Sana’s Reviews > Us Against You > Status Update

This dragged on way too long. The author describes (in an interview at the end of the book) that he can practically write anywhere. He's even writing on napkins or his arms if inspiration hits him. And DAMN, it shows, because this book seems so fragmented and boring!
Don't get me wrong, it's exciting and touching WHEN something happens, but that's rarely the case.

Damn, the author really has some balls to describe homophobia THAT much in detail. If I would like Benji as a character, I'd even feel more sorry for him, but he just feels written way too dramatically. He's like 'I'm 14 and in my tumblr era' deep, you know?
And it's also brave to write a hooligan perspective. Backman seems really not to give a shit if his characters are likeable. They're all horrible :D

I really didn't expect a POLITICIAN to be the antagonist of this novel XD The first book was so focused on Beartown and its residents that I kind of forgot there is a WORLD around it. But I guess that's intentional to show this hardcore tribalism of the community.
It feels a little dragged out, though. So far, nothing really happened.

'To understand a big story, you have to understand the little stories within' - that's a pretty good description of how Backman writes this series. And mostly I really love it because it's so raw and human :3 But some characters, especially Benji, unfortunately don't feel like real humans with real problems but like kids in their Tumblr-era. That's sad, but not the kind Backman wants it to be.