Best book I have read this year.

Every character has a story to tell. The stories are weaved together through friendship and art.

I ended up listening to this book and it felt like I couldn’t stop smiling. The friendship was written with such beauty and clarity and it made me feel everything as sharply as if I were there.

I haven’t read a novel that’s made me cry this much in a while. It also made me laugh. It made me angry. It made me contemplative. Most of all, this book just made me feel grounded because it’s one of those books that demands you slow down, take stock of your life, and be grateful for the good it’s given you and find meaning in the bad it’s brought you.

Of course, this is the kind of book that I’m a sucker for anyways as it explores the special, intense kind of love and closeness in teenage friendships, the withering effect of time, and the devastation of grief. But what makes this book stand out is how beautifully it was written. I actually wanted to write down some of my favorite quotes, and I had to stop because I was basically going to have to quote the whole book.

Fredrik Backman has such a talent for writing complex emotions and conveying how meaningful they are to these characters that I just get sucked in and the story becomes real. Every time I picked up the book, it felt like I was checking in with friends. And every time I thought of the book, it felt like I was wondering how those friends were doing.

I was so impressed with how he was able to write about teens in a way that captured the angst, mental health struggles, and traumas without it being overbearing or like a caricature. Then, he does it again for the adults going through grief. And then, he weaves the stories together in such a fluid way that it felt like I was listening to someone naturally reminiscing because we were having a conversation that brought up memories. It all felt so balanced and seamless that I didn’t notice how well it was done until now as I write this review.

I think this is one of his more meandering, saccharine books, but I picked it up at a time when I really needed it, so to me it’s perfect.

I’ll end this review with a few quotes that really exemplify the clumsy tenderness, desolation, hope, and utter humanness that fills this book:

“The first person to stop laughing was obviously the artist, his joy never lasted very long, his skin was too thin to keep reality out.”

“A soft little exhalation through the stubble of his beard, one final little beat of his heart, and then the world is smaller.”

“The artist’s bookcases were full of poets, like the bookcases of anyone trying to find out how everyone else copes.”

“The chance to feel that he had stolen more moments from death than death had from him.”

“Sometimes you don’t appreciate your own blessings until you see the envy in someone else’s eyes.”

“Because art is a fragile magic, just like love, and humanity’s only defense against death. That we create and paint and dance and fall in love, that’s our rebellion against eternity. Everything beautiful is a shield.”

“The most dangerous place on Earth is inside us.”

And that whole paragraph when Ted describes why he couldn’t live in the artist’s apartment anymore.

And those two pages when the artist describes why we in fact should take life for granted because it’s only when we’re not thinking about death that we can live fully and create magic and show the world our true selves.

It's been awhile since I've read one of Fredrik Backman's book, but this. book was fantastic! It might have been the best one I have read yet. It had plenty of emotions while surprising me at the same time! The storytelling is phenomenal!! Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read this book!

Backman does it yet again with another compelling masterpiece of a book. I can't think of a better author to take the mental spaghetti we all deal with, put it on a page successfully, and make me want to untangle it. Who does that!? Deciding to read this book was the easy part - automatic yes - but deciding to go to bed each night was the hard part, when reading this was my other option. Heartfelt, earnest, and broken...in compulsively readable ways.

While I enjoyed this book, I didn’t feel the urge to pick it up each time. This book took me nearly 2 months to read. I enjoyed the writing but was not as engaged by the story.

To be honest, I only finish this book because a friend of mine gave it five stars. I kept thinking I would find the gold in what she did. It did definitely feel like a teenager was writing about teenagers. Felt very basic in its writing and overdramatic in the emotional aspect. Thanks to NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for my honest review

In My Friends, Fredrik Backman returns with the emotional intelligence, wit, and empathy that have made his previous works so beloved. This novel is a tender, complex portrait of human connection, exploring the messiness of friendship, the weight of unspoken grief, and the quiet power of showing up for one another.

Backman’s storytelling is both intimate and universal. The characters in My Friends are beautifully flawed—achingly real people navigating love, regret, loyalty, and the pain of growing apart or closer in unexpected ways. With his usual mix of sharp humor and deep compassion, Backman captures the nuances of lifelong bonds and the quiet ways people save each other without ever realizing it.

The prose is reflective and heartfelt, often turning ordinary moments into profound reflections on life. Readers are left with a bittersweet sense of hope—that even in the midst of hardship, connection endures.

My Friends is another triumph from Backman: a poignant reminder that relationships, though imperfect, are what make us human. Thoughtful, moving, and full of heart, it’s a book that lingers long after the final page.

I loved everything about "My Friends." I've truly enjoyed every book I've read by Fredrik Backman, so I had high expectations going into his newest novel. But, I didn't predict how much my mind would cling to this story, even months after finishing it.

From the fragile characters to the dual timeline, this book is perfection and the best book I've read so far in 2025. The themes of childhood friendship, trauma that lingers, loss and grief, and creativity were woven together expertly.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough!

