Fredrik Backman is my favorite author and has never let me down in any of his books. My Friends is no exception. Beautifully written, masterfully-woven relationships between characters, and emotional, engaging themes. Fredrik, please never retire the pen!!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Atria for the arc!

For most of the book, this was a three star book. But the end really was super strong, and I bumped it up to four. I know that this author’s charm is the way he writes, but this book just felt too winding to me. It felt like one step forward, two steps back. And at certain points, I felt like Louise is saying, just get to the end of the story! But Backman continues to be a fantastic author!

✨ MY FRIENDS ✨
Rating: 5⭐️ - I Loved It

Huge TY to @atriabooks for my advanced copy of MY FRIENDS! One of my most anticipated reads of the year!

❤️ for my LOVERS of FOUND FAMILY, the absolute BEST characters, ART, SUMMER & growing up

❤️ I don’t know how he does it but @fredrik has the gift of writing the most intricate and incredible characters that find a way to weasel into your heart - the artist, Joar, Ted, Ali, Louisa, Christian, his mother - all play such a critical piece of this story & both individually and together shine

❤️ I split this book 50/50 - the first half physical & the second half on audio and let me tell you - the AUDIO BLEW me away! Totally changed the story for me and really brought these characters to life

💔 another reason I switched to audio? This book at times felt a little slow & repetitive. The audio helps move the story along!

I’m not even sure how to describe what this book did to me… I cried, I laughed, every emotion! It’s easily one of Backman’s best. A brutally honest story about friendship, love, and loss. I finished it completely wrecked. Some books you read, some books you experience—this was the second for me.

Sometimes you read a book, and it's just that; a book.

Other times you read a book, and it speaks to you. In every language, and in every sense. It's a love letter to you: the reader, to the author, to the world.

That was this book. It's breathtakingly beautiful in its simplicity, yet painfully hard in its honesty.

Read. This. Book!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Backman does it again. The story has something that speaks to everyone… It’s filled with love stories, stories of friendship, found family, as the way art can make you feel. There’s so much tragedy that is inflicted on four young friends and later a young artist who’s “one of them.” But people are so much more than the tragic circumstances they live in, and no one writes those types of characters better than Backman. A Man Called Ove and the Beartown series or some of my favorite books ever written, and in My Friends, I saw similar characters that I have fallen in love with over the years

The format is a bit different, the main story is told through multiple flashbacks. It’s still heartwarming yet heart-wrenching at the same time.

I have loved everything this author has written and I adored this latest. A group of fourteen-year-old friends, drawn together one summer spend time together, all escaping from difficult home lives, and end up changing each others' lives irrevocably.

I enjoyed the suspense of finding out what exactly happened that summer through a connection years down the road between an young outcast artist and a grown man who had known the artist who decided to support the young artist just before he died.

Throughout their journey together back to the home town where everything happened way back when, the reader learns, little by little, what happened then and what each person was made of - their sorrows and dreams and hopes.

It is a story of beauty and bonding that arose from trauma, innocence and longing for connection. I was completely moved and grateful to be reading throughout the (perhaps a bit too) long tale. Many thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books and the author for the amazing opportunity to read an eARC of this wonderful book.

my friends 🖼️🌊🎨🫂🐈‍⬛💀💐

one of the most beautiful, heart wrenching books i’ve ever read. i went into this one completely blind and was instantly hooked right from the very first page. no one can craft such an intricately detailed story the way fredrik backman can.

louisa & ted made for a very odd pairing but their journey together to their destination was very reminiscent of the journey they were each experiencing with their own grief. i loved seeing ted become more himself again sharing the memories of his childhood friends with a girl who was truly one of them. louisa was just what ted needed to remind him of those days when everything felt perfect and they truly helped one another find a new purpose and home in each other.

this story is VERY heavy. i cried almost the entirety of the book but it was also so healing. i was pretty convinced i knew the plot from the beginning but fredrik backman is always able to surprise me in the best ways. this is a story about friendship, about grief, about art, about resiliency, about laughter & oh how beautiful all of these differing elements can be when combined. backman truly paints the intricacies of what it’s like to feel alone in the world and how welcoming and whole it can feel once you find your people.

i’ll be thinking about this one for a long long time🫂😭

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for choosing me for this ARC. I LOVE Fredrik Backman. Every book he writes has been a treasure, and this book was perfection. I love the way the story was told, and I struggled…to put it down. Once again, Backman is the master of storytelling!!

The book is lovely. I found it particularly touching to read.
My Friends by Fredrik Backman has a witty dialogue, poignant moments, and unforgettable characters, this novel is a must-read for anyone.
This story and its characters are developed beautifully. The story is meaningful and each character adds to the emotional journey.
You can’t go wrong with a Backman novel, He just pulls the emotions right out of you.

Louisa unknowingly meets her favorite artist the night before her 18th birthday. She has left her foster home and ends up on a train ride with the artist's best friend Ted, where he tells her the origin story of her favorite painting.

This book is the reason I read. I chase the feeling I got while reading this book. It was so devastatingly heart wrenching but also funny. I highlighted so many quotes. "Adults have to be adults so that children can be children." The sentence level writing is peak Backman. He somehow shows you how beautiful art is without you being able to see it. If you like Beartown and A Man Called Ove, you will love this book.

