Fredrik, Fredrik, Fredrik. Everything you write is worthy of a place in a museum.

I will admit, this book started slow for me. The tone felt a little different than Fredrik’s past work, but still kept his charm, his humor, and his storytelling. Once I understood the take, I fell in love.

One thing Fredrik does well is his ability to fully immerse himself into every character he writes. You would think he’s an 18 year-old girl with a passion for art. You would believe he’s a group of 14 year olds running rampant in the street. You might even believe he was an older woman living it up as a taxi driver with seven kids. He knows people. He recognizes their flaws and their gifts and gives you a story full of laughter, sadness, and hope. This is what “My Friends” is about. This book is a love letter to artists everywhere, as well as to those who have the desire to create (whatever that may be).

Louisa is a quirky, loud, passionate character. You can’t help but love her. Ted is a teddy bear (pun intended). Joar is a fiery kid who hides his wounds for the sake of his friends. The artist is a character for everyone who just wants to DO, to BE, to CREATE! You WILL find a character that relates to you. AND YOU WILL LOVE THEM!!

In true Fredrik fashion, this book deals with some heavy themes such as domestic, emotional, and physical abuse, r@pe, grief, death, and the highs and lows of adolescence.

HOWEVER, he writes with such grace and such light that you’ll be laughing at one page and crying at another.

Another masterpiece by the author who I fully believe will save this generation of readers. One that will help us love eachother more. One that will encourage us to create a better world. I loved it.

Just when you think you couldn't love Backman ANYmore---he hits you with My Friends. This book is a work of art. Much like the artist in the story, Backman's words are such a gift to our world. I savored each and every word and I can't wait to read it again (and again and again). This is a brilliant story of grief, those that are broken, art, and friendship. I laughed and cried and, much like Lousia, towed the line of needing to know what happened next and not wanting it to end. This book reads like the Beartown collection, which were my personal favorites of Backman's many beautiful stories. I will be purchasing this book for myself and cannot wait to gift it to my friends--if only we are all so lucky to have friends such as these.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, Atria Books, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Be sure to get your copy on its publication date, May 6th, at a local book seller near you!

Thank you so much, NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and Atria Books, for the ARC.
Fredrik Backman does it again.
If you love stories that are character-driven with a lot of heart, this book is for you. In this story, we follow four teenagers who share profound bonds of friendship. The rest of the plot is interesting, but I'm always moved by how well Backman writes characters. The writing is so genuine and nostalgic in that it brought me back to being a teenager myself; my friends were everything to me. Knowing that as time passes, things change and so do people, was a really hard realization and Backman captures that emotion incredibly well.

Holy moly, Backman has done it again. This book is a love story at its core, but it is not even remotely a romance. When 18 year old Louisa sneaks into an art auction to get a glimpse of her favorite painting and leave her mark she must run away from security and in the process she unknowingly encounters the artist himself. What then unfolds is one of the saddest happy stories I've ever read. This book made me cry, laugh, get goosebumps, and give great sighs. So incredibly good.

Is it too early in the year to pick my favourite read of 2025? I think not, as this will be hard to beat. You’d think that a book of nearly 500 pages would be too mundane or drawn out, but it isn’t so where Backman is concerned. Not only is this 2025’s best book, but it’s also the author’s, in my humble opinion.

Backman has insight into the human condition. Whenever I read anything by this author, it always delivers plenty of emotions. This one is a love letter to friendship. It’s about a friend group who spend the summer together that reverberates years later via a painting. Joar, Ted, Ally and the artist form a close-knit group where they can abandon their terrible homes if even for a little while. This just goes to show how important friendships have an impact on our lives.

The characters are complex, and Backman doesn’t shy away from hard topics. I especially love that he doesn’t write endings where the resolutions are nice and easy and tied up in a neat little bow. His books are raw, realistic, and dramatic. He also writes realistic dialogue with humour, but it can also be very moving at the same time. Backman simply writes about life in all its messy and beautiful glory. His writing is simple, but it touches me every single time. I have high expectations of this author, and Backman didn’t disappoint with this one. A poignant tale of friendship, trauma and healing that deserves All. The. Stars.

📚ARC Review📚

My Friends follows the story of Louisa and Ted. Two individuals who happened to meet by fate. Louisa, an 18 year old foster girl runaway, ends up meeting her favourite painter C. Jat outside of the auction house where his paining is being sold. Louisa has had a post card of this exact painting her entire life and is one of the few people to actually understand what is in the picture.

Through a series of events, Louisa and Ted find themselves on a train travelling together. Louisa soon learns though Ted all about C. Jat’s childhood as well as the identities of the individuals in the painting. Their journey takes many unexpected turns along the way but they end up becoming great friends.

