Book Review | My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

 

One of my favorite books that I read in 2014 was A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman; it was amazing. If you haven't read it yet, I HIGHLY recommend it. So when I saw Backman had another book out, I quickly snatched it up from my local library.

First off, let me say that Backman is Swedish (my people!) so these novels are translated but (in my opinion) nothing is lost in translation. I mean, I'm not reading it in his native Swedish to really compare but I don't feel like I'm missing anything when I read his books. Plus, I love that they take place in Scandinavia.  It's different and refreshing.

So My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry follows seven year old Elsa (not of Frozen fame); Elsa is often told that she is "different". Her best friend is her seventy-seven year old grandmother who is described as "standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-men-who-want-to-talk-about-Jesus-crazy." At night, Elsa takes refuge in a world of her grandmothers creation - called the Land of Almost-Awake; where everyone is different and there is no need to be normal.

When Elsa's grandmother dies, she leaves behind some apology letters to those that she has wronged. She leaves the task of delivering them to Elsa. What follows is a tale of monsters, attack dogs, fairytales, kingdoms and the story of a unique and beloved grandmother. 

My Thoughts

So I didn't LOVE this book like I LOVED his other one. This book was a bit more dreamland-y and fantasy-esque than I generally enjoy in a book (Harry Potter not included). It was still an enjoyable book, I gave it 4 st