It’s been a minute since I’ve read one of Backman’s books, and I forgot about his writing- how it’s so beautiful and poignant and yet ambiguous and frustrating. The way he peels away the layers of the story to have you unsure of what’s about to happen, and satisfied when you discover it’s exactly what you needed to happen.

My Friends is a story about death, but more importantly it’s a story about life. I’ll be recommending this one to so many people, but make sure you’re ready for your heart to feel a little beat up when you’re done.

Thank you to Atria books for the advanced copy!

My Friends was captivating and heartfelt. The characters were fully fleshed out, and I was rooting for all of the friends and Louisa throughout. The prose was beautiful, as always for Fredrik Backman.
The middle started to drag, but I knew I should trust the author and the details we were provided as important and relevant, and Backman didn't steer me wrong!

My goodness what a story. I fell in love with these characters and the way Mr. Backman develops them. I can’t pick a favorite because they were all perfection. I will say that I’ve never read the word Fart so many times in a book that I was cracking up.
It’s a story about Joar, Ali, Ted and the artist. And I’ve never met a tighter group of friends. The adventures and the laughing and the love they all have for one another is something worth reading about.
This book made me laugh out loud and tear up but it just made me feel good.
It may not be a story for everyone but if you’re a fan of Backman you will love this one.

Thank you to @atriabooks and @netgalley for the arc. It was a true pleasure to read.

My Friends is a beautiful, poignant story of four unforgettable teens and how their friendship has a life changing impact on a young girl twenty five years later. Backman is the master of creating memorable characters who tugged at my heartstrings, made me laugh and then cry. This is a story with many layers, evoking emotions and immersing you into the lives of the characters that will feel so real and a friendship bond so strong yet tender and loving and how found family can be the purest love. The use of art as the backdrop is just another extraordinary layer.
This is the book that I can’t stop thinking about and as time passes, I realize how really special this story is.

Last Friday evening you would’ve found me sitting in the sun on my back porch surrounded by freshly potted flowers and chattering birds. Simply soaking up the beauty of life. 
 
But it wasn’t the flowers or the sun or the birds that had me paused in that moment, deep in thought and full of gratitude. 

It was the fact that I had just read the last lines of Backman’s latest book, My Friends. 

Oh, the way his books nourish my heart!
 
To be clear, it took me a month to get to that point. Why?  Because I savored EACH and EVERY word. 

I let myself truly live in the moments that unfolded with those four friends on that pier so many summers ago.  And it was GLORIOUS. 
 
“Because who can make you grieve for a person you never even knew, so that it hurts this much?”   Backman, of course. 
 
These four teens—the artist, Ted, Joar, and Ali—they aren’t just richly crafted fictional characters full of depth and complexity. No...  They became my friends.  They became part of me. 
 
This book is about finding refuge and the importance of connection.  It’s about the challenges we face and the joys we find in unexpected places.  It’s a richly woven tapestry full of heart and humanity and humor. 
 
And, in Backman’s own words, “Great art is a small break from human despair.”  Yes.  Indeed, Fredrik.  This story was the greatest break and pure manna for my starving soul. 

I’m calling it now: My Friends is my BOTY.
 
🎧 I read most of this one with my eyes (note all of those tabs!). But I couldn’t resist finishing it alongside Marin Ireland. Her narration exudes the heart and emotion of Backman’s books!

Many thanks to my friends at @atriabooks and @simon.audio for the free #gifted copies of this book. #atriapartner #partner

3.5 stars
I received an advanced copy of My Friends by Fredrik Backman from NetGalley. It took a bit to get into, but once I was in, I was hooked. Backman’s emotional depth and character work really shine through which is no surprise if you know his writing well. Unfortunately, the ending didn’t live up to the strong buildup and it felt a bit underwhelming. If the ending had landed better, this could’ve been a 4.5-star read. Still highly recommend as I loved the characters and the emotional depth!

Told in dual timelines, following four friends including Ted, during their adolescence, & 25 years later when Luisa enters his life. As past and present intertwine, the story explores how impactful friendships can be & the ways they shape our lives.

The writing is beautiful and emotionally layered. Backman captures the pain of growing apart and the power of storytelling and art. I had many moments where I laughed out loud, and a few where I shed some tears, too.

Backman always does a remarkable job capturing the intricacies of the human condition. The characters are lovable, and as usual, you find yourself rooting for them. I would definitely recommend this book!

Thanks so much to @atriabooks and @netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

This man has a way with words that is so unlike any other author. I could read one sentence and know it was his writing.... it's THAT unique and distinct. His books always have extremely heavy themes, yet the story itself feels so lighthearted because of his language. Some of the humor in this one didn't quite work for me, but I think fans of Backman will love this the same as his other work.

What a wonderful magical story! This is a.book that should be savored so that the reader can contemplate the stories within the story. The trials and tribulations of four young friends who support, hold each other up and make each moment count helping each other along the way..

I have read all Fredrik Backman’s books and I have loved them all, This Masterpiece will live in my heart for a very long time. Well done, Mr. Backman. I will be definitely reading this gem again.