The book alternates between the currently story line of Luisa and Ted and the past as Ted shares his story with Louisa. This is my first Fredrik Backman book, so I found his writing a little hard to get into. My Friends is a modern day coming of age book full of love and loss. This book pulled on my heart strings and had me rooting for everyone.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, this ARC was provided by the publisher, Atria Books, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Well, it’s 1:30am and I’m weepy and I loved it and I hate you Backman. How do you do this to me?!

My first note as I read my way through the first half was:

- Beautifully depressing.

He’s no longer content with big cathartic emotional endings. Oh no. Now he has to make me weepy the whole way through his book! And then chuckle through the tears because that is the Backman way. Humor amid pain.

I’d liken it most along the lines of Ove though it’s obviously very different. Emotionally, it’s almost like Ove in reverse. Though, again, that’s still wildly inaccurate if you get technical, but it’s how it felt.

Alternating between past and present in the traditional storytelling manner but also switches to someone in the present recounting the past… not proper flashbacks, which I thought was brilliant. It’s a slightly different cadence and I loved it.

The grueling history, friendship, and love of the children in the past, brushing up against the adult meets teen in the present, created a brilliant connection between memory and reality. It’s sad, sweet, funny, tense, quietly dramatic, profound, and wondrously memorable. One of the top books of the year and Backman at his absolute best.

4.5⭐️ When picking up a Fredrik Backman book, I know I’m going to be in for an emotional ride, and this book certainly delivered.🥲

I think what I loved most about this book were the characters and the way they’re written. They are flawed, rich, multifaceted, and felt like real people to me. By the time I finished reading, this group of friends felt like my own friends, and I love when I can have that deep of a connection with a book. I could easily feel the bond between them all, and loved the ways in which they were there for each other.

This story was told in a then/now format, and I liked how this enabled small parts of the past timeline to be revealed. It kept me engaged and wondering what exactly was going to happen, and added a bit of suspense. There were a couple surprises I wasn’t expecting, and several moments that had me tearing up. Even at over 400 pages, I could’ve kept reading about these people.

Huge thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for providing an eARC of Fredrik Backman's My Friends, a novel that immediately draws you into the intertwined lives of Louisa, a recent foster runaway, and Ted, a man whose memories are tethered to a significant painting. Backman once again demonstrates his storytelling prowess, effortlessly shifting between moments that will make you chuckle and those that will tug at your heartstrings in this multi-generational coming-of-age tale.

Through the lens of art and the strength of chosen connections, My Friends offers a raw and honest portrayal of adolescence. Backman doesn't shy away from depicting the difficult realities faced by a group of young people—illness, depression, alcoholism, neglect, domestic abuse, and homophobia—highlighting their reliance on each other for comfort and understanding. While the story takes its time to unfold, allowing for deep character exploration, the result is a deeply moving and articulate exploration of growing up and finding your place.

Thank you Netgalley & Atria Books for an eARC ♥️♥️♥️

I didn’t just read this book—I lived it.😭💔
Fredrik Backman has done it again, crafting a story so visceral and true that it feels less like fiction and more like a memory you can’t shake. This is a novel about the people who become your home when home is the last place you want to be, and the art that survives long after its creators are gone.
The four teenagers at the heart of this story—Joar with his defiant fists, Ted with his silent grief, Ali with her restless roots, and the artist with his quiet, aching brilliance—will carve themselves into your soul. Their friendship is messy, fierce, and luminous, a makeshift family built on shared wounds and whispered dreams. The scenes on the pier, where they trade stories like lifelines, are so vivid I could smell the saltwater and hear the creaking wood. I laughed with them, raged for them, and when their hearts broke, mine did too. 💔
Then there’s Louisa, decades later, holding the echoes of their lives in her hands. Her quest to unravel the painting’s mystery becomes a meditation on how legacies are made—not in grand gestures, but in the small, sacred moments between people who choose each other. The revelation of how the artwork came to be left me breathless; it’s one of those twists that doesn’t just surprise you, but changes how you see everything that came before.
What wrecks me most is how Backman captures the paradox of youth: how the friendships that save us can’t always save *us*, how joy and sorrow are braided together so tightly you can’t pull them apart. There’s a particular line near the end—*“We were never just kids; we were entire worlds collapsing and being rebuilt in each other’s eyes”*—that I’ve underlined three times and still can’t read without crying. 🥺
This book is a testament to the art we make of our pain, the love that outlives loss, and the strangers who become the story of our lives. It’s not a story you “like.” It’s one that splits you open and stitches you back together, leaving you tender and grateful.
**A shattered mosaic of a novel, and every piece is perfect.**♥️♥️♥️♥️

Thanks to Netgalley for this book.
I usually love Frederik Backman, and actually I still think I do. But this one, for whatever reason, did not work for me. I was very compelled by the first 80 pages and then not much was happening and I couldn’t get into the back and forth storytelling where not much is happening. This is clearly a character driven book which I usually love so not sure what happened here with me! I would recommend for fans of Backman. As one can see from other reviews, this may be a me issue!

