presented (although it should be noted that it does contain some typing/printing errors), I didn’t want to mark it. This means that I haven’t made any particular notes about lines that stood out for me. Perhaps when I next read it, I will note these down somewhere and add them to this review. Von Zweigbergk notes in a chapter at the end of the book (this is additional to the Swedish version which had been completed prior to Marie’s death) that there had been plans for an extra book which would contain poems and other lines by Marie but that it never got done. This is a great shame. I would love to see another book, where on one side you have some text taken from this book (e.g., observations on life), from lyrics of songs by Marie/Roxette, and any other poems/lines by Marie that Von Zweigbergk can access, and then on the other page there is a photograph of Marie. In the meantime, ‘Listen To Your Heart’ will be a book that I will revisit from time-to-time."
See also: https://hoodcp.wordpress.com/2024/01/...

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Touching memoir from Swedish singer Marie Fredriksson, a personal favorite of mine, written shortly before her death in 2019 after years of battling brain cancer. The book is mostly about coping with her illness, as to be expected. I do wish there was a little more material about her rise to fame as one half of Roxette. Although the band is mentioned quite often, there aren’t the sort of stories and anecdotes about being rockstars in the 80s and 90s that one usually wants from celebrity bios. It could simply be that her memories had receded too far to be captured in detail. Still, a worthwhile (and fairly short) read about living with illness, the way it changes you and those around you, and finding ways to celebrate life while facing your own mortality.

Also should note that this hardcover US edition was published by “1984 Publishing”, a company I had not heard of prior to this. The design and packaging of this book is really quite beautiful. I wish more books in this era were put together with such care and thought. I’m glad I didn’t get this on the Kindle as I originally planned.

[Britt-Marie Kullin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Betyg: 4 av 5.

Mycket bra och gripande biografi om Marie Fredriksson, av henne själv och författaren Helena von Zweigbergk.

Väldigt intressant att läsa både om Maries uppväxt, hennes musikkarriär, och om hennes sjukdom.

Eftersom boken är skriven av en mycket duktig författare, så är den ju då också mycket välskriven.

Rekommenderas varmt.

[Petisuis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Es una pena. Marie tenía mucho que decir y entiendo el porqué del estilo caótico que ha querido usar la periodista. Pero la traducción es de locos. Es como si lo hubiera traducido Google.
La historia de Marie, eso sí, es digna de ser leída.

[Diana Gutiérrez · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Solo quiero contar mi historia de forma sencilla", dice Marie, y esta biografía es todo lo que promete. Ay, Marie, yo también me pregunto por qué.

[Alwine Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can i say. I love Marie. It was wonderful to read her thoughts and feelings and also hard.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't really put into words the impact that Marie Fredriksson had on Young Me, and why would I even try because this isn't about me, it's about Marie. I will say I read the original version of this book in Swedish (an autographed copy gifted to me by a friend who lives in Sweden and sympathized with my lack of living in Sweden myself). It was kinda hard because I'm not fluent (unless you count finishing Legendary on all the Swedish units in Duolingo, which honestly, still not fluent); there were a lot of texts to my Swedish friend for definitions and context. Meanwhile, I finished this book in the amount of time it took me to finish one of the longer chapters in the original Swedish! But I read the original because I wanted to hear Marie's story in Marie's words. Her solo stuff was always in Swedish (except for The Change), and she was more Marie and less Roxette when speaking or singing it. I like to think she would've liked that.

But despite the advantage English gave to my overall enjoyment of the book (NGL, I skipped some stuff in the Swedish version, like the bits where Christoffer was talking because fuck Christoffer, Jonas forever, but then it turns out that Chris actually said some really legitimately cool stuff so I sort of feel bad about writing him off but then I remember the stink he made about masks during covid so yeah fuck Christoffer), it was also harder in some ways to read. Marie was my first girl crush, half of the first band I truly fangirled over, and an inspiration for so many of the things I've done in my life. It was completely parasocial on my part (before that was even a word), but her death hit me really hard. This reading was so bittersweet, but I loved every page. I love that this book exists, and I love that I got to exist in a world with Marie in it. ♥️

None of that probably helps you, granted, but I feel like this book is mostly gonna be read by people who already have established opinions of Marie soooo yeah. I do kinda hate that they changed the title and tied it all so strongly to Roxette; I mean, I get why they did it from a financial perspective. The vast majority of the English-speaking world knows her as half of Roxette and also probably doesn't speak Swedish. But I feel like the original title better conveyed the spirit of the whole book, and is even a closing line to the whole thing. I also liked the inner covers better in the Swedish edition -- all of Marie's jackets in neat little rows. 😄

[Pedro Ferreira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sempre tive um carinho especial pela Marie Fredriksson, desde os anos de glória dos Roxette nos tops mundiais, não sei se pelo facto de partilharmos o mesmo dia de aniversário se simplesmente por ser uma mulher de uma voz e charme muito particulares.

