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.

Thank you, NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC for review. I have read almost every single book Bachman has written so of course, when I saw he had another book coming out, I had to get my hands on it. I have read A Man Called Ove multiple times (and cry every time) and My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry is one of my favorite books of all time. This book brings the same detail to characters as his previous books. This book will make you laugh and make you cry. Just read it! And then you’ll probably want to read it again like I do.

Backman writes complex stories in the most simple ways. He conveys the heart wrenching emotions in the simplest manners that you will not know how destroyed you will be until that train hits you right in the face. He does this over and over again; it doesn’t matter what the storyline is. He makes me jealous of friendships he creates that I know will be extremely hard to achieve.

“No one else decides what art is, no one can stop you loving whatever you like, the cynics and critics can have control of all the other crap on the planet... but they can't decide how hard your heart beats! Become whatever you want, but don't become one of them. Art is a fragile enough light as it is. It can be blown out by a single sigh. Art needs friends, with our bodies against the wind and our hands cupped around the flame, until it's strong enough to burn brightly with its own power. Until it's an inferno. Unstoppable."”

“ "We can paint every day!" the janitor promised. Because that's what we do, promises like that aren't lies, they're acts of rebellion against death. Then he quoted his mom's favorite poem, by Mary Oliver: "Tell me, what is it you plan to do, with your one wild and precious life?"” I will keep on reading Backman’s stories during that precious life.

I should have known to have the tissues closer to me when I opened the latest Fredrik Backman book, My Friends. I am a huge Backman fan, but invariably they all have spoken to my soul, just as My Friends did. It tapped on a piece of me that doesn’t see much light or have much time to be processed or to just be. And that raw emotion was too much. I needed to read My Friends more than I ever realized.

You know that one incredible summer when you had fun with your friends before the world’s problems became part of your own narrative? For J. Cat, The Artist, and his friends, it was the summer that they were all fifteen. Not quite children, and not quite ancient grown-ups. Fearless and living life with passion, but not really giving much thought to the future.

One of his friends was named Ted, and The Artist loved him deeply. The Artist met a kindred spirit in seventeen-year-old Louisa. She had an innate artistic talent, much as The Artist had been born with. Louisa had a secret: she had carried around a postcard of The Artist’s earliest known works with her as a memento of her late mother. It was her dream to see it in person, never dreaming that she might actually have the opportunity to meet The Artist in person.

After The Artist met Louisa, he tasked Ted with finding her, as she was “one of them”. Ted did find her, and they set out on an unexpected journey together while he told her the “long story” behind the painting from her postcard.

This was my favorite Backman novel to date. Pick up your copy as soon as you can, as you won’t regret it!

Thank you so, so much to NetGalley and Atria Books for this unforgettable ARC.

Such a good book. Thank you for choosing me to read this arc copy.
I was invested from the start.
Reading all of this authors books now.

Backman is at his very best in this novel. The people, the stories and how everything is woven together is just amazingly. Heart wrenchingly beautiful. I can't put into words how moving and touching this is.

A story within a story within a story. A story of the present and a story of the past. Two unlikely friends forced together by art and by love, bound by the fingerprints of heartbreak left on their skin. Louisa, a recently-turned eighteen year old on the run from her foster home, and Ted, a small, anxious, anxious man full of too much love. After a mess of mishaps, the two will embark on a journey together, into the past and into the present. Despite trying their best to leave each other, they will find that they have much more than they thought in common, and perhaps the grief is worth it if they stay.

Seeing this story pop up on NetGalley was a wonderful surprise, and even more wonderful to have the chance to experience it early. Backman crafts a beautiful narrative of found family across the years, both in youth and adulthood. Every detail sprinkled in ties together in the end, and you end up seeing the love in all the dark corners. Definitely not a novel to miss out on.

