#kira andersson

[clementineskesh]

"Not a second has passed since she had children without her feeling like a bad mother. For everything. For not understanding, for being impatient, for not knowing everything, not making better packed lunches, for still wanting more out of life than just being a mother."

[genyasafinsmissingeye]

I can’t express to you how grateful I am that Amat and Maya never got together in Beartown. And how Maya didn’t get with anyone in the series.

Amat went through some serious growth, but we can’t forget that he witnessed Maya’s rape and allowed her to get cruicified by the residents of Beartown for it. Despite him knowing the truth- that Maya wasn’t lying- he didn’t say anything in favor of fitting in with the team. He did come out in defence of Maya later on, but the damage was already done. He chose to be silent. 

Maya forgave Amat and they became friends, but after what he did, having a romantic relationship would be off the table. Not only that, but because of Maya’s trauma from the assault, she probably wouldn’t be in the mental head space to date anybody. Even in the last installment of the series, she is getting there, but she isn’t ready to be with anyone romantically.

Not all female characters need romance subplots. Maya was a character that didn’t need a love interest, so she didn’t have one. She existed as her own character, and her plot focused on her, her familial relationships, and her friends. Some authors- mostly male- can’t comprehend that women can exist without a boyfriend, but Maya remained single the whole series. Another reminder that Fredrick Backman is a genius and one of- if not the only- man I trust to write female protagonists with grace and respect.

[goodgrammaritan]

"I'm sorry that what Kevin did to me almost broke you and Dad."

Now it's Kira's turn to look like she's about to cry.

"Darling, it didn't do..."

Maya nods, so grown-up and so strong, so honest and vulnerable.

"Yes, Mom. It did. Your love was like organ donation. You and Dad and Leo gave me pieces of your hearts and lungs and skeletons so I could put myself back together again. And now you hardly have the strength to stand up and keep breathing yourselves. I think about that so often, and I think about all the girls who don't have you. I feel like I only just managed to survive this. How the hell does everyone who doesn't have you as their mom even stand a chance?"

Good luck having a daughter and not going to pieces when you hear that.

The Winners by Fredrik Backman

[glitchedspectra]

Guess who read Beartown

[chaos-reads]

“Never trust people who don’t have something in their lives that they love beyond all reason.”

Fredrik Backman, Beartown

[goodgrammaritan]

"A while back the psychologist asked me how I feel, and I said it was as if I was drowning, and he asked what was stopping me, and I said 'my husband.' I said...you. Because I see land in you, darling. I get air from you."

Kira, The Winners by Fredrik Backman