Esta foi uma biografia que me levou a uma multitude de estados de alma, desde a nostalgia daqueles sucessos musicais que acompanharam os finais da minha adolescência, passando pela curiosidade de pormenores menos conhecidos da vida da cantora, até ao sentimento de profunda tristeza pela degradação da sua saúde e consequente morte.

Este é um registo biográfico muito bem conseguido, onde a cantora vai partilhando as suas inseguranças, frustrações, vitórias, paixões, imperfeições, ao longo das diferentes fases da vida.

Desde uma infância e adolescência pobres numa pequena vila do interior da Suécia, um ambiente familiar com muita união e amor mas marcado por uma grande tragédia, passando pela evolução gradual de uma carreira a solo de sucesso por toda a Suécia, até ao estrelato de âmbito global, já parte da sua parceria com Per Gessle.

Mas o que impressionou mais foi o outro lado, desde o choque do diagnóstico do tumor cerebral, passando pelo pesadelo criado pelos media suecos em torno do caso e o dramático processo de tratamento. O apoio incondicional de Mikael Bolyos, o marido, da restante família e amigos, a recuperação, o regresso aos palcos e a posterior despedida.

Este é um relato cru, real e triste de uma mulher forte, de uma beleza muito singular, que lutou contra o seu inimigo interior até ao fim das suas forças. Depois de ler isto, certamente que cada um irá "escutar o seu coração" de uma forma muito pessoal.

Esta biografia acaba por servir como um forte lembrete de como a vida pode ser tantas vezes uma passagem rápida demais, e como devemos valorizar cada dia pois o amanhã é sempre tão incerto. Recomendo fortemente esta leitura, em particular aos apreciadores de obras de registo biográfico.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the cover and format of this book and the writing did not disappoint - the life story of Marie Fredrickson of Sweden and Roxette - a rock group of Sweden with a worldwide audience . Well written and an Artistic endeavor with the very soul of Marie revealed.

[Hugo Basson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to read this book and not get emotional, doesn't matter if it makes you happy or sad. It feels like you are there every step of the way with Marie. It was a delight to read and will recommend this book to any Roxette or Marie fan.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both sad and inspirational. Marie was an incredible talent who survived a brain tumor and came back to perform again despite almost insurmountable odds and injury. She was amazing.

[JOSEPH M JOHNSON · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful and sad but a great read. RIP Marie

Not a sad story about her struggles. Somewhat there but a beautiful
Tribute to a talented musician. Rest in peace Marie.

[Liubov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking & Heartwarming..

[emmakicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Både fin och intressant bok, kanske ännu lite sorgligare att läsa nu i efterhand.

[Charlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Den här boken berörde mig verkligen in i själen, vi får ta del av hur Marie Fredriksson växte upp och hur hon upptäckte sin fantastiska sångröst och sin förmåga att trollbinda en publik, hur hon snabbt blev en stor och folkkär artist, och så småningom hur det hemskaste som kunde hända hände - hon drabbades av en hjärntumör. Något av det värsta som kan hända en människa, men trots detta bestämde hon sig för att överleva, hur jobbigt, svårt eller plågsamt det skulle bli på vägen - hon var inte klar, hon visste att hennes tid att lämna jordelivet inte var inne ännu. Och mot alla odds så överlevde hon och fortsatte sin karriär, fram till nu. Vi får följa hennes tankegångar, hennes minnen och hennes jävlar anamma och kampen för överlevnad.
Jag har både skrattat och gråtit under tiden som jag läst denna bok, men den berörde mig så mycket att jag läste ut den i två sittningar, lite mer än halva boken första dagen, resten dagen efter.

