Oh, Fredrik Backman, you write the things that change lives. I loved My Friends so much. I love getting the backstory and feeling the raw emotions, the real emotions, that Backman specializes in.........such a profound and beautiful book. I loved the artist but aren't many of us so much more like Ted? Friendship, sadness, tragedy, love.....it's all here. 5 stars, no doubt. Read this book!

I have a love hate relationship with Backmans books. I didn’t love A man called ove, loved the bear town series and surprisingly enjoyed this one. Backman has a way with words and writes such beautifully ridden stories that stick with you forever, and this one is no exception. I highly recommend reading this wine and I will be recommending it to all my friends..

In pure Backman fashion, this book is full of sweetness, misfits finding each other, tearjerker moments, and beautiful coincidences. 

As someone who treasures my friendships more than I could possibly say, I love how he captured the love and trust between friends who become your family and the endless summers of adolescence. 

The only thing I didn’t absolutely love about this book was the pacing. But it’s still a beautiful read and if you love Backman, this is just a slightly exaggerated version of everything you’ve come to expect from him. 

A huge thank you to Atria Books + NetGalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

✨ARC Review✨

“I sometimes think,” she whispers to the postcard, “that the artist who painted all that must have been in so much pain, but he must also have been the world’s happiest person. It’s like he must have felt every single feeling inside himself all at the same time, and it must have been almost unbearable, because otherwise no one would be able to paint like that. You know?”

I was so incredibly moved by this book, as it wrecked me in the most beautiful way possible. I was sobbing at the end, as it’s definitely an emotional book, but it was SO endearing. It’s only the end of January, and dare I say that I already found my favorite book for this year…
I am ashamed to admit I have not read any other books by this author, this was my first of his works. However, I fell in love with his writing, and I will certainly read his backlist.

My Friends takes the reader through the story of four teenagers (Joar, Ted, Ali, and “The Artist”) whose bonds of friendship change the life of a stranger (Louisa) twenty five years later, by way of a world famous painting. It ultimately takes you through a journey via train ride with an 18 and 39 year old connected together by the painting. The train ride and their experiences during bring an opportunity to teach each other about life. Each of them gaining valuable lessons through stories and experiences that neither of them realized they needed. They both end up having this profound impact on one another’s lives. This book is very heavy at times as it does discuss hard to digest topics that could ultimately be triggering for some.

What’s On The Pages:
-a broken teen in the foster system (Louisa)
-teens, a summer, and a fart with all consuming laughter that made a backstory for a painting (Joar, Ted, Ali, The Artist)
-grief
-friendship / teenage love
-life lessons
-laugh out loud moments / crying moments

⚠️CW/TW: depression, substance abuse, death of a parent, abuse (child, domestic violence), suicidal ideation, mention of rape

✨Rating✨
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5, but truly it’s more like ♾️

A special thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this eARC! My Friends is out May 20th!

This was a spectacular story of friendship and the lengths you will go to for those you love, Frederik Backman takes the mundane, the everyday occurrences and spins a tale that feels absolutely riveting. My expectations were high for his latest; I’m happy to say that this story surpassed anything I could have imagined.

What a lovely story about friendship. Two unlikely people embark on a journey as they explore what brought them together, which is art.

The painting is at the center of the story.

We follow eighteen year old Louisa, being gifted a special piece of art along with Ted who was given the task to help Louisa. As they travel together, we are transported to twenty five years in the past as we explore Ted’s friendship with his three childhood friends.

There were four lost souls that bonded over hanging out at the pier. There was a painting contest, and the resulting work of art that became famous. But what does fame give you, if you have lost your friends…

Backman writes magic. You are transported into the lives of characters and feel like you are part of it. Recommended for fans of Backman and all those looking for a heartwarming, wholesome story.

Thanks to Atria Books for providing me with an e-ARC of this via Netgalley.

