My Friends by Fredrik Backman
#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 complete 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 aspiring 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 seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier, telling silly jokes, sharing secrets, and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love.
Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be placed into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. She embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn how the painting came to be and to decide what to do with it. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more nervous she becomes about what she’ll find. Louisa is proof that happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this stunning testament to the transformative, timeless power of friendship and art.
For the Reading Challenge(s):
2026 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #23: Grumpy sunshine trope)
The Reason
I loved A Man Called Ove and I’m planning to read more of the author’s works.
The Quotes
“The world is full of miracles, but none greater than how far a young person can be carried by someone else’s belief in them.”
“Art is what can’t fit inside a person. The things that bubble over.”
“It is an act of violence when an adult yells at a child, all adults know that deep down, because all adults were once little. Yet we still do it. Time after time, we fail at being human beings.”
“Adults often think that self-confidence is something a child learns, but little kids are by their nature always invincible, it’s self-doubt that needs to be taught.”
The Narrator(s)
Marin Ireland. No complaints, it was a good listening experience.
My Thoughts
I enjoyed this book but not as much as I hoped I would. I had some high expectations going in because I loved A Man Called Ove so much, and I had heard some people say that this one was better. It’s really good, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t necessarily think it’s better and to be fair, I don’t think we can compare the two books. They’re completely different from each other, but they are both wonderfully written and showcase humans in some of their most vulnerable times struggling to trust other people and allow themselves to be loved.
Perhaps that’s what I love about this book and Backman as a writer; he writes about difficult things, but in a very relatable way. His stories are light-hearted yet deep, bittersweet yet funny, and sometimes that’s just exactly how life is. His characters can be annoying at times but also endearing. They make mistakes but they care about each other, and more importantly, they can count on each other. It was a good read and I look forward to reading more of his works.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
