Wow. This has got to be one of the best books I have ever read.
I laughed out loud, I cried tears of sadness and of joy (I thought that was a myth), I felt every emotion a person can experience, all within 355 pages.
This is a book that will forever stay a part of my soul.
If you ask me for one book recommendation, don't be surprised to hear this title.
Beautiful character building, a unique story telling premise, and yet such a suspenseful nail-biting plot!

Thank you so much NetGallery and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read this eARC. And thank you Fredrick Backman for the indelible experience of this novel!!

Louisa is a almost 18 and has run away from foster care. She's going to see her favorite painting and has a post card of it the was her mother's for a very long time. She ends up getting kicked out of the art gallery and runs into the artist. He's close to death and his best friend has been sent to buy back the painting.

The artist and his three friends growing up all had challenging childhoods, from neglect to physical abuse, to parents illness etc and they found each other. They had 1-2 glorious years with each other.

Ted is with the artist at the end of his life and the artists last wish is that Louisa get the painting... Because she is one of them. This is that story and the story of those few years.

I loved this book so much!! It's brilliant. Nobody's writing speaks to me like Fredrick Backman's does. He has the ability to bring life to his characters and allows me to know and relate to them like no other author can. He somehow takes the worst parts of humanity and life and is still able to bring love and hope to them. This book is heartbreaking, but at the same time, a beautiful portrayal of friendship, trust, sacrifice, vulnerability, and love. I don't have a single negative thing to say about this book.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Title: My Friends
Author: Fredrik Backman
Publisher: Atria Books
Genre: Small Town Drama
Pub Date: May 20, 2025
My Rating: 4.2 Stars
Pages: 448

The story begins with Louisa sneaking into an art auction to see ‘The One of the Sea’ – a painting she has loved since childhood.
In the painting there are tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of this famous painting, which most people don’t notice. Artist C. Jat was just fourteen when he painted these three teens and captured a summer of friendship.

Now Twenty-five years later Louisa, who is an artist herself, is determined to find out the story of these three figures, and decides to start a journey to learn the story behind it.
Ted is one of the friends and he helps Louisa on this journey.

The story unfolds slowly,

In the past, we get to know the three friends: the artist (C. Jat), Ted, and Joar. Have to admit at first it was a bit confusing as I thought perhaps Joar WAS C. Jat).
As we follow the friends, we experience the violence Joar is dealing with by his abusive father,
Story kept me curious. ~ Backman does not disappoint.

This is my 9th Fredrik Backman. Although this was great as were the others however, my fav is still " A Man Called Ove".

Want to thank NetGalley and Atria Books for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for May 20, 2025.

I will read every single book Fredrik Backman writes. I was so happy to get this ARC. Amazing story. I fell in love with all of the characters.

⭐️4.5⭐️

I first have to graciously thank Atria Books and Netgalley for granting me access to one of my most anticipated ARCs of the year. I was given this eArc in exchange for an honest review.

This story is about four teenagers with a bond so monumental, it causes ripples 25 years later. In the present, we follow orphaned 18-year-old Louisa, who has become the sole possessor of one of the most valuable paintings in the world. She embarks on a spontaneous cross-country trip with a member of that original friend group to learn more about the painting and finds more than she anticipates.

This is a deeply moving story about meaningful friendships, personal trauma, and wholesome endings. Fredrik Backman’s writing is beautiful, and he has easily become one of my favorites. His writing feels so human and holds so much heart. I found myself crying, laughing, and gasping throughout this read. It’s a beautiful story that I believe fans of his work will absolutely love. Backman’s characters are so masterfully crafted that I struggled to let them go when I finished the story. I felt so connected and attached to them and everything they did throughout their personal journeys.

This story does an amazing job at defining what love really is. It highlights how important love and trust can be, even for those who feel undeserving. I also loved Backman’s underlying message of how silence can be more harmful than negative actions.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and believe those who enjoy Backman’s writing and are looking for a story of rich, realistic character development will love this book. If you are looking for a story about the silver linings in happy endings, I suggest picking this book up when it’s released in June this year.

I LOVED it. I love all Bakcman’s writing and this did not disappoint. I felt every feeling, loved every character. I’m going to have to read it again because the first time through I was so eager to know what happened to everyone. And now I have to go back and savor it.

I cannot begin to explain how much this book means to me. What starts as a story in an art gallery spirals into one of the most beautiful stories I have ever read about friendship, love, and what it means to grow up. With Backman's signature humor and ability to weave together multiple realistically wild and broken characters, there is something for everyone in this book. What really struck me, though, was the way Backman was able to describe what it feels like to be fourteen in the summer. The same way his character The Artist paints what laughter sounds like, Backman writes what youthfulness feels like, and you don't even realize that's what he is doing until quite a way into the book. He writes so accurately about it, it can make you feel like he somehow knew you as a child too. I have read a few of his other books and loved them, but My Friends is different in the way it is a story about every single one of our lives. Every one of us has had to grow up up, but not every one of us has gone through the things Backman's characters have in his other books. That's what makes My Friends so thoughtful. At times it did feel a little long and for a bit in the beginning I found myself confusing the characters (and their parents), but in the end it all made sense.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Atria Books for the ARC of My Friends by Fredrik Backman.

