This book is what you would expect from Backman: thoughtful, a bit sad and melancholy, but also incredibly hopeful and kind. You will find yourself thankful to be allowed in on the summer adventures with Ted, The Artist, Joar, and Ali. You will also be happy that Louisa allowed you into her life as well.

In this book we follow Louisa: an eighteen-year-old girl trying to break into a museum. Now, she isn’t there to steal anything, she just wants to see her favorite painting up close. To look at the three figures sitting on the edge of a pier and to discover the story of the painting that has been her life’s guiding light. 25 years earlier, there is a group of teenagers with difficult home lives that spend their days together on the pier. What starts out as a pure intention, turns into a miraculous journey of friendship and art. My Friends maintains the quintessential Backman writing, but it brings in so many difficult and devastating themes of loss, grief, trauma, and abuse. What makes Backman’s books great is that he balances all of the harsh elements of the world with love. He understands so well what it means to be human and is able to capture the precious moments that make up our lives. These characters will refuse to leave your mind and your heart and ask you: what will you do with your one precious life?

My Friends by Fredrik Backman is potentially one of his best books. This is such a beautifully laid out story, in only a way that Backman can do. I fell in love with the characters and felt so emotionally connected as a result of the detailed writing. The storyline is heavy, but that depth is sprinkled with the story of love and friendships in our lives. Beautiful story that I will still be thinking about for a while.

I thought this was such a beautiful book. A young artist, in an effort to see her favorite painting, ends up going on a lifechanging journey. This story was peak Fredrik Backman, providing a stunning and touching story that tells a tale of friendship, love, meaning, and beauty. The writing, as always, is illustrative and transports you. I have read a number of his books and every time, there is new meaning, or new stories to tell. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for something beautiful and uplifting.

This ebook was providing by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This is probably my least favorite Frederik Backman novel, but it was still good! I was not a fan of the pacing and how a linear story was told in such a disjointed, fragmented way.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC coming May 2025

Hopefully you’re reading this review because you’re on the page and ready to set this book to “currently reading”. If instead, you’re here to ponder reading this book - take this as your sign to absolutely run to the nearest place that you can acquire it IMMEDIATELY.

This will be my top book recommendation of 2025. Bold to say in April? Perhaps… and yet I have little doubt.

The plot structure was simply beautiful. You think you know it all at the beginning, and then layers continue to blossom out. Then you would think you were nearing the end or at least coming close to having a grasp on it, and more layers would reveal themselves. It was just such a cool way of story telling.

The plot itself was a moving account of friendships, hardships, art and the passing of time. It was equal parts heart warming and breaking, but in all the ways that make reading a book a rich experience. The characters were all incredibly real, and developed so deeply you feel as if you know them personally.

No notes honestly. Now stop reading this review, and go read My Friends!!!!

I received this book as an eARC from the publisher via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you Fredrik Backman and Atria Books!

I am ashamed to admit this is my first Fredrik Backman book, but it will not be my last! Backman delivers an emotional and beautifully written story. The characters and how they connect in the story through this painting are wonderful. It’s a cast where everyone feels very real and relatable. Fans of Backman will not be disappointed! My only lag with this book was the pacing. It felt slow and made it hard for me to fully immerse myself, and it took some time to get through, but it was worth the read.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC!

He’s done it again. I laughed and I cried while reading this book, as I do with every Fredrik Backman novel. This story really covers it all: friendship, love, grief, family (the one you’re born with and the one you’ve chosen). His story is so heartfelt, every character is so perfectly written. If you are lucky enough to have friends like the ones in this story, then it will really hit home. It’s a story that will stay with me in my heart for a very long time. The pacing was slow as first, maybe for the first ~20%, but once it took off there was no stopping.

Incredibly grateful to NetGalley and Atria for allowing me to read this masterpiece with an e-ARC. Fredrik Backman is my all time favorite author, and I truly loved every minute of it and can’t recommend reading it enough.

I can always count on Fredrik Backman to make the human experience into a great story. His newest release follows the friendship origin story of Ted, Joar, Ali, and the artist as told to Louisa, a young teenage artist who is currently trying to find her place, both literally and figuratively. Ted is grieving the loss of the artist, but he is also rediscovering some beautiful things about life. Louisa is just on the cusp of beginning her life, but it seems she has no firm plan or direction just yet. They are an unlikely pair, but somehow a friendship develops. One of my favorite books by this author, even though it does not stack up to Ove or Beartown for me.

Fredrik Backman is one of my favorite authors and this book touched my heart in many ways. A story of friendship, art, beauty, sorrow, grief, and laughter.

We follow Ted’s present and past, as he mourns the artists death now while recalling their friendship origin story to Louisa. I cried numerous times. The struggles that Ted, Ali, Joar, and the artist faced are unimaginable- but their lives were also full of moments of laughter. I enjoyed this read and will highly recommend it!

I’ve never read a Fredrick Blackman novel, but I’ve heard so many great things about his books that I decided to give one a try. At first, I struggled with the writing style and wasn’t sure if I would enjoy it. However, I decided to stick with it, and I’m so glad I did.

This book is packed with a whirlwind of emotions. One minute you’re giggling, and the next you have tears. You never know what to expect next. There are no big twists and turns, so if that’s what you really enjoy in a story, you may be disappointed. But if you want an honest and authentic portrayal of love, friendship, heartache, and trauma, this is definitely a book for you. It’s a story of true friendship that truly brings life into perspective.

I wanted to love this. All the reviews were 5 stars. Beartown is one of my favorite books ever. But this one was a struggle to finish. I kept reading it hoping that it would get better. So many loved it, I am not one of those ☹️

Another wonderful book by Fredrik Backman. The author has a unique way of telling a story that just works. The characters are quirky, lovable and completely unforgettable.

