Page Count: 370
Published on: June 16, 2015
Published by: Washington Square Press
Genre(s): Fiction, Fantasy, Contemporary
Source: Paperback- bought
Age Rating: YA
My Rating: 4.75 stars
Goodreads Synopsis:
Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy, standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-men-who-want-to-talk-about-Jesus-crazy. She is also Elsa's best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother's stories, in the Land of Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal.
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 letters lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and totally ordinary old crones, but also to the truth about fairytales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other.
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Hello Livthebooknerd readers!
It’s Courtney, back with a review of Fredrik Backman’s My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell you She’s Sorry. Last month (April), Liv, Mallory and I traveled to Indianapolis and visited three book stores where I gladly spent my paycheck on some books right before our finals began. Liv managed to talked me into purchasing this book at one of the three Half Priced Books stores we visited. I’m not going to lie, I was afraid to read this at first because I was extremely close with my grandmother who passed away last summer but I am so glad I did.
I related to Elsa so much in this book. Growing up I did not have many friends, I was the brunt of unwanted teasing in school, and I was an outsider. Likewise, I was also very close to my grandmother like Elsa, and I consider my grandmother to be my superhero. Elsa’s grandmother was described as eccentric, nutty and very independent. My grandma was very independent but unlike Elsa’s grandmother she was not shooting paint balls at people from her balcony. Her grandmother may seem out there from the surface but when you get to know her you discover so much more. Granny loves Elsa with all her heart and would do literally anything for her. Granny is able to show Elsa what it means to love others, and to be loved, and gives her the gift of friendship.
This book takes place in two worlds, our world and the world of Miramas. Miramas is where Elsa and her grandmother go to quite often throughout the novel. Miramas is located in the Land of Almost Awake and it becomes a very complex kingdom that, I admit, had a hard time following at times. Granny and Elsa live in an apartment complex together shared by an array of characters. In the beginning I thought I knew who the characters were, but by the end you realize there is more than meets the eye. The book teaches you not to judge a person by who they may seem to be if you do not take the time to get to know them first. Backman is able to link their stories together is such a fantastic way and we soon realize there is more than meets the eye and their stories will break you. Their stories make the fairy tale part of this book so much easier to understand.
Elsa’s granny does unfortunately die in the beginning of the book and Elsa is forced to take on the world without her superhero by her side and we follow her on her journey through grief. This book would have been perfect to read last summer after losing my grandmother as I was able to relate to what Elsa was feeling because my grandmother was also my superhero. This book helped me remember memories with my grandmother and at times it had me crying my eyes out at work and other times it had me smiling from ear to ear.
Fairytales are not just for children like we think they are, anyone at any age would enjoy this book and it is one I am so glad I decided to read.
Thank you guys for reading!
Courtney
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