My Friends is the 21st century's Stand By Me. Gordie's "I Never Had Any Friends Later On Like The Ones I Had When I Was Twelve. Jesus, Does Anyone?" resonates exactly for Backman's group of misfits and troubled 14-year-old friends, and while the plots are different, the message still resonates just as strongly.

I probably could have read this in one sitting, but I honestly cried so many times that I had to do it across two, and even that included a few breaks between chapters to emotionally recover for whatever was coming next. Backman is at his best here - he's going to mislead you and tear your heart out and make you laugh and mislead you again, all while coming back to universal positive and unavoidable truths about people and life, even when we see them at their worst.

It's hard to really describe any Backman novel, because while the plot reads as one thing, he's always leading you somewhere else instead. This novel is told in two different time periods, one during the summer The Artist and his friends are 14 and he is painting his first piece. The other where Louisa, a newly 18-year-old orphan, is admiring that same painting at an art auction 25-years-later. Louisa, mourning the death of her person and alone in the world, causes an uproar at the auction which inexplicably leads to her meeting The Artist in an alley outside. From here, The Artist works to bring Louisa into the fold of his friends from the past, and the two timelines mingle as we see the way time and life have led everyone to where they are today and where they could go in the future.

The novel has Backman's signature wit, while also cutting to the heart of what makes us human - reading any of his novels feels like he is both cutting into you personally and then happily stitching you up and giving you a lollipop. Whie this novel does feel a bit darker, just given the background of the teenagers and the difficulties of their lives, it's also filled with so much damn hope you won't really be able to identify all your feelings after you finish reading it, but you'll be so glad you have them.

Heartfelt thanks to Atria for sending me an early copy to review.

“Because who can make someone grieve for a person they never even knew, so that it hurts this much?”

Fredrik Backman.

Backman is the type of author you slow down for. My life is often loud and busy. The moment I sit down, I am called. If I am reading, it has to be something I can easily drop and pick up, because my attention is pulled in 145 different directions at any given moment.

But Backman forces you to slow down.

For a moment, I had trouble connecting. It was taking time to fall into the story, to fall in love with these characters. Because that’s what I expected. It’s what Backman does best. He gives you people to love and share pain and nostalgia with. And then sometimes they leave you. And still, it took me some time, because I have learned to guard my heart against Backman’s characters, because I get so wholeheartedly attached.

But.

Once the world was quiet, once I let my brain click off and melt into this world crafted of childhood friends, all felt right in the world. Because you slow down for Backman.

And just like his character ruminates, “Because who can make someone grieve for a person they never even knew, so that it hurts this much,” I am in mourning. I am grieving. And I have yet to recover from The Winners. No one can create a cast of characters like Backman. No one can make me feel the way I do while reading one of his stories like Backman, and My Friends was no exception.

It was truly an honor to be able to read an early copy of this book. It made my entire year.

Add this to your 2025 TBR! A beautiful dual timeline story about friendship, grief, and forgiveness. Thank you Atria Books and Simon and Schuster for the ARC in exchange for a review..

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this Advanced Reader’s Copy of My Friends by Fredrik Backman due to be published May 20, 2025.
Also read and recommended by Fredrik Backman: A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, Beartown, Us Against You, The Winners, Britt-Marie Was Here, And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer, The Answer is No.

Four children grow up in a seaside town, finding refuge from broken homes and lives, sharing secrets and dreams and only fourteen-year-olds can. Out of that summer comes a work of art from “the artist”, and his life and his friends, Joar, Ted, and Ali will never be the same.

I could not wait to finish this book to see how it ends, but I didn’t want to finish it. It was so beautiful – the words, the quotes, the story – all of it. I smiled, I laughed, I cried, and I cheered. Just. Read. It. You will not regret it! I’m very stingy with 5-star reviews, but this is one that deserves it!
#NetGalley #FredrikBackman #AtriaBook #MyFriends

<b>Grief is a selfish bacteria, it demands all our attention.</b>

The group of friends is 14 years old, with varying levels of trauma and grief and painful lives. But Fredrik Bachman will have you remembering what it is like to be 14, when friendship and infatuation feel exactly the same. Ted is serious, and becomes a history teacher who is tasked with telling their story. Joar is rebellious and funny and a little belligerent. And the artist sees the world in a beautiful way, he paints the way they laugh together.

