Thank you Atria Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of My Friends in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: May 6, 2025
Summary:
#1 New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a stranger’s life twenty-five years later.
Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an artist herself, knows otherwise and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures.
Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their difficult home lives by spending their days laughing and telling stories out on a pier. There’s Joar, who never backs down from a fight; quiet and bookish Ted who is mourning his father; Ali, the daughter of a man who never stays in one place for long; and finally, there’s the artist, a boy who hoards sleeping pills and shuns attention, but who possesses an extraordinary gift that might be his ticket to a better life. These four lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream.
Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be put into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. As she struggles to decide what to do with this bequest, she embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn the story of how the painting came to be. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more she feels compelled to unleash her own artistic spirit, but happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this fresh testament to the transformative power of friendship and art.
My thoughts:
I only recently became a superfan of Fredrik Backman & I owe that to my good friends at @atriabooks for sending me a copy of Beartown. That is the book that started my love affair with his writing & now, having read 5 of his full-length novels & 1 short story, I will read anything he writes! And will continue to push his books onto everyone, too!!!
So of course, when I received his upcoming novel, I dropped everything to read it & had zero regrets…other than the fact that I now have to wait however long until his next new book comes out – though luckily for me, I still have a feeling of his backlist to read.
I loved this new book. I loved it so much that I didn’t want it to end & purposely dragged out my reading of it. The range of emotions this book evokes is unlike anything else I’ve read. It’s such a profound look at grief & life itself, while also tackling friendship & family. This book will break your heart & put it back together numerous times…& I’d let it happen again & again just to spend more time with these characters.
As you can see, if you look real close, this book is full of gems that just begged to be tabbed. Some were funny sayings that I laughed so hard at, some I found completely endearing, some I found quite insightful & some I thought were clues as to what was to come. I know I’ll be going back & rereading this book, either just certain sections or the book in its entirety. I also know, this book will make a fantastic book club pick – there is just so much to unpack here.
Be forewarned…I’ll be talking about this one for a long time!
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