You will love this sweet story about friendship, love and acceptance.

Thank you NetGalley, Simon & Schuster/Atria Books for the ARC of this book.

Only Fredrick Blackman can make you cry then immediately make you giggle while tears are still wet on your face. It is impossible to not love his imperfect but good hearted characters. Like his other books, don’t expect action. Expect the story slowly unraveling with gifts along the way. His writing is so beautiful. I felt moved by every page. I also laughed a lot. The banter between these kids!

There is something so wonderful and intimate about the truest childhood friendships. The age before you learn there are some things you should keep to yourself. It’s bliss. This story captures the longing for those purer days.

I’m not going to give any synopsis because I think you should go into this book blind like I did. Appreciate the little lessons and glimpses of joy in Backman’s meaningful writing.

A few quotes from the book that I enjoyed:

“It really is a remarkably bad idea, all this. Worse than socks in a toaster.”

“You know you’re old when you have to use soap on your head and shampoo on your ass.”

“Because if no one died, we would have to ban new people from being born. And when the playgrounds are empty, when the last pair of rain boots has been grown out of, when the last puddle has been jumped in . . . what would we want eternity for then, Ted?”

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do, with your one wild and precious life?”

“We’re not allowed to die for our children, the universe won’t let us, because then there wouldn’t be any mothers left.”

I 100 percent recommend this book to all. Be prepared to feel allllll the emotions! I loved it so much. This one is definitely in the running for best book of the year!

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

Atria eARC
There are just some books I read so slowly to savor each and every word, and this was one of them. Over four months, I came in and out of this story because I knew it would be so hard to say goodbye to these characters. I loved this story of friendship and how, even in the worst of circumstances, friends are what can keep you going. This book had me in tears so many times and then I'd be laughing not too much after. Backman just creates such richly developed characters, and I could easily picture all of the characters here. If you've read him before, you know what to expect, but if you haven't this would be a great book to start with to introduce you to his brilliant writing. I can't wait to see him on his US tour!

“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? Endless! Imagination is the only thing that stops us from thinking about death every second. And when we aren’t thinking? Oh, those are all our very best moments, when we’re wasting our lives.”

Fredrik Backman is one of those rare authors who seem to be able to write a perfect balance of the beauty and pain of the human condition. This book centers around friendship, loss, art, and one summer full of teenage adventures. It’s about an endless sea, a great friendship, a true love story.

The book made me laugh, cry, sigh, sob, and reminisce. There were so many passages that I highlighted, and I found myself putting it down to reflect so many times. This was a book that I made myself read slowly, so I could savor the telling.

There are instances of death, domestic abuse, illness, drug overdose, and violence… this book doesn’t shy away from harsh realities of life, but it also doesn’t overdo them for the sake of the plot. I definitely recommend this one if you like found family, coming of age stories, grief and the lifelong process of trying to heal, finding beauty in unexpected places, and books that will make you cry.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Atria for this advanced copy of the book! It was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint!

My Friends is a gooey chocolate chip cookie of a novel: satisfying without subversion, deeply nostalgic without the complexity provided by tension (or, say, walnuts). I flew through it, I thought many parts were beautiful, and also I felt a little…manipulated? Will most people find the reliance on coincidence and the tendency for every character to slip-slide into the wise, sardonic voice of the narrator annoying? Probably not. But I was, occasionally, annoyed.

That said, My Friends is deeply sweet, especially for a book with five traumatized teens at its center. The novel moves backwards and forwards in time from one defining moment when a foster-kid-on-the-run crashes headlong into her hero, an artist on his deathbed. The story of how the artist came into fame is told in fits and starts, mostly by his childhood friend Ted, while in the present Ted and the teen, Louisa, make their way across country with the first painting the artist ever created. Everyone is a little rough around the edges and also prone to casually sprinkling moral wisdom into their dialogue.

Backman is at his best when he’s talking about violence: the many shapes it can take and what it does to the people who experience it. He captures, too, the heady joy of adolescent friendship—the feeling that you’re living your best moments out in the slow sun of summer and that adulthood could offer nothing worth pursuing. The characters in this book experience great pain, but their absolute alignment in terms of loyalty and memory offers a kind of shield against the worst of it (even as it diminishes the stakes for the reader). This is a book to read with the ocean in the background; despite my quibbles, I think most people will find it lovely.

Fredrick Blackman did another good one with this one! My Friends is everything you’d want in a book. I ate this one up in two sittings!

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

Fredrik Backman has done it again. **My Friends** is a beautifully written, deeply moving story that perfectly captures the messiness, humor, and heartbreak of human connection. His characters always feel so real — flawed, lovable, and unforgettable — and this book is no exception.

Backman’s ability to explore the complexities of friendship and community with both tenderness and sharp wit is why I will always pick up a book with his name on it. His stories never fail to leave a lasting impact.

“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.”

♾️⭐️

My Friends is one of the most beautiful, painful, and emotional reflections on the coexistence of happiness and sadness that we experience as humans.

I think on a personal level this story resonated deeply with me because I am a teacher for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities that are around the age of the main characters in My Friends. The teens in this story all have difficult upbringings and some that are quite traumatic.

Backman (as always) does an incredible job of showing that no matter how many painful and awful things happen, we can still find joy and beauty in the smallest moments. Especially when we have the love of our chosen family - our friends.

If you like Backman’s writing or an emotional, human story, I think it’s best to jump into this one without even reading the synopsis. Just jump off the pier (and bring tissues).

Thank you to Atria Books (Simon & Schuster) for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.