Told in alternating timelines, Louisa is the current day 18 year old who has inherited a special painting done by the artist. The artist spends all of his money buying a painting that Louisa, a grieving foster kid, sees beauty in. Ted, who was living with him during his illness, promised to get her the painting. What follows is Ted and Louisa travel together, Ted telling her the story of how the painting came to be. She asks wonderful questions, Louisa has an artist's eye and an inquisitive nature. Louisa just lost her beloved friend Fish, and is facing how to get along in life without her partner in crime. Ted comes to her from a later period in life but knowing what it means to love someone.

Fredrik Backman is just the master of beautifully worded observations that will have you reaching for your pen and highlighter. Yes, it is funny, and of course, it is touching, and just a tad bit ....too unnecessarily sad. This is a story of how people view and value fine art, what constitutes art or an artist, how people love and trust their friends, and the loyalty therein. All of the characters are pitiful in some way and they can't abandon people who need them, even to their own destruction. This painting was described so frequently that I started to envision it in my mind, I am a bit resentful at the cover showing me the teenagers legs under the sea. This is an author I always reach for and the writing is beautiful, if under-edited. I think after some time, when movie directors become really well regarded, the producers stop forcing them to make their movies a good length. Eventually when a director becomes a star in their own right, their movies are just too long. And I think this happens with some beloved authors also, after awhile their editors don't want to fight them to revise their work. That's a long explanation to say that perhaps 100 pages or so didn't contribute to the setting, characterization or narrative.

And yet, it is truly a beautiful story made of well constructed characters and tenderhearted dialogue. A must read for the Backman fans out there.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC. Book to be published May 20, 2025.

Fredrik Backman's latest novel starts with readers being introduced to a teenage orphan Louisa, who has an obsession with a famous piece of work that depicts the pier on the sea. At the end of the night, she runs into the artist of the painting in an alley while running from security guards. The artist recognizes that Louisa is one of them, and has his friend Ted carry out his wishes in regards to his art and Louisa. This is how Louisa becomes involved in the story of friendship - Ted and Louisa embark on a hilarious journey while Ted takes Louisa into his beautiful friendships through storytelling about the past. In his story, we learn of the four friends during the summer when they were all 15 years old and encouraging the artist to paint a picture for a competition.

This book was an incredible story of friendship - it's strengths, having doubts in your roles, the silliness, the farting, and all in between. This book is a story about people looking to find their true selves and how friends can impact that journey. The book also touches a lot on the beauty and rawness of art, and how art isn't meant to be created for others. As someone very passionate about art, there were many touching quotes throughout the novel. I thought it was a beautiful story. With any Fredrik Backman book, this man knows how to write complex, developed characters that are packed with emotion.

I am looking forward to buying a physical copy of this book when it comes out. I think this is a top contender for book of the year.

Wow wow wow, was I PUMPED to get this ARC. As always, Fredrik Backman knocked it out of the park with his latest book around childhood friendships and grief. I was so invested in each of the characters, and my only complaint was that the switching back and forth between the two timelines felt a little abrupt and disjointed at times.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for sending me this book!

I didn’t know what to expect from this book. The only book I had read from this author was A Man Called Ove and that was many years ago. I loved the start of the book and the direction it was headed. However, somewhere in the middle it lost its oomph. I just wanted it to get to the point. The ending was a bit anticlimactic and not as expected. All in all, a fairly good read. My thanks to Netgalley and Atria for the ARC.

If Fredrick Backman's name is attached to a book, I will be reading it and I'm placing this book as one of his best. The nostalgic story of the original frienship between the group of four friends and the establishment of the life-changing relationship with a conmplete stranger who is captivated by a painting done by one of them twenty-five years prior, was absolutely stunnning.

Best book of 2025, and here it's only December of '24.
Exceptional storytelling, with nostalgia and hope and intrigue at the forefront. Delightful in every single way, while also tearjerking and emotional.
Every so often a series of a handful of words left me gasping. I reread a hundred passages simply to enjoy their beauty.

When asked if there are any authors whose books I automatically read, there are only a couple. Fredrik Backman is one of them. This is the sixth book I’ve read from him, and each time I finish his latest, I’m filled with awe. Awe for the depth, nuance, and emotional atmosphere he is a master of creating in his books.

My Friends is about art. But it’s also about friendship and relationships, with ourselves and one another. You’ll feel attached to every character and feel every bit of their feelings. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll root for them all. You’ll wish the best for them. By the end, you’ll feel hopeful for all of their futures. How lucky are we readers to have this kind of experience?

Thank you to Atria Books for providing a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Fredrik Backman does it again.

I cannot believe I was fortunate enough to receive an early copy of this book by my favorite author. Naturally, I had to drop everything to pick this one up. Like every Backman book, My Friends draws you in and doesn't let you go until you are forced to say goodbye to the characters you have grown attached to. I will say, this is on the slower side and it takes a second to get into, but once the story and characters come together, you won't be able to put this book down.

My Friends, like every Backman novel, is both heartbreaking and hilarious. I am always amazed about how purely Backman can write. This book will make you reminisce on old times and make you grateful for the friendships in your life. If you are already a Backman fan, you will love this.

Many thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.