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Not as good as Bear Town. The constant cliffhangers, always built in a very similar way, make it a little difficult to read and, at times, even somewhat boring.

Some may categorize this book as "hockey literature". Or they may say it's about sport, gender, homosexuality, power, rape, class, violence, because it's all in there. For me it's about people, their emotions, thoughts, decisions, love and hate, the bonds they make with one another and those they don't. This is the first of a trilogy, I'm ready to start the second.

Very intense emotionally. I sometimes had to pause reading and do something else to not be overwhelmed. Not many books are able to do this to me. "Britt-Marie Was Here", from the same author, was close but not quite the same. The one I remember from the top of my head that made me feel like this is "Cat's Eye", by Margaret Atwood.

After having read and loved, years ago, her two prehistoric trilogies, I was surprised to find a book in a totally different era, mid-19th century USA. However, her carefully researched writing is still the same and this story is as vivid and interesting as her previous works. I loved it.

I did not have much expectations for this book, as I only wanted something light for starting Summer. But this was surprisingly good, funny, a page-turner like I haven't read in a while, but also with some insights into race, gender and class differences in modern USA.