My Friends is the story of a painting and lifetime friendships that withstand the test of time.
My Friends by Fredrik Backman
Genre/Categories/Setting: Contemporary Fiction (with Flashbacks), Friendship, Art, Coming-of-Age, Found Family, Sweden
***This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links
My Summary:
Thanks #NetGalley @AtriaBooks for a complimentary eARC of #MyFriends upon my request. All opinions are my own.
In this coming-of-age story, four teenagers form a bond of friendship as a way to survive broken families and trauma. Twenty-five years later, a painting from that time changes the life of another struggling young adult as she unravels the story behind the painting.
My Thoughts:
Content Consideration:
First, I must mention trigger warnings and content considerations. The story contains child abuse, dysfunctional family drama, and profanity. Neglect and mistreatment of children made the story difficult to read at times, and I had to take breaks. The brilliant writing and compelling characterizations caused me to finish. If I had known the content before reading, I might have passed on this one. Yet, I am a Backman completist, and I trust him to take me to difficult places and provide healing and restoration in the end.
Characterization:
If you read Backman, you know that he is a master of characterization. His characters are fully drawn and memorable. Through the characters in this story, we experience how friendships save lives.
Art:
Art is an important element of the story. One of the childhood friends is an artist who captures their friendship in a painting that is now a valuable and famous work of art. In the present day, Louisa comes into possession of the original painting, and it piques her interest. As she researches and investigates the story behind the painting and meets the friends, it changes her life.
Recommending My Friends:
My Friends is a dramatic, emotional, and gritty story that Backman fans (who are OK with the content warnings) will appreciate. (Amazon has it categorized as humorous fiction….so misleading)
My Rating: 4 Stars
Meet the Author of My Friends, Fredrik Backman
Fredrik Backman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, Britt-Marie Was Here, Beartown, Us Against You, The Winners, Anxious People and two novellas, And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer and The Deal of a Lifetime, as well as one work of nonfiction, Things My Son Needs to Know About the World. His books are published in more than forty countries. His next novel, My Friends, will be published in May 2025. He lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife and two children. Connect with him on Facebook and Twitter @BackmanLand or on Instagram @Backmansk.
QOTD:
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😳……I just started reading this today , had I seen your review I probably would have not purchased it. Hoping that the triggers are ones that won’t make me have to put the book down.
I had to take breaks because child neglect is disheartening…but the writing is stellar as usual! Hope you enjoy it!
My copy is winging its way to me right now. I was hoping I’d get the ARC, but sadly, it never came through. The days when I was friends with his publicist, who sent me his books without my even asking for them, ended when she got a promotion to become an editor.
I hope you enjoy it!
I’ve loved all Fredrik Bachman books that I have read. Thank you for sharing this here.
My fav writer! 🙌
I was fortunate to receive an ARC of this novel. Fans of Backman’s quirky characters and convoluted plots will love this.
It’s intense!
Very annoyed to find that the library doesn’t have this in stock yet nor any idea when it might be acquired.
Sorry!
This might be a duplicate comment ( my screen froze as I pressed the enter key).
I tried to get this from the library but rather annoyed that there is no sign yet of it being acquired
I just got to see Fredrik Backman speak in Nashville this week so I have a signed copy to read soon. I’ve loved all of his books. He was very self deprecating in person.
Fabulous! I’ve seen interviews and he’s delightful! My fav writer!