Once again, Fredrik Backman absolutely wrecked me—in the best way. 💔💫

His latest novel is a powerful meditation on friendship, art, and the strange beauty of the people who find us when we need them most. It begins with a painting—a quiet detail in the corner of a famous piece—but what unfolds is a sweeping, bittersweet story spanning decades.

We meet Louisa, a young artist set on uncovering the mystery behind three figures at the edge of a pier. Her journey takes her across the country and deep into a past shaped by trauma, loyalty, and summer days that seemed like they’d never end. 🖼️🌊

Ted and Louisa might be one of the most chaotic duos Backman has ever created—and I adored them. They understand what it means to feel broken, and how belonging to the right ragtag group can help you feel whole again. 💥❤️

This isn’t a story of happy endings. It’s a story of meaningful ones. There’s grief, laughter, nostalgia, and hope—and that rare, luminous feeling you get when a book reminds you just how beautiful it is to be human.

🚨 Bring tissues. I knew better than to read this in public… and yet here I am, teary-eyed in a Shibuya café. (Thanks for nothing, Beartown trauma.) 😅

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC of this in exchange for an honesty review.

This is my introduction to Bachman’s work; I’ve always wanted to read his books and so I was ecstatic when I saw my approved request for My Friends.
I have a distinct memory of staying up till 2AM to finish this book since my arc was expiring in less than 3 hours.

There’s not much action in this novel, you’re mostly along for the ride. We get to experience and witness first hand the main friendship in this, which was delightful. So if you like a book with plenty of things going on, this is not it. It’s a character exploration spanning 1 summer and 25 years all at once.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Backman is definitely one of my favorite authors, and this book is no exception. Beautiful and emotional. Sad and happy. I felt the full range of emotions. I loved all of the character and the storyline.

I just love Backman’s unique writing style and look forward to reading more!

My Selling Pitch:
Beartown but it’s painters instead of hockey players. A modern update on The Outsiders.

Pre-reading:
I love Fredrik Backman but all his books make me cry, and I have not been in the mood to weep, so I've been putting this off and putting it off, but fuck it, we ball. I think this cover is criminally ugly.

(obviously potential spoilers from here on)
Thick of it:
An Easter book, interesting.

If Louisa gets adopted by this rich couple- (We’re safe.)

Don't tell me it’s not gonna have a happy ending! Goddamnit Backman, every time!

That run like a girl trend.

He needs to stop talking about farts.

I'm assuming the artist name is the first initial of them all and the artist is dead and his closeted boyfriend is carrying on trying to keep him alive through his art? (75%ish)

You constantly see people trying to get plastic away from cats. Don’t slander the dogs.

I'm assuming the homeless man is the artist. (Yup.)

You're very mean, Mr. Backman. Stop making me feel things for characters just to hurt them, god!

I have a bad feeling Backman is talking about himself as an artist and it makes me really sad.

Why does the book have to be so SAD!

I’M SO AT WORK AND THIS DUMB BOOK IS GONNA HAVE ME CRYING IN THE CLUB AT THE FRONT DESK!

Okay, so like Ted adopts her. (Basically.)

He always writes a curmudgeon and a hurt young thing dynamic, and it works every time. It always reminds me of Up and it hurts.

It’s like every paragraph ending is designed to hurt you.

SO SAD ALL THE TIME, GOD.

And like you know it’s coming too because it’s Backman style. Any time he makes an innocuous little comment about how someone’s behavior is weird, he’ll follow it up with some trauma porn backstory about where that behavior originated, and it ruins me every time. It’s so sad, but it never feels like a cheap trick. It feels like authentically capturing humanity and the human experience instead of being blissfully ignorant. People don’t operate in a vacuum. Everyone’s got a motive. Backman’s just like everyone should have empathy all the time, and like I totally agree, but fuck, this book is hard to read!

Also like lol hi, autism.

This is just a variation on Beartown, but like lol it hurts.

I hate bathroom humor.

They painted it together and submitted it under their initials?

I can’t tell if that’s a you’re a genius even though you don’t think so or you can count as a boy if that’s how you identify. I think it’s the latter but I’m unsure.

So Joar’s in love with Ali. The artist is in love with Joar. And Ted’s in love with the artist. What a square lol.

His books always make me smile.

You know, I type that, and then the book just exists to hurt me again! Fredrik Backman makes me believe that good men exist. It’s really, really hard to believe that 99% of the time, but he manages it.

But I like critics. I love that quote from Liquid that a critic isn’t a leech but a different kind of storyteller trying to find the truth.

I don’t like babies.

Cackles in Capricorn with an immortality fetish and a pathological fear of pregnancy.

Janitor’s gonna die of an overdose and that’s the second funeral.

Backman invents people just to kill them, and I never learn not to get attached to them in all of a paragraph lol!

The Owl SUCKS.

I think I only want to read books that voluntarily deal with periods.

SO SAD ALL THE TIME!

TED AND THIS MOTHERFUCKING CONDUCTOR BETTER HAPPILY EVER AFTER, I SWEAR TO GOD.

I am a glass of wine deep, but I am reading this book with tears steadily trickling.