How does one even review a book that's.... everything? That holds every feeling imaginable. That makes you feel as though you're also a part of the story.
This is a book about friendship, about pain, about growing up but still feeling so damn small. It is, by far, the best Frederik Backman novel I've read, and I've read them all. He has a way of making you feel involved in the story, as though you're an essential part of it. That's all. There's nothing else to say except that I cannot wait to own this book and recommend it to my friends.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read the free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t want to have to do this, but I do have to give this book a bad rating and review (thanks Atria Books via Netgalley, I was very excited to receive this ARC). My Friends follows two timelines: a group of friends in the past, including characters Joar, Ali, Ted, and “the artist,” as they navigate a tumultuous summer involving an art contest and the sea; and the present day Ted and Louisa, who uncover the truth of how the artist went from being nervous to enter said art contest, to being a household name in the art world. I didn’t read the premise of the novel before starting to read; after liking most of Backman’s books, I was convinced this would be an equally life-affirming and lighthearted read as Anxious People and Beartown, filled with exceptional writing and grandiose proclamations that I have typically found both believable and relatable believable. And there were many of such proclamations in My Friends, which were actually the rare parts of the novel which worked for me. My favourite line from the book is: “Art teaches us to mourn for strangers.” There was a lot of commentary on art and artists that I found compelling, including this section: “there is a speed at which a heart can beat that you can’t remember when you’ve stopped being young, art that is a joy so overwhelming you almost can’t bear it. How sad it must be, the artist thinks, what an immense loss for anyone who never gets to experience this.” There is also a section which calls upon a Mary Oliver poem ( “The Summer Day:” “Tell me, what is it you plan to do / with your one wild and precious life?”). Backman manages to turn this commentary and use of art and artistry to discuss youth and aging—however, this came without much subtlety, as Ted, a forty-year-old man, is continuously treated as though he’s just turned ninety (“Ted stops and breathes through his nose, so hard and so irritably that Louisa is really impressed that no snot comes out, he must have incredible sinuses for such an old man”). I didn’t care for either Ted or Louisa as characters, nor for their dynamic; they were sarcastic in their dialogue, in what I believe to be an attempt at humour that fell horribly flat for me. Further, not much really happens in this book—it takes place over the course of a few days, and neither character seems particularly well-developed by the end of the novel; Backman barely scratched the surface with Louisa, while Ted’s singular purpose was to recount the story of his one youthful summer to Louisa, a diehard fan of the artist’s most famous painting (of the sea). My biggest issue with this novel is the sheer amount of nonsense littered throughout it. I can’t really explain what was going on other than poor writing, and I can’t really do it justice without providing examples:
• “It really is a remarkably bad idea, all this. Worse than socks in a toaster.”
• “an anxious and overwhelmed man with skin as soft as room-temperature cheese glances back.”
• “this was a school, and if there’s one thing everyone knows about schools, it’s that a pair of crutches left unattended in a room will, sooner or later, end up on a roof.” What?

Unfortunately the bright parts of My Friends were few and far between, and not significant enough to overcome the uninteresting story and characters, and much of the novel strays from the high-quality writing that I’ve grown used to with Backman. I also seem to be in the minority of the advanced reviews for this one, so I’ll be interested to see what the reception is when it releases in May. A less critical and more devout Backman fan might find it acceptable, but I honestly can’t recommend it, it was a slog to get through its nearly 500 pages.

I love Fredrick Backman and I think this is his best work yet. The writing is extraordinary. Devastatingly beautiful!

MY FRIENDS is a remarkably profound story on friendship, grief, connection, and art. The author has a way of making me laughing one moment and then immediately after feel my breath taken away from the writing filled with such beauty and depth to them. So many heartfelt and rich quotes throughout the story about life and what it means to be human that make you pause to fully absorb the brilliance you just read.

Freshly eighteen, out of foster homes and into sleeping in peoples' cars and grieving the loss of a friend, Louisa randomly (though perhaps serendipitously) finds herself in possession of a painting of a group of friends given to her from a well-known artist she encounters after being on the run. She finds herself being watched over by one of the friends in the painting, the not normal yet ordinary Ted, as they take a train ride together, learning not only the history of friends in the painting and how the painting came to be but also about each other. What started off as a rocky and reluctant connection turns into a beautiful friendship as they bond over both have recently losing a friend and the rapport between them.

This is a book about being seen through art and friendship, making the most of what you've been given, letting go of what you no longer have but holding on to what you do have, and how friendship and connection gives us a reason to keep going, to keep living. I deeply cared for all the characters in this story and feel privileged and honored to have had the experience of reading this book.

Much gratitude to Atria Books and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

My Friends" is a heartwarming and hilarious exploration of friendship, loss, and the enduring power of human connection. Backman's signature blend of humor, poignancy, and insightful observations about the human condition makes this novel an unforgettable reading experience.
I have read several of Fredrick Backman and I can honestly say this one is my favorite! Thank you so much Netgalley and the publishers for this incredible book. #Netgalley #Myfriends

Pub date: 5-2025

This book has left me a little stunned. What a beautiful journey it has taken me on that I wasn’t expecting! I attempted to read Fredrik Backman’s Anxious People years ago, and I couldn’t get in to it, so I didn’t have very high expectations going in to this book. Boy, I couldn’t be more wrong! Backman is a wise sage leading you through life’s trials with intentional and thought provoking conversations within the safety of deep friendship and grace. Not only was there so many beautiful truths sprinkled throughout the entire book, but the characters become people whom you deeply care about. Backman has a unique way of taking a simple fact of life and pulling the irony out of it. Such as the first paragraph of the book: “Louisa is a teenager, the best kind of human. The evidence for this is very simple: little children think teenagers are the best humans, and teenagers think teenagers are the best humans, the only people who don’t think that teenagers are the best humans are adults. Which is obviously because adults are the worst kind of humans.”
While there were SO many aspects of this book that I loved, one that stuck out to me was the portrayal of the pure, genuine love of a friend. It wasn’t sexualized, it was just raw and honest and they weren’t afraid to say “I love you”. It was truly beautiful. Each character has a hard story of brokenness but when they come together, the bond of friendship and trust is so healing.
Then you have the art aspect, which in itself was so well done. The painting from the artist was this beautiful representation of the complexity and joy of friendship. It honored those who are and think differently than you. It honored the complexity of parental relationship. It found the good in humanity and the richness that can flow from human relationships.
Needless to say, this book will live rent free in my head forever. It was THAT moving. Well done Backman! Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the copy of this book in exchange for this review. I’m forever grateful to have read it.

