6.54k reviews for:

My Friends

Fredrik Backman

4.55 AVERAGE

lyza_reads's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

joshua_white's review

5.0

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

---

Seriously, this feels like one of those rare, urgent reading moments. The kind where you want to shake people by the shoulders and tell them to drop whatever they’re doing because they need to read this right now.

I went with the audiobook, and the narrator is wonderful, but however you take it in, it’s worth pressing pause on every other piece of media in your life. It’s… god, it’s just gorgeous in the way only a book can be. Backman has this ability to make every sentence feel like it was set down exactly where it belonged, without a word out of place.

Without giving anything away, I keep thinking about these characters and what they mean to each other. It fills me with this deep, aching kind of longing. Not jealous exactly, just that feeling you get when you’ve brushed up against something rare and human and honest. It lingers in the corners of your thoughts long after you’ve closed it.

The beauty of My Friends isn’t just in its story but in the way it reminds you that connection is both fragile and worth every risk. You feel it in the quiet moments, in the small exchanges, in the way people choose to show up for each other when it matters. Backman writes with such empathy that you start carrying these people around with you, replaying their choices and wondering how they’re doing, even though you know they only exist in these pages.

It’s one of the most beautiful reading experiences I’ve had in a long time, and I’m not sure I’ll be ready to let it go anytime soon.

blairjnolan's review

4.0

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

baileyvk's review

5.0

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad

raebooknerd's review

5.0

emotional funny medium-paced

wundern's review

4.75

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

sueedwards's review

5.0

emotional funny inspiring reflective

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

madee_double_e's review

5.0

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

---

This was my first Fredrick Backman book and it was absolutely beautiful. A true ode to imposter syndrome and the depressed child-like heart of an artist. More people need to read this book!

bookystef's review against another edition

3.75

emotional hopeful slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

oblatecordon's review

4.75

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No