Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster | Atria Books for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest novel by the one and only, Fredrik Backman. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 stars!

Twenty-five years ago, a group of teenagers find refuge from their tough home lives and spend long summer days on an abandoned pier. They find their humans. Out of that summer, a painting emerges in the present time that will find its way to Louisa, also a teenager escaping from her life. A journey to discover the story behind the painting ensues.

Fredrik Backman has done it again - I'm not sure if I could pick a favorite, but this could be it. There are a lot of tough subjects to deal with here, but I found myself laughing out loud on the same page that caused my eyes to tear up. Told in dual timelines seamlessly, as one of the friends tells Louisa the story of the painting and the friendship group. I felt like I was sitting next to them on the train, engrossed in a story. It's a love story to both art and friends, and their power to heal and transform us. It's perfection and a must read once again from Backman.

Fun fact, I've tried to write this review like 3 times and I keep accidentally exiting out of it, and I feel like im losing so many wonderful lines from my reviews and im hating it, but man I loved this book. As the title suggests its filled with the epics tales of a friend group 25 years ago, as Louisa and Ted travel to sell a painting and go through a lot while on their travels due to a lack of trust and honesty.

Friendship has a lasting effect and it never stops affecting us from childhood to adulthood and we carry them with us for our lives. We see that with Ted and his friendgroup as the story bounces between the day of the famous painting Louisa almost gets arrested trying to see from Ted's friendship and the adventure as Ted and Louisa try to sell the painting.

It bounces back and forth as Louisa interrupts Ted's storytelling and pushes and distracts the story, while also going through everything Louisa and Ted do, which includes running away from the cops, a speeding taxi and so much more!

This is a perfect story to read if you just love a story about friendship and love!

I'll post my review on Instagram within a week of release day and my review is live on Amazon, Bookbub, Goodreads, Storygraph, Fable as of release day.

A huge thank you to #NetGalley and #Atria Books for the ARC I absolutely flew through in exchange for a non-bias opinion.
I believe Backman said it best when he wrote: "...An endless sea, a great friendship, a true love story." This book is everything all of Backman's books are: heartbreaking, heart-healing, and an absolute ride of human emotion. The story follows an infamous painting, the painter, and his group of incredibly sensitive misfit friends. Bits and pieces of their childhood story are woven into a tapestry of one of the best love stories between friends that I have ever read. I won't give too much of the plot and book events away because I feel like the reader needs to go in blind to truly appreciate it.
The characterization of each person within the book dug straight to their very essence. It was very clear whom these people were and what was deep inside of their hearts throughout tragedy and childhood. I felt like I knew these characters intimately, felt like they could reach out and hug me in a way only Backman knows how to do.
The book kept me engaged, and I could never predict what would happen. He gives bits and pieces then weaves them together in a way that captures every nuance of emotion that could be wrung from it. It felt like a ride and had me on a rollercoaster of emotions.
Mainly, this is a love song for people grieving. Throughout the novel little reminders are given to the reader that the ones we lose never really leave us. Love is in the little things they left within you, so they never truly go away.
There is beauty in never being finished, and always being a work in progress: art, people, feelings, grieving. It practically screams "THERE IS ALWAYS TIME!"
There was so much pain and hurt in this story, but what really moved me was the beauty of it. There would be pain, but there was also a ton of redemption in finding ways through it and creating beauty out of the unknown.
If you are a parent, it hits straight through your heart the type of pain you can experience watching your child struggle while you try to pick up the pieces of your own heart.
The childhood nostalgia within this piece of work was gut wrenching. You could practically feel the emotion of the character as they recount their memories from the summer they were 14 and 15 years old. Their friendship felt like something familiar to me, as an individual. Anyone could relate to them.
I would recommend this book to anyone I know. If you know Backman's writing, you know you need to read this because it gives you everything all of his other books do. I am such a fan of his writing, but I did my best not to go in with expectations, and I was blown away. It is 100% worth every minute of your time.
@netgalley @atriabooks @atriabooksaus

“My Friends,” by Fredrik Backman, translated by Neil Smith, Atria Books, 448 pages, May 6, 2025.

