This make made me feel something and that is hard to accomplish these days!!! I loved the characters and the unexpected friendship and the wholesome nature of friendship. It was all perfect and so well-done. Will recommend to all of my friends!!

What a lovely, heartwarming book! It had me fairly emotional most of the way through, but then I would chuckle at the interactions between the two main characters. Backman does it again.

You never forget the friends you had when you were 14.

Backman writes such detailed characters. I fell in love with Louisa - an 18 year old foster child artist. A series of coincidences lands her on a train with a stranger and a priceless painting. They share long stories of their lives and how they ended up intersecting. The book is completely saturated with major themes like friendship, grief, identity and belonging. Backman always has one-liners that bowl me over. Some parts definitely felt longer than they needed to be making it hard to pick up time after time - but I cannot deny the craftsmanship!


Thank you to Atria Books & NetGalley for the ARC!

Backman has such a distinct voice that makes his books feel unique. His books often read like character studies that sometimes require suspending some belief but I love the way they make me think. My Friends is no different. It is a powerful story of friendship and found family. I highly recommend to both his fans and those who have never read Backman before. You’ll finish the book and then want to reach out to your oldest friends immediately.

See my full review at http://michelleardillo.com/2025/06/23/book-review-my-friends-by-fredrik-backman/

My Friends by Fredrik Backman is absolutely heartwarming —funny, touching, and beautifully written. I laughed, I teared up, I fell in love with every character. It’s a genuine hug in book form. Huge thanks to Fredrik Backman for this gem—I’m already telling everyone to read it! 5 stars!

This book was so good, I don't even know where to begin!!

*Note: there are scenes in this book involving domestic abuse, child abuse, grief and death. Please exercise caution if these events are triggering for you.

I got an audio copy of this book and was going back and forth between physically reading & listening. I eventually reached a point where I had to put the audiobook down because I did not want to miss a single sentence of this book (with no fault to the audiobook, I just have a habit of being easily distracted when I listen).

This book is full of quirky characters, humor, a bit of mess, and lots of love. Backman's writing has this way of making everything so tragic but comforting at the same time. His writing makes it so easy to fall in love with these people you've never met.. These characters will make you fall apart and then put you back together again.

The story is told in a mix of present day story and reflections into the past. We follow Louisa in the present as she uncovers the truth about her favorite painting, told to her in stories by a new friend. It gets right to the heart. It made me want to go on a crazy adventure, stomp on all of the floorboards, and paint like the birds sing (references from the book!).

This book was like a letter from an old friend. It was tragic and healing all at the same time. I devoured it and now want to go back and read a bunch of Backman's back list titles that I've had on my TBR for some time now.

I’m not sure where to start with this book. It’s almost like a combination of riding a cart down a sharp hill and painting a sea. There are moments I couldn’t breathe from laughing and then other parts that while they weren’t exactly exciting they were moving. So many quotes. So many stories hidden inside these four lives.

Sadly, I'm going to be on the unpopular opinion side of this one

Let me start by saying I am a huge Backman fan. This is my 6th book of his and I've learned to love his unique writing and storytelling style. The Beartown series turned me into a lover of small town hockey stories. His books have been #unputdownable for me... until this one...

My Friends tells two interwoven stories. First we meet Louisa, a newly 18 year old foster child who is hoping to disappear and Ted a 39 year old man who has been left with the difficult task of carrying out final arrangements for a close friend who has recently passed. Their paths cross when Ted must locate Louisa and give her a gift she doesn't particularly want from someone she barely knows. Over the course of the story, the two learn each others' stories and through a series of twists and turns they journey together both literally (on a train) and back in time through their stories.

Sounds great right? Unfortunately I just couldn't get into it... The build up, the excitement, the unexpected that I've come to find in Backman's books was just not really there in this one. The two MCs stories are somewhat interesting and the ways that they connect are nice, but the driving force was not there for me. I was determined to get to the end of the book because I love this author but I did not find the story I was hoping for. That being said, I think I'm in the minority here. Scroll down to see other reviews and you'll see that this book is well loved already.