4.5 ⭐

I swear no one can make me cry the way Fredrik Backman can... or laugh. I've long loved his unique voice in storytelling -  mixing humor with poignancy, making me laugh out loud one moment while reducing me to tears in the very next sentence. He's truly a master at his craft, and never has that been more apparent than it is in My Friends.

Featuring a wonderfully complex and misfit cast of characters, this book is a love letter to friendship, an ode to finding a sense of belonging in a world that can so often make you feel battered and alone. Grab your tissues for this one, readers. Between these pages, you will find themes of art, friendship, found family, and grief. Backman has a way of writing flawed characters so beautifully, so acutely that it's impossible not to fall in love with them. He breathes life and meaning into all the everyday, seemingly mundane moments...somehow through his writing, these moments pack an emotional punch as they add up to what it means to be human. In short, this book is exquisite.

Thank you Atria Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Summary: A deeply moving and humorous tale, My Friends follows four teens whose unlikely friendship inspires a masterpiece, transforming lives—including that of a young artist determined to uncover their story twenty-five years later.

My Review: Told in Backman's signature style, this book is a slow burn, but oh so deep and powerful! Fredrik Backman’s latest masterpiece is an unforgettable tale of friendship, love, grief, and art that made me laugh, cry, and marvel at its brilliance. Following four teens bound by an unshakable bond and the creation of a painting that changes lives decades later, this heartfelt story explores the depths of human connection with humor, tenderness, and profound emotional resonance. It’s Backman at his absolute best—don’t miss it.

Genres/Themes: Fiction / Friendship / Literary / Humorous

My Friends is scheduled for publication on May 20, 2025, by Atria Books.

Fredrik Backman is one of my favorite authors and has outdone himself once again.
This is an emotionally satisfying story on friendships and human connections.
I highly recommend this book.

A deeply moving story about friendship, loss, grief and bonding!

This was such a strong story about these friendships and what they’ll do to keep them. All the characters were written so well and had such great chemistry between all the friends.

I don’t want to give much away because this one is best going in blind - I will just say this is a great platonic love story all centering around a piece of art.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria for the ARC Copy!

I cannot put into words how much I love this book. This is by far the best book I’ve read in years, and I will cherish it deeply. Fredrik Backman…. the writer you are.

review to come closer to release date

i don't think i am capable of describing just how BEAUTIFUL this book was. the friendships, the dynamics, the characters.....BEAUTIFUL. i have lost count of the amount of tears that were shed. backman's writing is just so goddamn beautiful that it leaves you in awe. how can a person possibly write like this??? how can someone's brain work like this??? there are still tears in my eyes as i'm typing this and i just. my favourite fredrik backman book now. thank you so much for the ARC.

I love Fredrik Backman and I’m seriously thanking my lucky stars that I had the opportunity to read an early copy of this book, so thank you SO much to @netgalley and @atriabooks for providing a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was instantly captivated by this book; the opening scenes were just so immersive and beautifully set up - they gave me that magical, *this book is going to be amazing* feeling. But then, and I hate to even say this because I love Backman so much, it went a bit off the rails…

I’ve struggled with how best to convey my thoughts on why the magic started to fade for me, so let me just tell you a bit about the premise first:

There’s a world famous painting being sold at an auction. An 18 year old girl, Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, has carried around a postcard print of this painting for years, and she is blown away seeing it in person. She despises all of the wealthy people who are about to bid on it, not because they appreciate the art, but just because they are aware of its value and want the status of owning it.

Louisa stumbles upon a man in the alley outside of the auction who she thinks is homeless. She realizes it is in fact the artist himself, who is at the very end of his life. He becomes immediately enamoured with her and recognizes her as a kindred spirit. Louisa gets pulled into the artist’s inner circle and most of the story is her being told about his life growing up with his 3 best friends.

There was SO much potential in this story and I see what Backman was trying to do, I just couldn’t fully get on board with how quickly Louisa became an insider to the artist and his friends, and how deeply she cared about hearing their entire life stories. I almost wished that her character wasn’t included at all, and the book was just about the artist and his 3 best friends growing up. I think this would’ve given the story so much more depth and emotional connection.

I still really loved this book; it had all of Backman’s signature writing quirks which his fans will recognize and appreciate, I just think it could’ve been so much more.

Please read this when it comes out May 20 and let me know what you think!

This was an emotional, incredibly compelling story about friendship, loss, and love. I really enjoyed the dual timelines and thought that the author did a great job of gradually bringing the past and present together. The four original friends had such a beautiful friendship and love for one another and I enjoyed how “they” brought Louisa into the mix as “one of them.” The story was definitely dark at points and touched on abuse, violence, and sexual assault, which may be unsettling for some readers but I thought added a dimension of reality to the story. Overall a great read that has left me with a lot to think about!