Fredrik Backman, the writer that you are... absolutely perfect 5 stars for My Friends.

This book, as all of Backman's do, tugged at my heart from beginning to end, with the perfect blend of heartache and hope. He does such a wonderful job intertwining the two that the whole reading experience feels both happy and sad at the same time (Kacey Musgraves, hey girl) and it is honestly a beautiful journey the reader is taken on.

My Friends explores what it means to be an artist, how art and friendship can truly transform your life, and the power of art to change the life of a stranger. As a dancer and someone who works in the arts, I have both felt and seen firsthand how art and performance can truly move people and change lives. Art holds an immense power to inspire, provoke, cultivate curiosity, and elicit feelings (both good and bad), and I think that it is truly one of the most beautiful things!!! The community it fosters is also very powerful, and I think that the relationships that formed in My Friends because of the painting were so wonderful and tender and important. Also, the way that grief was written about and spoken about by the characters in this book was so good - very hopeful, but also very blunt and realistic. I love how so much of it was matter of fact, because grief is a big part of life, one that we cannot escape, and sometimes you have to deal with it and speak of it in ways that are emotionless to endure it.

Backman's writing is truly top notch for me every time. They way he writes about the human experience and spirit is masterful, and he always finds ways to make me laugh even while tears are streaming down my face in a midtown coffee shop (me finishing this book omg).

So many quotes stuck out to me!! Here are a couple of my favorites:
"Art is what we leave of ourselves in other people."

"Life is so fragile, coincidence decides so much, it takes so little to change everything."

"It is an act of magnificent rebellion to do meaningless things, to waste time..."

Thank you SO much to NetGalley and Atria Books for this eARC. It might fight A Man Called Ove for the title of my favorite Backman book...

This truly might be the best book I have ever read. I adore Fredrik Backman and he did it again. This book was so special and the friendships will stick with me my whole life.

5 🌟 but who is actually surprised?? Not me! Another heartbreakingly beautiful story that moved me to tears multiple times. I had to hold my glasses away from my face so I could continue reading while the tears rolled down my face. It broke me and healed me in equal measure and I need everyone to pick this up! Why I loved it:

1. The writing style is simplistic but impactful. I highlighted so much of this book and believe that everyone can take something from it! Since the character’s also vary in age and bouncing between the past and present, it’s an extremely accessible read that will still result in very strong emotions.

2. The found family!! Are you kidding?! These kids went through so much but they always belonged to one another and made the best out of the hand life had dealt them. I cannot believe how resilient these characters were. Louisa’s character arc and how she eventually belongs too is so wholesome.

3. Art is a very central theme in this book and I had never given much thought to it before but loved how it was discussed in here. How the artist would paint what he felt and not what he saw. How art is inevitable and doesn’t need to be elitist but just a mark that someone leaves.

The only thing I slightly struggled with was how we’d be in the present and jump into the past without any clear indication that we had done so. Similarly, with shifting between different character’s POVs. I think it could have read more smoothly had there been clear distinction between time and characters but maybe it was a stylistic choice about how everything blends together? Regardless, it did not take away from my overall enjoyment of this story and I will be singing its praises for some time to come!

Thank you so much to Atria Books and NetGalley for my advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review 🫶🏼

Have you ever had a friendship that changed your life? Fredrik Backman's latest novel explores exactly that – and then some. My Friends follows four teenagers whose summer together creates ripples that touch a stranger's life 25 years later. It's the kind of story that makes you text your old friends at 2 AM.

Like all Backman books, this one sneaks up on you. At first, it seems like a simple tale about kids hanging out. But then he starts peeling back layers, revealing family secrets, hidden struggles, and those quiet moments of grace that make his writing so special. The way he weaves their stories together feels like magic – if magic wore worn-out sneakers and shopped at IKEA.

