This may be my favorite Backman yet.

Louisa sets out to see her favorite painting in person - while accidently running into the artist in the alley. They have a fantastic meet-cute (but not romantic - just artist to artist) and he passes away the next day.

The painting, is of the Sea, but its not really of the sea, its of a group of friends.

The day after the artist passes, his friend shows up and gives her the painting. The friend, is from the painiting. And so begins their story, and how somehow in death, the artist brought these two people together.

Its such a beautiful book with strong themes of friendship, love, death and of finding friends in bizarre places.

Set in a quiet seaside town, My Friends, follows Joar, Ted, Ali, and the artist as they form a deep and lasting bond while navigating the hardships of their home lives. Their friendship is immortalized in a single painting that becomes the emotional centerpiece of the story.

I loved how the narrative unfolded with that signature Backman tension. Much like the Beartown series, there’s an ever-present sense that something is coming. But when the reveal finally came, I have to admit, it didn’t land as powerfully as I’d hoped. The buildup was excellent, but the payoff felt a bit underwhelming in comparison.

That said, this is ultimately a story about love, loyalty, and friendship. It’s beautifully written, and emotionally grounded.


I absolutely adore Backman’s voice and storytelling style. Even when a plot doesn’t hit quite as hard, his characters always stay with me. I’ll always read whatever he writes.

The older I get, the less forgiving I am when it comes to the toxic ways men often write women.

Because of this, I don’t read many male authors anymore.

Andy Weir, Stephen King, and Fredrik Bachman are my exceptions.

I need them to neither stop writing, nor turn out to be super-problematic.

I’m lookin’ at you, Gaiman.

I loved everything about this story. I loved Louise and Ted’s enemies to friends arc. I loved the dual timelines. I loved how everything converges into one perfect bittersweet ending.

I’m particularly in awe of how a translated work can retain such poignancy, humour and insight.

Zero was lost in translation.

I’ve never read an author who is better at making me feel a full spectrum of emotions in under two pages then @backmansk
My Friends is no exception.
Louisa is an artist, and she would do anything to see her favourite painting in person, The One Of The Sea. She knows it’s not really a painting of the sea, it’s a painting of the friends hidden at the end of the dock, only noticeable to those who would take the time to really look.Through a series of accidents and happenstance she comes into possession of the painting and better yet she becomes tethered to the artist’s friend, one of the kids in the painting. Through the telling of the painting’s story Louisa will get to know an artist she has revered her entire life, and herself a bit more.
This book isn’t about a painting, it’s about so much more. The rambling storytelling gives this book a life and heart and reflects the best and worst parts of friends and childhood.
If you have never picked up a Fredrick Bachman book this would be a great start, if you already are a fan this is another great book to read.
Thank you so incredibly much to @atriabooks and @netgalley for letting me have the privilege of reviewing one of my favourite authors books.
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I didn't want this book to end. Often, I find myself racing through books because my TBR is never-ending. However, I savoured this book and longed for it to continue well past its final page. Backman has an incredible ability to take ordinary human experiences and illustrating the moment so the reader feels like they were there. The writing in this book is beautiful and I wanted to highlight so many passages about love, friendship, grief and family. In one page I could be found laughing and tearing up. I adored this book!

Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada for the ARC!!

“They stare at each other, the thirty-nine-year-old and the eighteen-year-old, with funerals in their eyes. It’s hard to cope with seeing yourself in someone else.”

‘My Friends’ has just become one of my new favourite books of all time. Backman continues to blow me away with his writing, and I can’t do this book justice in terms of how it made me feel. This book is about grief, art, irreplaceable friendship, identity, growing up, and a legacy.

Twenty five years before this book takes place, a group of teenagers find refuge from their difficult home lives by laughing on a pier together. When one of the teenagers paints a picture of his best friends on that pier, it changes a stranger’s life two decades later.

Louisa is an 18-year-old orphan who is trying to learn how to survive while grieving the loss of her best friend. When she embarks on a mission to see her favourite painting in person, it turns into something much bigger.

There is nobody who makes me physically react to words on a page quite like Fredrik Backman. His work is unlike anything I’ve ever read before — the way he intertwines blunt heart-wrenching lines with witty humour. His writing is so incredibly shocking.

