Fredrik Backman sure has a way with words. I don’t think I’ve ever highlighted so many poignant lines in one book, or felt such an array of emotions in a single paragraph. The sad moments are sweetened by deep and beautiful connections between characters. But they don’t feel like characters because they are speaking right to my own heart. I recommend reading this one slowly, if you can help yourself, and savoring it chapter by chapter.

And I’ll be first in line for whatever Backman puts out next. 6 stars.

You could give me a book to read and not tell me who the author was and if it’s a Frederik Backman book I would be able to identify him as the author after reading only one page. He is the author of one of my all-time favorite books (Beartown) so I had high expectations for this one. While I enjoyed this book, the characters didn’t burrow into my heart the way most of his other characters have. I found this book a bit slower than his other ones and his writing style (familiar and unique in its phrasing and pacing) started to annoy me a bit. He drops a lot of breadcrumbs and foreshadows a lot of the plot.

This story focuses on a group of misfit teens who are bonded by trauma - each of their childhoods have been touched by an element of violence, sadness or some other psychological or emotional damage. I found a lot of the story to be sad - and the moments of humour didn’t quite make up for it.

Despite all of this, I would still recommend this book to fans of Backman or to readers who have never read one of his books - as always, they are filled with insight about life, love, friendship and found family.

For years, Louisa has been captivated by a painting of the sea with three young people sitting at the end of a pier in the distance. By chance, she has a quick encounter with the painter and showcases her painting skills. Upon his death, she finds herself the owner of said painting. But Louisa doesn't feel like she is worthy of this gift and wants to learn the story of the friends in the painting. One of the friends, Ted, finds Louisa tagging along with him and finally breaks down to tell her the story of the artist, Joar, Ali and himself. And the summer that the famous painting was created in a world that wasn't always as beautiful as the artwork, but the friendships that grew.

Fredrik Backman has done it again. He has created another knock-out book that left me with so many feelings. Backman has such a unique way of telling even the saddest of stories. Each of the characters in My Friends are so different and complex as humans can get. This book is a bit lengthy and took me a while to get through, but it was absolutely worth the time. Backman is fast becoming a go-to author for me, the more books of his that I read.

Thank you to Atria Books, NetGalley, and Fredrik Backman for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am so incredibly grateful to #NetGalley and #Atria for providing an ARC to attendees at #bookhuddle 's Victoria Retreat.

No author alive matches Backman's ability to deliver so much humor and poignancy in so few words. He is an utterly marvelous writer and I absolutely loved this book, even when I was crying so hard I could barely see.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. It's easily one of the best books of the year.

Earlier this year, I read A Man Called Ove and found myself struggling to get through it. Despite the overwhelming praise from many friends, it didn’t resonate with me the way I had hoped. I initially rated it higher than I truly felt, largely because the emotional conclusion left an impression.

When I saw My Friends available on NetGalley, I decided to give Backman another chance. Unfortunately, I found myself returning to the same feelings I had with Ove. In fact, I felt this novel rambled even more. While there’s no denying that Backman is a talented storyteller, I’ve come to realize that I may simply not be his intended audience.

This book introduced several characters and plotlines that felt unnecessary—such as the additional artist and their mother, as well as the entire tangent involving the first train departure. These elements distracted from the core narrative rather than enriching it.

Moreover, I find Backman’s writing style a bit frustrating. His chapters often feel like they move ten steps forward, only to retreat five steps by the end. It creates a sense of emotional whiplash that may work for some readers, but not for me.

That said, if you’re already a fan of Backman’s work, My Friends will likely resonate. It’s an emotionally turbulent story with the kind of sentimentality that his fans have come to expect. It just wasn’t the right fit for me.

Fredrik Backman’s astounding new novel, My Friends, will make readers laugh and cry. It will keep them in suspense, make them fear for the well-being of the characters, and make them breathe an occasional sigh of relief. Perhaps most of all, it will make readers feel that they have a group of new friends that may stay with them for weeks, months, or even years to come.