The characters? They'll break your heart, make you laugh, and remind you of people you know. There's nothing superhuman about them – they're just regular kids dealing with irregular problems. But it's their very ordinariness that makes them extraordinary. Backman has this uncanny ability to make you care deeply about people who don't exist.

Sure, parts of the book are tough to read. The abuse scenes aren't graphic, but they'll make your stomach clench. And yes, sometimes you'll need to flip back a few pages to follow the timeline. But that's life. Messy, nonlinear, and sometimes hard to follow.

What makes this book special isn't just the story—it's how it makes you feel. You'll think about your friendships, those summer nights that seemed to last forever, and the people who held you together when everything else was falling apart. It's about how a simple act of kindness can echo through decades, touching lives you'll never know about.

If you're new to Backman, welcome to the club. If you're already a fan, you're in for another treat. My Friends isn't just a book – it's a reminder that we're all connected in ways we can't even imagine. And sometimes, that's exactly what we need to remember.

Rating: 4.5/5

An easy read and very enjoyable! A little slow at first but once you’re hooked, it goes by quickly. Great writing, great characters, great read.

Fredrik Backman is a gift. His books are, for me, the very best of what a book can be: deep, character-driven, emotional, memorable and a story to be lost in. I took forever reading this book because I did not want it to end. I wanted to live in Backman's world for as long as possible.

This is the story of four friends. It's a story of friendship, it's a story of family. It's a story of connection. It's a story of sacrifice. It's a story of what happens when flawed people share lives together. It's a story of forgiveness. It's a story of joy. It's a story of the gift and tragedy of childhood. It's a story of the gift and tragedy of success. It's a story of seeing and being seen.

This story is truly, deeply magical. I cannot tell you how much I loved it. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me smile, and it made me weep. It will stay with me just like all of his other stories have. How lucky are we to live at the same time as this wonderful author? And how lucky are we that he chose to share his gifts with us?

with gratitude to Atria Books and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria books for the eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This author, Fredrik Backman writes some truly noteworthy books. With that being said, his style of writing is not my favorite and made the story a little bit harder for me to read. I liked the characters, he has a way to just make you really enjoy them with his unique style. Overall, I think people will enjoy this book, it just wasn't my favorite.

Fredrik Backman never fails to make me laugh and cry in the same page. This was a really beautiful story of friendships new and old, memory, grief, and art. Throughout, Backman kept surprising me, keeping me as the reader on my toes as he continually subverted expectations. I've read everything he has published and will continue to read his work as long as he writes. I've already recommended and put multiple people on hold for this at the library I work at, and imagine it will circulate like crazy once we get it in.

I have a new favorite book in Fredrik Backman’s My Friends. Backman is particularly adept at writing bearable grief and always skews toward a hopeful view of humanity, despite the complications inherent in being human. In My Friends, more than any of the other Backman books I’ve read, the hope shines brighter. As always, Backman’s characters are nuanced and complicated, very rarely all good or all bad. My Friends follows the teenaged Louisa as she learns the truth of the people behind the painting that has gotten her through some of her darkest days. Filled with love, grief, and hope, My Friends is a bittersweet elegy to the end of childhood and a love letter to the friends that change our lives. I truly loved it.

A postcard of a painting has inspired Louisa through her foster care journey. She can see in the painting what others cannot. She finds a way to see the painting at auction and in so doing finds the painter himself. The story of the painting, and the FRIENDS who were in the painting , is heart wrenching but also compelling. Louisa take an unexpected adventure to find out the story behind the painting. Finally understanding her own artistry and life.

"I love you. I trust you"

Fredrik Backman makes me tear up every single time I read his books. This is a beautiful story about friendship, love, and the sacrifices we make for each other. One of my favorite quotes: 

"It's a funny thing. The person we fall in love with, we hardly ever call by their name, because it's somehow just so obvious that it's you I'm talking to, that it's you I'm always thinking of. Who else?" 

