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A review by jenbsbooks
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman
5.0
Ah ... this was my last Backman book (well, I still have his non-fiction and Christmas story). I DO wish I'd read this before reading Britt-Marie was here, not that it really makes a huge difference. While this is a 5* for me, I can see why some struggle with it. The fantasy elements/world were confusing, but in the end, I loved it, as I've loved all of Backman's books. It's one I want on my shelf, one I'll go through and see what quotes others have saved - one I'll remember.
I know the fantasy world overlapped, and the "wurse" in fantasyland wasn't a dog. BUT ... wasn't he a dog in real life? In the picture on the cover? When the wurse was fed chocolate, that just made me cringe (because IRL was the girl feeding a dog chocolate?)
Per usual for Backman, this was 3rd person/present tense. A huge cast of characters (and when I say characters I REALLY mean characters, because they were all really unique. The chapters did have headings, although they weren't really descriptive (as far as jogging the memory to remember what happened in that chapter) ... Tobacco, Monkey, Coffee, Beer, Lilies, Cleaning Agents, Leather, Rubber, Soap, Alcohol, Protein Bars, Mint, Wine, Tires, Wood Shavings, Dust, Cinnamon Bun, Smoke, Sponge Cake Mix, Clothes Shop, Candle Grease, O'Boy, Dishcloth, Dreams, Spruce, Pizza, Mulled Wine, Potatoes, Swiss Meringues, Perfume, Peanut Cake, Glass, Baby, Granny. Per MY usual pet peeve, the hard copy did NOT have a Table of Contents. I cannot comprehend why a TOC isn't included (it's in the digital copies, ebook and audio, for navigation, but physical books could use that too, knowing what page a chapter starts on rather than just randomly flipping through? Seeing all the chapter headers together, knowing that there 34 chapters and an epilogue ... I always want a TOC, even in a physical copy, even in fiction, even if there aren't chapter headers.
I connected with the characters and really cared about them - to the point of tears a few times.
No proFanity, no sex ... dealing with death and some scary moments.
I know the fantasy world overlapped, and the "wurse" in fantasyland wasn't a dog. BUT ... wasn't he a dog in real life? In the picture on the cover? When the wurse was fed chocolate, that just made me cringe (because IRL was the girl feeding a dog chocolate?)
Per usual for Backman, this was 3rd person/present tense. A huge cast of characters (and when I say characters I REALLY mean characters, because they were all really unique. The chapters did have headings, although they weren't really descriptive (as far as jogging the memory to remember what happened in that chapter) ... Tobacco, Monkey, Coffee, Beer, Lilies, Cleaning Agents, Leather, Rubber, Soap, Alcohol, Protein Bars, Mint, Wine, Tires, Wood Shavings, Dust, Cinnamon Bun, Smoke, Sponge Cake Mix, Clothes Shop, Candle Grease, O'Boy, Dishcloth, Dreams, Spruce, Pizza, Mulled Wine, Potatoes, Swiss Meringues, Perfume, Peanut Cake, Glass, Baby, Granny. Per MY usual pet peeve, the hard copy did NOT have a Table of Contents. I cannot comprehend why a TOC isn't included (it's in the digital copies, ebook and audio, for navigation, but physical books could use that too, knowing what page a chapter starts on rather than just randomly flipping through? Seeing all the chapter headers together, knowing that there 34 chapters and an epilogue ... I always want a TOC, even in a physical copy, even in fiction, even if there aren't chapter headers.
I connected with the characters and really cared about them - to the point of tears a few times.
No proFanity, no sex ... dealing with death and some scary moments.