The story opens with teenage Louisa about to be kicked out of an art auction for vandalizing a painting, cans of spray paint in her backpack along with a postcard of her favorite painting in the world, C. Jat’s The One of the Sea. Recalling memories of her best and only friend Fish, the foster home roommate she has recently lost, Louisa can’t yet know that she’s about to run into C. Jat, himself, waiting out of sight in the alley behind the museum while one of his childhood friends is on a special mission inside.

Before long, C, Jat is dead, and runaway Louisa and the artist’s childhood friend Ted, now middle aged, find themselves thrown together on a train, much against Ted’s better judgment. With them is a box containing the artist’s ashes and another containing The One of the Sea.
During the long train ride, Ted begins telling Louisa the story of a summer long ago when he, the artist, and Joer had little but each other. Louisa listens, sometimes shocks Ted with her remarks, and shares similar stories of Fish.

From Louisa’s brief meeting with the artist in the alley through the train trip, time in the hometown where Ted, the artist, and Joer had joked their way through a difficult summer, and on into future years, Backman employs clever and touching repetition of phrases, sentences, ideas, and relationships that further strengthen the book’s impact.

Fearing a sad ending, Louisa, at several points, is unsure if she wants to hear the rest of the story because for her the events of twenty-five years earlier seem to be happening as she listens. Because Backman’s writing is so vivid, his method of narration so moving, his troubled characters so complex and lovable, readers are likely to feel much the same way.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advance reader egalley. These friends will remain in my heart. I hope I am one of them.

4.5⭐️
Fredrik Backman’s writing is truly like no other. The way he is able to weave alternating storylines and characters journeys into many beautiful teachable moments will never cease to amaze me. I wanted to take my time with this one because I loved being with these characters and in their minds so much. The found family in this was so so incredible, heartwarming, and inspiring. This book is a love story to the friends we make and keep along the way. We follow four friends: The Artist, Ted, Joar, and Ali who grow up in this small town and truly are the only ones looking out for each other. The bond that the four of them have was so so special.

Fast forward 20 years, Ted meets Louisa. Louisa, oh how I adored her character! At the start of the book, we meet Louisa in her state of grief and I immediately connected and felt for her. I loved her banter, her endless questions to Ted, her adventurous spirit, and her loving heart. Ted, I loved him, and the connection that he builds with all the characters in the book. He loved hard and fiercely and I just wanted him to be happy🥹 Joar’s story was heartbreaking but beautiful in that classic Backman way. His selflessness and devotion to his mother and his friends was unmatched. Ali was a force that blew into the friend group and made them a family. The Artist had me emotional throughout this whole book. His life was so hard but he was still a shining light for his friends, Louisa, and the world.

My Friends is a story of grief, adventure, love, sacrifice, and DEEP loving friendship. All of these characters deserve the world and more. Fredrik Beckman once again excels in pulling a reader into his world and writing to tell his deeply moving narrative. I can’t wait to see what is next

Thank you endlessly to Atria Books for my e-ARC in exchange for my review🩵

only read this book if you like alternating between sobbing and laughing from the first 10% through the first 100%. absolutely loved it. fredrick’s distinct style of writing shines through and the story is pure perfection. perfect for people who need a perspective check on their own lives.

As a huge fan of Backman's writing and his previous books, I had high hopes for this book, and it absolutely exceeded my expectations. I read almost this entire book on a plan, and by the time I finished it, I was crying so hard that the flight attendant offered me more napkins so I could blow my nose and compose myself. It moved me that much.

The characters were by far the strength of this book - the two characters on the cross-country trip were so different yet so similar, and I really loved the emphasis on how they were in different walks of life but still in the same position - headed to the artists' hometown. There were bits of dialogue in this book that moved me and made me gasp because I found them so beautiful - I started taking photos of my Kindle as if I were at a concert.

Overall, I found this story so beautiful, from the beginning to the middle and all the way to the end.

