A TREMENDOUS thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for my advanced reader copy of My Friends by Fredrik Backman.

The ladies at my book club are HUGE Fredrik Backman fans. I’ve read Anxious People, and I think that’s it of his. It was an enjoyable book, so why not read another of his?

Let me just say that I get the hype now.

The Story

#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

Let me cut to the chase:

This was singularly one of the most beautiful books I have ever read in my life.

Granted, I don’t read a lot of books that would be defined as “beautiful” (since I read so many mysteries and thrillers), but still. It was incredible.

I immediately pre-ordered My Friends and am anxiously waiting for May 6th when I hope it arrives. It will get my book stamp and then handed over to my mom so she can read it. I didn’t even do any highlights while I was reading it on my Kindle because I just wanted to be present while reading it. I was savoring it because I didn’t want it to end.

Why was it so beautiful? It had me chuckling and smiling and then crying just a few pages later. It is a story of art and found family. It’s about being important not just in the world but in other people’s lives. The overall impact that you can have in a person.

My Friends should already be in your cart wherever you choose to pre-order your books. If it doesn’t win at least one category in Goodread’s year end awards, I will lose my mind. (Yes, I recognize there are quite a few months left in this year, but that is how much I absolutely loved this book.)

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