I really enjoyed this book. I chose it as A Man Called Ove is one of my favourite books ever; this one was very good but not as outstanding as his first novel.

Seven year old Elsa's grandmother is constantly getting into scrapes. From wandering around publicly with her housecoat on and nothing underneath, to throwing animal dung at police officers, she is not the best role model for Elsa, but definitely the most loveable. Elsa's grandmother immerses her in a make-believe world of fairy tales from which Elsa learns life lessons; she never learns enough lessons to handle the uncontrollable grief that assails her when her granny quite suddenly dies.

As in A Man Called Ove, Backman makes grief one of the themes of the novel, and handles it masterfully; I have often wondered if he was a bereavement counsellor before he became a best-selling author. Backman also strikes up unlikely friendships between the characters, and animosities that end when people really listen to each other.

It's a really good book and I recommend it warmly. ( )

This should be 8 stars.
I cannot exaggerate how much I love this book. I have been recommending it to everyone I can. I have also struggled to find a concise way to review it that does it justice.

Warm, sharp, intelligent, well-written, layered, fast-paced, thoughtful, delightful...
The book is told from the perspective (in non-omniscient 3rd person) of Elsa, a girl who will be turning eight shortly, so refers to herself as "an almost-eight". She is very bright, and has a fantastic, lively, and hilarious relationship with her grandmother (who in Adult Eyes is likely in her late 50s-early 60s).

Things are revealed in an organic way such that little bits of info earlier in the book become key pieces in understanding more profound truths later on. The matter-of-fact observations by Elsa of her housemates resonate with the reader at a deeper level than an almost-eight can appreciate.

I might suggest not reading this book on public transit. It is likely you will miss your stop (repeatedly).

***
micro-Spoiler:
I might suggest not reading chapter 31-32 in public. There could be tears. ( )

A different almost 8 year old girl's grandmother dies and she spends the next few days on a treasure hunt getting to know those who live in the house around her, making friends along the way. Backman explores what it means to lose loved ones, and how everyone around has their own past and stories that you'd never suspect without asking. Backman once again demonstrates his ability to write flawed, human characters into his stories.

Favorite Quotes behind spoiler tag: "People who think slowly always accuse quick thinkers of concentration problems, idiots can't understand that non-idiots are done with a thought and already moving onto the next before they have."

"When mom and dad did a cleaning, mom wrote a minute by minute breakdown of the cleaning schedule, and then dad would get sort of caught up with descaling the coffee percolator for two and a half hours"

"When a child is born in Miamus, all the families friends come to the cot and tell stories and pull faces and dance and sing and make jokes and the first one to make the child laugh becomes the Laugher. They are personally responsible for making it happen as often and as loudly and in as many situations as possible. Particularly those that cause embarrassment to the parents." ( )

This is the most heart felt, real life interpretation mixed with a child's fairy tale point of view. I laughed and I most definitely cried like I haven't in forever. Elsa captivated my heart and soul. She made me feel her every hurt, frustrated, anger and sorrow moment. You go on an extraordinary journey that will leave you looking at the world in a a new way. ( )

I kept reading because I wanted to know what happened, which is a sign of a good story, but I was not a fan of the cutesy style of the 8 year-old narrator. So really just two stars is all I can give this. Disappointing after enjoy Anxious People so much... ( )