Louisa breaks into an art auction, planning to vandalize a valuable painting. It is the day before her eighteenth birthday, when she will age out of foster care. She has carried a postcard of this painting with her for years.

The painting is “The One of the Sea” by an artist known as C. Jat. It was his first painting; done when he was 14. Louisa is thrown out of the building. She runs off and collides with a homeless man who sends the security guard chasing her off in the wrong direction.

Louisa thinks the painting isn’t really about the sea; it is a painting of a fishing pier. And there are three tiny figures at the end of the pier. She is determined to find out the story of the three figures.

Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, four 14-year-old friends are sitting on a pier. It is their last summer together. They all have difficult home lives. Joar, one of them, sees a newspaper ad for an art competition and tries to convince KimKim, his friend, to enter. But they can’t afford art supplies.

KimKim suffers from anxiety and depression. He has cuts on his wrists and pills in his backpack. Joar and KimKim became friends at preschool when they were five. They met Ted when they were 12. Ali was the last to join the group.

This is a deeply moving novel about art, friendship, found family, love and grief. As much as I enjoyed Fredrik Backman’s novel “Beartown,” I have to say “My Friends” is even better. His characters will stay with you long after you finish reading it. This book is equally funny and heartbreaking. The ending is outstanding.

I rate it five out of five stars.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I love Backman's books so much and this one was no exception! Ted & Louisa are such interesting characters. I loved how opposite they were and I grew to love each of their personalities. There is so much love wrapped up in this book. Keep the tissues handy because you will definitely need them.

"I love you. I trust you..."

5 stars. 10/10. No notes. This book is absolute perfection. I can’t say this enough. This book is everything. I laughed. I cried. I cried again. This book is absolutely beautiful: the characters, the writing, the feelings.

You will absolutely get swept up into the story. I wanted to open the book, jump in, and live there. The feeling of nostalgia swept over me every single time. This is definitely a book I did not rush to finish because I never wanted to leave.

A very special thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have collected a few Fredrick Backman books, mainly because I’ve of course heard of “A Man Called Ove”, and his other books have been well-received, to put it mildly. However, I had never read one before this current book. And it is breathtaking. And beautiful. And soul-crushing. And all the things.

I loved reading this. I’m sad it’s over. I cried about twelve times, maybe more.

It’s about art. And love. And childhood. And friendship. And death. And life. And all the things in between.

Just read it. I’m changed for the better by having read the beautiful perspectives of a few uniquely wonderful human beings.

My kindle version of this book is so full of highlighted words that it is tinged yellow permanently. And my soul is happy and bereft at the same time. It’s a beautiful state of being.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC. All opinions are mine.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for my honest review. Thank you, Fredrik Backman, for giving me My Friends. I have spent the past few days living with Louisa, Ted, the artist, and all the other wonderful and horrible people in this book as a story of friendship, love, and true art unfolded. Backman has so beautifully painted the masterpiece of friendship, blending all the colors of emotions: the reds, blacks, grays, and yellows that come through as we learn how true friends are made. If you have ever lost someone you have loved, you will also find so many little hugs all the way through. I am really going to miss My Friends (these fictional ones who feel like real people, the ones I have made over the last few days) now that I have finished the book. This is one of those books that will stay with me for a long time, and I sincerely hope you treat yourself. I can honestly say, I hope I’m one of them.

Like any Fredrik Backman book, this book felt like watching the butterfly effect play out on page. From the moment we meet our protagonists, to the very end, I felt like I was immersed in a story full of coincidence. Though, I don’t know that the characters would agree.
When we first meet Louisa, I knew her journey throughout the book would take me through a rollercoaster of emotions. Hearing the story of the artist and his three best friends and how they spent their summer days together, I was filled with so much nostalgia for my own youth. But I was also filled with a new knowledge that life is long and days are short. As we journey with Louisa to find out the story behind a piece of art, my heart broke with hers. It broke for the kids in the painting and it broke for the boy who drew it. It also healed with them all. It healed as we learn more about their lives. More about the story of how the painting came to be.
I think all Fredrik Backman books are a love story of sorts, and this is no different. This is a story about friendship. About loving your people so deeply, that you know and understand their pain. That you can predict their next move and do anything you can to make sure they do something different. That they experience greatness in the ways that they should. It’s a story about kids who loved their people so much, they did everything they could to protect one another. It’s also a love story to time. Because life is long and the days are slow, but the years fly by.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for allowing me to read this ARC and review!

