I was HONORED to receive this ARC!! I was so excited about this read, I cried and laughed out loud all while reading this book. Anything Fredrik Backman writes I read!!

I had the absolute privilege of listening to Backman speak in-person on his tour for My Friends. Something he said was that one of his favorite things is watching his wife light up when she sees a piece of artwork that she loves. He doesn't know about art or artists. And he can't write about them (allegedly). But he can write about the person who falls in love with that art.

And with My Friends he has proven, once again, that he absolutely can capture those moments in his writing. He sees people, he undertands the feeling of falling in love with a piece of art, of hurting when times are tough, of just trying to get through one more day in this crazy life.

He also said that with My Friends he wanted to capture the point in everyone's life where they know this is their last summer as a child, "this was the last time I was free...this was the last time that we were children and then we started introducing each other as childhood friends." And I think he really captured that in particular too.

The start to this book was a little slow for me, but I think I felt that way about Beartown as well. In the same way Backman knows his first line and his last when he starts writing, just trust the process and you will be rewarded with tears in your eyes and a sense that you are not so alone in this world. That the feelings you feel do not separate you but connect you.

Read this book is you want to cry, if want you want to laugh, if you've enjoyed Backman's other works, and/or if you're feeling a little adrift and want something to pull you back to shore.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC to review.

Fredrick Backman does it again with another moving book. Sometimes it was a little slow and thankfully Louisa agrees which somehow makes it better. Two stories are masterfully woven together and it is beautiful.

Fredrik Backman’s writing is unique and special and I feel honored to have had a chance to read this book early. His character description and development is unmatched, and I loved these four main characters and their loyalty to each other. Louisa’s character was my favorite and she had me laughing out loud on multiple occasions. The Beartown series will always have my heart, but My Friends is a true gem, and one of Backman’s best. Thanks so much for sharing it with me!

My Friends by Fredrik Bavkman is a reminder of our childhood friends and adventures. It also pays tribute to the lasting friendships and the ways that new friends can be included.

It's been two days since I finished reading My Friends, and I still haven’t fully recovered. It took me quite some time to get through the book, not because I lacked interest or wasn’t enjoying it, but because Backman’s stories always hit me hard. They break my heart and mend it multiple times, and this one was no exception.
My Friends tells a story about, well… friends. But it’s so much more than that. It explores love, found family, life, death, and ultimately, hope. The characters are deeply flawed and sometimes make terrible choices, yet they support each other in ways that nobody ever has before.
This story will make you laugh, but it will also bring you to tears. I found myself sobbing and wiping my tears past midnight on a weekday, as if I didn't have to wake up in just five hours to go to work. In that moment, being mentally present felt less important than finishing My Friends.
Writing reviews for books I love is always the hardest, but if I could say one more thing, it would be this: the story is unique and so real, even when you wish it weren’t. It’s a tale that lingers long after you’ve turned the last page, one that makes you think and feel—just what great stories are meant to do.

This is one big book about grief and unconventional friendships. It was both heartwarming and heartbreaking. I loved Louisa and Ted’s journey together and found it quite hilarious, but both their backgrounds were so sad, yet they both remained very positive. The only reason I can’t give it 5 stars is because the writing bored me a little bit. The book was definitely longer than it needed to be so I was kind of waiting for it to be over, but also not be over at the same time.

Thank you to the publisher for my eARC.

Friends, I may have just read my favorite book, so far, of 2025. This book is just... pure magic. ✨

If you've read Backman before, you know his thing: he takes these seemingly ordinary people, often a bit quirky or grumpy on the outside, and then he just peels back the layers until you're absolutely head-over-heels in love with them. He then hits you with something so profoundly true and heartbreaking that you're suddenly tearing up.

It's a story about community, about finding your people, and about how those connections shape who you are.

Bottom line: A gem! You'll find yourself highlighting line after beautiful line.

