My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I still love Fredrik Backman, but this offering did not work for me. I tried to ignore the characterization issues and flaws and let the mystical side sweep me away, but it was impossible. The harder I tried, the more frustrated I became.

The MC did not help this by repeatedly reminding the reader that she is 7 years old, even though cognitively and behaviorally, she doesn't behave anything like a 7 year-old, nor do her supposed classmates who are apparently guilty of a level of social bully that is extremely uncommon at this age level and would be more classic for middle grade and older.

If you are an educator, librarian, work with groups of children regularly, or even just are currently parenting a 7 year-old, then I would discourage you from picking this up. It's impossible not to be frustrated by how inauthentic and inaccurate the voice is. Yes, kids can be smart and unique. Many of them are. However, their brain does not developed at quadruple the speed of all the other children around them, regardless of their quirks. Anyone with an education background will find all these situations, the dialogue, and the deep, adult-like level of cognitive thinking that the MC does to ring absolutely false.

I don't do false well in fiction. I understand fiction is full of lies, but some part of it needs to be deeply rooted in truth, especially for a novel like this. Otherwise, it feels dishonest and poorly done. It would have helped if this novel had been sent to a bunch of 1st and 2nd grade teachers to critic and comment on, before editing was finalized.

I still like Backman.

I like his writing.

I like his style.

I like the unusual characters and mystical elements of this story.

I like the creativity.

I like how many great thoughts there are here.

The one thing I don't like is that the MC thinks and speaks in a way that 7 year-olds are incapable of. In fact, a lot of teenagers would be incapable of some of these complex thought processes and conversations. The human brain isn't fully developed until the age of 25, so for a character to behave like a genius 30 year-old, at the supposed age of 7 is just a major characterization flaw and disappointment, in what could have otherwise probably been a very interesting story. Since the voice is so dreadfully off on this one, it just so happens to impact the whole entire story and how I feel about it. Had I been able to overlook that, this would likely be more of a 4 or 5 star read for me.

For those who don't care as much about voice and solid characterization, perhaps you can overlook these issues and find more to enjoy with this story.

Pages: 372