I always leave a Backman book feeling as if I’ve gained a few friends. Louisa, Ted, Joar, Ali & the artist will live in my heart forever along with the the likes of Benji, Maya and Ramona from Beartown. I can say with certainty that this book changed my life for the better.

“There is art that can be so beautiful that it makes a teenager too big for her body”

I LOVE YOU AND I TRUST YOU!!!

Overall Rating: 3.5⭐️
Spice Rating: None
Language Rating: !!!
Genre: Literary Fiction
Reader Age: Adult
Content Considerations: Violence, death, domestic abuse, death of family members, drug and alcohol addiction

This book was my first Fredrick Backman read despite his books being on my TBR for years. I absolutely loved so much of the prose in this book. So many lines were so stunning and had me so emotional.

As far as pacing goes, I really struggled to continue reading at times because the pace was moving quite slowly. I enjoyed the way Backman laid out the story; however, at time, the jumps between the two timelines really took me out of the story.

This book felt like a good introduction into Backman’s work and I am really looking forward to diving into his backlist.

I don't usually cry while reading books - but this one had me sobbing from the beginning.

This is my first Frederik Backman book, so I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. But I sure am glad that I got into it. His writing is incredible. Funny and warm and loving and a little bit melancholy. Everything you'd want in a story about life, friends, and love.

This story is like none other that I've read. I kept thinking something heartbreaking and horrible would happen - and then I would burst out laughing; or a moment so tender would happen that I wouldn't be able to hold back my tears (again).

It's a story about love, and art, and being a teenager, about being alive. It's about death and all the people we carry with us through our lives - about all the ways we find to say 'I love you and I trust you'. It's about finding people who are your home, and about laughter - so much laughter that it can change the course of someone's life forever. And it's about one perfect summer, and the 4 kids who lived it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster/Atria for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions (and tears) are my own.

My Friends is both a compelling and captivating read that is impossible to put down.

This is the profoundly deeply moving story of friendship between four friends.

I laughed with them, I cried with them , I questioned their decisions but I loved them all.

The four teenagers are inseparable but they are not perfect. They are like any friendship in that the play hard and they fight hard but at the end of the day they have each other.

We meet Louisa ( I loved her) who is down on her luck, has had a tough life and by chance she meets up with one of the four which leads her eventually on a journey with another member who tells their story.

Fredrik Backman has done an amazing job of defining the characters, painting a vivid scene and masterfully draws you into their story.

My Friends will be many a Book Club Selection no doubt.

I cant wait to receive my hard copy to put in a place of honour on my book shelf.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada/Simon & Schuster for the privilege of reading and reviewing My Friends , a book I wont forget anytime soon.

Fredrik Backman has once again crafted a stunning novel that balances humor with profound emotional depth. In his latest work, My Friends, he creates a tapestry of relationships that tugs at the heartstrings. The characters are vibrant, their journeys richly told, and the lessons they learn about life and friendship linger long after the final page.

What makes this book particularly compelling is the Backman's ability to weave humor into moments of reflection, constructing a story that feels both lighthearted and deeply meaningful. The themes of connection, nostalgia, and the passage of time resonate throughout, leaving one with an appreciation for the bonds we form and the fleeting nature of life itself.

For longtime fans, this novel is another triumphant exploration of human relationships, reinforcing Fredrik Backman’s incredible talent for storytelling. Whether you’re looking for laughter, heartbreak, or contemplation, My Friends delivers on all fronts.

This was my first Fredrik book and it won't be my last.
This story had me in a death grip from page one, it was full of emotion I'm still thinking about it. an easy 6 star read.

Thank you so much, NetGalley and Atria Books, for the ARC.
Fredrik Backman does it again.
If you love stories that are character-driven with a lot of heart, this book is for you. In this story, we follow four teenagers who share profound bonds of friendship. The rest of the plot is interesting, but I'm always moved by how well Backman writes characters. The writing is so genuine and nostalgic in that it brought me back to being a teenager myself; my friends were everything to me. Knowing that as time passes, things change and so do people, was a really hard realization and Backman captures that emotion incredibly well.