I do recommend going into this a bit blind so grab a cozy blanket, make yourself a warm drink, get out the tissues, and get ready to feel all the feels.

My Friends by Fredrik Bachman
Publishing date - 05/06/25
Rating (5/5) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC.
Backman has done it again! This is one of my top reads of 2025. I loved this book so much — I laughed, I cried. The story is about friendship, loyalty, second chances, and love. But there is also abuse, grief, hardship, and despair. The characters are memorable and I hope Bachman decides to write a sequel - so we could get more on Louisa’s story. Highly recommend this one when it releases on May 6th!!

I was thrilled to read Backman's newest book, My Friends.

If you are fortunate enough to have close friends, like the characters in this book, you are more than likely to call them your 'best friends'. Joar, Ali, Ted, and The Artist face many challenges in the short amount of time they get to have together ~ at the age of 14 ~ but they connect and have eachothers back. Some have known eachother longer than others. (I don't want to post spoilers) I loved, loved their friendship!

20 years later we get to hear the story of how their bond grew as Ted meets Louisa and tells her the cherished friendship story.

The beginning was a little slow for me but then I was captured and could not put the book down. Backman's books get me every single time and I truly was not disappointed with this one!

4.5*

Thank you, NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC.

The depth of the characters in Fredrik Backman’s book will never cease to amaze me. Each of his novels is a journey, and the way he weaves past and present timelines is an art. No one can imagine a group of teenage idiots like he can, while tucking little gems of wisdom into every chapter that make me want to get out a highlighter for the first time since college (but I don’t because I’d wind up highlighting half the book).

Having recently finished “My Friends” by Fredrik Backman, I am happy to have had the chance for the Advanced Reader’s Edition e-copy; thank you NetGalley and Atria Books!

I loved this story of enduring friendship; but it wasn't until I had finished at least half the book that I actually began to enjoy the memories and adventures of this group of friends. It ended up being a book that I’m glad to have read, but was just too jumpy and scattered for me to truly enjoy.

I feel like I lived 1,000 lives with these characters. They’re MY FRIENDS now.

Backman has done it again and I’m honestly kinda speechless. No one understands what it’s like to be human more, no one’s writing is a clever, and if anyone asks me to “name 5 people who would you want to have dinner with dead or alive?” he’s on my list every time.

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
My Friends releases May 6, 2025

“Being human is to grieve, constantly.”

My Friends is an homage to friendship, and the lasting influence of art. It’s in knowing that you don’t have to be rich in life to be rich in companionship. It’s the embodiment of a picture being worth a thousand words.

The characters that Backman has brought to life are ones that feel so deeply. Their ability to navigate hardships and perceive the world around them at such a young age is an endurance that takes most individuals an entire lifetime to grasp.
These are characters you can’t help but want to hold close, wrapping them in a protective bubble, and cherishing all the ways they make living a little bit more bearable for each other.

A part of me is dying that the cover wasn’t a vintage postcard depicting C. Jat’s painting of the pier as I think it would have encompassed the tone of the story much better, while adding a layer of sentimentality.

cw: mention of suicide, self-harm, physical abuse, SA, suicidal ideation

I loved how this story shows the timeline of the friends at age 14 and 40 as they are going through life and experiencing joy and heartbreak. This story includes so many characters who have become hopeless but they have each other. Their friendship is such a beautiful part of the story. It shows how joy can grow even from a lot of heartbreak and trials with the help and encouragement from friends.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I knew early on that this book would tug at my heartstrings and make me feel emotional, and boy did it. This is a masterpiece. Absolute perfection. I won't take any criticism on it.

This book made me cherish my friendships and want to be young and high on life again. I adored this, and I feel like I need to wrap my friends in a warm hug and tell them I love them. I may just re-read this every year and revel in the feelings that only our closest friends can give us.

Fredrick Backman has done it again! I adored this book and couldn’t wait to squirrel away time to devote to finishing this book once I started it. 10/10 must read!