A review by morethanmylupus
My Friends by Fredrik Backman

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"Art is what we leave of ourselves in other people."


NetGalley ARC

It all begins with a painting of the sea that isn't really a painting of the sea - but you'd only know that if you're the right sort of person who notices these sorts of things.

I want to say the book follows a group of teenagers from their carefree moments on their favorite summer pier to their adult lives 25 years later, but that isn't quite true. It's more a story of what happened then, and what is happening now, and all the ways they do and don't fit together. The ways that friendship and love endure, the ways that they change... and the ways that they don't.

This one reminded me a lot of his Beartown trilogy both in writing style and themes. I loved the found family here, the nostalgia for childhood and the way Backman contrasted it with the reality that many kids don't have pristinely innocent, happy childhoods. It's achingly beautiful and devastatingly heartbreaking. Running throughout the story is a common thread about the power of art, who makes it, who buys it, and what impact it can have.

Backman truly has a knack for writing incredibly profound things in accessible ways by weaving them seamlessly into a story. I bawl reading every one of his books. I laugh out loud reading every one of his books. They're the kind of books that live rent free in my head forever. The kind of books that remind me why I read. His books get under my skin in an incredibly rare for me way. I simultaneously want to devour them in one sitting and draw them out for weeks so I don't have to say goodbye to the characters. One of my absolute favorite authors, no question.

This will undoubtedly be a top 5 read of 2025 for me. It's a strong contender for my favorite book of this year. Read. This.


A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

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