Fredrik Backman

Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy as in standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-strangers crazy. When Elsa's grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa's greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother's instructions lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and old crones but also to the truth about fairy tales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry

Nataly

She is still crying. Wolfheart as well. But they do what they can. They construct words of forgiveness from the ruins of fighting words.

“Your granny was old.” "Not to me. I only knew her for seven years. Almost eight.”

Eslie

Because all seven-year-olds deserve superheroes.

And whoever disagrees with that needs their head examined.

“Don’t fight with monsters, for you can become one. If you look into the abyss for long enough, the abyss looks into you.” 

“Only different people change the world,” Granny used to say. “No one normal has ever changed a crapping thing.”

She didn’t even understand the most basic symbolism of a Gryffindor scarf. And while Elsa didn’t want to be elitist or anything, how could one be expected to reason with a person like that?

Having a grandmother is like having an army. This is a grandchild’s ultimate privilege: knowing that someone is on your side, always, whatever the details. Even when you are wrong. Especially then, in fact.

A grandmother is both a sword and a shield

Josefina

I’m fine, it’s fine, it’s not like I cried within the first 50 and last 50 pages 

Sarah Roberts

This book is like being handed a slightly crumpled fairy tale wrapped in grief, laughter, and the stubborn love of very strange people. It’s quirky, yes, and occasionally sentimental, but under all the whimsy is a quietly profound story about loss, forgiveness, and what it means to be known.

At the heart of it is Elsa, a precocious seven-year-old with a sharp tongue, a deep love of Harry Potter, and a best friend in her grandmother—who is loud, unapologetic, and prone to throwing things at people she doesn’t like. When her grandmother dies (not a spoiler, it's in the blurb), she leaves Elsa a treasure hunt of apology letters to deliver, sending her into the orbit of all the eccentric neighbors in their apartment building. And through that, the story opens up into something much deeper than it first appears.

There’s a fine line with this kind of writing, where characters have capital-Q Quirks and there's a child narrator who is precocious but also meant to carry heavy emotional weight. It can tip into cloying or cutesy if it’s not handled carefully. But Backman manages to mostly keep it grounded. Elsa feels real. Her grief is messy and her anger is real, and the make-believe world she and her grandmother created together—full of dragons and secret kingdoms—becomes a kind of emotional map for understanding the far more complicated real world.

And yes, some of the metaphors are a bit on the nose, and there are moments that lean a little too hard into the whimsical for my taste. But I didn’t really mind. The emotional payoff snuck up on me. What starts out as kind of a quirky scavenger hunt becomes a meditation on how people carry their pain, and how children inherit the emotional weight of the adults around them, often without being told the full story.

The writing is accessible but occasionally luminous, and there’s something distinctly humane in Backman’s voice. He writes characters who are flawed in ways that feel specific and recognizable, and he doesn’t shy away from showing how difficult love can be, even when it’s fierce and well-meaning.

This isn’t a flashy book, and it doesn’t try to be clever. But it’s heartfelt in a way that feels earned. I found myself unexpectedly moved by the end, not because it was tragic, but because it was honest. It’s a story about people who are hard to love, and a child learning how to love them anyway.

If you like your books full of heart, with a little fairy dust and a lot of emotional nuance, this is a lovely, quietly strange little gem. Definitely worth the read.

baku

This book is like being handed a slightly crumpled fairy tale wrapped in grief, laughter, and the stubborn love of very strange people. It’s quirky, yes, and occasionally sentimental, but under all the whimsy is a quietly profound story about loss, forgiveness, and what it means to be known.

At the heart of it is Elsa, a precocious seven-year-old with a sharp tongue, a deep love of Harry Potter, and a best friend in her grandmother—who is loud, unapologetic, and prone to throwing things at people she doesn’t like. When her grandmother dies (not a spoiler, it's in the blurb), she leaves Elsa a treasure hunt of apology letters to deliver, sending her into the orbit of all the eccentric neighbors in their apartment building. And through that, the story opens up into something much deeper than it first appears.

There’s a fine line with this kind of writing, where characters have capital-Q Quirks and there's a child narrator who is precocious but also meant to carry heavy emotional weight. It can tip into cloying or cutesy if it’s not handled carefully. But Backman manages to mostly keep it grounded. Elsa feels real. Her grief is messy and her anger is real, and the make-believe world she and her grandmother created together—full of dragons and secret kingdoms—becomes a kind of emotional map for understanding the far more complicated real world.

And yes, some of the metaphors are a bit on the nose, and there are moments that lean a little too hard into the whimsical for my taste. But I didn’t really mind. The emotional payoff snuck up on me. What starts out as kind of a quirky scavenger hunt becomes a meditation on how people carry their pain, and how children inherit the emotional weight of the adults around them, often without being told the full story.

The writing is accessible but occasionally luminous, and there’s something distinctly humane in Backman’s voice. He writes characters who are flawed in ways that feel specific and recognizable, and he doesn’t shy away from showing how difficult love can be, even when it’s fierce and well-meaning.

