Review: 'Anxious People' by Fredrik Backman

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

'Anxious People' by Fredrik Backman, 341 pages - Instagram @c_reads_books

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Anxious People by Fredrik Backman tells the story of a failed bank robbery turned hostage situation when the would-be bank robber stumbles into an apartment viewing in a building across the street from the bank. When the bank robber, after failing to actually rob a bank, runs into an apartment viewing on the day before New Year’s Eve, everyone is surprised. A recently retired couple hunting down fixer-uppers, a wealthy banker, a young couple who are about to have their first child, an eighty-seven-year-old woman, an unsettled but adamant real estate agent, and a mystery stranger who’s locked in the only bathroom are an eclectic bunch to take hostage. Although the people begin as an unlikely group of anxious strangers, as the story unfolds, their truths are told, and they realize they have more in common than any of them would have ever thought.

I utterly loved this book (and was so excited to receive my autographed copy!). I have read all of Backman’s work to date (except The Deal of a Lifetime, which I have no idea why I haven’t read yet), and I have yet to be disappointed. This book in particular is definitely among Beartown and Us Against You, my two absolute favorites by him. I especially loved the format of this story, with it jumping back and forth in time, truly keeping me on the edge of my seat, waiting to find out what happens next (and where the bank robber disappeared to). Not only is the story Backman tells heartwarming, it also hysterically funny and supremely amusing and entertaining to read. I would certainly never think to write a comedy about a failed bank robbery turned hostage situation, but now that I’ve read this book, it seems like the smartest and most natural idea in the world. No matter the premise of the story he’s telling, Backman never fails to give a story that is heartwarming and entirely human in the best possible ways. I am not lying when I say I couldn’t put this book down, and I would recommend it to literally anyone and everyone!