Book Review and Giveaway: Anxious People

By Melissa Amster

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove comes a charming, poignant novel about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined.

Looking at real estate isn’t usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can’t fix their own marriage. There’s a wealthy bank director who has been too busy to care about anyone else and a young couple who are about to have their first child but can’t seem to agree on anything, from where they want to live to how they met in the first place. Add to the mix an eighty-seven-year-old woman who has lived long enough not to be afraid of someone waving a gun in her face, a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent, and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment’s only bathroom, and you’ve got the worst group of hostages in the world.

Each of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them—the bank robber included—desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next.

Rich with Fredrik Backman’s “pitch-perfect dialogue and an unparalleled understanding of human nature” (Shelf Awareness), Anxious People is an ingeniously constructed story about the enduring power of friendship, forgiveness, and hope—the things that save us, even in the most anxious times. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

It has been a while since I last read a Fredrik Backman novel. For some reason, Bear Town and Us Against You didn't capture my interest. However, after reading Anxious People, I'm leaning toward checking out some of his books that I missed!

Overall, this was a great novel. There were parts that I didn't see coming at all and I was pleasantly surprised. I liked all of the characters and the way they interacted, as well as how their stories unfolded throughout the novel. It was so clever how everything was threaded together. One of the situations reminded me of something a close friend is going through and I hope things will happen for them the way they happened in this novel. 

The only thing that didn't work for me was that some phrases translated strangely and it was hard to make sense of what was being said. It didn't detract from my enjoyment, but I had to re-read some sentences more than once. 

I definitely recommend this novel for a cozy fall read!

Movie casting suggestions (even though this story takes place in Sweden, they've moved other stories to America, so I chose accordingly...and it was still a challenge, so bear with me!):
Jack: David Corenswet
Jim: Brendan Gleeson
Julia: Stefanie Martini
Ro: Hannah John-Kamen
Anna-Lena: Joanna Cassidy
Roger: Craig T. Nelson
Estelle: Rosemary Harris
Lennart: Scott Bakula
Zara: Elizabeth Perkins

Thanks to Atria for the book in exchange for an honest review...and for sharing a copy with a lucky reader!

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here.  

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Giveaway ends September 29th at midnight EST.

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