He just keeps tossing a little throw-away line, and I’m like wow, I’m literally so sad.

He has to be one of the most feminist writers.

Does this take place in Beartown too??? (I don’t think so.)

I love Donna Tartt.

JUST CONSTANT CRYING. Ted’s brother makes my heart hurt.

This is modern The Outsiders.

The gang is very Stranger Things and It coded. Like they just work.

I really don’t want Ali to be dead.

All women know that.

Daniel Sloss says bad men are like boiling frogs too. (I love him so much.)

I’m assuming he didn’t win the competition.

I don’t love the religious campaign to this book.

Goddamnit, I really didn’t want her to be dead.

Post-reading:
Phenomenal but what else was it going to be?

Fredrik Backman has such a distinctive, deeply humanistic approach to writing, and I feel very lucky to be alive to read his creations.

This does just feel like a quirkier rewrite of Beartown. But I don’t know how you can be mad at that when I feel like after you read Beartown, any contemporary you pick up, you just want it to be that all over again.

If you don’t cry reading this book, your empathy is broken.

The book is funny and bouncy and tragic. Backman is so so so good at balancing humor and horror. It’s immaculately paced.

I could’ve done with fewer fart jokes, but that’s my own personal hangup with bathroom humor. Even then, all his dialogue feels lifted from real life. He writes such complex characters and yet manages to convey that with punchy, relatively sparse prose. You’ll meet someone at the beginning of a paragraph and be in love with them by the end of it. It’s so special, and I don’t know how he does it, but he does it every single time.

My only complaint with the book would be that there was a lot of god talk. It definitely doesn’t force religion down your throat, and it’s got plenty of characters who agree religion is a crock of shit, but there’s definitely a pro god slant to this. I don’t think it’ll ruin any part of the book for you, but you might roll your eyes.

Pick this up when you’re ready to cry and fall in love with humanity. I genuinely believe everyone should have to read this man’s writing. I think the world would be a kinder place.

Who should read this:
Everyone
Stranger Things fans
Up fans

Ideal reading time:
Summer

Do I want to reread this:
Yup.

Would I buy this:
I will buy every Fredrik Backman book.

Similar books:
* The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton-character study, coming of age
* The Names by Florence Knapp-lit fic, character study, family drama
* Betty by Tiffany McDaniel-lit fic, historical, character study, family drama
* We Could Be Rats by Emily Austin-lit fic, unreliable narrator, character study, queer, mental health
* Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K. Reilly-lit fic, character study, family drama, queer romance
* Shark Heart by Emily Habeck-lit fic, magical realism, dystopian, degenerative disease horror, character study, family drama

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was really unique and like nothing I have ever read. I really liked this and the dynamic between Louisa and Ted! I also loved that even though the author is a man, he created characters that are aware of the faults men have in regard to the treatment of women. Overall this was such a good read and was a real tearjerker at times!

My favorite read of the year. I mean, does Fredrik ever miss?! I'll admit, I was skeptical about this one for quite a bit of the reading. Then something turned, and suddenly I was so invested in these young characters. AND THE ENDING.... ahhhhh. My heart hurt in a good way. Cannot recommend enough

My Friends is an emotional and introspective story that explores grief, memory, and the bonds that carry us through life’s most difficult moments. This was my first time reading Fredrik Backman, and while the story ultimately resonated with me, the slow pacing at the beginning made it difficult to get fully engaged early on. I can imagine some readers might struggle to push through the opening chapters; however, those who do will be rewarded with a beautifully layered narrative.

I especially appreciated the train setting, which serves as both a physical space and a powerful metaphor for transition, movement, and reflection. Ted was the standout character for me—nuanced, vulnerable, and deeply human. I didn’t connect as strongly with Louisa, but that felt more like a matter of personal preference than a shortcoming of the novel.

Despite a rocky start, My Friends left me wanting to explore more of Backman’s work. His sensitivity to the emotional complexity of his characters is something I’ll definitely return for. Overall, this is a 4/5 for me. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a complete stranger’s life twenty-five years later.

Another amazing story by Fredrik Backman. This might be my favourite one yet!
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

“I love you and I trust you”

My Friends was my first Fredrik Backman book and it did not disappoint! This book tells the story of four teenage friends whose friendship and memories made creates a bond so powerful that it changes a strangers life 25 years later. This story is told from the perspective of Louisa, a teenage girl mourning the loss of her best friend and Ted, a former teacher whose life becomes intertwined with Louisa’s.

This story is beautiful. I highlighted so many quotes, it would be impossible to pick a favorite. Backman has a unique writing style and way of telling stories that made me feel every emotion throughout this book. I miss all of the characters already and can’t wait to re-read. This is the perfect summer book and I think everybody should read it!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this arc*

Backman is one of my favorite authors so I was hoping for a 5-star read but it did fall a little flat for me. The length of the book coupled with so. many. metaphors just started to wear on me. I'm glad I stuck it out though because the story is beautiful and I did find myself smiling throughout.

I don't think I'd recommend this as the first read for anyone new to Backman, but those who have already decided they "get" his writing should enjoy it!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.