This isn’t a flashy book, and it doesn’t try to be clever. But it’s heartfelt in a way that feels earned. I found myself unexpectedly moved by the end, not because it was tragic, but because it was honest. It’s a story about people who are hard to love, and a child learning how to love them anyway.

If you like your books full of heart, with a little fairy dust and a lot of emotional nuance, this is a lovely, quietly strange little gem. Definitely worth the read.

Bria

This was okay, but I was expecting more since it's Backman

Deepika Ramesh

This one demanded a lot of patience initially. Since, I once swore to myself, that I will not abandon books, I chose to endure quite a few pages which made no sense to me. When everything began to fall in place, I was glad that I decided to stay with this book, and didn't waste my time. This was fun, and slightly moving. The seven-year-old Elsa, despite being too mature for her age, didn't annoy me. I would have loved to hang out with such a kid. :) And, the Granny's badassery was epic. Here comes the 'but' part. But, if I have to choose between Backman's stunning debut 'A Man Called Ove' and this one, I would vote for the former.

Melissa Palmer

Book #85 Read in 2015
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

This was an enjoyable read. Elsa is a precocious 7 almost 8 year old girl who has adventures with her non-traditional grandmother. Her grandmother dies but leaves Elsa with a quest...to deliver letters to certain people, letters of apology written to those people by her grandmother. The recipients are the other people who live in Elsa's house/apartment building and through this quest, Elsa connects with these people in ways that she never would have imagined to be possible. The writing style of this book makes it as if talking to a friend; the characters are ones that readers can relate to and will care about. Besides a mystery element, there is fantasy through the make-believe world that Elsa's grandmother has created, as well as a lot of humor. I really liked it. I received a copy of this book from Amazon Vine in exchange for a honest review.

http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com

This book was very nice. I liked that they show that there's more to every character than meets the eye. You had empathy en sympathy for every single character. I wish I had the imagination of Elsa and her strong wil. Elsa's grandmother was one of a kind. I love how you learn more with Elsa as the story progress. The writing is beautiful once again. 

Jessica Ford

I loved this book. It was so sad, but such a good story. By the end of the book, I couldn't help but love all the characters.

Megan Ferguson

This was a hard read with the recent passing of my grandfather, but going through the grieving process along side an almost 7 year old ended up being just the help I needed.

Siya S

A bit dragging at times but god damn it Fredrik Backman you did it again!! He's definitely one of my favorite authors ever.With such witty dialogues and semi-complicated plots interwoven with a ver positive vibe, Banckman is indeed a king of feel-good novels of our time! 

Elsa and her grandma's relationship was very convincing and beautiful so much so that I wish I had a childhood with a granny like hers. After granny passed away, Elsa found a series of letters to deliver to those around her, leading to a revelation of family (and community) secrets that would completely knock her socks off, like seriously. 

 Beautifully written, subtly emotional story of family and friends and hopes and dreams and all things that are worth fighting for. Totally recommended.

Kevin Ramsay

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry
 is somewhat similar in nature to 
  Ove
 by the same author - eccentric older person and a younger person. That does not take away from the fact that Fredrik Backman is a quite engaging writer and brings his readers into the world he weaves with words, really well.

Cassie Annesi

BRB sobbing. Everything this man writes is pure gold, I can not recommend this book enough.

Varnika Manral

A kid with a wild imagination. An exasperated overworking mother. A granny with a potty mouth. The three generations make the book a delight. Armed with a quest, Elsa is an unstoppable girl with a mission, delivering her grandmother's apologies while getting to know her better.

Amir M 

So well-written that makes you curious about the relationship between an almost 8 year old girl and her 77 year old grandmother.

let's just say that if you're going through a hard time with grief, this is not the book for you, or if you can't read about animals dying, i wouldn't recommend this either. beside all of that, i thought this was a great book about people not being at all as what they seem on the outside, you have to take time to know them and love them

Cindy Lieberman

I was close with my grandmothers and hope my granddaughters would say the same, so this book often had me in sentimental tears . Yet it was also humorously observed. Some of the descriptions of the dream world bogged down a bit, but all was nicely tied up in the end.

Kelly Smithwick

It was another good read by Fredrik. The story-telling within the story made it confusing at times. Once I understood it all, it made much more sense. This book would make a great movie if done correctly.

Caroline Lewicki

This was the Backman book that took me the longest to finish. It starts pretty slow and the climax feels like it never really happens but this is a really sweet story. It isn't Backman's best - there are a lot of characters to follow and the story gets a bit confusing bouncing between the real world and Elsa's made up land of The Land of Almost Awake; however, if you can get into it, this is a very endearing story about coping with loss and learning to be yourself when you don't quite fit in.

Melody Izard

I got a little tired of the fairy tale but loved the story and the characters and his charming writing.