Backman is a go-to author for me, so this was obviously one of my most anticipated releases this year. This is definitely a ‘crowd pleaser’ type of story; it’s classic Backman and hits the right beats but I don’t think it will stick with me quite as much as Anxious People or Beartown. I’m not regurgitating a synopsis here since yall can find plenty of other reviews at this point, but yeah it was a solid read as expected but I wouldn’t say a highlight in his repertoire.

Oh my goodness! Fredrik Backman has the incredible ability to tell the most incredible stories. This one is no different. I loved the alternating timelines and the most of all the incredible character development.

This book, told in flashbacks flipping between two timelines, is beautifully written and heartwarming. Highly recommended for readers who can’t resist a coming of age story.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of My Friends by Fredrik Backman.

If you need to be wrapped in a warm, literary blanket, Backman does it every time. Maybe that's a strange thing to say because it's not as if his material is light and fluffy. But the LOVE just radiates from the pages even in the midst of the tragedies.

This story starts as a painting of three young people sitting at the end of a pier. But as most good stories go, it's just the beginning. Through Louisa's eyes and journey, we follow four tragic young figures who are full of adoration for each other. Louisa is a tragic figure herself, orphaned and alone, just having lost her only friend. Through providence alone, she meets the artist of the painting, and her journey begins.

It's hard to really explain the magic of this book. I just love how Backman writes, I believe it's a portrait of how he wishes we could all witness, connect, and experience, even when life feels impossible. The writing as usual is gorgeous, the story will squeeze the crap out of your heart. I just loved it.

This is my third book by Fredrik Backman and I loved it. I also loved Beartown so, it's hard to pick between the two for my favorite. I just cannot tell you how beautiful this book is. The writing, the characters, the story……all of it. I just loved it.

I love how Backman brings the past and present together. It all revolves around a painting. A painting of four friends that was painted by them when they were children. Now, 25 years later, Louisa meets two of these friends by a chance encounter. She is given the story behind this painting….about these four friends.

I highly recommend you pick this up and just dive right in. I don't want to give too much away, but I loved reading about the hardships and love these characters have experienced throughout their lives. The friendship these characters had was like a real family kind of connection.

Backman really knows how to create characters that feel so real and a story is straight from the heart. It truly was beautiful and heartwarming. Another win from Backman.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

I am fan of this author and loved 'Anxious People' but somehow couldn't finish this one. I have read up to 40% of the book but this hasn't sparked my interest. I so wanted to like it.

it saddens me deeply that I didn't enjoy this book as Backman is one of my favorite authors. he has a writing style that I typically find funny and endearing but in this book just felt over the top. the story felt frustrating and overly childish (the word fart appeared in this book 25 times, like....) I only really cared about one character, Joar, who the entire book you think is being set up for tragedy and then it ends up all just feeling like a cheap setup to make us care about something when nothing really HAPPENS AT ALL. sigh, 2.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of My Friends.

I've read A Man Called Ove and Beartown and enjoyed them. The author writes well about loneliness, friendship, and loyalty.

My Friends revolves around a group of teenagers whose love and commitment to each other inspires a work of art that resonates with a young woman 25 years later.

I wasn't a fan of My Friends, even though I do enjoy novels about friendships, loyalty, and angst.

I didn't like the writing style, which was written as a summary format for the most part.

I didn't like the circle of friends; they were just too damaged and traumatized.

I understand the biggest reason they're all friends are because they come from unhappy families.

I couldn't stand Ted; I thought he was a wimp, dull, and boring.

All the joking and joshing around got monotonous fast and the pacing of the narrative dragged.

It didn't help that not much happens; its about the summer that inspired the painting and how they all met one another, their personalities and their personal lives.

I didn't like or dislike Louisa; I didn't find the narrative engaging and just wanted to get to the end.

I do love the theme of finding your tribe is, in many ways, more important than the family you're born into.

You can't choose your family into but you can choose who you love and who you want to be friends with.

