Review: Big in Sweden

Big in Sweden by Sally Franson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

1.5 STARS ROUNDED UP.

I truly don't know what to say about this book except that so many others liked or loved it, and I don't know why I feel so differently about it.

I don't think I found one thing I liked about the main character, Paulie Johansson, from her never-ending bouts of bawling to her childishness, horribly ditziness, and never-ending anger at anyone and anything.


I also very much disliked the author's disregard for anyone who may not think politically the same as she does. If there was a woke or PC phrase to be used, she used it. In fact, I would almost venture to say that this author truly hates America and Americans, men, and straight White people.

If you are going to read this book and are unsure if you will feel the same way I do, then get it from the library. But don't pass it up just because I had my feathers ruffled—that may be a good thing for you.

*ARC was supplied by the publisher Mariner Books/HarperCollins, the author, and NetGalley



View all my reviews

SYNOPSIS:"A charming, wise, and laugh-out-loud funny novel following an American woman competing on a Swedish reality show in an attempt to discover her roots. Paulie Johansson has never put much stock in the idea of she has her long-term boyfriend Declan and beloved best friend Jemma, and that’s more than enough for her. Yet one night on a lark, she lets Jemma convince her to audition for Sverige och Mig , a show on Swedish television where Swedish-Americans compete to win the ultimate a reunion with their Swedish relatives. Much to her shock, her drunken submission video wins her a spot on the show, and against Declan’s advice Paulie decides to go for it. Armed with her Polaroid camera, a beat-up copy of Pippi Longstocking, and an unquenchable sense of possibility, Paulie hops on a plane to Sweden and launches into the contest with seven other Americans, all under the watchful eye of a camera crew. At first, Paulie is certain that she and her competitors have nothing in common besides their passports and views their bloodthirsty ambitions with suspicion. Yet amid the increasingly absurd challenges—rowing from Denmark to Sweden in the freezing rain, battling through obstacle courses, competing in a pickled herring eating contest—Paulie finds herself rethinking her snap judgments about her fellow countrymen, while her growing attachment to her Swedish roots increases her resolve to win the competition herself. Grappling with long-held notions of family, friendship, and love—not to mention her feelings for the distractingly handsome Swedish cameraman who’s been assigned to follow her around—Paulie starts to reconsider her past and rethink what she wants for the future. A fish-out-of-water tale filled with warmth, optimism, and wit, Big in Sweden is at its heart a love love for family, friends, country, and—most importantly—oneself. "