Carol Bailey

I picked this book up the other day because the title caught my eye. It's rare for me to buy anything that is not in electronic format but I thought I would read this one regardless. Turns out I was sorry I hadn't bought the electronic version for no other reason than I wanted to highlight so many of the things that Elsa says.

By page 18 I was sucked into the story and didn't want to put the book down. I loved the interactions between Elsa and Granny and then later between Elsa and everyone else in the house but especially Alf and the lady in the black skirt oh and Elsa's mom. Who am I kidding I just really enjoyed all of the interactions.

The other thing I found pleasing was how well the author referenced the X-men and Harry Potter. I will keep this book and would not be surprised if I read it again down the road.

Manohar

Another amazing novel from Backman.
It has that same endearing and humane writing you get from Backman.
I had a bit of trouble following the fairy tale descriptions and relating to the story of the characters, but it wasn't too much of an issue.
Not my favorite Backman novel, but a damn good novel.

Sam Pulliam

This is my first Backman novel and I will certainly be reading more. This book is beautiful and magical and heartbreaking all at once. I was consistently excited to see what he would do next and every character (there are quite a few) felt well-rounded and important. Clearly, I highly recommend.

Nikolay Bachiyski

A great children’s book, even if it’s a lot quirkier than the average Harry Potter-style adventure.

I am not sure how faithful the translation from Swedish was, but the style often made me chuckle – from too-logical translations to illogical word choices. And some “swearing” – everything was “bloody” without almost any blood.

Elsa is a fun almost 7 year-old girl, who, like in many fairytales, is “very grown-up for her age”. The difference from other girls inhabiting books is that she realizes that “she is massively annoying for her age”. The other characters were similarly cool, but always had some flaws – divorced, depressed, perfectionist, timid, alcoholic, bad spellers, or just taking months to choose a font for the simplest brochure.

To be honest, the fairytaly part of story line didn’t excite me at all and if I hadn’t liked the style I wouldn't have finished the book. And that would've been sad, because the lessons coming out of the story were the most refreshing thing. Most of them were on some level conflicts between the characters, which let us see both sides. Sample topics list: political correctness, death, technology, Wikipedia, how being adult makes us bitter, being different, perfectionism vs. pedantry, divorce, dealing with trauma, what’s quality literature, children asking too many questions.

‘It’s complicated,’ Mum sighs.
‘Everything is complicated if no one explains it to you.’

“Elsa decides that even if people she likes have been shits on earlier occasions, she has to learn to carry on liking them. You’d quickly run out of people if you had to disqualify all those who at some point have been shits.”

Dorian Avers

3.5
 This novel is told from the perspective of Elsa, a seven year old (almost eight!). Her best and only friend is her granny. The novel begins with Elsa and her grandmother sitting in a police station after trying to break into the zoo. Granny is always getting into trouble. She is loud and opinionated, but also fiercely protective of Elsa's heart. The most important part of Granny and Elsa's relationship is their made up Land-of-Almost-Awake. These stories are a great escape from Elsa's everyday life with parents that aren't completely present and a school full of kids who hate and hurt her. When Granny dies suddenly Elsa is heart broken, but Granny has left her a last quest-to help deliver apology letters to all the people Granny has hurt. 
 This book was definitely not what I expected. Based on the cover and the title I thought this would be more of a sweet, sad family based book, and some of it is. I was put off by the way that Elsa spoke, I thought it was completely unrealistic. I guess I've just read too many books recently where there was a child who knew more than the adults. However, the author didn't just show you this trait, the character in the novel constantly reminded you that they were smarter than the average kid her age. This kid has read all he Harry Potter books and spends all her time with adults, but read "therapist" as"terropist" and thought that it had something to do with bombs. Elsa was probably a hard character to write for and keep it both interesting and realistic. It's interesting because this is a book for adults, but it's written from the point of view of a child. Like Stranger Things, I always just think about how that must be a bit confusing, like how do you market it and what's your target audience? Where's the line between sounding too childish and putting off the adults, but also keeping a childlike essence while writing a story that adults would want to read. 
 I thought this novel lagged a bit and I wasn't the biggest fan of the abrupt transitions between Elsa's real life and the Land-of-Almost-Awake. Fantasy and make believe have never been a genre that I've been interested in, so I'm a bit biased. I did honestly enjoy the characters in this book and thought they were nicely and authentically presented. I didn't really enjoy this book until the second half or last third when the stories from Granny began to coincide with real life events and her adventurous past. This is a book that could be read out loud to a child, while skipping over or adjusting a few parts, but also a cozy read for someone older. I love the cover on this novel and the other two that Backman has written. I would consider reading A Man Called Ove, but I don't know if I would read the following book about Britt-Marie. Overall this was a novel that took me a while to get through, but I would say it ended up being worth it because it was satisfyingly wrapped up.

Gabriela Roxana 

I DNFed this one today. For what it was worth, I did try. Twice. This book just ain't for me so I won't be wasting any more time on it.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry

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