It has been a while since I was really in the mood for this type of book, which is why I put off reading it until now. What is so great about this author is you don’t have to be in the right mood for his stories, because he is just that good.
His stories are just so real. They are full of deep insights:
“Nothing weighs more than someone else’s belief in you.”
But also so dang relatable:
“Dear God, how they all laughed, until their spines popped like Bubble Wrap, a fart really is the best chiropractor if you know how to appreciate it.”
Well done, Mr. Backman.

My Friends by Fredrick Backman is a book that will carry you away in a story of friendship, trauma ,art , healing and hope.Louisa is eighteen years old and is in charge of a painting that she has always loved.She goes on a trip to learn about how the painting was created and the four friends that were involved.The timelines of the story are the present and twenty five years previously when the painting was made.This book is not a quick read because there is a lot to process and at times you will just have to take time to catch your breath.You will feel all the emotions while reading this wonderful book from a favorite author.You will love this book!I am looking forward to reading it again!Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for allowing me to read this ARC.

I will never be able to put into words what this book means to me! How is it possible to write the way he does? Im in absolute awe. Backman can make me laugh and cry within a few sentences. The way he describes the tiniest feelings is absolutely mind blowing to me! His storytelling is also so amazing, I will never get over it.

This story is not just about friendship. Its about love and families, about passion and art and trusting people and so so much more. I lived their story with them! I laughed and loved and cried and mourned with them.


Im so so grateful that I got to read an early copy of this! The biggest thanks to netgalley and the publisher! I can not wait to get my hands on the physical book and reread many times in the future!!! Louisa and all the others will forever be engraved into my soul! If i could give this 6 stars I 100% would!

I love everything about this book and probably loved it as much as Backman’s other series Beartown. This book alternates because a story of 4 childhood friends and their lives as adults. Backman’s writing style is one that I enjoy probably more than almost any other author. This story touched my heart and will stay with me for a long time. He addresses themes of friendship, loss, grief, and abuse with such expertise and so masterfully.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publishers for allowing me to read this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have been a fan of @backmansk for years and have read (and own) every book he’s written. So I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book and have had the special edition ordered since it was announced. I was over the moon to get the chance to read the e-ARC early!

This book is quintessential Backman. It’s a slow-paced story that unfolds bit by bit on two timelines with plenty of memorable quotes along the way.

Louisa is my favorite character. Her unbreakable spirit shone through despite her terrible circumstances. She made me laugh despite her belief that anyone over thirty was ancient! As she learns the story behind her favorite painting she learns more about herself and what she’s capable of.

Ted, who accompanies her and tells her the story was funny, too. I loved watching him overcome his fear and learn to open his heart.

And of course the story of the teenage artist and his friends was poignant and hilarious at the same time. Told in bits and pieces with lots of foreshadowing and misdirection, the story is all the more touching because it is revealed so slowly.

At the end of this review I’ve included some of my favorite quotes.

I am happy to have my special edition for my shelf, but I think I want to purchase the audio as well and read this one again. It’s going to take multiple readings to digest.

Pick this one up today and fall in love again or for the first time with Backman’s masterful writing.

Thank you to @Netgalley and @atriabooks for the chance to review this ARC.

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“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. It’s an act of magnificent rebellion to do meaningless things, to waste time, to swim and drink soda and sleep late. To be silly and frivolous, to laugh at stupid little jokes and tell stupid little stories.”

“That’s all of life. All we can hope for. You mustn’t think about the fact that it might end, because then you live like a coward, you never love too much or sing too loudly. You have to take it for granted, the artist thinks, the whole thing: sunrises and slow Sunday mornings and water balloons and another person’s breath against your neck. That’s the only courageous thing a person can do.”

“Life is long, his friend had said in the hospital, but he didn’t mention the fact that almost every moment hurts when you have to live it alone.”

“The ultimate expression of love is nagging, we don’t nag anyone the way we nag the people we love. All parents know that, and so do all best friends.’