Once again FB has created a world of characters like no others and weaves a story that absorbs you. His writing never ceases to amaze me. You can cry and laugh all within one paragraph. Fans will not be disappointed with this new take of friendship and love. Many thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this early copy for read and review

I think this might be the best book I’ve ever read. I knew I was going to read it as soon as I found out about it, (because Beartown and its sequels are also some of the best books I’ve ever read). I knew I was going to like it from the first page, and I knew I loved it when I lost track of how many times it gave me goosebumps before I’d even made it halfway through.

This book made me feel every possible emotion, often running through the entire spectrum and back within a single chapter. As a person with anxiety, who mainly sticks to romantic comedy for the guarantee of a happy ending, emotional books can be nerve-wracking for me to approach. However, if there is an author I trust to take care of my emotions, it is Fredrik Backman.

For me, My Friends was a healing, life changing sort of novel. So thank you so, so much to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced digital copy, so that I could experience that a few months early.

My Friends by Fredrik Backman is a story about two unlikely friends, that find themselves travelling to a place where, 25 years prior, one summer changed everything. Louisa is 18 and just lost her best friend. Ted is nearing 50 and he, also, just lost his best friend. Ted’s best friend was a world-famous artist and Louisa finds herself in the possession of one of his most famous paintings. While they travel to the place where everything began, Ted tells Louisa how his friend became world famous.
Fredrik Backman could write out his grocery list and I would devour it. My Friends is beautiful, tragic, incredibly funny, and life affirming. For a story that revolves so much around death, it will make you want to make the best out of the life you have been given. The subject matters are heavy at times, but every story line is needed. Dare I say it is my favourite Backman book?

This was possibly my favorite Backman yet and that is saying a lot because I have loved them all. I haven’t read a novel by him that hasn’t made me feel deep feelings and this was no exception. I laughed hysterically and cried uncontrollably. With a beautifully written cast of broken yet lovable characters, Backman always finds a way to break my heart and put it back together in unforgettable ways. These characters and this story will stay with me forever.

Huge thank you to Atria Books for the ARC!

Backman is the author that I recommend to everyone – avid readers and casual alike. His books have a way of leveling you but then reminding you that the human experience is universal. They’re like a check and a hug at the same time. My Friends is no different. It’s a beautiful, devastating, yet heart-warming look at how friendship has the power to save, how our friends are truly the great loves of our lives, and an important reminder that you have not yet met all of the people who are going to love you and be loved by you. Backman weaves together two stories - one of Louisa, an orphan to whom life has not been kind, and four best friends who become each other's fierce protectors through moments that no child should experience. As always, Backman ties these characters together intricately and cleverly, building an unforgettable story of the power of love in all forms. I cannot wait to purchase a print copy, but was so incredibly lucky to read this early. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to devour this novel early.

It's difficult to do justice to the newest Fredrik Backman novel, My Friends,, because there's just so much to talk about. There were many times when reading the book that I felt exhausted and downhearted, but in the next chapter I found hope and humor. It is a roller coaster of a ride, and I came away even more impressed about Backman's talent than before.

This novel focuses on a small group of 14-year-olds who come together as "found family" and best friends 25 years ago. The teens all face family issues and personal problems that could easily break them, but their much-needed friendship keeps them going through good times and bad. One of the friends is an uber-talented artist, creating his art based on how he feels, not necessarily what he sees, and his friends want him to enter and win a contest so he can become confident in his own talent.

More than two decades later, the artist has a brief encounter with an 18-year-old foster care veteran who creates art in a similar way, and he recognizes her as an artistic soulmate. After he gives her a surprising gift, she embarks on a train trip with another of the teenaged friends, now a floundering ex-teacher who is trying to find his true path in life in the face of daunting circumstances and self-doubt. Along the way, he tells her the story of that time--warts and all-- and what was so special and enduring about it.

Backman has a wonderful flair for creating genuine characters with believable quirks and realistic dialogue. He brings readers along with them as they experience grief, joy, family struggles, love, violence, friendship, and survival with grace and humor. The details are what makes the story so beautiful, tragic, and life-affirming at the same time. The book is also a paean to the power of art, and Backman sprinkles quotations from a bevy of writers and philosophers throughout the story. Don't miss this one!