If you're a Backman fan, I think you owe it to yourself to read it. However, if you have not read any Backman books yet, I am going to say you should not pick this one up first. Read A Man Called Ove or Beartown.

Will I read another Backman book? Absolutely. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this one.

My Friends is my new favorite Backman, which is a huge testament considering how much I love his other works. Backman’s writing style is unmatched, and I highlighted so many heart breakingly beautiful lines that spoke to my soul. I could so see this playing out so well as a movie or mini series!

These might be my new favorite Backman characters, they were just so full of life and well fleshed out and the humor of them bouncing off of each other was just so funny. It warmed my heart to see them open up to each other and a find a family with each other.

I loved the discussion of what makes art valuable as well as how friendship can be just as important as any romantic bond. It was so refreshing to see a story portray those types of friendships that are so intense they may as well be relationships, even if they’re not necessarily romantic.

There were so many hints to Louisa being trans and neurodivergent, which I really loved. While not necessarily centering a queer relationship, this felt like a queer book to me. The way that the characters found acceptance and solace in their found family was very relatable to me, and i’m sure will be relatable to other queer people.

The flashbacks and present scenes flowed together so well, and as always, Backman did such a good job portraying what it’s like to be 14, and 24, and 44, and 84, and all of the ages in between.

Overall, this was a perfect balance of funny, emotional, and thought provoking, and a masterclass in character study. Backman has officially sealed his place for me as one of the greatest authors of our time.

I have read all of Backman's hockey stories with mixed feelings--liked them but did not really connect to them. I found "A Man Called Ove" to precious for my reading preferences. . "My Friends" was hard for me to get into, but once I was involved in the story, I found it to be his best. He is a masterful story teller and knows how to take a reader from laughter to tears in a matter of paragraphs. The story of one of disappointment hope and one of love, unususual friendships, and the human experience among those who are "different". It is a "read in one sitting" kind of book.

I really wanted to love this book because I loved Beartown. But, sadly, I have not loved any of his other books, and this one is in that category. I just could not get into the book. Though the premise sounded interesting with the painting and the people in the painting that no one notices, from the beginning when Loiusa is in the gallery, I just was not invested. I kept reading because I got this from NetGalley, and I wanted to be able to give an honest review, but if it had not been a NetGalley book, I would not have finished it. Just not my taste or style. Louisa was annoying, and the plot and dialogue fell flat for me. I don't recommend it, but yet, if you like Backman's books, you will probably love it. I do thank Atria Books and NetGalley for the e-arc.

I will always love Fredrik Backman's writing style his uniquely simple, yet profound descriptions of the human condition. Unfortunately, I just didn't connect as much with the characters and storylines of this book as much as some of his others.

For fans of Backman this will be an absolute hit! My Friends’ characters feel very real and alive, which is hard to do in books. Having only read Beartown from Backman, I was very intrigued by his new book, and it did not disappoint and has made me a fan of his writing, character development, and storytelling. It is a story about what it is to be human.

Picture your favorite summer in childhood. This will bring it all back for you. My Friends by Fredrik Backman is beautifully written. I have never saved as many quotes as I did while reading this story. My Friends will be a book that you will hear about throughout 2025. If you are looking for a sweet drama, then this story is for you.

What I Liked About My Friends:

I read this book a while ago, but I needed to let it settle in my mind before writing the review. Truly, my favorite part of the book was the nostalgia. There is nothing better than hanging out with your friends on a summer day. The main story line of Ted and Louisa and how one painting brought them together was masterful writing.

Told from two different time periods and different points of view, the reader is shown what true friendship is about. Backman does a wonderful job of characterization in the book. I loved all of the characters, but especially Louisa. Louisa is in the present tense of the story; she is a woman who just “aged out” of being in foster homes with nowhere to go. It was a certain painting that kept her hopeful.

As she meets the artist and his friend, she learns the backstory of the painting. It was the friendship of 5 childhood friends that kept the story moving. It was through this characterization that Backman shows that family isn’t always created through blood, and that your childhood friends become just as much a part of your story too.

