Us Against You - Fredrik Backman

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Author: Fredrik Backman

Series: Beartown (#2)
Genre: Literary Fiction, Contemporary Drama.
Rating: 4.5 stars.

Sometimes good people do terrible things in the belief that they’re trying to protect what they love.

If you haven’t yet read Beartown, stop right here. Read that book first! Not because there are any spoilers in this review, but because YOU NEED TO READ THAT BOOK ASAP! Then come back to continue with this review.

Beartown leaves you on a bittersweet note. There are so many characters who entrench themselves in your heart, there are so many events that leave you baffled-cum-captivated, there are so many plot tracks that you want to know more about. Imagine the pressure created on Backman to write a quality sequel for this stupendous story. Does he deliver up to expectations? A resounding yes!

Us Against You (UAY) is a sequel in the true sense of the word. There are so many authors who write sequels to capitalise on the success of their earlier novels, but in many cases, the sequel can be read as a standalone without much of a problem. Not so here. You will not be able to truly appreciate it unless you read Beartown. (If you read it as a standalone, you might find UAY an above average book because you won’t be able to understand the underlying causes to the consequences detailed in UAY. Beartown lays a solid foundation for this story to continue in UAY.)

Here’s a brief peek into UAY without any spoilers.

Beartown is reeling from the impact of the events in book one. Their rivalry with Hed has gone to a whole new level. The future of the Beartown Ice Hockey Club seems to be in question with new interference from the local politicos and international business conglomerates. Soon, a new team comes together, a team of Beartown, a team for Beartown, but also a team against Hed. And this rivalry creates repercussions that even the most astute of people wouldn’t have foreseen.

The title could refer to so many factions created in this book: Beartown vs. Hed, The Anderssons vs. the rest of Beartown, Benji vs. those “not like him”, Maya and Ana vs. the rest of school, Politicians vs. sports persons, The Pack vs. the rest of the community. Each dilemma is equally important to the narrative, and it’s this interplay of multiple cross-connected segments that elevates UAY to a complicated maze in which you find yourself entrenched.


UAY is much broader in scope to Beartown. This goes both for it and against it. Beartown fans will enjoy the continuation and the discovery of what happens to their beloved characters. At the same time, the book goes at a very slow pace. In fact, it feels like there’s hardly anything happening here until about 60-65%. So you really need to keep your patience with UAY. But after that halfway mark, you’ll see all the pieces begin to fit in together. Backman’s foreshadowing creates the right amount of tension at all the right places.

One big advantage to Beartown readers is that you already know most of the characters so you don't spend as much time as in book one to remember who's who. Almost all the characters from Beartown make a main or minor appearance in this book. But not as per their status in the first book. Times have changed, and character priorities have accordingly been readjusted. The good news is that most of the really memorable characters of the first book get an extended appearance in this one. Not all of these extended appearances will satisfy you though. But that's natural, isn't it? The impact of a tragedy varies from person to person. There are hardly any new characters introduced in UAY. And just as in Beartown, some of them remain nameless until the end. But who creates the maximum impact in UAY? For me, it was Benji and Ana. I fell in love with Benji all over again and I am keeping my fingers crossed that book three has him in the central role. (Oh! How I hope the English version is released soooonnn!!!) And Ana! What a stunning character development! She was great in Beartown; she is astounding in UAY.

Beartown is still my preferred book between these two, probably because it dealt with themes closer to my heart. (I rated it a solid 4.75, quite rare for me for contemporary adult fiction.) UAY gets a 4.5, which still rounds up to 5.

I stopped highlighting the quotes in this book after one point, because there are so many fabulous ones! But I began this review with a lovely quote from this book, and I’ll end it with another.

I wish you courage
I wish you rushing blood
A heart that beats too hard
Feelings that make everything too hard
Love that gets out of control
The most intense adventures
I hope you find your way out
I hope you’re the kind of person
Who gets a happy ending.


Read my review of 'The Winners', the third and final book of this series, HERE.

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