My sincere thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

As always, Fredrik Bachman has written a stunningly beautiful book. I will read everything this man writes. My Friends is about a year in the life of four childhood friends, but it conveys such love, tragedy, humor, sadness, perseverance and triumph, all at once. It's just amazing. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

5 ⭐️ !!!!!

Wow!

First a big thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for this ARC read of My Friends by Fredrik Backman. I’ve read a few of his books and enjoyed them all but this is the new favorite! (This has a tentative release date of May/June 2025.)

I will also start by saying this has been a rough year for me. In the last few months I’ve lost my best friend and then most recently, a few days ago, my cat. So I’ve been reading pretty fluffy books as of late. One’s pretty devoid of emotion other than Christmas joy honestly. The day after Christmas, I was searching through upcoming books and saw a new Backman and decided to try my luck. My Christmas gift, I was selected. So I instantly started reading it, immediately noticing this was not going to be a light fluffy read. This book could only have been written by someone like me, someone who has experienced love and grief, because they are so beautifully intertwined throughout this whole story. Even with a migraine, I couldn’t put this down. I had to feel these feels.

Not only the character development and connections but the thoughtfulness of each one. I think I highlighted more passages in this book than I ever have any book, EVER. There were too many good quotes. Not just ones he put in of other artists but of his own sentiments.

This is my 103rd book of the year. I read a fair amount and this book kept me guessing until the very last page. That is so very rare in today’s times of books being cranked out left and right. They have no substance, no meaning. Not this book. This book touches every nerve and emotion. This is the first book in a while that has left me feeling after finishing it. Feeling like, “I wish my best friend was here, so I could call him and talk to him about this wonderful book”.

Just a few of my favorites:

*He’s dreamed of being able to say: “Being human is to grieve, constantly.” Because what he really wants to know is: “How the hell do all the rest of you cope?”

* The only thing we can take for granted is that everyone we have ever met and everyone we have ever known and everyone we have ever loved will die. So how great must our imaginations be for us to even summon up the enthusiasm to get out of bed each morning?

* and that’s the worst thing about being a parent: that almost everyone does their best, but almost all fail regardless.

* “Isn’t it like, totally unbelievable that we even exist? So it won’t be a tragedy when we don’t exist anymore! It’s just cool, really cool, that we happened at all.”

* his laughter, the smell of his skin, his phone number. How can someone who meant everything to Ted become . . . nothing at all? It’s the incomprehensibility of death that drives people mad, so that we forget how to breathe and how to walk, until we spend whole nights stumbling about in dark rooms, calling and calling, trying to understand how there can be a phone number that no longer belongs to anyone.

* Louisa is a teenager, the best kind of human. The evidence for this is very simple: little children think teenagers are the best humans, and teenagers think teenagers are the best humans, the only people who don’t think that teenagers are the best humans are adults. Which is obviously because adults are the worst kind of humans.

Before I say anything else, let me just say: This is one of the easiest 5 stars I have ever given. If I could give it 500 stars, I would in a heartbeat. I am still ugly crying as I am typing this and probably will cry thinking of this beautiful story for a long, long time.

I am a sucker for a love story. But more specifically: I am a sucker for a platonic love story. Not only is this one of the greatest, if not the single greatest, platonic love stories I have ever had the pleasure of reading, but I feel like I am part of it in some silly way after the journey reading this took me on. I cannot fathom that these are not real characters and I don't get to go to spend time with them every day. I see so many of the people I have been lucky enough to call my friends (pun intended) in my real life in them however, and it made me even more grateful to be able to love and trust the people that I do.

While I'd love to be able to tell you what this is about fully, no synopsis I could throw together or character breakdown would adequately explain anything. So in short: this is a story about love, friendship, and found family over many lifetimes, all tied together by a single piece of art.

This made me feel every possible emotion. There were so many times I read and reread sections because it absolutely baffled me that something could be written so flawlessly. How Backman is able to effortlessly put into words things that I could never even fumble through saying is beyond me. Not to be dramatic (okay, fine, to be a bit dramatic), I am a changed person.

Thank you so much to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!