I just finished My Friends by Fredrik Bachman and now I am done sobbing… There is my review,

Louisa is reeling from her loss… All she wants to do is see the painting.. The one of the 3 kids on the pier… Everyone else sees the sea but she needs to know more about the people and when a chance encounter leads her to owning the world famous piece of artwork… She is set on a journey to learn about the people in the painting and heal some of the wounds in her own heart…

GAH! I spent a whole day reading this book. It took me hours upon hours because I could not stop the tears. The author always hits you in the feelers but this one started with a one two punch and I was not prepared.

Louisa ends up with the painting after a chance meeting with the artist who had commissioned his best friend to buy it back at auction. That’s the only spoiler… It is the story of Louisa and her life in foster care and her best friend Fish who died of an overdose. It was so bloody tragic and I am tearing up again.

We get 2 timelines… The current day with louisa on a journey with her new friend… One of the people from the painting, the other timeline is the summer the painting was painted. The writing is deep and painfully raw. It was like he took a knife and ripped my soul open with it.

I felt such affection for all the characters, especially Ted. The book literally told the story of all these broken people and the people who knew and loved them the best, were their friends. They took care of each other and lived for each other. I am an easy crier but I have never cried so much in my life. This book should come with a dehydration warning.

This book is about friendship and found family. The lengths we will go to, to protect the ones we choose to love. It was beautifully poetic and I don’t think I will ever be able to read another Bachman without feeling all the damn emotions..

If you are looking for a book that has the right balance of plot and character driven elements and you love books that will sit with you for a very long time…

THIS. This book has to be your next read.

5 stars… I would thank @bachmansk but how do you convey in words a book that reached you in places you didn’t know you had.

Thank you to @netgalley and @atriabooks for my husband… giving me a wide berth for 2 days after I finished haha!!

Not to be dramatic, but this may be one of the best books I have ever read. Honestly, I always feel this way when I read a book by Fredrik Backman but this has captured the number one spot. I read somewhere that the author said this may be his last book and honestly this is one hell of a way to stop writing and the world would have lost a true artist. I have always found Backman's writing to be a direct link to my soul. I have laughed, I have cried, sometimes both at the same time. I look forward to every book he writes. If this is his last book (which I hope it is not because I need to read anything he has to say) this was "his masterpiece" and a masterpiece in general. I loved every single minute of reading/listening to this. I didn't want it to end even though I may have had tears in my eyes almost this entire book. This reminded me of how I felt reading It and watching Stand by Me (the movie not the book) about those friendships from youth that change your life so profoundly--but without the horror and murder. The way he writes about love and friendship was so visceral I felt everything these characters felt. This was perfection in my book.

I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

After reading Beartown by Fredrik Backman I knew I stumbled upon a very special author. He has such a way with words that make you feel so much! I'm a reader who can sit down and devour a book, but I took my time with My Friends. I've been trying to figure out how to write this review because I want to scream from the rooftops how amazing this book is, but also I feel this is a book that everyone needs to experience this one knowing as little as possible.

Ted and Louisa are strangers but one painting puts them on a journey together. A painting is the cause of everything and we learn so much about these two as well as Ted's childhood friends and how the painting came to be. This story is heartbreaking, hopeful, funny, and everything in between. There were chapters that made me want to stop reading because they made me so sad and I didn't want anything to happen to the characters I came to love.

There were also so many quotes that just hit so powerfully that I plan on buying a physical copy to go back and highlight all of my favorite quotes. It never ceases to amaze me when an author can make me feel this way about fictional characters. My Friends is about friendship, love, grief, and that family isn't always blood. This has become one of my favorite reads of 2025 and I know I'll be thinking about it regularly.

My review will also be posted on https://thebookdutchesses.com on May 22nd.

All I have to say is you must read this book. I’ve never read anything like it. I didn’t see myself but so many of my students experiences. The found family, fierce friendships, sweet memories of summertime and being a kid. It had me laughing even though the really sad reality of it all. I think that’s what made this book so special is that it was unbelievably believable humanity. 5 stars easily and a few tears.