First, a million thanks to NetGalley, Atria, and Fredrick Backman for this amazing book. It was truly an honor to read.

I don’t know if there are the right words to describe the beauty of this book. There was so much heart and emotion that must have gone into this story that you really have to read it to experience it. I fell in love with Louisa and her beautiful heart, that she thinks is stupid because it’s always nervous, but I think it’s beautiful. Her nervous heart and the way she loves was one of my favorite things about her.

But within Louisa’s story, we have the story of 4 friends, Ted, Ali, Joar, and the “artist”. The way Fredrick writes friendships is really unlike any other author I’ve read. There’s such a simple complexity (yes, I know that’s an oxymoron but I don’t know how else to describe it) to them. They are layered, and flawed, and real and raw and they feel like people we all would love to be around. I would love to spend my summer with these 4 friends just to get a peek at the bond they all shared.

This book was written was such beauty that we all love from one of Fredrick Backman’s books. It honestly is a top read for me for sure. I just loved it.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and I couldn't have been more pleased to get the opportunity to read the newest Fredrik Backman novel. I have had the pleasure of reading a handful of of his books over the years and they always draw me right in. This book was no exception, from the moment I dove into this story I wanted to know more about each character and their lives together.

This novel really proved that humans will always find their people and regardless of what they have gone through in life they will band together and strive to lift each other up was so powerfully written it truly just snuck up on you. I very much enjoyed the dual timelines and getting to know the characters through story telling from multiple perspectives. At the beginning of this story I assumed I would be crying the entire time as I found out how each character had died. Instead I was drawn into the ups and downs of life and the pleasant surprise of how each character lived and survived the worst things life could deal them.

The growth you see in Ted's character throughout the story as he learns to accept Louisa as his therapy to navigate the grief of losing the Artist, Ali, and his childhood self and finally steps into the person he wants to be when he grows up was beautifully laid out. No matter a persons age they can start the next phase of their life and find true happiness as was shown in each characters individual life stories.

I love you and I trust you is such a powerful theme throughout this story and really shows that you don't have to know everything about a person to feel a true connection with them. Found family is so powerful.

One of ours really sums up how each generation fit into this wonderful story of love, art and perseverance.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times…no one conveys human emotion through writing like Backman. His ability to make you feel such a complex range of emotions throughout a both heart breaking and heart warming, inspiring story gets me every single time. My Friends explores the complexities of childhood friendships that we’re unable to truly comprehend until much later in life. Showing how struggles impact us as much as the little happy moments, My Friends is another masterpiece. While I thought this was a little slower paced than some of his other books - I both wanted to rush to finish and hear the whole story AND read slowly to savor every page and moment of the journey. I’m going to be thinking about My Friends as much as I still think about Beartown.

"You're gonna suffer, but you'll be happy about it" feels like it should be the disclaimer on every Fredrik Backman book. Prepare to weep and then weep some more.
Backman is truly masterful when it comes to character studies. While no character has unseated Benji Ovich from his throne, Joar came close. I think they are kindred spirits and like with Benji I just wanted to hug him.I'm both devastated and relieved that they are not real people who have suffered so much. But, that is the beauty of what Backman does. Joar and Benji might not be real, but they represent very real people and situations. Situations that Backman does not hold back from discussing, but also treats with grace and dignity. There are so many themes here that I love; to name a few: the importance of art, the failures of the system in caring for vulnerable populations, the different ways we grieve, and the many types of love.
I don’t think this particular foray is the one I would recommend to a novice Backman reader, if only because it comes out swinging and doesn’t let up. But for the seasoned fan it will be another instant hit. I cannot wait to add a hard copy to my Fredrik Backman shelf!

*Please be forewarned of domestic violence in this novel* "A violent man is a sickness for all around him. Violence is a plague that spreads through everybody it comes in contact with..."