Everyone who knows me even a little bit knows that Fredrik Backman is my all-time favorite author. When I was approved to read the ARC of MY FRIENDS, I legitimately squealed.

When I tell you, this book reminded me why it's such a blessing to be alive. To know people and to love them. What a beautiful gift (and sometimes curse, though mostly gift) it is to be an artist. I cried at least twenty times reading this book just from the sheer honesty and beauty of Backman's words. It follows Louisa, a young orphan who has aged out of the system and has a chance encounter with the artist who is responsible for her favorite painting. She ends up on a long journey with the artist's closest friend and learns about their lives.
[TW: violence and death]

It is such a love letter to the people who shape our lives when we're young and how we hold onto them in adulthood, and also what it means to be an artist. God, I would give this book ten stars if I could. Pick up this book as soon as you're able, it will not disappoint!

Thank you to Simon Schuster Canada and Atria books for the ARCs. Here are my thoughts.

Louisa just turned 18, which means she can leave her foster home and take on the world. She decides to go to an art show where she protests the wealthy and their misunderstanding of art. Little does she know she’s about to meet the artist himself, and she will learn about the greatest friendship that inspired the painting as she is transported into the artist’s best childhood summer.

I had high expectations going into this novel. I love Fredrik Backman’s writing and his ability to hit every single emotion through the pages. My Friends did not disappoint, and I’m currently fighting with my brain over whether this is my new favourite Backman book or if Beartown still holds that title.

I absolutely loved the nostalgic feel of this novel. It brought me back to those summers when you’re a preteen or teen, before you start working. Everyday blurs together with the people you care for the most. Each character in this novel has some good and some bad that summer, and I loved seeing how one summer could impact their lives 25 years later. There was also a little piece of mystery throughout the novel too that had me really intrigued. And I also experienced one of the most shocking twists, especially for a book that isn’t actually a thriller!

The writing itself is magical. I was keeping track of my favourite quote and had to give up because every sentence is perfect. I am so happy that I read this, even if it meant I cried on a train in public. But that’s life, ya know!

I can’t recommend this enough. Grab a cozy spot, and some tissues and read this book please!

My Friends by Fredrik Backman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My heart. Words cannot accurately describe what this book made me feel. I laughed and cried, felt anger, sadness, nostalgia, hope, fear, joy, love. I’m a reader because of books like this.

Backman is a master of weaving stories that hit right at the core of being human. My Friends was about friendship, love, trust, found family, grief, and living. I’m so glad Backman has shared his unique art with us.

This was a heavy book with humor sprinkled in. It was told in typical Backman fashion - repetitive, nonlinear, a bit off-kilter. It was a tad unbelievable, but I thought there was a certain charm to that.

All in all, fans of Backman’s distinct style, coming-of-age stories, and books that revere art will find much to love in this one.

And just like that, Fredrik Backman has torn my heart in two and stitched it back up, again. I cannot emphasize enough how much I love him as an author. This book gives you all the feels in the best of ways. The range of emotions I felt from this book can only accurately be described by reading Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown, because that's the type of explanation you'll need once you're finished. His writing brings out feelings that you didn't even know you could feel. I laughed, I cried, I mourned, I celebrated, I reminisced on my own childhood friends, and I ruminated on how those friendships impacted my life. I won't say My Friends is my favorite Backman book, but it definitely holds up against his others and is worth a read. If you enjoyed A Man Called Ove, Beartown, or Anxious People, I highly encourage you to read this one. As is par for the course, once you finish, you won't be the same. Thank you thank you THANK YOU to my dear Mr. Backman for another lovely and heartfelt book.

I received this ARC courtesy of NetGalley, in return for my honest opinion and review.

Fredrick Backman is a master storyteller. In this novel, he weaves a current-day story with the tale of a group of teenagers in the past. These narratives are tied together through a painting.