“You think you’re going to be young forever, but suddenly you reach an age where getting up from a chair can’t be taken for granted, it requires planning,”

“It is an act of violence when an adult yells at a child, all adults know that deep down, because all adults were once little. Yet we still do it. Time after time, we fail at being human beings.”

“Children know hardly anything about their parents, even if they live with them their whole lives. Because all we know about them is as moms and dads, nothing about who they were before that. We never saw them young, when they still fantasized about all the things that could happen, instead of regretting all the things that never did.”

“There’s an author called Donna Tartt who describes why a person falls in love with art: ‘It’s a secret whisper from an alleyway. Psst, you. Hey kid. Yes, you.’ That’s what libraries feel like for me.”

The genius of Fredrik Backman is very evident in this very poignant coming of age story. There are many quotable passages and many words of wisdom. Most of all this is a love story. It’s quiet, until you start getting into the story and then emotions erupt like a volcano and I was a mess by the end.

At the centre of the story is a piece of art. Not very exciting, but this painting is a metaphor for life and appreciating the beauty in it. This painting tells the story of four friends who don’t fit in, who are down on their luck and whose lives have been profoundly effected by lousy adults.

The painting offers these kids and especially Louisa, something they’ve never really had, a family, through the power of imagination. The painting acts as a vessel for them deal with grief and abandonment.

The writing is tender and there is lots of that trademark Backman humour. It does meander a little but, it is worth it. Its nostalgic and has you longing for those childhood summers from long ago.

Louisa, Christian, Joar, Ted and The Artist are the best. They are flawed, but they are smart, compassionate and hurting. They are everything. I’m just at a loss for words.

This is my most anticipated read of the year and it didn’t disappoint. I can’t thank Atria Books enough giving me an ARC.

"It's hard to say "I love you" when you're fourteen years old. And completely impossible to dare whisper: "Don't hurt yourself, because you'd be hurting me too.""

I've been putting off writing this review, because even though he's one of my favorite authors, even though I loved this book, I feel like I will never adequately get across how much his books mean to me, or how wonderful this story was, but I'll try.

If you've read a Fredrik Backman book, you'll know they're almost always sad. Almost always a guaranteed cry. But they're also so much more than that. They have moments of laughter and hope. They have characters that have you feeling like you've known them all your life, like they were your friends too, when you were fourteen. This is a story about a group of friends who grew up together and spent their summers at the pier, who loved each other so much, even when they couldn't love themselves.

"Because all he dreamed about was not being recognized in the street, and not being adult, and about lying on a pier with his best friends and drinking sun-warmed sodas and reading superhero comics. About being no one at all alongside his very best no ones."

I can't even read all the quotes I highlighted without tearing up again. While there is so much love in this book, there is so much grief and heartbreak, and really isn't that what life is? I've said it before, but I think what I love the most about his writing is when he writes about love, family, and friendship, it all feels so real. I can feel all those moments shared between those fictional characters in my own chest. I can feel for them and hope that they'll have their happy ending. Rooting for them, even though we might have an idea how the story will go, just like Louisa.

"So you never went back home?"
↳ "He was my home."

If you decide to read this book, pleaseee go in blind and just trust where the ride takes you. I don't think you need to know anything besides that, this book is about how a story never ends, not really anyways. That a home is not a place but the people, that you never have friends like you did, and you never love anyone like you do when you're fourteen. And how most of all, knowing you aren't alone, not really when you have your best humans with you always.

Lastly, thank you so much atria for this advanced readers copy. I cried when it showed up in the mail. You have no idea how much it meant to me. ♥

Backman has done it again. This book is pure perfection.

It resonated with me on such a deep level. Backman masterfully tells the story of four kids who found their “best” friends at exactly the moment they needed them most. The narrative moves effortlessly between the present and 25 years ago, weaving a rich, emotional tapestry that is both heartbreaking and hopeful.

As an avid Backman fan who has read everything he’s written, I can honestly say this book is something special. While the Beartown trilogy will always hold the top spot in my heart—and I genuinely believe those books should be required reading in high school—these characters are now a very close second.

There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t think of the Beartown characters. They felt so real to me that I sometimes catch myself wondering how they’re doing, before I remember they’re fictional. That’s the magic of Backman’s writing—his characters live on long after the final page.

This latest book might just be my favorite read of the year. I already have tickets to meet Backman in Nashville, and I can’t wait.

Bravo, Backman—thank you for yet another masterpiece.

Fredrik Backman’s writing is singular — he has a way of crafting a sentence into a feeling, something that can be both stunningly beautiful and absolutely devastating. In My Friends, he evokes raw, unending emotion while managing to balance grief and humor and heart. It is a gorgeous look at friendship and time, one that anyone would be lucky to experience.