Fredrik Backman has written a beautiful coming of age novel about four close-knit friends in their teens, growing up in a seaside town. All are from families that are dysfunctional in various ways: a father who turns abusive when drunk, a father who is dying, an older brother who is a bully; a mother and father who wish for a 'normal' son; a father who uproots his family whenever his debt grows too heavy. One of the kids is an extremely talented artist and that last summer they are together, the kids push him to paint a picture to enter in a contest, convinced it is his ticket out of the life they are living.

Twenty-five years later, a young girl named Louisa runs away from her foster home with plans to sneak into an auction to see a painting of the sea that she has always loved. There she meets the artist who ends up giving her a great gift. She embarks on a wacky odyssey with his best friend and, during their trip, slowly learns the story of what happened that summer so many years ago.

The story is equal parts hilarious, sad and depressing but it always takes total command of ones heart. Backman really understands the human condition and all our glorious flaws. I really enjoyed these characters and their deep friendship. The author makes full use of misdirection so just when you think you know what's going to happen, the plot takes some surprising turns.

Many thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an arc of this new novel. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

One of the best books I’ve read in some time. Backman takes us on a journey filled with friendship, laughter, heart break, and so much more that words can’t adequately describe. Thank you out so much for this ARC.

“My Friends” is a book of four friends that formed a bond of friendship twenty five years ago that will change the life of one teenager today.

Backman’s ability to capture the human condition is in full force in his latest heart wrenching yet heart felt and profound story. His storytelling shines as he slowly reveals the life and character of the four friends. He seamlessly weaves themes of addiction, abuse, loneliness, love, and grief together into a story that will make you both laugh and cry and truly root for these young kids. While I really enjoyed this book, I did find the pacing a little slow at times that prevented the binge reading I felt with his other books.

Say hello to my favorite read of 2025 and the latest inductee into my all time favorites hall of fame! I feel like I could easily write an essay on this book and still not do it justice.

If you love beautiful writing and mesmerizing storytelling, quirky characters and stories that feel like an emotional sucker punch then you don’t want to miss out on this one. I was telling someone about this book last week and mentioned that Fredrik Backman’s writing is so distinctive that I’d recognized it in a line up even if it wasn’t from something he published!!! And if you’ve never read his work and you enjoy contemporary fiction then you’re truly in for a treat!

This is a story of broken homes and broken hearts, of friendships and coming of age, of art and death but most of all of love and found family! I cried, oh how I cried! But I also laughed. Genuine unexpected belly laughs. There is so much joy and laughter in this story. These characters came alive for me as I was reading and no longer feel fictional, that’s how vivid they are in my mind.

And finally I love the social commentary Fredrik Backman weaves into his stories, probably because those values align so closely with mine. Most of all I wholeheartedly believe that most of us need just one person to see us and believe in us!

Atria Books I can’t thank you enough for gifting me the eARC! I can’t wait to reread and annotate because there are so many quotes I have to save.

Backman is in a class of his own. I loved everything about this one! No one can write characters like Backman can, and I will remember these characters for a long time to come! The way the relationships and friendships developed was perfect, and I especially loved the relationship between Ted and Louisa. I liked how Backman portrayed different walks of life through his different settings, and the setting really accented the development of the plot. I loved so many things, but one of my favorites was the sheer number of quotes that I underlined throughout the book. This book releases tomorrow, and you really need to get your hands on it ASAP!

This book gave me all the feels. It was so beautifully written that I’ve gone back and bought a few of his back list. I must read more of his stories.

I always say that if I'm ever abducted by aliens--or find myself in a discussion with a member of the animal kingdom--and they ask me what it's like to be a human - I would tell them to read a book by Fredrik Backman. His novels provide a real insight into the human experience and the array of emotions that comes with it - and his newest novel, My Friends, is no different.

My Friends is a story about friendship: how it can save you, how it perseveres despite all odds, and how it leaves a lasting impact on those involved. I won't spend your time introducing you to the characters, as Backman does that beautifully.

What I will share is that like his other works, Backman's latest novel makes you laugh, makes you cry, and maybe makes you understand other people on a more human level.