Som många självbiografier så är den inte skriven på det sätt som många anser vara proffesionellt utan mer som ett samtal person till person där en person berättar, och läsaren är den som lyssnar. Men det som fångar ens uppmärksamhet och berör är Maries fantastiska sätt att uttrycka hur hon tänker och känner och det mod hon har visat under hela sitt liv.

Jag rekommenderar boken.

[Ezequiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Som Roxettefan det var svårt för mig att läsa den, jag hade boken (hardcover, med flera bilder som finns inte på e-boken) för några år, men vågade inte. Nu är jag äntligen färdig med den. Marie berättar om en helt okänd del av historian bakom turnéerna, skivor och bandet. Hur Marie kände sig ensam visste jag, men inte på riktigt och inte med sådant detaljnivå. Hon förklarar också varför Per och Åsa var inte med bröllopet och hur hon kändes efter sjukdomen med att socialisera och vara med efter konserterna och sådant.
Det jag tyckte mest om var att hon fortsatte att vilja leva till varje pris efter sjukdomen, hon ville inte dö, och att hon fått enorm kraft genom musiken och att vara tillbaka framför publiken.
Jag visste inte att jag också var med på bilden hon hade hemma, med namnet av alla som skickade lycka till när hon blev sjuk.

[Maria Strale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I förordet skriver Helena von Zweigbergk att detta är en "känslobok" och inte en kronologisk biografi. Låter lovande. Sedan varvas kapitlen mellan nutid och en kronologisk biografi. Nutid är otroligt intressant. Hur Marie får ställa om sitt liv efter sin sjukdom, hur den har påverkat hennes familj och prioriteringar. Frustrationer, oro och ångest. Väl beskrivet och med hög identifikationsfaktor. Den kronologiska biografin känns både lite torr; det blir mycket "jag" "och sedan". Dvs alltför kronologiskt och trots en duktig författare mycket upprepningar och inte särskilt inlevelsefullt. Total frånvaro av känslor i den delen alltså.

[Kim Kimselius · Rating 4 out of 5]

En berättelse som grep tag, bitvis gjorde mig ledsen, men även förbannad, ödmjuk och sorgsen. Det var just biten om Marie Fredrikssons cancer som gjorde mig upprörd. Hur okänsliga människor kan vara. Samtidigt förundras jag över den kämparglöd som Marie visar. Även om hon har en dödsdom hängande över sig ger hon inte upp.

I boken får läsaren följa när hon får beskedet om tumören, om kampen mot den, om hennes uppväxt och musikkarriär. Marie Fredriksson bjuder på sig själv och sitt liv.

Det här är inte bara en bok för de som älskar Marie Fredrikssons musik, utan även för de som vill läsa om hur man kan bekämpa cancer och inte ge upp.

En bok jag varmt rekommenderar dig att läsa!

[Flygaren Cederlöv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ett av målen under 2022 är att läsa mer biografier. Jag blev inte besviken över denna bok som skrivits i samarbete mellan Marie och Helena. Jag lyssnade enormt mycket på Roxette som ung men jag inser att jag inte har någon kunskap om artisterna själva. Marie berättar om barndomen, karriären, musiken och hjärntumören. Hon är rättfram och pratar ur hjärtat vilket gör mig både imponerad och nervös. Nervositeten kommer av att hon vid flera tillfällen bryter mot jantelagen och jag inser att vi alla borde bryta mot den mer och berätta för alla vad vi är bra på.

[Karin · Rating 3 out of 5]

En sådan öppen och direkt biografi är det sällan man får läsa, i synnerhet med tanke på alla svåra skeenden och sinnesstämningar som tas upp. Tror att den kan hjälpa många på det sätt som den trots allt genomsyrar hopp och livsglädje. Tyckte mycket om bokens struktur, den växlar mellan nutid och dåtid och man får höra Maries röst, hennes mans röst, samt vänner, samtidigt som en intervju - eller snarare pratstund - går som ett löpande tema genom boken.

[Hjolia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jag är tveksam hur jag ska bedöma den här bocken. Jag har läst den inte på grund jag är fan av Roxette (det är jag faktiskt inte), utan jag har velat att lära hur man bär kärleken till livet när man måste kämpa så hårt och leva i mörkret. Jag beundrar den här kvinnan med hennes stark röst och hennes stark vilja att vinna över sjukdomen så mycket och är glad för hennes kärlekshistoria. Tills allt tar slut finns inget slut.