Without being didactic, Backman touches on issues of friendship, family, death, grief, bereavement, and the value (both human and financial) of art. He often leads you down a path where you think you know exactly what is going to happen, only to find your guess to be wrong. He can move you from laughing to crying in a matter of minutes.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fredrik Backman always pulls at my damn heartstrings.

This started a little slower for me, but as I got into it, I got so invested in these characters. Backman does character development so well - I truly came to love all these characters and I’m so sad that the book is over.

I will forever recommend Backman to everyone.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this E-ARC.

I cried for the entirety of this book. It touches on some subjects that are very close to my heart at the moment but I still cried for the whole book.
It is so amazingly good. I loved it. I don’t tab books, it’s never been interesting to me but I saved so many quotes from this book!

It’s told from the future by a man named Ted. It’s about him and his friends when they were younger. I don’t know what genre it falls under but I would say it’s a love story. It’s a love story of friends. And it is amazing.

I don’t want to give anything away in this review. Just do yourself a favor and read it!

I really loved this story. It made me laugh out loud at parts, and it definitely got me teary-eyed in places, too. Fredrik Backman has such a great way of writing about life—the funny, the painful, and everything in between. The friendship between the young teens felt real and messy in a way that hit home, and I liked how the story wove their past into the present with Louisa’s own journey.

Some of the emotions and thoughts felt a little over-heightened at times— like everything had to have a monumental moment tied to it—but honestly, that’s just kind of Backman’s thing and part of his charm. And it works. It doesn't always feel super realistic, but it does feel hopeful, and there’s something nice about that. The harder parts, especially around childhood and growing up, felt very true.

Overall, it’s a story about how friendships can shape us, how art can last longer than we expect, and how the past always finds a way to show up again. If you’re already a Backman fan, this one won’t disappoint.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for an eARC of this book!

Fredrik Backman is one of my favorite authors. I was so excited to be approved to read an early copy of one of his books. But then I also had a little bit of panic because I don't quite know how to describe how much his writing impacts me. Did I read a description of the book before requesting or reading? Nope, didn't feel a need to. Now for the true stress of trying to come up with words about his nearly perfect words. This is a story of family, birth and found. Both will let you down in different ways but they can also bring you incalculable joy. The story follows the lives of four friends as children and as adults. The adults are back together by a girl that is desperately alone and in need of a family. I don't really want to go much into the actual story because I think it is best to just experience it. I lost count of the number of times I cried reading this book, from joy and pain. I think this is my favorite of his books and that is saying a lot.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

No better book on friendship has ever been written!
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!
#netgalley
Fredrik Backman has done it once again with his unique writing style - my most favorite author never fails. A phenomenal book about teenage friends and their friendship.
This book makes you cry and makes you laugh in equal parts. I just don’t know where to start and how to end about this book without giving much of the story away.
Fredrik Backman writes and I read and highly recommend this book.
Thank you once again to Netgalley for the ARC

This book!!!! All the stars. Every single star that has EVER been created…that’s how I would rate this book.

There are very few authors who fully capture the human experience on paper; and even fewer that seem to capture it so eloquently every single time they give birth to a novel, but Fredrik Backman does it EVERY SINGLE TIME he writes. His writing is magnificent, and his stories are always richly developed and multifaceted, and should be savored, contemplated, discussed, and cherished with your humans…your tribe…again and again.

Backman fans will not be disappointed. In fact, I’m so often shocked when I find someone who isn’t a Backman fan, because he truly is a gift to all readers. In the publishing industry he is The GOAT.

This is a story of lifetime friends, and new friends that you must have known in a previous lifetime. The ones you meet for the first time, and want so badly to be a lifelong friend. This book will create a visceral response in the reader and find you melting with goosebumps, sighing out loud, crying and laughing all within the same page and chapter. It’s absolutely brilliant!!!

This is his 11th book (12th, if you count his novella released at the beginning of 2025), and I have read and re-read them all. I was so honored and giddy when I was awarded the ARC. I can’t wait to read it when it comes out today. This is also the second time I am boarding a plane to meet him and shake his hand at his US book tour to receive this precious gift he has bestowed on the world. It will move you.

Thank you to author Fredrik Backman, publisher Atria Books, and Netgalley for entrusting and blessing me with a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review. It was been my honor. It is due out May 6th (today)!!!!