Quotes From My Friends: (It was hard to pick my favorite top three):
** “Our teenage years have to be simultaneously the brightest light and the darkest depths, because that’s how we learn to figure out our horizons.”

I loved my teenage years, but those years definitely put you through the ringer. As someone who has taught teenagers for most of my life, I saw them on their brightest and darkest days. I wanted to save each and every one of them, but I knew they needed to navigate life on their own,

** “I’m worried about being alive without you.”


Ugh. This brought on so many tears and feelings. I’m not scared to die, but I am scared to live life without the people that I love the most. I’m sure this line hit home with many people.

** “When you think about summers growing up, it feels like the sun was always shining, there’s never any wind or rain in nostalgia.”

This is so true. Even as an adult, my memories of summer will never have wind or rain in them, even though it’s raining today. Most of my childhood memories consist of swimming in a pool with my best friend, or waterskiing on a lake with my family. It’s funny how memories work.

Something To Think About:
This is not a fast read. It is a long book at over 400 pages, so you have to be ready to settle in. In order to appreciate the story, make sure to take some time to appreciate the beautifully written lines. At times, I wish it moved a little more quickly, but I’m not sure what I would take out either.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Fredrik Backman for my free copy of this book. This is my honest review.

Reading challenge category - 2025 PopSugar: a book you got for free (Netgalley)

Oh Fredrik Backman, you've done it again. I didn't expect to cry in the first section, but I did. I think I should always expect to cry when I read his works, silly me.

This story is told in two timelines: present day and ~20 years ago. Present day: Louisa meets a famous artist and his most famous painting is left in her care. She sees the real story of the painting - three teens - not the sea. One of those teens, Ted, accompanies Louisa to his hometown where the painting was set. On the trip there, in flashback stories, Ted tells her about the summer and the group of 4 friends - the three in the painting plus the artist.

The story explores friendship, love, grief, bio family/found family, art, and the meaning of life and legacy. It is more of a slow burn than some of his others, but an enjoyable read, nonetheless. (I'm keeping this in my review) Anna - you will like this for the sheer frequency of the mentioning of farts.

Thanks to #Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

"𝘈𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺'𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺."

This beautiful book called for some beautiful flowers.

𝗠𝗬 𝗙𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗦 is a slower book - it took me almost a week to read - but what it lacks in action, it makes up for in heart. Backman never fails to wow me with the way he uses words, the humanity he infuses into his characters and the unique twists he gives his stories that don't seem like they'll ever connect but eventually do in the most wonderful way. This charming and poignant look at friendship, at grief, at trauma and at healing is one I won't soon forget. All the stars!

Thansk to Atria Books for the copy to review.

This book had me in TEARS, but I fear that is not an original experience when it comes to anything Fredrik Backman—he will forever and always find ways to pull at our heartstrings.

Never would I have thought a book about a painting would have so much to tell and so much to give. But then again, I felt the same about a small Swedish hockey town and was absolutely blown away. My Friends is just further proof that nothing is as simple as hockey or a painting; it’s always about the people—the unexpected connections made along the way of those long, hard, emotional journeys.

Backman has such a way with words and really knows how to convey harsh realities and emotions in his characters, but I am continually amazed by his understanding of young people and the overall intimate human experience. There is something so consequential about insignificant people and their lives that he promotes so incredibly well.

No other author out there is like Fredrick Backman. His stories are studies in humanity and lessons in empathy and compassion that truly everyone must experience and learn from.

Thank you, NetGalley and Atria for this e-ARC.

Fredrik Backman is an automatic read for me. While My Friends didn't quite have the same magic for me that A Man Called Ove, Beartown, and Anxious People did, it was still an enjoyable read. It definitely made me nostalgic for childhood summers spent with friends (though mine were unfortunately not as loyal).

There was a little twist at the end that I didn't see coming (somehow) and I feel I should mention that if you are triggered by domestic violence to perhaps use some caution when picking this up.

Fredrick Backman writes amazing well rounded characters who you just can’t help but grow to love. He writes like he understands 100% of the human experience. I loved reading about it. I loved the air of mystery in this one as we tried to piece together the past. This book made me laugh and cry and I loved how he connected generations