Sidekick Short Review: My Friends (2025) by Fredrik Backman

cover image of My Friends by Fredrik Backman, published by Atria Books, 2025.

The Basics

Page Length: 436

Audiobook Length: ~13 hours

Grade Reading Level: 9+

Target Audience Age: 16+

Goodreads Score: 4.35 out of 5

Buy it HERE

Group Reading Guide HERE

Setting: Contemporary small seaside town

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Fiction

Topics: Art, Grief, Friendship, Family, Domestic Violence, Trauma, LGBTQ+, Memory, Childhood, Mental Health

Plot: 18-year-old Louisa has no one. All she ever really had was her best friend Fish—but now that she’s gone, Louisa is completely alone. Hopping from foster home to foster home, all her belongings are stored in one backpack, along with her most prized possession: a postcard of her favorite painting, The One of the Sea by famed artist C. Gat. The painting features the sea, of course—but also three friends sitting on a pier. That’s the part Louisa has always loved most. She wonders about them, imagines their lives. She never expected she would get to meet one of them.

When she unexpectedly stumbles upon the artist in an alleyway while graffitiing a wall, they form a brief but powerful connection. And when he dies, he leaves Louisa the painting. Now the painting’s unlikely guardian, Louisa sets off on a cross-country train journey with Ted, one of the artist’s old friends, to deliver the piece to someone who can help sell it. Along the way, Ted begins to tell her the story behind the painting—the story of one unforgettable summer, twenty-five years earlier.

Back then, the artist and his friends were just fourteen, standing on the fragile edge between childhood and adulthood. Each of them carried their own burdens—abuse, neglect, loneliness, and grief—but together, they found something steady in one another. Through friendship, they created a sense of belonging they couldn’t find anywhere else. And in that fleeting summer, they inspired the young artist to create something meaningful—something that would last far beyond them.

As Louisa listens, the past and present begin to intertwine. The painting becomes more than just an object—it becomes a bridge between lives, between losses, and between people who never expected to find each other. And in carrying their story forward, Louisa may finally find a place where she belongs.

You might like this book if you like:

• Drawing/painting, art/art history

• Summer traditions

• Swimming in the sea

• Books like: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, The Interestings, A Little Life, I'll Give You the Sun, We Are Okay, The Outsiders, The Sky is Everywhere, Eleanor and Park

• Shows like: On My Block, This is Us, Atypical, Looking for Alaska (also a book), Euphoria

• Movies/Books like: Stand by Me, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

• Other movies like: Now and Then, Dead Poets Society, Lady Bird, The Edge of Seventeen

  
  

Other books written by this author: A Man Called Ove, Beartown series, Anxious People, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry, Britt-Marie Was Here

Content

• Language: Mature language throughout

• Sex/Romance: There is mention of romance between main characters, but no sexual content or graphic descriptions. There is a brief mention of sexual assault.

• Violence/Scariness: There is quite a bit of physical violence in this book. Domestic abuse, child abuse, bullying. It is a main theme in the book and is mentioned frequently. There are lots of mature topics that could potentially be triggering or scary for readers. Lots of discussion about mental health problems, teen suicide, suicidal thoughts, self-harm, and grief and loss.

• Drinking/Smoking/Drugs: There is teen AND adult drinking in this book. Many of the characters family members are alcoholics. There is also teen drug use, and even an overdose death. This book also contains teen smoking.

  
  

My personal note: This book is definitely suited for an older audience. The themes and content may be too mature for younger readers. That being said, this is a book that needs to be read. It’s one of the most beautiful YA novels I’ve read in quite a while.

It deserves a place in trauma-informed sections of libraries, and I would personally recommend it to almost anyone who loves beautiful prose, moving characters, and novels that change your perspective—and your heart—for the better.

Book Talk Read Aloud Section

*What is a book talk? (Watch a how to video here. Read my blog post here)

If you have the physical book, read pages 1-top of page 4 (through "Louisa can't understand how she could possibly be anything else.")

If you don't, read the same pages in the Kindle reading sample here.